Day 14 at Home

Friday, June 21
Fourteenth day of bedrest at home

Welcome to the first day of summer!  Around here, it's felt like summer for at LEAST the past month, probably longer in my world just from carrying a bowling ball around my abdomen.  But, in all actuality, today didn't seem any hotter or more miserable than any days preceding it, and I wasn't necessarily sweating like a pig all day long.

But, I digress.  Today was definitely my forced "take it easy" day, after having spent a good chunk of the day yesterday out of bed and entertaining company.  So, in other words, it was back to business as usual.  I was a bit worn out in the afternoon, actually, and ended up taking a short nap.  I love napping, and I usually take a nap on the weekends when Jared does, so it's almost a bit surprising that I'm not really feeling the urge most days (since I've been at home) to nap.  I think it's probably good that I got one in today, as it hopefully well make me more rested for the weekend ahead.

In other news, the baby is doing her fair share of moving and shaking around quite a lot.  I can almost imagine her trying to sleep like her brothers, butt in the air (even though I have no idea how she's really positioned, aside from it being assumed that she's still head down).  A few tightenings here and there in my belly and in my back now (???), but, again, unsure if it's the baby or what, since most of them do coincide with when she's most active.

And, I suppose I shall leave things at that!  With it being almost 11pm, I am kind of worn down from the day (even though it was spent sedentary!)...and I don't particularly want to delve into some other subject that's deeper, something that I've been thinking about for a while (regarding all of the things that I "can't" do now, that I'm missing out on, and all of the things I've had to modify to adjust to the whole bedrest thing).  But that will come soon!

Day 13 at Home

Thursday, June 20th
Day 13 on bedrest...30 weeks!!!

So we've made it to the big 3-0 weeks!  Making it to 32 will be a huge one, for sure, and now it's only 2 weeks off!  As I type this, the baby is doing some pretty hefty full body moves in my belly, it's kind of fun to watch.

Anyway...on to today.  I remember being woken up, or I woke up only to have the realization that two big contractions were coming on.  I'll quit calling them Braxon Hicks ones, because who really knows. They weren't painful, but they definitely made my whole belly and my lower back tight.  Time seems longer when there's something going on in the middle of the night, so I don't know how long they REALLY were, but they seemed longer than the random ones I've had this week, clocked at around 15 seconds long.  And they were also timed far enough apart that I fell asleep between them quite easily.

So we went about the morning stuff, getting the kids off to daycare and so on, and I stayed home and prepared for visitors in the afternoon!  I was fantastic to see some friends that I haven't seen for about 10 years (and their kids...only had met the oldest two, and they were quite small at the time!).  When Daniel and Jared got home, they had fun (especially Daniel, Jared was kind of quiet and kept to himself) with the bigger kids.  When you're cooped up inside the house, it really is nice to have visitors...even when your house is a stinky disaster (courtesy of naughty cats).

Wow...it seemed like there was so much more to talk about today, but I think I covered that in a nutshell!  And here it is...the ticker for today...

Day 12 at Home

Wednesday, June 19th
Still on bedrest at home & doctor's appointment - 29w6d!

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago today I was being admitted to the hospital for pre-term labor.  It seemed like everything happened so fast, and spiraled out of control so quickly, but in the end, the baby is safe and sound inside, where she should be!  I can't help but wonder what might have happened if I'd waited...everything from the extreme notion that I'd have been fine (ha!), to the other extreme of things going downhill to the point where they couldn't stop a baby from coming (again, extreme).

Aside from that, today is my favorite day of the week because it's doctor's appointment day!  It started off with the usual ultrasound, which is always fun and usually comforting.  It's kind of interesting that they're monitoring how much amniotic fluid the baby has...I honestly didn't imagine that would be a huge concern.  It was interesting to see the graph over time.  As I recall, the fluid has been close to normal, maybe a little higher, with last time being lower...like the levels vary and jump around.  Nothing of concern though!

Second part was seeing the doctor, Dr. Urig, the same one we saw last week.  I've lost 2lbs since last week (wha?), blood pressure was good and presumably everything pee related was too.  No cervix check, but figuring/hoping it isn't changing, and there isn't a real reason why it would, in theory.  Good news is that I can migrate to the couch, or more importantly outside to the lounge chairs by the pool.  And as an added bonus...can go IN THE POOL!

Well, that's about it!  Looking forward to seeing some visitors tomorrow, hopefully...even if I can't do a whole lot in terms of mobility.

Day 11 at Home

Tuesday, June 18th
Eleventh day of bedrest at home

I've come to the realization that I could stand to mix things up a bit (ha!) in terms of things to put on this blog.  I mean, yeah, I'm still going to blather about all of the thing going on in my confined little space, but I think it would be more interesting to read later on if I left little things to look back on laugh at, or reminders to myself or something along those lines.

Also quite random, I'm realizing that I'm losing track of the date and my number of days at home so far...sometimes it feels like a lot, sometimes not!  Is today Tuesday?  Yeah I guess it is!  Only way that I deduce that it's either Tuesday or Thursday is that Mike is at the office today and not working from home.  At least that's something.

Anyway, something that I've thought about recently is trying to prepare for the unexpected.  With the idea that there's less to scurry around for if a particular situation were to arise, and the superstitious part of me saying that if I prepare, it will keep something crazy from happening.  Wishful thinking, but I'm going to plan anyway.

Today's planning has to do with what happens if I have to go to the hospital for more monitoring/another stay before the baby is born.  I was not at ALL prepared for the last hospital stay, but I did have a mental list of things that are essential (for me, at least) to grab before heading to the hospital.  But I can improve on that...so here goes:

Amy's Must-Haves Hospital List

Cell Phone Charger
Laptop/Charger

PJ Pants and/or Shorts (for when not wearing hospital gown)
Tank top, loose shirt, or otherwise (same)
Clean underwear

Hair brush
Deodorant
Toothbrush/toothpaste
Contacts/case/saline solution

Now, at the risk of having that "moved in" feeling at the hospital, I guess there's a few other things that might have been nice to have with the last hospital stay. And mind you, I didn't have everything on the above list with me...most notably missing were the hair brush, deodorant and toothbrush/toothpaste.  So here's the list of "if you can grab it/it's in the bag, bring it!" items.

