40 Days and 40 Nights

Yup, I've tied Noah. I will forever look at what Noah and those on his ark endured in a new and very personal light. I have it much better though-- instead of a boat full of animal dung, I have a room full of flowers (plus no rain). Looking back over my nearly six week stay in here-- part of it feels like its gone by in a blip and the bigger part of me feels like I've been here for an eternity. It's too hard to put into words. I've been here so long, the head of the hospital's room service dropped in yesterday to get my "expert" opinion on the quality of food, service and variety. Wow, do I feel important. Ha! Since I've now tried everything on the menu (several times except for the meatloaf and a lasagne made of spinach and mushrooms) I had plenty of experience to draw upon.
Then I didn't even have to order off the menu for lunch yesterday. Elly is back from Holland and she and Stacy brought in this yummy lunch from a French Cafe in downtown Boise. We had a lovely time. My much loved Aunt RoEen also came by. She's up from Salt Lake for a family reunion tihs weekend. In case you are curious, I won't be going.
As for Spartacus, he had one of those humdingers (don't know if I've ever used that word before) of a deceleration-- two or three minutes before I was supposed to get off the heart monitors last night-- the little pill! So I was up pretty late, staying on the monitors, to make sure he was okay. He of course, looked fine and he looked good this morning. I also had some pretty good bleeding last night-- but Dr. Lovelace didn't seem too concerned. He just said keep going and he'll be in tomorrow. So I'm just going to be like Nemo... and keep swimmin'.
My mom has taken the girls to a family mother/daughter extravaganza. I'll give you a rundown in the next day or so.
My dear friend Bianca passed away last night after her seven year battle with cancer. She's much younger than me and one of those exceptional people that everyone loves. It seems like the good ones are always taken too early, doesn't it? She is an only child and my very full heart goes out to her wonderful parents. Bianca was a producer at channel 12 in Phoenix when I was there. We'd often sneak out to lunch together when we really were too busy and didn't have the time. She went undercover for me on several of my investigations and she was on the weekend cabin trip when Byron and I went from being just friends to having some sparks. I have so many memories with Bianca and anyone who knows her will testify she had one of the best laughs in the world. Not suprisingly, she was showered with love and well wishes from friends from all over the world in her final few weeks. I'm sure she left us knowing she is loved and adored.

Whoooppppeeee! The Baby is Week 30 (Day 39 in the hospital)

Wow. All these numbers to keep track of. But this is another biggie. Now, hopefully, we'll start seeing little Spartacus put on some weight. I, on the other hand, at weigh-in this morning, lost 4 ounces from last week. What's up with that? I'm shoving food in the ol' mouth like I'm eating for two or something.


Dr. Lovelace came in early this morning- he actually woke me up. So, as you can imagine, our conversation was pretty short. All is the same-- another day of incubating this little baby.


Do you remember Meagan (Byron's mother's cousin's daughter who spent a week watching the girls)... well she and her parents (Jan and Ken) whom I love very, very much-- showed up in my hospital room yesterday. They were driving from a family reunion in Washington back to Arizona and decided to "swing" by to see all of us. What a treat.


Here are some pictures from Saturday (4th of July) when the girls "opted" (surprise, surprise) to go with Grammy out to Middleton to my brother's house and then to a parade instead of coming up here.


Here they are all waiting for the parade to come by. My Sister-in-law, Dana is on the left, then Katie, Holland, Greer, Reese and Morgan. Notice the bags they have to help them "score" candy.

My mom said Reese (above) killed everyone in the candy department. She just stood there with her bag in her hands and the parade participants would put handfuls of candy inside it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact she had on a shirt that says "I Love Lollipops".

In the evening, they headed over to Jonathan and Sally Giles' house for a little water action (Greer above), a BBQ and fireworks.

Holland, ever the dare-devil, catching some air.

Fireworks with Jonathan (in the back), his daughter Sophia, then Holland, Greer and Elysia (Holland's best friend and Jonathan's oldest girl).

