Grateful

There's so much for me to be grateful for and I wanted to list them all right off the top of my head.

~First and foremost: a WONDERFUL HUSBAND. He has been my comfort through all the things that have been happening. When we were in the hospital, he kept telling me to just breathe. He was great to focus on when I was having a contraction, and he let me hold his hand. (Thank goodness, I haven't gone in the 'squeeze the heck out of your spouse's hand' stage of labor.) For the past four hours, he has been sleeping on his left side. Usually right after he falls asleep, he turns over onto his back or his right side to sleep. Not tonight. He has been sleeping cuddled up to me. I married such a sweet man.

~INTUITION: Sometimes a woman knows when something's going on. I was having timeable contractions on Tuesday, but I decided to wait it out. I didn't want to call the doctor like some dummy because I wasn't even sure if I was having contractions. I thought they were just Braxton hicks. By Friday night, they were coming every 5-20 minutes. I still decided to wait it out. On Saturday, I was having contractions no matter what. If I moved, the contractions didn't stop. I could be laying down, sitting up, walking around...I'd keep having the contraction. I decided to call the doctor and let him know what was going on. I had had contractions about 10 minutes apart. He sent me to Labor and Delivery, they hooked me up to monitors, and sure enough I was having real contractions. They didn't hurt or anything, but they were extremely uncomfortable and made it so that I could barely breathe. I'm so glad that I trusted my gut and finally called the doc!

~TERBUTALINE: These are the drugs that they use to stop contractions. Once they confirmed that I was having contractions (I actually had the nurse feel my stomach at the hospital because it was really tight and that's what I had been timing...she confirmed that yep, it was a contraction.), they gave me the shot in my arm. Then, they monitored me. The contractions stopped after about 5-10 minutes after the shot. Thank goodness!

~STEROIDS: Because the doctor thinks that Kayson will make his way into the world before 37 weeks, they gave me some meds to help mature his lungs. I got the shot in my hip and it wasn't all that pleasant. The nurse was like, "It'll be quick and painless." Andrew tried to distract me by asking me about the new Harry Potter movie...it helped enough to get me through the poke. I still took a really deep breath in, though. I have to go back tonight to get another shot. I know that babies born preterm sometimes come into the world with breathing problems, so if those shots help him I am all for it. I want my baby healthy.

~SENSE OF HUMOR: I've had to learn to just laugh at myself and through all of the anxiety. If I don't laugh, I will probably cry. I think I've cried enough this pregnancy.

~PRIESTHOOD BLESSING: One of our neighbors from the apartment complex came over with her husband, while he helped Andrew give me a blessing. (Just so you know, this neighbor has been beyond amazing. I love her so much right now! She's almost like my substitute mom and she's only 3 years older than me.) For those of you who don't know what a priesthood blessing is, here's a short description taken from lds.org: "A blessing given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder (basically a worthy guy in the church), by the laying on of hands and by inspiration, to one who is sick or otherwise in need of special counsel, comfort, or healing. If the blessing is for the sick, consecrated oil is used." I think the blessing helped out a bit. I haven't had a contraction since 11:30 last night! YAY!

~ENTERTAINMENT: Since it looks like I'll be spending a lot of time on the couch and/or bed, I am grateful for the things that I'll be able to do...like read, watch tv, get on the internet. I'm such an active girl and these things should keep me "settled," I hope, until week 37. Only 2 weeks and about 2 days away from 37 weeks! Almost there.

~MY LITTLE BOY: As soon as the nurse put the monitors on my stomach last night, Kayson decided that he was going to be FEISTY. He kicked those monitors so hard. I don't think he rested/relaxed the whole 2 and a half hours that I was at the hospital. It gave me a lot of comfort, though, because he's such a little fighter already. I'm going to have my hands full when he gets here. 

~MY SAVIOR: I wanted to put this last because He is the most important to me. Without Him, I have no clue what I'd do. It's nice to have someone who has gone through this and can relate to me personally. When I get worried, it's easy for me to say, "Hello, Jesus. I could really use some help right now." I just know that He listens. My Savior died not only for my sins, but my illnesses. I feel like I have such a strong bond with Him as my body is being tested and pushed towards its limits. I can almost hear the Savior's voice saying, "Keep going. You can do it. You're almost there."