Amy's Optional Hospital Items List

Camera (will explain later)
Batteries
A movie to watch/something to watch it on
Cables to watch said movie in room
Craft interest of the day/week

Wet wipes
Nice smelling body spray
A razor

Snacks and drinks of various types (for Mike)

OK, I put the camera and batteries thing down JUST in case a hospital stay turns baby delivery.  Our cell phones have cameras that will do in a pinch, but I'd rather have the good one.  The movie thing...it's tempting to just say "oh, bring the Roku", which would be fine, but I don't know how well it works on hospital wifi.  And with too many options, and nothing in particular picked out in advance, the tendency is to spend a lot of time wondering what we should see.  If we keep in mind what we want to watch in advance, then we can!  Obviously, having the cables to hook up whatever movie we want to watch to the TV in the room is another thing.  I seem to recall the TV in the room having the standard A/V cables, but it might have an HDMI in (I never was up that close to it to see).  Figure we can watch it on the laptop if needbe too.

Crafts.  Ha!  I always think that I'm going to have loads of time to do that sort of thing, but the time I tried to do Daniel's birth information cross-stitch thing in the hospital, I didn't get very far.  Wishful thinking, but one of these times I'll get something completed!  In any case, cross stitch, crochet, and my chainmail stuff (the 3 C's!) pack pretty lightly and they're a good thing to keep occupied.

I put the toiletry things on there as not MUST haves, but in hindsight they would have been nice.  I was sweating like a pig (both this last trip, and I remember doing the same after both Daniel and Jared were born).  A few times the nurses had wet wash clothes to wipe down with, but occasionally I though it'd be handy to have baby wipes or something just to get the yuck off.  Body spray, same concept.  Razor...well...I've moved past worrying about being Sasquatch or something, and my hair doesn't really grow THAT fast.  Nice to have though.

Well, now that the lists are done, they're now handily online in case it does come down to throwing stuff in a bag (vs having it already in there).

Now onto today.  Pretty good, again (I say that all the time!).  I went kind of in and out of sleep when Mike had to get up at around 4:30, just checking to see if he had come back to bed or not.  So, I slept better than he did...hoping he gets a better sleep tonight!  Cramping really hasn't been there, but I'm noticing a few more tightening spells.  Still not a lot, definitely not more than 6 times an hour, and not as intense or frequent as they were before this whole thing started.  I do question myself, though, because the tightening happens in one of three combinations.

1.  Baby stretches and tightens the side she's on (usually right)
2.  Baby moves or stretches, and my whole belly goes tight
3.  I can't detect the baby moving, or she might move a tiny bit, but my whole belly goes tight.

So, I can't tell what is triggering it (is it the baby?  did she cause it or is she reacting to it?).

Mood is pretty even today...I'm feeling a bit productive with grading today, and I have visitors lined up for possibly tomorrow evening and on Thursday/Friday during the day.  That, and tomorrow is doctor's appointment day!  Until next time!

Day 10 at Home

Monday, June 17th
Tenth day on bedrest at home!

Well, not a whole lot to report today other than it's Monday.  The new week was definitely welcomed (for me and Mike, and probably the kids too!), and we started off on our new usual routine.  Daniel to speech, Jared lazily having breakfast while he watches Mickey Mouse.  Mike did a quick run to McDonalds for breakfast while Daniel was at speech and brought it home (yum!!!).  I think Jared enjoyed spending a little quality time cuddled up with mommy and daddy while Daniel was away...even if it was short lived and even if it was just for a quickie breakfast.

And then Mike was off to pick up Daniel so that he and Jared could get deposited at daycare.  A fantastic surprise came from the director of the daycare...some dinners for us!  Definitely made my morning at how nice and thoughtful!  So far so good!  Next on the agenda, carpets. The carpet cleaners called to see if it was OK to come earlier (which it was...definitely!), and they showed up right before 12:30, and were finished before 1:15.  Awesome.  My morning and early afternoon I decided to try the dragon chain mail (which I'm still working on...getting things right and deciding on my own "design" so to speak).

Into the afternoon, I did a little bit of grading for my class, and just took it easy.  It's kind of nice not to be rushed while grading, and not waiting around until the kids are in bed to even start it.

Physically, I'm doing pretty well I think.  Yesterday I was definitely the most "sore", but that was mostly from being a bit more contorted to avoid having the kids bumping into me.  My belly is a bit tighter than I think it was late last week, but not contraction-y.  I say it often, but it is really hard to say what each particular ache is.  In the past, I was almost certain when I was having a Braxton Hicks contraction, or any sort of overall cramping or tightening.  I think even in the hospital, I grew aware of when a contraction was coming on or when I was in the middle of one.  But, yeah, now I'm not so sure.  I almost wish I had a monitor that I could wear to see in passing what I can detect and what I can't.  Or something that would ask me "are you having a contraction" when it thinks I'm having one.

Anyway, I digress...on to the next day...

Day 9 at Home - Father's Day!

Sunday, June 16th
Ninth day at home, Father's Day and 29w3d!

A very happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there (very generic sounding), and of course to the two father's that I know best, my own, and the father to my children, Mike!

Well, today was a bit of a draining day.  Once again, the kids got up at not a wholly unreasonable hour, but Mike had been woken up (and I, too...I turn into a light sleeper when I have issues with temperature regulation) several times for work, so we were both a little tired (him probably more so than me, since I wasn't the one answering the phone).  The kids tend to go a little stir-crazy by Sunday, and with me being stationary, that was magnified.

Mike's task was to get everything ready for the carpet cleaners tomorrow, which he did in pretty good time...but it also involved a lot of manual labor for him, and a lot of me trying to keep kids calm and prevent them from crawling all over me (literally).  So, yeah, we're both tired.

Cramping wasn't awful today, but it seems like it was more than usual today.  I don't know whether it was because of the kids (and straining myself that way) or allowing myself to become more dehydrated than usual (didn't help that the kids wanted to steal my water or whatever I was drinking whenever they got the chance).  My little belly-dweller was having fun punching or kicking pretty low down, which didn't feel really good either.  I think both Mike and I are looking forward to Monday...something you seriously wouldn't ever think we'd say!

