Emergency

So, I am in the hospital. Yesterday at 4:30 in the morning I woke up bleeding. I woke up Brad and he piled the kids in the car. I asked him to give me a Priesthood blessing that the baby and I would be okay and we rushed to the hospital. Parker and Jason each said sweet prayers blessing the baby and I too. Immediately afterwards I felt the baby kick and a rush of reassurance that everything would work out fine.

When we arrived at the Women's Pavillion of the hospital, I was admitted into a room. The kids watched an episode of Backyardigans on my phone while I got my IV, a steroid shot to develop the baby's lungs and waited for the different specialists.

We had called my mom on our way to the hospital and she arrived to take them to our house. We had been planning to head up to Bear Lake with Brad's family that afternoon and were all packed and ready to go. Brad's parents offered to take the boys up with them through Saturday morning and Liesel is staying with my parents.

Back at the hospital, my ob/gyn was doing rounds and came to see me. She said that bleeding happens sometimes with Placenta Previa, a condition I already knew I had this pregnancy. As long as the bleeding stops, I can be put on full bed rest until 37 weeks, when they'll take the baby by C-section. I would have to have 2-5 days without any bleeding before they'll consider releasing me from the hospital to do my resting at home. Next I was wheeled over to radiology where they did a complete ultrasound checking every organ in the baby and seeing exactly where the low-lying placenta is located.

The baby looked great! Everything looked just how it should for the 32 weeks, 4 days development. The ultrasound estimated the baby's weight at 5 lbs. 3 oz. Even if it's a pound off, that's pretty good. Then we saw a perinatologist, who is a specialist in high-risk pregnancies. She confirmed what my ob had said. She explained that bleeding in Placenta Previa patients is very unpredictable. Sometimes they can't stop it or it starts again in the next day or two. If they can't stop it, they may have to take the baby early. Other times women can go another month or two until they get to 37 weeks. They do all they can to keep the baby inside until then. They have to stay on total bed rest, no walking more than to the restroom and no picking up kids.

I stopped bleeding yesterday afternoon, so, as long as it doesn't start again, I might be released on Friday. So far I've been spending my time reading (Saving Cee-Cee Honeycutt), watching the Olympics and HGTV, trying to rest, listening to scriptures and Conference talks on the Mormon Channel and checking out facebook and email. I have Netflix on the ipad if I need it.

My favorite way to spend my time is visiting with family and friends in person, by phone or through texts. Brad is willing to take days off from work, but besides yesterday morning I told him to save the days. He calls me in the morning, visits on his lunch break and after work. My sister Angie also drove up to visit me yesterday.

Thank goodness my wonderful mom offered to take the kids as long as needed and Brad's parents are willing to help out too. We are so grateful for all of the family and friends who have offered their prayers and support.

With my children taken care of and knowing that the baby is heathy and well, my biggest challenges will probably be missing my kids terribly and boredom. A month is a long time to lie down.

Something tells me, however, that I should enjoy the rest while I can get it. A newborn and three other little children will be crazy and may just push me over the edge for a while, ha, ha!

Thank you again to all of you for your thoughts, love and offers to help!