32 weeks 0 days - May 9, 2011: Mission Accomplished...

32 weeks 0 days
Fletcher Allen Hospital

Sophie & Stella,

Your mommy has made it to 32 weeks which is a huge accomplishment, seeing as you both thought about coming in to this world at 30 weeks. The last couple days have been fun filled with some visitors that stayed with mommy at the hospital, keeping her company along with a "mission" to be fulfilled!

Daddy came Tuesday night to stay with mommy through Wednesday night. It was so nice to see him and even though he had left Monday morning, it felt like an eternity since I had last seen him. We spent all day Wednesday together and had yummy Belgian waffles for breakfast, which were to die for! I have to say that the food here at Fletcher Allen is quite yummy. Daddy left Wednesday night to go back to Lake Placid because he had to work on Thursday and Friday, but not before we went through our baby registry and bought all the necessary things we still needed, like your car seats and pack 'n play. Mommy cannot wait to get home and see all the baby stuff that has been arriving. I want to get it all washed and put away so that we are prepared for when you make your grand entrance! Grammy Leanne came Wednesday night to keep mommy company for the evening. Daddy is so worried about leaving me alone at night, he tries to make sure someone is with me every night of the week. Grammy came Wednesday night and we had dinner downstairs and then hung out in my room. She brought a potted plant with 4 pretty yellow flowers representing mommy, daddy, and you girls. I will be sure to bring it home and plant it somewhere in the garden. They will be your first flowers in the garden!

Celebrating Mother's Day at the hospital!

Mommy and Grammy had so much fun on Wednesday night. We celebrated mother's day together a few days early and gabbed about everything under the sun. We played Gin Rummy until 12:30am. Mommy was beating Grammy so badly through the whole game and the last round, Grammy beat me by a lot of points and won the game! We stayed up talking until 1am like two little girls at a sleep over. We have not spent this much quality time together in a long time...it was very nice and I hope we get to do it again sometime!

Grammy left Thursday morning to go back to Lake Placid and mommy was left to herself until Friday evening. I like to keep myself busy throughout the day with a routine that keeps me going everyday and helps to pass the time. I usually get up and take a little walk down the hall and have some toast early in the morning. I come back to my room and my vitals are taken. After vitals I order breakfast from room service, eat and then have my NST (non-stress test) done. I've gotten pretty good at reading the NSTs since I've had so many of them in the past 2 weeks. After my NST, I usually take a shower, get dressed, straighten up my room, and blow dry my hair. By this time, it is close to lunch time and I'll usually order lunch and get my "office" set-up for the day. Adworkshop has been so great through this whole experience, allowing me to work from the hospital. Work helps to pass the time and it's definitely harder than I thought it would be for me to "turn it off" and stay away from work and email, etc. I've been able to put in a good 20 hours this past week which was great for me and keeps me busy!

Friday evening Aunt Ashley showed up and mommy was SO EXCITED!!!! By Friday, I had been in the hospital for 11 days and was going stir crazy. I had only been outside 3 days and was craving fresh air. All day Friday while I was waiting for Aunt Ashley, I had been scheming a plan to "break out" of the hospital for some real food. When Ashley got to the hospital, we hung out for a little while and then I said, "okay, get dressed. We're getting out of here and going to Koto's for sushi." Ashley freaked out and was like, "there is no way I'm taking you out of here. Taylor will kill me!" I said, "he's not going to know. I'm not telling him until I get out of the hospital."

"Mission Accomplished" - Escape to Koto's

The problem with me and your Aunt Ashley, is when we get together sometimes we can do some pretty funny things. Usually, I come up with some cockamamie plan and Ashley can't resist doing it because I force her to go along with me! I had to be back by 8:30 for vitals, so we signed me out at 6:30 saying we were just going outside for a bit. We took the wheelchair and went to the lobby, where we ditched the chair and walked to the parking garage elevators. I was hiding my patient bands and was really nervous we'd get caught by someone. Ashley asked if the band had any type of "tracking" in it, and I was like, "there is NO way." The first "heart attack" came when we got into the elevators and they starting beeping. I jumped, but someone said they always do that. Then we got down to the parking garage doors and I literally had one foot out the door when my phone starting ringing. I grabbed my phone and caller ID said, "FLETCHER ALLEN HOSPITAL." I jumped out of my skin and started backing away from the door. I couldn't answer the phone, I just kept looking at it completely dumbfounded. Could it be possible that they knew I was leaving the hospital? It's impossible! Ashley and I were so nervous. Finally my phone said I had a voicemail. I reluctantly dialed "1" to listen to my voicemail. "Hello, this is Fletcher Allen Hospital reminding Kari that she has an appointment on Tuesday, May 10..." I was finally able to breathe when I listened to the voicemail; it was my appointment reminder. I looked at Ashley and started laughing. Could the timing have been any more perfect? The experience in itself to this point had almost put me back into labor! We finally gathered our composure and ran out of the hospital to the parking garage and into Aunt Ashley's car. Out we went and in to the free world! Now, all we had to do was get through dinner without seeing any of my doctors or nurses and then back to the hospital safe and sound we would go.

Rocking my Hospital Bands outside of Koto's

We made it to Koto's and had a nice dinner with some sushi and sides. We didn't linger at all because I think the stress of the night had made my back start hurting again. Dinner was pretty uneventful but yummy and worth all the craziness. Mommy loves her sushi and when she wants it, she's got to have it! We got back into the car, but not before mommy got her picture taken outside of Koto's sporting her hospital bands for proof! Safe and sound we made it back to the hospital and back to my room to enjoy a quiet night. Aunt Ashley and I had quite a few laughs about the whole ordeal! It is something I'll never forget and I'm sure we'll tell the story over and over again for years to come!

Aunt Ashley left on Saturday afternoon and then Daddy came Saturday night. It was so good seeing him and knowing that we would be able to spend the whole weekend together! Yesterday, we went for a walk outside and mommy got a little sunburn on her legs, which felt really nice. We then got to watch World Superbike in our room. It is awesome that I get SPEED TV at the hospital! We had more sushi for dinner last night and then both of us passed out for the evening.

Today has been kind of a crazy day. I woke up after tossing and turning all night. See, today we reached 32 weeks and there is a possibility that I can go home today. There are a few criteria that have to be met before they will give me the "okay" to be discharged. One is that my cervix has not changed and the other is that my ultrasound comes back okay. I had my NST this morning and contracted more than normal. I think it is because I am very nervous about my exams today and scared to hear what the doctor's have to say. I really want to go home but I have to mentally prepare for the news that they are going to keep me. I want nothing more than to go back home and rest in my own bed with Desmo and Ohlins. I had my cervical exam this morning also and that came back clear. I've actually shrunk which is great and proves that the little bit of walking around I've done is not progressing my labor. So, now daddy and I are just waiting for an opening up in Labor and Delivery to do our ultrasound. Unfortunately, L&D is very busy today and we are in a waiting game hoping that it will be sooner rather than later that they can get us in.

Hopefully, my next post to you girls will be from the comfort of our own home. I love you so much and hope you cooperate this afternoon so mommy can go home and relax for a few more weeks! Keep your fingers crossed.

Love,
Mommy