In other news (and this is always a subject that makes me tense...and I really am trying hard not to let it get to me) is my parents are kicking things up a notch in terms of moving.  All plans are for them to close on the sale on July 11th, and tentative plan is for them to leave for Washington on July 12th.  What that means is that we'll be inheriting some furniture...next week!  It's kind of stressing me out having to think about what to do with the kids when the baby comes, and even what to do if something happens between now and the 36 week mark (in the sense of, if I have another episode of contractions or if something changes and I end up hospitalized again, it puts a lot of strain there).  It seems like things have been one trigger after another for stress...but I guess at least I feel lucky that they do end up resolving after a while, if only to be replaced by a new stress.

I'm looking forward to a new week...lots of exciting things I hope!

Day 8 at Home

Saturday, June 15th
First day of the 2nd week at home!

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, I've made it a week at home on bedrest!  A week ago I was just getting discharged from the hospital and adjusting to my "new" normal.

Today went pretty well, all things told.  The kids didn't wake up until around 9:30, so not too early, not too late.  Mike took Daniel for a swim kind of early, and Jared stayed with me to watch TV in the bedroom.  A pretty decent morning!  I wasn't crampier than usual in the morning, but I did have a couple of minor contractions, spaced pretty randomly (not painful either).  Mike ran to Taco Bell with the boys for lunch, and did a quick deposit of cans at the recycling machine.  After we all ate, it was time for Jared's nap (which he went down reluctantly for, even though he was tired).  I napped a little as well while Daniel watched a movie.  Now it's the early evening, and Jared is watching Mickey again while Mike and Daniel are out at Target.

I'm doing overall pretty well today.  The lab closing stuff is still on my mind, and I don't think that will ever go.  I am also just longing to go outside or something like that.  Next week, there's lots of opportunity for visitors (some people that I haven't seen for 10 or 15 or more years even!), and I'm pretty excited about that.  Even though I wish I was helping out with getting things cleaned up around the house...Mike is doing a great job, but I wish I was doing it too :(.

Well, that was pretty short for today...just looking for things to look forward to, and right now those things are having some visitors and getting out to see the doctor again (sad when doctor's appointments are the favorite time of the week...hahaha!).  And, of course, hitting the 30 week mark is next on the agenda for this week as well!

Background Thus Far!

I realize I'm being eclectic about the order of my posts, but I promise that this is the last backlog!  It's been hard to figure out when this started, or if there were any signs that this was coming...so here's the story starting from when things might have been iffy.

Monday, May 6th
OB Appointment, 23w4d

A few weeks before, I started noticing a few (what I think/thought/assume) Braxton Hicks contractions.  One day at work (April 4th, to be exact), I was feeling quite a few, and thought I'd try out my contraction timer.  The BH contractions were averaging maybe 10-15 seconds long, and 15 minutes between.  They were highly irregular, and I thought there were several reasons contributing.  One, it's hot here.  I just need to drink more water (and if I remember correctly, that was what fixed things up that day).  Two, somewhere I heard BH contractions start earlier in successive pregnancies, and since this isn't my first, it's bound to be earlier.

In any case, at the appointment, I mentioned this to the doctor, along with a reassuring "I'm sure I just need to increase my water intake and so on".  He agreed and made sure to ask if they were regular or more than 6 times an hour...which they weren't.  And also re-emphasized that if there were more than 6, to call!  The rest of the appointment was straightforward and easy, and we got another peek at the baby to get the rest of the measurements that she wasn't in a good position for the last time.

Tuesday/Wednesday, May 7th & 8th
Food Poisoning!

Probably not related, but Mike, Daniel and I were up half the night (and into the next day), violently ill with food poisoning (we'd ordered pizza Tuesday night...only one who didn't have any, Jared, was the only one spared!).

Friday, May 24th
1-hour Glucose Test, 26w1d

Got off work early for the holiday weekend, so I decided to go take the 1-hour glucose test.  In the days leading up (maybe even the week before?), I was still feeling BH contractions, and occasionally one of them (maybe once a day) would make me stop in my tracks and go OW!

Tuesday, May 28th
Results of Glucose Test

Good news!  I passed the 1 hour glucose test (so no gestational diabetes, no 3-hour glucose test!).  Weird news (although not that weird, I guess), is my iron levels were low.  They didn't say how low, but they asked me to start taking 325mg iron, twice a day.  I know it's not a big deal and all, but it just seemed funny to me because I eat red meat (I LOVE red meat!), I take pre-natal vitamins and I figured being anemic wouldn't really be an issue.

Thursday, May 30th
Major work upheaval, start of increased stress level

Yeah...it was not a good day.  I won't go into detail, but our worlds got rocked, and I could feel a massive headache building (either brought on by fits and bursts of crying or otherwise).  I did take some ibuprofen to deal with said headache.  I was in just as bad of a state as everyone else at work, and luckily Mike drove me home that day.

Friday, May 31st
A going away party lunch, day off work

Given the stress of the events at work, my boss (lab head) basically suggested that we just take the day off (off the record) and maybe get together at her place to vent and chill out.  There was also a going away party for a friend in another lab.  I felt like I really needed to get out of the house (and we'd left the other car at work anyway, so I needed to pick that up), and we ended up talking half the time about the events of the previous day.  It was a bit emotionally draining, but it was good to be in positive company.

Afterwards, I didn't end up making it over to hang out with the rest of my lab mates.  I was too tired.  My belly hurt.  At least I got a good nap in from about 3pm onwards.  It was going to be a long weekend!

Monday/Tuesday, June 3rd & 4th
Organization and mad-panic days

Both days were spent either getting things organized in lab notebooks, cleaning, and doing any last minute experiments.  I was feeling like I could get most things done in a reasonable time, and had a focused plan of attack for when certain things would be completed before the lab shut-down.  I actually ran myself a little ragged on Tuesday doing 3 protein gels/transfers and preparing for immunoblotting.  I also stood quite a lot in front of a PDF machine, scanning autorads and doing that type of thing.  That day, in particular, I remember having more painful contractions, even though I was too busy to time them.  I was keeping very hydrated, and as off of my feet as I could (but I was still running around more than I had in the past few days).  Stress level still pretty high, and I had a meeting with HR set for Wednesday.  I felt like I was in limbo as to my future until I had that meeting, so that stressed me out just a bit more as well.

