Heartbeat

Today officially marks the first day of spring. And thankfully it feels like spring here in AL unlike back in my hometown in IL where they are experiencing snow today. To celebrate the warm spring weather and rid myself of this hideous white glow I have, I laid out a blanket on our back lawn and immersed myself in the sun’s rays. It felt good to feel the sun’s warmth and the refreshing light breeze on my skin. A perfect day and a perfect way to relax.

As I turned onto my stomach and laid there enjoying the beautiful afternoon, a weird thing happened. I could feel my stomach pulsing from my heartbeat. Literally I felt my heartbeat in my stomach. Strangely and amazingly, it was reminiscent of feeling Hailey moving in my belly. My heartbeat felt like those first flutters I felt during my 2nd trimester which were the first movements of Hailey’s that I was feeling. Feeling your baby move about in your tummy and ‘kicking’ around is one of those miraculous events that I am blessed to have had.

Who knew my worst nightmare would turn out to be an amazing blessing

Over the nine months I was pregnant with Hailey, I prayed for her development and health almost every day. I modified my eating habits and lifestyle so that I could be healthy and have a healthy baby. I took prenatal vitamins daily. I didn’t drink or smoke (not that I do normally anyway) or have too much caffeine or engage in any other risky behavior for pregnant women. I prayed and did what I was supposed to do in order to have a healthy baby. According to statistics, because of my age, my weight, my health history, etc. the chances of Josh and I have a baby with a health problem was very unlikely.

But it all didn’t matter. In the end, I was not in control of my daughter’s creation or development or even life. God was.

In all honesty, having a baby that was ‘retarded’ or that had mental or physical problems was probably one of the things I feared and dreaded happening to me (or my baby) the most. Truth be told, I didn’t want a ‘retarded’ child or a child with disabilities. Not me. I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t want it – for me, for my baby. I wanted her to be healthy and have a normal happy life. And I tried to do everything I could to make sure my baby was healthy and I didn’t have that problem. Statistics were in my favor after all…

Pregnancy Update 11/25 Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 6:40pm

I am back at home finally! Just got home.

My blood pressure was pretty much normal every time they took it over the 24 hrs. My 24 hr urine collection which they wanted to use to evaluate my protein levels and liver function results came back and were within the range they wanted to see. They also periodically monitored baby’s heart-rate and such and she was continually getting “A+s” they said. And obviously, I did not have any more contractions or dilate anymore or anything like that… so it wasn’t time for Hailey to get here yet.

The doctor has me on bed rest until Monday when I go back for a check up. I am perfectly fine with laying around in bed or on the couch all day for a little while 🙂 And I’m super happy we don’t have to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Pregnancy Update Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 9:03pm

We’re in the hospital for a 24 hr eval….

Today at my weekly doctor’s visit my blood pressure was a little too high, and I was 1 cm dilated. I have also been iron deficient for a couple of months, so they wanted the labor and delivery ward to check me out and run some bloodwork on me.

So they monitored me for 1 and 1/2 hrs – blood pressure remained kind of high but did go lower than when I was in the doctor’s office. The bloodwork came back and was showing abnormal protein levels and something about my liver not functioning like it should… (don’t ask – I have no idea)… I was also having very minor contractions, and since I’m considered full term, they decided with all that and results of the test they want to keep me over 24 hrs for observation – which started at 3:15 this afternoon.

We are in a birthing suite as Southeast Alabama Medical Center until my 24 hrs is up tomorrow afternoon. They are checking my blood pressure and vitals every 4 hrs and are doing a 24 hr urine collection so they can do an analysis tomorrow.

My last blood pressure reading was within the normal range which is good news. And unfortunately not much going on in the contraction department right now…

So we just have to wait until around 3p tomorrow to see what’s going on … unless somehow i really go into labor and have Hailey soon 🙂

But we’re doing good – Josh is staying the night with me… we’ll keep everyone updated thanks to Facebook. 🙂