And finally, here's Greer and Holland looking like they had a great time. And Greer below with the ultimate 4th of July tradition for kids-- a sparkler. I guess, Reese wouldn't touch the sparklers, but had a blast throwing down those little pop rocks. As always, my kids are being well taken care of and won't need too much counseling when this whole adventure is said and done!!

Another Monday... (Day 38)

Well I made it through another weekend. In fact, tomorrow is another huge milestone-- a cause for celebration-- I'll be 30 weeks. And as I've mentioned earlier, its in the 30's that the baby will really grow-- approximately a half pound a week. I can't believe how many miracles we've experienced. I have to keep that in mind to overpower the doldrums of the day in and day out in the hospital.
Yesterday-- Sunday, went really fast. The Brinton family (from church) came up and spent the afternoon playing games. We played this strategic, yet hilarious card game called Scum. I haven't played it in probably 17 years!! Then Byron, my mom and the girls came up with dinner (homemade roast, mashed potatoes and corn). It was yummmy. Reese and Greer each brought books they'd checked out at the library. So we had fun reading those. They were both bear books. Our family seems to have an obsession with bears-- dating back to Byron's early encounters with bears out in the wild.
Dr. Lovelace is back in town. Phew! He told me this morning that my stomach actually looked a little bigger. He says everything is about the same with the baby and me... so we'll shoot for 32 weeks and try and test the amniotic fluid for a certain chemical or something like that -- that will show his lungs have developed. And then we'll decide from there. I did ask Dr. Lovelace what the longest possible time I could keep the baby in--- he said he hesitates to say-- because things can change and do change every day-- but the absolute longest he will now let me go is 35 weeks. Holy Cow!!! I can't even wrap my mind around being here another 5 weeks. I really think that would put Byron over the edge. He says he's already so used to me being gone-- it will be a real adjustment when I move back home... eventually. Ah, the twists and turns of life.

My Great Escape (Day 37)

I did make it out of my room to see fireworks last night. I know, naughty, naughty-- since it was against the fill-in doctor's orders. Byron pushed me in a wheelchair. There were three of us pregnant moms. We went up on the top floor (4th) of the parking garage with a nurse as our escort. I'll admit, I enjoyed being outside in the fresh air more than the perfect view of the fireworks. I haven't been outside since the end of May!!! And it was beautiful last night-- full moon, perfect weather etc. All went well, in fact, when I came back, my blood pressure was the best its been since I've been in here (I have extremely low blood pressure). Must have been the overdose of excitement. I know, I know, it doesn't take much to get me excited these days.

Spartacus looked great on the monitor last night (Byron was here)-- but looked flat this morning. The nurse loaded me up on juices again and by the end, he had more spark.

My mom took the girls and our box of fireworks over to a friend's house for a party and BBQ. I haven't heard about their adventures yet-- they had church first thing this morning and are all crashed out for naps as I write this.

My dear friend, Les has kept me entertained on the phone with his adventures covering Michael Jackson for the past gazillion hours straight. He and I worked together at KCBS in LA. He's now a network photographer-- and is today based at Forest Lawn Cemetery on the "burial" watch. He sent me these photos from his blackberry-- to show what media cluster it has been. I guess CBS is sending in 50 or 70 producers, photographers, editors and reporters from New York and Chicago to help cover this story and prepare for Tuesday's memorial circus. Les says that's more than they sent to cover the Democratic National Convention when it was in LA. I guess we all know what the masses really will care about and watch. Crazy.

This is outside the Coroner's office. I told him he should have his little boys set up a lemonade stand-- they could make enough to pay for their college and my hospital bills too!

This one is outside M.J.'s parents home.

And this one is just one satellite truck in a small city of sat trucks that is parked outside Forrest Lawn Cemetery. Les says the security guards for the cemetery are a bit edgy. Surprise, surprise.

If you are sick of all of the coverage, I apologize. I always think its interesting to see what's going on behind the video you see on your television.