Wednesday, June 5th
From work to hospital, 27w6d

Morning

Today is the day everything came to a head.  On the one hand, I was anxious to meet with HR to get things "figured out", but I was also preparing myself for it to be very mentally draining.  The meeting went "well", and I was able to sort of hold it together without crying too badly until the end.  At which point I had to sit in her office and settle down for a bit (thankfully, she's a very understanding person!).  I am tearing up just a little bit just thinking about it, that's how much these things affect me.

Contractions, contractions, contractions.  A couple of them hit me pretty hard, enough to stop me in my tracks and brace myself against a shelf in the lab.  The weird thing that I'd noticed (and today wasn't the only day this had happened), was that usually water is supposed to help, as is sitting down.  But water actually brought them on, or made them worse.  And they didn't stop even when I changed position (which the only two positions I was in was standing or sitting, but still).  I still couldn't clock them at being very frequent.

I debated long and hard with myself to call the doctor's office, at the very least the nurse, to see if there's anything I was missing or I should do.  I had a regularly scheduled appointment for the next day (my 28 week check-up) and I really contemplated putting it off until then.  But I also knew that I have a very bad habit of downplaying symptoms at a regular appointment, and I don't want the doctors to get the impression that I wait until an appointment before saying anything.  So I called.

I had lunch with Monica, which actually relaxed me, but was still feeling a lot of tightening periodically.  I ended up missing a call back from the nurse at the doctor's office.  I thought, great, they're going to think I'm playing phone tag.  So I called them back and talked to the nurse...she actually lead most of the questions after I started with "I'm having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions", including whether my discharge had changed (hard to say, but lately it had seemed like the goo was getting more copious, and I mentioned that I didn't know if I was sweating more, peeing myself, or what, but there was usually some extra watery fluid there).  Was the baby moving less?  I had to think really hard, but it seemed that maybe she was.  Dropped lower?  Maybe!  She had been breech, laying sideways for the longest time, but recently it seemed as though she might have turned head down.  In any case, rather than waiting until my appointment the next day, they suggested that I go in, just to be on the safe side.

1:30pm

I got to the office just before my appointment and I could still feel the contractions every so often.  And by every so often, it was still maybe every 15 or 20 minutes.  I'd taken care to be well hydrated recently as well.  I get called back and first thing's first...urine sample.  Testing for UTI, checking the usual stuff as well.  As I expected, I was very well hydrated (probably the best I've been for any appointment!), no UTI, no sugar or protein.  So far so good.

It was my first time meeting Dr. Pottorff (new doctor with the practice since I had Jared) and she was super nice as well!  I think I've mentioned before how I really, really like everyone there.  Anyway, I told her what was going on, and she set up to do a few things...again, my expectation was to rule things out along the way.  First was testing for amniotic fluid.  I was pretty sure I wasn't leaking fluid, but it's easy to check.  So that was quickly eliminated.  Second step was to run a fetal fibronectin test.  The doctor explained that it would take a while for the results (they send it out), and that a negative result would indicate that the chances of going into labor in the next two weeks were very low, so that would put minds at ease.  Lastly, the cervical check.  I can't obviously tell what's going on in that region, and the earliest I've ever been checked is at around 34 weeks (with Jared, when I was 3cm then, but low).  And the results were 1, maybe 2cm dilated, but still high.  I sort of figured that maybe I just dilate early anyway, and it was a good sign that my cervix was still higher up, rather than lower.

Before leaving, she asked if I'd mind hanging around to see if the ultrasound tech was available for a quick scan.  Just to check cervical length and see how the baby was doing.  Who am I to turn down an ultrasound, of course, and luckily she was available right away.  The tech did a whole bunch of measurements with the transvaginal ultrasound, mentioning nothing as she was doing it.  No real shots of the baby in that one.  She asked if I wanted some shots of the baby (of course!), and switched to the abdominal probe.  I was SO happy to be able to see her, and she was moving around, facial features becoming more distinct and everything.  As I got dressed again, I expected to be told that everything was OK with the baby and my cervix (aside from the 1-2cm dilation) and to just go home and wait for the fFN results.

Instead, Dr. Pottorff came in with very different news.  She handed me the fFN test and had me go to the hospital for monitoring of contractions for a little while.  My cervix was 1-2cm dilated, but it was shortening (1.5cm by ultrasound).  This was just getting more and more complicated.

I ran home really fast to grab my phone charger, and I had the wherewithal to grab a pair of PJ pants and a tank top "just in case"  (thinking that if I took it, then I wouldn't need it...).  At that point, I even told Mike that I was just going there for monitoring and that I'd probably be sent home after a while.

Around 3pm

I arrived at the hospital and went to OB triage.  The admissions lady was with someone else, so I waited.  She was pleasant, and had a lot of stories to tell.  But, of course, she seemed like there wasn't a huge rush or anything to get me back.  After she took all of my information, insurance and stuff like that, I went through and got set up in triage.  I handed my fFN swab to the nurse, and was set up in a room (I kept my dress on even...goes to show you how I didn't think I'd be there long!).

Around 4pm

The news comes back.  Positive fFN test.  My heart sinks.  Especially since I knew that negative was good (and to be expected), but positive was inconclusive.  As much as I try not to look at the contraction monitor, I can't help but notice the little bumps, and I really try hard to keep still and relaxed (as if I could will them away???).  My head is going in a thousand different directions, and I don't think I was even comprehending at the time whether I was going to be admitted or not.  Or just get treatment in triage.  In either case, the time was drawing nearer for Mike to come and switch out cars (mine had the car seats) so he could get the kids.  I called my parents and told them what was going on (trying to talk while fighting back tears) and asked them to watch the boys.

4:30pm

My IV got started with standard saline and a bag of magnesium sulfate.  I also got the first steroid shot to help the baby's lungs develop, with the understanding that I'd need a second shot 24 hours later.  Mike made the car switch (didn't stop inside, just switched cars and went to pick up the kids) and headed to drop them at my parents.

Around 5pm

I have help getting changed into a hospital gown (no easy feat getting out of the dress with an IV in one arm and monitors strapped to your belly) and prepared for admission.  The nurse prepared me for the worst with both the steroids (it ended up not stinging or hurting as much as she prepared me for) and magnesium (which was prefaced with "you may feel like you have the flu...nausea, sweating, chills, feverish".  A half hour in or so, I was dealing with everything pretty well, and asked to use the bathroom (and was able to get myself there without any problems).

