Finally....a camera!!!

This week has been a trying one for me and Clinton. We have been in the hospital twice with contractions, which seem to hurt me more than Clinton. Saturday night I started out with lower back pain and according to my book that is common in the seventh month. So I spent the whole night trying to tough it out...about 3am I finally got up to take a warm bath hoping that would make the increasing pain subside. That actually made me sick to my stomach and then my pain moved around to the front. By 4.30am, I took a couple of Tylenol and the pain became bearable enough to sleep for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I was miserable once again...and called the doctor. She said, "Get in here now." So we headed off to the hospital to find out that what I thought was normal pregnancy pain and Clinton stretching and kicking, was actually full-blown contractions...good to know, right? Turns out I was completely dehydrated, triggering contractions. It took forever to find a vein (which left both my hands bruised) and I took in two liters of fluid before even thinking I might need to pee....not really a good sign. I was released that afternoon and told to drink lots of water.

So, Monday I took in my recommended 90 oz. of water and did the same for Tuesday. But Tuesday night, the back pain began creeping in once again. Thinking I was dehydrated again I started on another 30 oz. jug of water....still, it got worse. By 5.30am I was in tears and not sure what to do. Since Rodney was out of town, I decided to drive myself into the ER. Apparently, not the wisest decision...I received lectures from my neighbor, my father, my sister-in-law, and my nurse. It seems as though there is a whole long list of things that can go wrong with a pregnant woman who is contracting....so she shouldn't be driving. Anyway, once in the hospital we were watching contractions again. This time I was not dehydrated. I had had 130 oz. of water within a 24 hour period, which the doctor said was overkill...can I ever win? They finally decided there was no real reason for the contractions this time except that my body had already started them and it may take a while to kick my body out of that mode. So now I have pills I have to take when I start contracting...which I have had to take twice since Wednesday. I was told no cleaning, lifting, walking too far, etc. So basically I spend a lot of time resting in my bed.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving lunch at Rodney's mother's house. She made Turkey, dressing, rolls, corn souffle, green bean casserole, macaroni salad, mashed potatoes, and gravy. It was delicious. My brother-in-law also made a chocolate coconut pecan pie...to die for! We then ventured over to Rodney's dad's house to visit with his grandparents and aunt and uncle in from West Virgina.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures here. First, our precious Gracie Mae...mother sent her a Santa outfit...she wasn't as amused as we were.

This is my 28 week belly. I think it's rather large, but the nurses said I could be feeling so much of the pain because I'm so small....??? Whatever. Excuse the laundry in the background, and the not-so-cute outfit....not everyday can be a beauty day.