Happy Fourth of July!!! (Day 36)

Yup. I'm still here. Stacy has already called to make sure everything was allright. I'm just very, very late in getting to this. (It's after 7pm). I had my blog all pulled up and ready to start when my friend, Rachelle showed up to give me a pedicure (bright red polish with fireworks on the big toes)! Then Byron came to spend the day with me (he's still here). My mom took the girls to a parade and my brother's house for a BBQ. Now they are headed over to Sally's house for a party and fireworks.
Remember I had told you the fill in doctor for Dr. Lovelace had put a big no on my foray to watch fireworks. The nurses (who I know oh, so well) said I already have a wheelchair order to go to craft day-- so if Byron wants to sneak me out to watch fireworks for a few minutes-- it's all okay. They think Dr. Christensen was just being overly cautious since I'm not his patient. So Byron is staying here and we have our great "escape" planned for 10 p.m. Can't wait to get out of this room!!!!
Spartacus looked just okay this morning during monitoring. But I have to say when Byron was here this afternoon he looked the best he's looked in a week. He must have perked up at hearing his dad's voice. We'll see if my theory holds for the 9p.m. testing. Hope everyone has a great 4th! I know I will-- I get to get out of here for 15 minutes.

Byron and Reese's Overnight Get-a-way

Remember I told you Byron had taken Reese on an overnight camping trip for his birthday. We'll here's the proof he survived. You can double click on the picture to get a good look at the Barbie fishing pole Byron is holding. (They didn't catch anything). Boy has life changed for Mr. Montana! They hiked in about a mile and a half to Blue Lake where there was still plenty of snow.

It rained a bit-- once they got their tents set up. Byron's brother, Craig and his son Brandon went with them.

Below is a picture of Zoe (our dog) and Blue (with the stick). Blue "parents" are in Holland on vacation. We have very few picture of Blue without a stick or log (no joke) in his mouth.

And finally, here's Reese in the tent where she attempted to sleep. I think she did okay. But Byron said with her moving in and out and all around-- he was lucky to get 2 or 3 hours. I'm impressed at how clean her face is...

Yikes!!! 35 Days today-- That's Five Weeks In Here!

Okay, I'll be honest, this is getting really old. But I'm determined to make it another two and a half weeks. Even though Byron and his brother Craig keep referring to my time here as a "stay-cation". Come now would you like to trade places with me? I do want to get to 32 weeks of pregnancy with Spartacus. All those prayers are definitely working. And even thought its a roller coaster in here, I'm feeling pretty calm. I had some cramping last night and then bleeding. But extra monitoring showed Spartacus looking just fine-- and no contractions on my part.

Dr. Christensen (Dr. Lovelace's partner) came in this morning. The nurse had told me to ask him if I could get a wheelchair pass for Saturday night to move to another side of the building to see fireworks over Boise. He gave me the big thumbs down. With my body being ruptured, placenta tearing and bleeding, and the baby at high risk for a cord accident etc. He doesn't want me anywhere but across from the O.R. Guess I'll settle for watching the show on TV. Somebody do a sparkler for me, okay?

Mary K, Jeannie and their mom, Mary brought Thai food up last night. Yum. It was so nice to have them hang out and keep my mind occupied.

On the girl world front-- I guess they had a pretty exciting night the other night. We are dog sitting the Moomey's dog: Blue. At 4am Zoe and Blue started going insane. Byron stumbled out of bed, found a flashlight and headed downstairs. Over the dogs barking-- he could hear a loud hissing and immediately thought it was a mountain lion (since we live in the foothills). By the time he got outside, the dogs had whatever it was up a big tree. Not wanting to stand directly under the tree, he stood to the side shining his flashlight. Finally, he spotted three sets of beady eyes staring at him. He said there were three massive raccoons hissing at him. He said they were the size of Reese! Guess they've been living high on all the neighbors garbage, dog and cat food.