So today I have officially been here in the hospital for 4 weeks on bedrest. It has actually gone really fast. I am so thankful to be at this point. I have just 9 more days to go to get to 32 weeks–our next big goal. I am confident we will get there. The Doc seems to feel that way too as she is talking about me going home then!! I dont want to get too excited about it yet. Of course if I do get to go then–I will still be on bedrest. It would be nice to be in my own house and of course to be able to see Mr. Max our dog. I miss him.

Ryan has been very busy working 12 hour days and then coming directly here to the hospital after work. He is getting a little burnt out–but is managing well. He brings me good take out food. I also have a wonderful group of girl friends who have arranged to bring me meals 3 times a week! I cannot believe it. It is nice to have such good friends.

I realized that most of my posts are funny videos that I find during the day. It is the first time that I’ve ever been able to search the web for such things. I now spend countless hours watching silly videos on youtube and other websites. What can I say it helps pass the time and makes me happy.

I did want to however leave some more serious info regarding preterm labor for those that are interested. Since I suddenly have a number of friends that are newly pregnant, I think it will be beneficial to them as well as others.

Helpful info at March of Dimes: http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/188_1080.asp

Here is a helpful website for women who are on bedrest: http://sidelines.org/

I have also been reading a lot of other blogs from women on bedrest with preterm labor: one that I especially like is: http://blog.bedrestboutique.com/

American College of Obestrics and Gyncecologists:

http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp087.cfm

In case some of you are wondering what exactly happened with me or what my symptoms were: I had been having painless contractions (braxton-hicks?) for several weeks with no concerns. I felt great, was exercising and working my usual long ( and often stressful) hours at work. After one particulary long and stressful day at work I realized I had been having a few more of those painless contractions than I usually felt. However, I wasn’t too terribly concerned. I took our dog Max on an incredibly long walk that evening. During the walk I decided to call a friend whom had successfully gone through preterm labor before.. low and behold her only symptoms were: more painless contractions than usual. It was then that I went home and actually timed these contractions and quickly realized they were coming every 3-4 minutes. I was concerned but not scared, nor did I truly believe I was going into labor. I laid down on the couch, on my left side and drank a glass of cold water and continued counting. They had slowed down and I convinced myself it was okay to go up to bed and call the clinic in the morning. Looking back on this at that point I was in complete denial and SHOULD have gone to the hospital then. oh well… Next morning went to clinic and sure enough I was contracting and my cervix had shortened (was effacing and funneling) and was barely dilated. They gave me a shot of terbutaline ( a medication to slow contractions), I called Ryan, and off to the hospital we went. And here we are today, 4 weeks later holding strong!