House Arrest

As many of you may know, I've been placed on house arrest. On Friday morning, I went into my OB's office for a blood pressure check and was sent to Labor & Delivery about an hour later. The cause for concern was something called preeclampsia. I spent about 4 hours in the triage area having my blood pressure monitored and, what felt like, half of my blood taken out of my body. All of the testing came back normal and Jeramie and I were able to go home about 1:30 that afternoon.

If only it were that simple. Before we left, the doctor checked me, deemed me "uninducable", and then told me it was time to "retire" from my job. He also noted that I would probably NOT make it to my due date, with the more likely scenario being that I will be induced sometime next week. Out of all that, the hardest part to deal with has been the not working part. Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly take a few extra days/weeks off of work, but that comes with some issues of its own. There's the obvious financial burden that it'll place on our family since all of my time has gone to covering my maternity leave; but, we know that God's taken care of us all along, so we don't doubt He'll do the same now.

The more "petty" burden is sheer boredom. Thankfully, I haven't been placed on complete bed rest and I still have the freedom to move around the house. However, knowing I'm not allowed to leave said house until my baby comes is a little maddening. It's been a little over a day since I've received my sentence, and I'm already feeling a little restless. So, here's where you come in. If you had a full day to stay indoors and "putter", what would you do??

My Girls

In my life, I have been blessed with many wonderful things: a great family, a loving husband, a car to drive, a house to live in; but I feel I have been especially lucky to find the friends I have. For as long as I can remember I have been surrounded by great people. I'm sure growing up in a small town helped with that and I am still friends with many of my childhood friends today.

When I went off to college in August of 2000, I was very nervous to leave those friendships behind and begin the journey of finding new ones. However, it didn't take long for me to find "my girls". Brandi and I met almost immediately, which then led me to Michelle, her roommate who had been chosen at random. Tara entered the picture a few weeks later and from that point the four of us were pretty much inseparable. We all eventually moved into an apartment together and people were amazed that four girls could live together for two years without killing each other first. That's not to say we didn't have our ups and downs, but overall it was an experience I wouldn't trade for ANYTHING.

Fast forward 8 1/2 years and those girls are still my rock. We've seen each other through intense break-ups, four weddings, two babies, death, sickness, and many other things too personal to list. We don't see each other nearly as often as I would like, but when we do, it's like we've never been apart.

Yesterday was an extra special day with my girls. Brandi and Tara, with the help of Jeramie and Matt, sent me on a scavenger hunt around Triangle Town Center to find them waiting on me at The Spa by Mitchell's. They surprised me with a "Mama Shower" complete with a massage, lunch, manicure, pedicure, and "mommy gifts". It was so nice to spend an entire day with them, laughing and catching up. We missed Michelle, but enjoyed the time the three of us were able to have together.

Sometimes I just sit in awe that there are such great people in this sometimes ugly world. I am thankful for those moments, like yesterday, that remind me of that.

Birth Stories

The past few months I've become very interested in other women's birth stories. Not for the sake of comparing my situation to theirs, but to gain a little more perspective on how different every birth can be. Throughout this process I realized that I didn't know anything about my own mother's story and how I came into this world. This past weekend she was in town and I made it a point to get the scoop. Here's what I found out:


-She was due with me on March 14, 1982. I am due to have my own daughter on the very same date, 27 years later.
-Her water broke at 3:00 in the morning on March 22, 1982. She went straight to the hospital, but never actually went into labor. She was given Pitocin around 10:00 a.m., which caused her to start having contractions. I was born 3 and 1/2 hours later at 1:25 p.m. I hope I have those genes!
-While she was in the hospital, an exam informed the doctor that I was breech. He began talking to her and daddy about the possibility of a c-section. The next time they checked her (after the Pitocin) I had assumed the head down position.


All of this is incredibly interesting to me. I'm not sure how I've gone almost 9 months without knowing any of this! Our stories are so similar in so many ways, although technology has given us the opportunity to know a little more than she did at the time. I'm still not convinced that's such a good thing.

Here's to waiting to see what the next 5 weeks have in store!