No progression is good progression.

We went for our non stress test and weekly appointment last evening. Baby is doing well according to the non stress test. Baby is moving plenty and the heart rate and rhythm look good. I was having frequent contractions yesterday but the great news is that I am still 70% effaced and not dilated! As Dr. Seigel said, contractions are just contractions unless they are changing my progress. And during the last week, I've not progressed. (He also mentioned my "butler" Christian must be doing an excellent job and to keep doing what we're doing because it's working well).
I'm on strict bedrest through the end of the week and then I can start to do a little bit more. I anticipate I'll do well out of the house this Saturday at the Tolentino baby shower and hope I can then attend my scheduled classes during the following weeks. We have an infant care class on Monday the 5th and a breastfeeding class on Tuesday the 13th. We were originally signed up for Lamaze as well, but I heard mixed opinions from friends and ended up cancelling. Now I'm thinking I'd like to sign up, especially since I have a good chance of a normal delivery without c-section, but it's 3 hrs long on 3 different nights. That seems like a bit much. One of the nurses mentioned I might be able to have someone come to the house and do an overview of the class since I'm on bedrest, so I need to call the hospital and find out if that really is an option.
Today's been nice. I slept so well last night; I went to bed early last night and was able to fall asleep after each dose of medicine I took during the night and didn't wake up till 8am. Since I'm up I've gotten a few more pages of my scrap book done, made some doctor appointments and watched some TV. I really want to get the ultrasound picture of Baby T posted, but I can't get the scanner to cooperate. Christian will check it out for me.
Tonight is gonna be wild! New Years Eve '08...
Happy New Year everyone!!

What an excellent Christmas!

It's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone. However, I think it was the best Christmas yet. My nephew Alec turned 21 on Christmas and we just had such a great time... we laughed and laughed and laughed. Vince and Sandy and the boys and Mom and Dad came early to help Christian with last minute preparations. When Mark and Marla and their family came, they were dressed as a nerdy Christmas family who came in singing Christmas Carols. Dinner was really good- we had a traditional Polpino Christmas (combination of Polish and Filipino food in the spirit of our little Polpino on the way).

We started the gift opening with Alec's birthday gifts- Marla asked us all to donate one of our shot glasses to start his collection. Christian and I also gave him a bottle of Patron Tequilla. Well, it wouldn't be right if everyone didn't do a shot with him to celebrate. So that's when the party really got started! Later, we exchanged our adult grab bag gifts, followed by the kids opening their gifts, and then our white elephant gifts. Oh my gosh! The white elephant gifts were ridiculous. I'll just say that Marla submitted a Hawaiian two piece outfit which ended up with Alec by way of default. And we weren't going to let it just sit in the box. So, we had to twist his arm, but not too hard... and on it went. It was so tight, the poor kid could barely breathe. We laughed so hard we were crying. At the end of the night, we played a few rounds of Password. Vince's family spent the night as did Alec. SOOO much fun!!

Chelsea and Ronnie and the kids are coming over today, they drove in from Virginia yesterday. Chelsea loves Portillo's, so that's what we're having for lunch (I don't mind Portillo's so much myself). We're going to be watching the Bears game. She'll be here for the Tolentino Baby Shower; we're excited to see them!

Christian, Baby, and me with Lola and Lolo...

Grandpa and Grandma with all the grandchildren; that's Baby T. Grandma has her hand on... they covered my face and body with place mats so that only grandchildren would be in the picture.

Here's the nerdy Barthel Christmas Caroling Crew...

The Queens... we decided my crown looked best over my big forehead. Not so sure about that decision now.

Vince singing karaoke in Tagalog the day after Christmas... another great laugh.

Alec's 21st!!! Grandma made him his beer stine cake. I couldn't take him seriously in his nerdy outfit the whole night.

Home Sweet Home!

I'm HOME!! I came home last night; we left the hospital around 7:30 last night. The ride home was a bit nerve-racking due to the snow storm, but we got home safely. Christian gave me a great welcome home gift... comfy pj's, some comfy sweats, and a boppy wedge pillow to stick under my belly- it's great. My night was uneventful- good preparation for baby's arrival. I had my alarm set to take my meds every 4 hours. Each time, I'm supposed to drink up and have a snack too. Well, that leads to me having to wake up 2 hrs later to pee. Despite that, I was glad I was still able to fall asleep between alarms and bathroom breaks.

Marla came over and saved me today! Christian went out to work and do some last minute running around. She brought me a "project". I was anticipating what this project was- I got an album and paper and other scrapbooking supplies. She helped me to download all my pregnancy pics to Walgreens website to get them printed and in the mean time she helped around the house by wrapping some gifts, making food for tomorrow, and getting the place tidied up. What a great help!

I didn't mention that Baby's estimated weight was 4.6 lbs at our appointment last Thursday. I'm reading that the average weight at 32 weeks is 3.75 lbs, so that was good news. As of Tuesday morning, I was 70% effaced, but not dilated. That's a big change from my first check a few hours after admission into the hospital when I wasn't effaced or dilated. However, if I can keep the contractions under control, I'm told I might be able to stay this way for a few weeks... I have my next visit to the doctor on Tuesday, so we'll see if things are changing at that time. (Hope not).