Around 6pm

I get transported to my room in Pod C of the 3rd floor.  One of the OB residents comes in and talks with me a little bit (either she was more vague on details, or I don't remember due to being in a bit of a daze).  She brings the portable ultrasound to do a quick check to see where the baby is laying and just a brief check overall (apparently, between the office and hospital, she went back to lying transverse).  Another quick cervix check and I'm still at about 1.5cm.

Around 7:30pm

Mike gets to the hospital, and Dr. Hebets comes to talk with us.  At this point, it's becoming more clear that I'm going to be there for at least another day or two.  I get some dinner and I prepare for the long night ahead.

Around 11pm

An NP from the NICU comes to talk to us about what we might expect IF we had a premature delivery.  She was very thorough, and had her own personal experience with pre-term labor.  We got a chance to ask a lot of questions, and it was actually pretty comforting (in a strange way) to be prepared for what we might experience, and how things would change as the baby stayed inside longer and longer.

Overnight

I was told the next morning that I was having between 7 and 8 contractions an hour in the early evening.  Eep!  Sleep was not fantastic, as the baby was moving around so much that her heartrate would drop off of the monitors.  My overnight nurse, Shauna resorted to trying all sorts of rigging to get the monitor to stay in a good spot.  And then she and another nurse would have me try laying on my side, then the other side, and so on.  I was so tired that at one point I am pretty sure I dozed off while two people were messing around with monitors on my belly.  I got up SEVERAL times to use the bathroom (peeing like a liter each time!), and had vitals checked whenever I got hooked back up.

Thursday, June 6th
Morning - 28 weeks!

Around 6am the parade starts.  First the resident.  Nurse comes by again to do vitals.  Breakfast arrives.  Dr. Hebets comes by.  Then Mike has to go and get the kids from my parents to take to daycare.

Early afternoon

Visitors!  Hooray for visitors!  I am SO happy, probably one of the happiest moods that I've been in.  But I also am starting to realize how fuzzy my brain has gotten from being on the magnesium.

After everyone from work departs, I have lunch, Mike returns for a bit (before having to go get the kids again and deposit them at my parents).  4:30pm arrives, and it's time for my second steroid shot.

Overnight

A bit less of a parade coming through.  They decided to take the fetal monitor off, which meant less messing around with trying to keep her heartrate on the monitor.  However, my pulse-ox was dipping pretty low, so they gave me supplemental oxygen.

Friday, June 7th
Early morning - 28w1d

Around 4am I woke up choking and coughing.  It felt as though I had inhaled liquid, but I think it was just an illusion caused by oxygen being fired up my nose.  The nurses came to check on me (which, gave me opportunity again to use the bathroom and feel more comfortable...ah).  I stayed up for a little bit (couldn't go back to sleep right away).  I finally dozed off again, only to have a lady come to draw blood for labs at around 5am.  I managed to doze off again, and the resident came in.  This time I was really not so with it, so I have a bad memory of what was said.  Breakfast came.

Since the baby was off the monitor overnight, my day nurse (Carol...she was there on Thursday as well!) came to do a non-stress test (NST).  Basically hook up the monitor, check her heartbeat and assess whether she was having accelerations in her heart rate.  Her heart rate was a bit low from the magnesium, presumably (in the 120s).  First we tried orange juice.  Not much of an increase.  Then a little buzzer on my belly to wake her up.  The baby would wake up and jolt, but she wasn't having really fantastic, at least 15 second long increases in her heart rate.  But it wasn't too terribly concerning.

In another good bit of events, Dr. Mayer came to talk to us.  Another person who experienced pre-term labor, and knew first hand the effects of the magnesium.  The longer I stayed on it, the more wobbly I was, the more my head was not so clear and it just wasn't really all that pleasant.  She did another quick cervical check (still at around 1.5cm), and set us up to have a full ultrasound in the afternoon to assess how the baby was doing.

Afternoon

Monica came by in the early afternoon (dropping off some Diet Mountain Dew...hooray!) and talking for a bit.  The ultrasound people came by and gave me a heads-up that they were coming to get me, but their heads up ended up being about 2 hours (at which point I ate some of my lunch and visited).  The transport person came just as Monica was leaving, and back down to triage where the ultrasound was.

The ultrasound was probably the most involved that I've ever seen done on any of my kids.  It was done by a student (which is fine), but they were much more slow and methodical, and not really pointing out anything super fun.  Towards the end, her supervisor came and redid some of the measurements and finished up (taking about 5 minutes to do what the student had taken about a half hour to do).  And then transport comes back and I'm deposited again in my room.

By the time I got back, it was nearing 4pm, and they were given the go-ahead to just take me completely off of the magnesium.  Which also meant that I didn't need to be pumped up full of saline either, but they kept the IV in (just shut off).

Evening

With only a contraction monitor on, I was a fair bit less encumbered, which was good!  Mike and I watched a little TV (just random junk, still), and I dozed off and on until they came in one last time to do vital checks and all of that stuff (at this point, still having to have them unhook me from monitors before using the bathroom...and still measuring how much I was peeing...ha!).

Saturday, June 8th
Morning - 28w2d

The usual parade didn't come in really much at all...I didn't see a resident until around 9am, and didn't see much of anybody except for the people bringing breakfast.  The new morning nurse came in to do another NST, and the babies heart rate was higher than before (in the 140s), but still not really doing the accelerations (orange juice and the buzzer again!).  They weren't too terribly worried though.

The only thing that made me a bit nervous in the morning was that the nurse kept mentioning how I could be there until late afternoon?  This was a bit of a departure from what Dr. Mayer had mentioned (even that we could go home at 11pm the night before, at the earliest...I wasn't too excited at pushing to get discharged in the middle of the night, but I was thinking more along the lines of maybe before noon???).

After the NST, breakfast and all of that, Dr. Mayer came in one last time with discharge orders.  Ibuprofen 600mg every 6 hours (pretty simple!) and follow up with the office during the week.  The nurse took my IV out and I got ready to go home!  We packed up and were on the road right before 1pm!

The Stats

As this comes to an end (and I feel like I've written or told this same story a few times), the stats for my time in the hospital were like this.

