He rescues me.

Usually, my husband keeps his superhero cape under wraps, attending to his daily heroism without bearing the red and yellow "S" on his chest or the flapping cape (or are they angel wings?). But, I happened to catch a glimpse of it once and grabbed my camera for the sighting.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes, when you are in the midst of woes, it feels good to count blessings and make them known. Name them one-by-one. Make a list, even. So, I am doing that.

Blessing Number One: My husband
Superhero Status: Active
Week from You-Know-Where: Affirmative

What follows are things he has done that make him a really nice person to live with--this last week in particular.

~He brings me breakfast on a tray each morning. If it's cereal, he brings the dry cereal in a bowl and the milk in a mini-pitcher so it won't be soggy by the time he brings it to me. If it's oatmeal, he brings a separate bowl of brown sugar and a lot of it because he knows I'm picky about the sweetness of my oatmeal.

~He moved our nightstands around so that I now possess the larger one. This gives me more room for my junk that he set up for me (prenatal vitamins, medication, water jug, kleenex, chapstick, glasses, books, snacks...)

~ In the middle of the night, when he hears me breathing heavily during contractions or from discomfort, he reaches over and rubs my back (or he asks first, because sometimes a woman cannot be touched during a contraction)

~He made 2 trips to Urgent Care and one trip to the pediatrician to attend to our sick children.

~He has disinfected counters, lightswitches, toothbrushes, and towels so to iradicate the germs (Did I mention he also lets me boss him around sometimes too because, frankly, these are the things mommy does when everyone is sick and he might not think to do them.)

~ He opens the blinds in our room in the morning because he doesn't think I'm getting "enough Vitamin D from the sun."

~ He tries to be silly and make me smile.

~ When he's doing the laundry, he asks, "Wait. Do I hang dry this or put it in the dryer?"

~ He set up a "guest chair" next to my bed if anyone wants to visit or for when he comes up and eats dinner with me.

~ He totes the kids to school and friends/family houses during the day so they are taken care of.

~ Blesses me with his priesthood and helps bring me comfort and peace.

~ Loves on me when I cry.

30 weeks - aka the longest week ever

I am typing this from bed on our laptop and feeling a little like Meg Ryan--you know, when she types from her fluffy bed in her cute, shabby chic New York City Brownstone, with her blonde flippy hair and her AOL buddy telling her she's got mail.... minus a few of those details. Pretty much, I'm just sitting in bed with my laptop. Oh, but my bed is fluffy.

Little did I know last Tuesday, that one minute I would be boiling some Toy Story Mac'n'Cheese for my little boys and, the next minute, I would be writhing in pain on my couch, surrounded by five burly EMT's who were ready to escort me to their fine ambulance. See how life can change on a dime?

I was, of course, quite positive that cramping and bleeding were not welcome at 29 weeks gestation. Not welcome, at all. This is why I made four swift phone calls: Steve, his mom, the hospital and then, to my dismay, 911. It all sounds very dramatic--and, well, it was.

So, after a glamorous ambulance ride, too-many-to-count-needle-pokes, and 48 hours in the hospital on the IV Magnesium Sulfate, my kind doctor let me go home. Everything was under control, our little girl looked nice and happy according to the ultrasounds, and I was now to take. it. easy.

Also known as bedrest. I mean, I am in my bed. And the bathroom. That's it. I will be heading downstairs for weekly Dr. appointments and my weekly dose of Vitamin D (The Sun).

(I must add that I did have one more quick visit to the hospital a couple of days later with contractions, but they gave me a shot of magic and upped my medication and things have been much quieter since.)

Unfortunately, sometimes it rains and then it pours some more. Three of our children have been very sick this last week too with a myriad of ills (ear infection, strep, fevers, bronchitis...) and my husband has had to put on his cape and fly around tending to every last need we all have had; not to mention, go to work so he can bring home the bacon. I think that needs to be its own post. Yes, that one is up next.

Overall, we feel so blessed that our little baby is still where she should be. There were many moments last week when I thought we were being prepared to have her. We've done this before, and the reality of that experience felt so fresh last week. (With Trevor. And I think that is another post, too.) I have thanked Heavenly Father each day that I am still pregnant, and I really feel like I will be for awhile longer so that we can welcome a healthy baby.

We are blessed with generous family, friends, and church support that make this temporary lifestyle change doable. But, this will be a test in patience for all of us.

In the meantime, I think I might watch "You've Got Mail".

Love note.

Happy Valentine's Day to the loves of my life.

29 weeks

Yesterday

Today

(did I gain 10 pounds last night?)

I am happy to almost be in the "30's" as far as weeks go.

I have high-risk pregnancies, and we just are thankful for each day that I am still pregnant...

