Home Sweet Home

After nearly two weeks in the hospital and lack of any major cervical change or contractions, they decided that I was stable enough to be on bedrest at home. Hooray! 

The week prior, I had surgery to put a cerclage in,  a procedure in which they go in and stitch my cervix shut to add strength to it and prevent further dilation.  Not the most pleasant of experiences, but one that has proven to be the right desicion.  Things have been pretty uneventful since then. And while my doctor, knowing that I have two preschoolers at home, was hesitant to send me there, he felt that insurance may have a problem paying for a hospital stay when I'm not requiring major medical interventions at this time.  So home I went!

Let me just say, it is EXTREMELY hard to be home and not feel the uncontrolable urge to fulfill responsibilities I formerly had.  Raising kids and keeping a home is a major part of my life.  Being mom and homemaker is who I am.  To suddenly be reduced to a human incubator and rely on everyone else to pick up my slack is horribly hard and humbling.  The control freak in me doesn't know if I will be able to survive the next several months, but the mom in me knows I have no choice.  I HAVE to control myself.  I HAVE to resist the urge to clean.  I HAVE to let others take care of my kids. The health of my unborn baby depends on it.  No one else can do the job of growing her in my uterus, so I HAVE to concentrate on that and let everything else go for the time being.  I will have plenty of time to pick it all back up when this baby comes.

And of course, we can't forget the MANY people who have gone above and beyond to help us out in the meantime.  My mother-in-law has pretty much dropped her life in order to come down here and help, giving up weddings, vacations, and family reunions to come cook, clean, and take care of very active children.  Not a very fair trade for her we realize, so we are incredibly grateful for her sacrifice.  Then there's all the friends who have come to take the kids for activities and playdates.  I can't even begin express how helpful that is.  The kids' behavior through all this chaos has understandably left much to be desired, so these little outings make such a big difference.  We are so thankful for the wonderful, unselfish people God placed in our lives to make this whole situation much more bearable.  We are truly blessed.

I am 25 weeks pregnant now...and counting...