Contractions:  Max 7-8 an hour
Fetal fibronectin test:  Positive
Cervix: 1.5cm dilated, 1.5cm length

3mg/hour of magnesium sulfate for 48 hours
Two shots of steroids (for lung maturity)
600mg ibuprofen every 6 hours

Day 7 at Home

Friday, June 14th
Seventh day of bed rest at home

Well, I've made it seven days (if you include Saturday as the first day!) sitting/laying in pretty much the same spot.  It really distorts my perception of time, because sometimes it feels like longer, sometimes it feels like it hasn't been that long at all!

In any case, today also snuck up on me rather quickly because it is the last "official" day of our lab being, well, our lab.  It would have been my last official day too, but that's been put on hold.  The more I talk to everyone, the more I am almost afraid to see what the lab looks like...most everyone says I wouldn't even recognize it, even day to day it changes so much!

So other than that, this morning has been OK.  Slept decently again (still a bit of a sweatball!), kids woke up cheerfully and lazied around with them watching TV while they got ready for daycare.  I was feeling pretty good before taking my first dose of ibuprofen for the day.  At some point, though, I might have been sitting up too long and I was having a little bit of cramping.  Not the contraction-like, tightening cramping, and not stomach cramping, and not the "my bladder is full", but just crampy under my belly (the bottom "ring") between my hip bones, and around the sides to my back.  It was mildly concerning me as Mike took the kids to daycare, so I've been laying down pretty much solid ever since.  And it's subsided for the most part.

In other news, my "hobby" of making things out of chain mail has finally produced something...well...out of the new, fancy batch of rings that I ordered.  I've made several things and played around for a while with the "cheap" ones, but the new ones are SO much nicer!  So, if anything, I might start inundating everyone with all of the things I end up making while stuck at home.

I'm hoping everything stays in a holding pattern today, and also over the weekend!  My biggest fear is still having to make the call to go to OB triage again, and I hate debating those things with myself!  I'd rather just not have to make that call at all.

Day 6 at Home

Thursday, June 13th

Sixth day of bedrest at home - 29 Weeks!!!

A happy 29 weeks to my little belly-dweller!  It seems like we were stuck at 28 weeks for so long, it's good to have made it nearly a week here at home.  Nothing much huge to report this morning...slept pretty well again (just waking up, sweating, when daylight hits).  Only a slight bit of cramping when I get up (before using the bathroom too...gravity + full bladder = tendency to cramp!) but the ibuprofen has magically taken that away.

Mike is working in the office today, so all is mostly quiet here...Stat is meowing and howling pretty hard about once an hour, so I guess it's really not all THAT quiet.  

In other areas of life, I've finally gotten my CV/resume up to par a little bit (a quick revision/reorganization), and am gaining momentum on getting it sent out there.  It's a bit hard right now, for a few reasons (namely that I'm stuck at home), but also that each position might emphasize a particular or skill or qualification.  I have done quite a few "things", but it would be nice to emphasize the skills that they are looking for, and even make sure that they know that this monkey can be taught!  Since I'm in a bit of a holding pattern (who knows when baby might or might not arrive...I could go all the way through until the end of August!), I wouldn't want to leave any potential new employer hanging, so to speak.  

OK, so the biggest news (that I knew was coming...just didn't know how soon), is that my parents got an offer on their house.  Eep!  The news is that their looking to close around July 11th, which puts them out of town soon.  Kind of fast.  Kind of startling.  Not sure how I'm reacting to this!

In any case, earlier this morning I spent some random time looking for baby development tickers.  I have a love/hate relationship with them (since it's good for keeping things up to date, but it also looks ridiculous when the baby is already here!)

Day 5 at Home

Wednesday, June 12th
Fifth day of bedrest at home, doctor's appointment, 28w6d

This morning started off exciting (for me, at least!), because I got to leave the house to go to the doctor.  As I mentioned before, this is exciting just because I get to go outside my bedroom/bathroom area, but also because I wanted to see how things were going after coming down off all of the medication I was on in the hospital (what is my "baseline" again, so to speak).

So we got the kids ready (Mike doing most of it, of course), loaded everyone into the car and Mike dropped me at the doctor (running just a little slow, so Mike went and dropped off the kids).  He made it back before I got called back to ultrasound (first step!).  The baby looked good still, had good fluid around her even, but it was hard to get cervix measurements (and they didn't want to rock the boat too much with a transvaginal ultrasound).  Then to wait for the doctor.

I hadn't met Dr. Urig ever before...either this pregnancy, anything in between, or with Jared.  But, like all of the others, he's pretty awesome too!  I usually don't require a whole lot out of doctors, as I'm usually pretty "easy" in terms of care and anything that might be wrong with me.  It's been nice that I haven't ever felt rushed, either now or before.  In any case, I did get my cervix checked, and it's still at between 1 and 2cm.  It was weird walking for as long as I did or being up as much as I was, and my hyper-aware state made me take notice of a few extra cramping episodes, but no contractions.

Mentally, I'm pretty good today too.  Just getting out was great.  Having "good" news at the doctor was great.  Now I'm doing a quick modification to my resume/CV, and that's actually making my mood better too because it feels like I'm doing something productive!  Tomorrow hopes to be just as exciting...when this little baby turns 29 weeks!  That means 3 weeks until the next "big" milestone of 32 weeks!

Day 4 - Afternoon Update

Tuesday, June 11th
Afternoon - Still on the fourth day of bedrest at home

So far so good in the afternoon...why two blog posts you say?  Why not!

This afternoon I ventured to the kitchen (gasp!), on my toes for less than 2 minutes, walking very gingerly.  Open freezer, take out pizza, put in microwave.  Sit.  Sat on the couch for about 10 minutes (cooking + cooling in microwave) and returned to the room.  Not too bad.

It was weird, though, that up until I went to get food (just sitting here like I have been) that I was feeling a little squishy in the girlie bits.  If the baby would move, I'd kind of feel like she was trying to break right out, which isn't a comforting feeling.  While sitting on the couch waiting for the microwave, I felt another squish, and then everything was fine.  I find that apparently there was a huge glob of goo coming out of the baby exit door.  Yuck.  It wasn't quite as much as when I've lost my proverbial mucus plug before having the kids, but it was a lot more than usual.  I know (or figure) it's just a big glob like that from being stationary so long, so it had a chance to build up.  Still gross.

