1.24.2011

the last week of our lives has been a major whirlwind.

Reid left last Monday for Washington DC to train for a federal grant that his workplace is receiving this year. he was nervous going into the training, not knowing the scope of his new role at UNITY and also knowing that I was at a high risk for pre term labor.

Toni and Gary, Reid's parents, decided to postpone their trip to Arizona one week since Reid would be gone, just in case i needed anything. would you know, Monday morning, i needed a ride to work after finding the car battery to be dead, and after breaking down because i could not find my jury duty badge for the week.

by Tuesday of last week, I started to feel some pain, somewhat reminiscent of what i went through with my labor with Raef but i think i tried to convince myself that it wasn't possible that it was labor because Reid was gone and i was only at 26 weeks. i was not going to have this baby while Reid was across the country, and i was going to make it further along than i did last time. 

by Thursday, the pain was too much to bear, and i had Toni bring me into the labor and delivery unity of St. Joe's in Bloomington. they stopped the contractions for the moment and gave me an antibiotic and sent me home. Friday morning i was to see my doctor in Peoria at St. Francis Hospital, so i grimaced through the pain on Thursday night and waited for Toni to pick me up to go to Peoria on Friday. by the time we got to the hospital on Friday, i was definitely in labor and Dr. Leonardi immediately admitted me to labor and delivery to have them try to stop the labor. i was put on a good dose of Magnesium Sulfate to stop the contractions which immediately made me feel like i had the flu, gave me double vision, and made it difficult for me to breathe. 

for the most part, they were able to stop the contractions and Reid was able to fly home early from DC to be with me on Friday night. my mom and reid's mom were with me all day which i was just truly grateful for. i have to admit that i was nervous for a while on Friday that the doctors weren't telling me that they thought they may need to deliver Winn early. i stayed in Labor and Delivery until Monday afternoon when they finally felt like i was stable enough to be transferred to the ante-partum wing of the hospital.

upon transfer to ante-partum, i was in quite a state. i had some of my weakest moments on Tuesday during my first full day of being alone in the hospital, knowing that i'd be in this same room every day until i delivered Winn. as Reid put it, after spending time in Labor and Delivery, ante-partum is kind of like purgatory in terms of hospital stays. it's not to say that the nurses aren't as nice but it's just different, and if all goes right, my stay here will be significant, more than eight weeks!

so now, i'm praying for patience, i'm praying for time for Winn to continue to develop during this pregnancy, and i'm thanking God for all of the people in my life who have once again stepped up and helped to make my life brighter each day. Reid and I would probably have to be put in rubber rooms if it weren't for our friends, family and our faith that God has a hand in our lives.