Christian went to Mass tonight with his parents and will be home after that. It doesn't feel like Christmas Eve to me, but I look forward to tomorrow, spending the evening with our families. I'm just glad to be home and with a baby in my belly! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Short Term Goal: 34 weeks

WOW! I just returned from one of the top showers ever! It ranks close to the first shower at home after camping. I'm still here at the hospital. My maternal-fetal specialist saw me early this morning and felt I may be able to go home today. Then I saw Dr. Heimburger who asked that I stay another day. He was so pleased to learn that I had not delivered over the weekend; he really suspected that when he returned to the hospital today, he'd find me with a baby in the NICU. His partners took good care of me in his absence. He gave the okay for me to transfer up to the mother-baby unit where I'm under less intense monitoring, yet can be observed under conditions that more realistically mimic what I'll be doing at home... bed, bathroom, and a trip to the chair now and then. (The picture above really could be me. Christian has set me up with Play Station, magazines, books, games, snacks, toiletries, everything I could ask for. I thought I'd need a moving crew to get me up to my new room).

Dr. has set a short term goal to get me through 2 more weeks. Ideally, making it to 36 weeks, but making it to 34 weeks would be greatly beneficial to Baby T's long term health. With that being said, I am on strict bed rest for at least two weeks followed by a possible increase in activity if my assessments are looking good at that point. As my nurse has stated, this is the first of many situations as a parent where we cannot predict or control the future or the outcome. I will be monitored weekly at his office once I am discharged from the hospital and will continue to monitor myself for bleeding and contractions while at home.

My contractions have really slowed down, I'm having about 1-4 an hour at most while in bed. They do increase when I'm out of bed but there's been no more active bleeding. Thank you all for your prayers, phone calls and messages. I'll keep updating as things progress. Baby seems happy in its current home and is moving around a lot. Other than this head cold, a backache from laying in bed and occasional headache from my meds, I feel good. Really, knowing how some of these medications can effect the mother as I'm told by Marla and Sandy, I feel very fortunate to be on Nifedipine with side effects I can tolerate well. Christian has been so wonderful and supportive. He really is my strength and best friend and I am forever grateful to have him as my husband. Our families have shown extraordinary strength and support as well, and together we will get through this too. Thank you, thank you, thank you all!

And finally, as it is customary for me to share my entries with Christian before posting them, Christian has requested I add one other comment... GO BEARS!!

Update...