A few more emotional triggers this afternoon as well.  I get that my hormones are all out of whack, and it makes it that much easier to trigger things (which sucks, because when I cry, I tense up).  First is just squirting the tears whenever I think about what is happening in the lab at work.  My mind floats to all sorts of things...can pin it on one thing or another.  Second is my parents imminent move.  My parents have their house officially listed, and they mentioned that they had two parties come to view the house already (it's only been on the market since yesterday).  I know they've been wanting to move for a very long time, but it's hitting me how fast things are happening.  And the thought that I could quite possibly still be on bedrest when they pack up and move.  I'll stop right there, avoiding the risk of getting myself worked up again.

So, no contractions that I could tell today, maybe a little bit of random back cramping, and that squishy goo are about all there is to report.  Once again, I can't wait until tomorrow for my doctor's appointment!

Day 4 at Home

Tuesday, June 11th
Fourth day of bedrest at home

Today started out pretty well.  Although one of our cats starting howling at the top of his lungs around 6am, which woke up Jared (crying) and in turn woke up Daniel.  Luckily, Mike was able to calm Jared back down and we all slept for a few more hours (til past 8:30am).

Also today is the first day that I'm home "alone", without Mike and the kids.  The kids went to daycare yesterday, but Mike was working from home, so it was nice to have the company.  Yesterday was a bit busy  with Mike picking up the car, taking Daniel to speech and so on, so things went a little more smoothly today (and dare I say, normally?).

I didn't wake up this morning with the usual little bit of lower cramping, like the past few days and I was feeling the baby move pretty well (always comforting).  I think that I'm REALLY hydrated, and pushing on my bladder makes me feel a little more full than usual (translation:  heavy).  So the only weird feeling for the day is that everything is getting pushed further and further down (not comforting at all!).

Now for feeling productive...I think I'll set off on my mini to-do list for the day!

Day 3 at Home

Monday, June 10th
Third day of bedrest at home

I slept pretty well last night (again, sweaty, but didn't wake up too many more times than I would ordinarily anyway!).  Mike was set off on a mission to retrieve our other car from the hospital garage (it had been there  pretty much since admission on Wednesday!).  This involved catching the RAPID bus downtown (walking about 25 minutes to the pickup) and then walking to the hospital to retrieve the car and drive it back (another 15 minute walk once downtown).

Jared had gotten up before Mike left, but thankfully he was good and sat on the bed to watch Mickey Mouse.  He even followed directions to go and retrieve some NutraGrain bars.  Daniel got up and joined us a little while before Mike got back, and he was pretty good for all intents and purposes.

Physically, I could feel a little more of the lower belly cramping (below belly, kind of a ring or a line connecting my hip bones).  Taking the ibuprofen that I had in reach took care of that pretty easily though!

Also before Mike returned, I got a call from the doctor's office to set up appointments for monitoring for the next few weeks.  It seems a bit daunting, but each week that I go I'm sure it'll seem like a big milestone!  I just can't wait until the first appointment, so I know what to expect, and just to see how things have changed (improved, or otherwise!) since the hospital.  So, this Wednesday at 9am is my first appointment...ultrasound followed by doctor's appointment.

(Of course, while I'm on the phone trying to take down all of the times that they're setting up for me...the kids are being goofballs, culminating in Jared getting smacked in the face, or smacking himself in the face with a stick...fun!).

Mike took Daniel to speech, picked him up, got Jared ready for the day and then went to drop them off at daycare.  At which point I listened, by phone, to lab meeting.  This is where I could tell that any emotional stress that I was feeling was kind of starting to manifest itself physically.  I think I felt 2 contractions during that time, and just lots of consistent tightening, but I can't remember the intensity or duration or anything like that.  Just waiting to see what the afternoon brings!  Hopefully it'll be pretty calm!

Day 2 at Home

Sunday, June 9th
Second day of bedrest at home

I slept pretty well, although I was sweating up a storm all night long and I was feeling kind of scummy (stinky!).  Mike was up with the kids kind of early (the temperature...AC blasting overnight...probably woke them up).  I noticed that after not having taken ibuprofen overnight (the every 6 hour dose had worn off) that I just felt tight, and my sides (particularly my left) were crampy (not a contraction, but just a dull cramp).  O

I got my dose of ibuprofen, and pretty much sat in bed all day long (as per orders!).  Watched a few movies and things with the boys.

It's hard to tell sometimes where any little twinge in pain might be originating from...whether it's stretching because my bladder is full, stomach stretching because I just ate, baby kicking and stretching things out or something different all together.  In any case, I only detected maybe 2-4 contractions total for the day, and even then it's hard to tell whether they were contractions.  It also seemed like anytime something started tightening, it would go up a little bit then fizzle out.

Once again, in the evening, it was good to get the kids down for bed so we could have some time to ourselves to relax.

Day 1 at home

(This is a bit of a backlog, but I figured it was easier putting that preface on rather than back-dating!)

Saturday, June 8th
Released from hospital, sent home to bedrest

I got a pretty decent sleep overnight, given that I wasn't in my own bed (and hospital beds aren't that comfortable).  I dozed off intermittently between 11pm and midnight, and buzzed the nurse to get disconnected from the toco to get up and use the bathroom one last time before bed.  Nurse got my vitals and I went to bed for good.

I kept waiting for the occasional nurse to come in and check vitals, but they left me pretty much alone to rest.  Slowly (but later than I was used to!), the parade of nurse, resident and food arrived.  At least I was awake and coherent when the resident came.  The new morning nurse (one I hadn't had before), almost made it sound like I could be hanging out until later in the evening, but I'm glad that wasn't the case!

One last test was the NST.  I got hooked up to the monitor, and they did all of the things to get the baby's heart rate to accelerate.  Orange juice and that little buzzer that they use.  Her heart rate was already in the 140's, but there were a few times that they considered "good enough" to be an acceleration.

After all of that, Dr. Mayer from the office came in and cleared us to be released, and set about doing the discharge orders!  The nurse came by and unhooked the toco, and the last bit was removing the IV.

We got on the road just before 1pm, and Mike got me all set up in bed at home.  He went to pick up the kids from my parents around 2:30 or so, and it was REALLY good to see them.  It was almost a little sad that the first things out of Daniel's mouth were asking if/why I was sick, and "I'm sorry I made you sick, Mommy!".