Here's a brief history for any interested parties:

Paige--water broke at 35 weeks. 6'11'' : Big baby girl, right? She was fine at first until I figured out that I was making zero, like ZERO, milk and almost starved her...I digress.

Trevor--hospital stay at 30 weeks (because I was already dilated to a 3). They set me up on a Magnesium drip (a form of torture) and my doctor planned on me staying there until 35 weeks. We set up camp, but they still couldn't stop my labor and he came at 31 weeks at 4'4''--again, pretty hefty for such a preemie-peanut. He stayed in the NICU for 6 weeks and then we had a year of continual medical intervention ( monthly RSV shots, Meds for reflux, projectile vomiting, apnea monitor, eventual RSV...)

Preston--Doc informed me I had an "incompetent cervix" (which is just what every girl wants to hear) so he put in a cervical cerclage stitch early in the pregnancy. I still had multiple hospital visits to stop labor and after 11 weeks and 3 days of bedrest (me, counting? no.) he was born at (drumroll...) 37 weeks!!! 8'14'' later, our fattest baby, yet!

Gavin--same cerclage stitch, plus (bonus!) weekly progesterone shots this time! My faithful hubby gave me a shot in my rear for 16 weeks of the pregnancy, and though I still had to visit the hospital a few times because of those darn contractions, we still made it to 37 weeks with Mr. 8'11'...

Because of the relatively good size of our babies, my husband once teased me that I have a great oven, but my timer is a little off. (ba-dum-bum)

Baby Girl--cerclage-check, weekly hormone shots-check, contractions-yep. My doc tells me my cervix is looking fantastic (again, he's quite the charmer), but since I'm having lots of contractions he has told me to reduce my activity, "take this medication, on an as needed only basis", and DRINK MORE WATER.

I don't like water. Blagh.

But, I look at it as medicine for the baby.

I know. Sometimes I'm borderline dramatic.

So, did someone ask if we are having any more babies?

Mmmm....I think we're good.

I feel like we are pressing our luck already with four now-healthy children. However, we know this little bundle is meant for our family, and we cannot wait to meet her chubby cheeks--just not quite yet.

Thoughts on always & never

I am always...

...in the middle of a book.

...decorating a room in my mind.

...going to choose comfort over fashion, but am always...

...looking for comfortable fashion :)

...in the mood for dessert.

...forgetting to drink enough water!

...a little neurotic.

...entertained by the witty things my children say.

...in the market for great throw pillows.

...carrying Burt's Bees chapstick/gloss in my purse.

...willing to say, "I'm sorry."

...amazed that my husband picked me.


I am never...

...going to go sky-diving.

...at a loss for words.

...going to eat liver and onions.

...one to pass up dessert (did I already say that?)

...afraid to stand for what is right.

...going to wear a bikini. (Thank you modesty and babies #1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

...going to forget my wedding day.

...going to know how the movie, Inception, really ends!!

...planning on finding out what beer tastes like.

...allowed to wear red lipstick. Scary on me.

...a good road-tripper---super whiny.

...going to get rid of my hole-y "EFY: Sharing the Light" T-shirt, circa 1993.

...going to understand how I got so fortunate in marriage.

Snapshots

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things...

The post where I'm glad I have another little one on the way, because Gavin is not a baby anymore. He's 3.

Gavin's birthday week began with the annual Birthday Date with Mommy & Daddy

Destination: Johnny Rockets (because of the free balloons)

This is one of our favorite, favorite traditions with our kids.

One-on-One time: check.

Cheerful kid: check.

"This is definitely my special day" feelings: check.

****************************

On his actual birthday, we had a quiet family dinner with his favorite food and one little buddy from church. (oops, no picture of the friend!)

He requested a Toy Story cake; more specifically, a Sheriff Woody cake, so I improvised with what I could find at home. (That's just a cut-out of Woody from an extra party plate.)

Gift time!

(I don't know what I was doing with my camera settings, but oh well. I still got some cute shots of Big Boy.)

Happy Birthday, Gavin!

We love you so much and you are such a firecracker in our family.

I feel that I must record all of Gavin's nicknames. We are definitely a nick-name family, but somehow this poor child has a ridiculous amount:

Gavey-Goo

Gavely-Goo

Goo goo

Goose

Goosie

Bunny

Bunny Face

then there's Bunner Facer (??)

Lovey-Bunny-Face

Hunny Bunny

(I know, I know...)

Big Boy

G-Boy

And the name Trevor came up with:

Bollychase

(????)

Maybe it needs a more ethnic spelling:

Bali Chez'

Then he created a similar one with

Booshaleb

Either way--what?

Here's to you Gavin, and here's to hoping we don't call you these for the rest of your life.

*I'm remembering this poem I wrote for the Goosie when he turned one, and I still love it.