Well, well...
Thursday was our 32 week appointment with Dr. Heimburger. We had an ultrasound prior to seeing him and had our moms with us. It was wonderful! First of all, I learned at my 20 week appointment that I had placenta previa, but Christian and I kept it to ourselves since we didn't want to cause unnecessary worry for anyone. Doc said that in 90% of women, the placenta moves up as the belly grows to clear the birth canal. We shared the news with our moms prior to the ultrasound so they would be prepared for either outcome.
So, when we went in, our ultrasound tech let us know that it appeared the placenta had moved up and away from the birth canal. We got to see Baby T, who was asleep at the time. My mom was saying, "Charlie, (that's the name Baby T inherited in the very beginning rather than calling it, an IT) wake up..." Baby wasn't listening but Grandma didn't give up. She continued to ask baby to wake up and then, sure enough Baby began to move. But the most beautiful thing happened next... she was saying "Charlie, wave to us. Come on, Baby". I responded lightheartedly, "Come on, mom", letting her know she was being unrealistic. Not but two seconds later, Baby picked up its right hand and gave the most pronounced wave you could ever imagine- and directly at us! We ALL began to cry, even the ultrasound tech had a tear in her eye! We got a bunch of pictures which I will post as soon as possible. Baby has the cutest little pudgy lips I've ever seen.
Next, Christian and I went in to see Dr. Heimburger and he was pleased to report things were looking very good for us. I let him know Christian and I had been feeling under the weather, especially me at that time- coming down with a head cold and body aches. He let me know what regimen to follow and so I went home to rest. I stayed home from work on Friday and slept all day alternating tea with liquids trying to flush the bug out of my system and getting lots of sleep. My evening was pretty routine, nothing out of the ordinary, other than my cold.
At 1:30 in the morning I woke up to find myself and the bed wet, and went to the bathroom to find myself bleeding. I was pretty horrified at the amount of blood on my pants, and I was still actively bleeding. I went to wake up Christian to tell him to come in the bathroom, and that I needed to go to the hospital. I continued to bleed, paged my doctor and he directed me to come in to the ER where they would take me to the labor and delivery unit and they would be waiting for me there.
The next 10 minutes are a blur. I got cleaned up and changed, packed a few belongings, we let the dogs out, got the car started, and were on our way. I was white as a ghost, and trying to stay calm. I was talking to myself and praying to God that Baby was okay. Christian poured me a glass of orange juice in hopes we could get some movement from the baby, since we hadn't yet.
The car ride was a nightmare. Baby would not move. Christian and a were falsely reassuring each other, trying to not fall apart on each other, but clearly we were both a mess. At first I was thinking we'd be okay, but when baby wasn't moving I had the worst thoughts possible racing through my head. I found myself with my mouth wide open and hand over my mouth just holding everything in, shaking my head back and forth.
At last, I felt movement! I wasn't relieved until I had felt a few movements; but from that moment until we had gotten to the hospital 15 minutes, later I had felt 11 movements and 8 contractions. These weren't my normal Braxton Hicks contractions. They wheeled me up to the L&D department, hooked us up to monitoring, and within a short time my Doctor was at the hospital to see us.
After reviewing the details, labs, and ultrasound he decided it would be in our best interest to get some steroids on board to mature Baby's lungs as quickly as possible to prepare for baby to be taken by c-section the next morning. He explained in order for this to be effective, we needed to keep baby in me for at least 48 hrs, allowing the 2 doses of steroid injections to be effective. He was concerned for two possibilities- 1. the bleeding was caused by contractions combined with a low lying placenta (still near the birth canal) or 2. placental abruption. The second would be least desirable. My contractions at this time were 4-10 minutes apart. Baby was now asleep, and Doc was not completely satisfied with the results of his exam. I assured him Baby was moving in the car and since we had arrived, but he needed to see that for himself. Baby did have a tight fist which proved muscle tone, so that was reassuring to the doctor. Regardless, it was tense in the room. We were seen by a maternal-fetal specialist a few hours later who started me on a medication to slow my contractions since they were now coming steadily every four minutes. Luckily, I was not dilated. He was able to see good movement from Baby when he came to the room to do another ultrasound and assured us Baby was looking healthy and doing well. Our goal now was to make sure bleeding would stop and to slow down the contractions.
I'll continue to take the meds while I'm here and once I go home too. Contractions did slow by last evening, about every 8-12 minutes, until later when they really became rare. Then my nurse woke me at 3 am to let me know they were steadily 2 minutes apart again and had been for some time. I had recently taken my Nifedipine to slow contractions, and after about another hour and half combined with some extra fluids and a snack, they slowed again. When Doc came in this morning, he said we'd be increasing the frequency of the med I'm on; I'm on the highest dose possible, so if this doesn't do the trick, they may need to change my meds. For now, I'm here at the hospital. Baby and I are doing well. I'm a bit antsy and restless; but I know I'm in the best place possible for us. The reality is that even when I go home I'm going to be on bed rest for a minimum of 2 weeks. I may be able to return to work after that, but for now we're looking at one day at a time, and praying for the healthiest outcome for all of us.
We'll keep the blog updated... please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I hope to be home in a few days if we get these contractions under control. So far, we seem to be moving in the right direction. I'm not sleeping much, so I rest whenever I can, even if it just means closing my eyes here and there.

Just 9 more weeks!!

These next weeks are going to fly by! I can't believe we are down to 9 weeks until our due date! I remember looking at Amanda's blog months ago and thinking how amazing it must feel seeing that baby ticker on the second to last month... and here we are. It seems like just yesterday we got the voicemail that we were pregnant, and now we are weeks away from meeting Baby T! This has been so amazing- and now I anticipate the next series of events.

I think a lot about the delivery and how fortunate we are to have so many friends who have shared their stories with us about delivery and what to expect, as well as what they didn't expect at all. The men have shared some pretty awesome stories too- I love hearing our friends explain to Christian what was the most amazing time of their life- the delivery of their first child. What's interesting is to hear how many of them recall the most terrifying moment being the car ride home. Getting baby in the car, knowing you're on your own now, and then shaking at the steering wheel bearing the responsibility of this life in the back seat.

Just a short time ago it seemed like we had forever to plan and prepare for Baby's arrival. Now Christmas is here and we are preparing for the holiday while trying to squeeze in dates to work on the nursery as well as take our classes in preparation for the baby to join us. We are so busy, and I am getting SO tired.

Last week we got together with friends to watch Mexico's Oscar De La Hoya fight Philippine's Manny Pacquiao. Here's a picture of our very own Mexican and Filipino in traditional wear just after Manny was announced the winner since Oscar couldn't take the punches anymore and quit! (We love you Leo). We had so much fun. The atmosphere was complete with Mexican and Filipino flags and decorations as well as a Mexican and Filipino feast!

We went to the Bull's Game last night and Lola got to feel Baby kick! Baby officially has an outfit for each of Daddy's favorite sports... ooh, except golf. We'll have to work on that. We had a nice time- I had the standard taffy apple for dessert... well, half of it. And Baby wanted to try Daddy's fruit tart too. So I ate half of that as well. You'd never tell though by looking at me- HAAAAH! I love when people are so polite and say, "Oh, Joelle, it is all baby!! You look great." Really? 'Cause if this baby weighs 43 pounds and I still have 9 weeks to go, I have a big problem on my hands.

We are really excited for Thursday, it's the day of our ultrasound! We haven't seen Baby for 12 weeks, and Grandma and Lola will be there with us to get a sneak peak at their next grandchild. We can't wait!