The rest of the afternoon was relatively uneventful...watching movies with the boys, Mike scurrying around cleaning things and stuff.  It was good to finally get the kids bathed and to bed as we settled ourselves in for the night.  Only a few minor BH contractions the whole afternoon (maybe one every few hours).

Pre-Term Labor - My Days in Exile

I realize that I use this particular blog pretty sporadically, but I figured it was perfect for chronicling the daily happenings with the newest little Stone baby...

In a way, I find writing/blogging sort of therapeutic, as a way to get events and feelings and all of that stuff out into the open, and also as a way to just remember what's going on.  So this post is just going to start with the summary of what's happened over the past week or so, and hopefully I'll fill things in a bit more, and just add as things happen.  In a perfect world, it might be a pretty dull blog to read...here's hoping!

The short of it is that on Wednesday, June 5th, I was admitted to the hospital (at 27 weeks, 6 days gestation) for pre-term labor.  I spent 3 nights there and was released to go home on bedrest on Saturday, June 8th.  I might do separate posts or headings for the "leading up" to hospital admission and treatment, what my stats were (the TMI of vital signs and checks on the girlie parts), treatment received, and the timeline of things that happened daily during my hospital stay.

Stay tuned!!!

Day 3 - Back to Disneyland (and Magic Morning!)

When we bought our tickets, we received a "magic morning" thing that let us choose one day to enter Disneyland an hour early.  I was determined to not let that go to waste!  So we got up and ready, and actually got to the park around 8:25 (would have liked 8, but oh well :) ).  With a plan in place, we made a bee-line for Star Tours!  Once again, Jared was too small, but Daniel was tall enough!  Mike took Daniel first while I waited with Jared (and they had almost no line!).  Jared managed to score himself and his brother some Disneyland buttons too!  After Mike and Daniel returned, we swapped out kids and I took Daniel on Star Tours again (lucky kid, right?).

Just as we finished up the 2nd run of that ride, the masses were moving through the park, as it just opened to the regular crowd.  We hurried to our next "must ride", which was Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (used to be the yellow submarines).  I'd never been on that ride either (as I hadn't been on Star Tours either!).  We got on that and it was something we all enjoyed!  After that, we did Pirates of the Carribean, followed by a quick Mad Tea Party (spinning teacups).  We were making really good time in the morning!  So we stopped and had a bite to eat for breakfast and tried to figure out what to do next.  Some of the rides were not good for a small kid or two to wait in (the flying Dumbos, Alice in Wonderland, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, were some that we thought the kids would like!).  So we settled on the Tiki Room!  Jared loved it, and was dancing around very happy!

After hitting up the petting zoo in Big Thunder Ranch, we took the train around to the main street station and went back to the hotel for nap time.

Second part of the day, we returned, got on the train again and went to Mickey's Toon Town.  We scanned our tickets for FastPasses (something we hadn't done all trip!) for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.  Daniel and Jared went wild running around and through some of the buildings in Toon Town until we got on the ride.  We spent a good amount of time playing at Goofy's house, in the post office and up on Daisy or Donald's boat.  As a last hurrah, we made our way back to Tomorrowland and ran through Astro Blasters again.  The lines were never as short as they were that first day, but it wasn't too bad.  We bought a couple of more things at the gift shop at the end of the ride, and said our goodbyes to Disneyland...until next time.

Our exciting day ended up consisting of Star Tours (x2), Nemo's Submarine, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spinning Teacups, Tiki Room, Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin, and finally AstroBlasters again.  8 different attractions...not too bad!  8 times riding for Daniel...lucky boy!

Day 2 - California Adventure

Day 2 of our trip to Anaheim had us going to California Adventure!  None of us (out of the four of us) had ever been.

So we started out the day intent on definitely hitting up the new Cars Land.  When we got there (around 10 I think), the FastPass for the Radiator Springs Racers were all gone (???) and the standby was around 2 hours long (no WAY).  With that disappointment out of the way (more for us, Daniel had no idea), we did get to go on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.  We did the rider swap again (Jared was too small), which ends up being good for Daniel because he gets to go on it twice.

After a quick picture with Mater, we made it to a Bug's Land, and rode the ladybugs twice (Francis' ladybug boogie...Jared got to go on that one!).  After that, we were sort of wanting for some ice cream, so we made our way to an ice cream shop and ended up getting our whole order for free, as we happened to be the "customer's of the hour".  That was our morning.

Coming back after naps and determined to hit up more than we had in the morning, we went to Mickey's Fun Wheel (on the sliding cars!).  Jared had the MOST fun out of all of us.  Mike doesn't care much for ferris wheels (makes him sick), I had a minor freak out with the sliding around, and Daniel was just nervous.  Jared...he was thrilled!

We ended with a little souvenir shopping (some light-up toys), riding the Golden Zephyr, and running through the obstacle course at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

All told, rides were Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, twice on Francis' Ladybug Boogie, Mickey's Fun Wheel, Golden Zephyr and Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.  Not a ton, but it was still fun just "seeing" things there.

Disneyland!

I haven't posted here for a while, and I figured this blog was the most appropriate for detailing our latest trip here.  Looking back at my blog posts, the last time I remember coming to the area was in 2005.  We stayed at the Grand Californian, but, oddly, didn't go to Disneyland or California Adventure.

We decided to take this trip on kind of a spur of the moment (as in, didn't have reservations or anything until Tuesday night, and we left on Thursday night).  I'd been pining away at coming to Disneyland for quite some time, and gone through all of the price analysis and planning what we'd do here and so on.  So I was ready to go with reservations!

Anyway...we left Thursday after work.  Although we wanted to get out of work a little earlier and get a few things done before we had to pick up the boys and leave, that didn't happen.  Instead, we managed to get officially on the road right before 6pm.  Running into a little bit of Phoenix rush-hour traffic in the downtown area, we were on our way.  And we stopped three times to use the bathroom or top off on gas.  All things told, it took us 6 hours, 23 minutes.  Jared sacked out in the car around 9pm (late for him!), and Daniel finally gave up and dozed off around 11pm (late for him, of course, but he's a determined little guy...and this was all of 10 minutes after he insisted that he couldn't fall asleep!).

We checked into one of the "good neighbor" hotels (one of these days, we'll go back to one of the Disneyland resort ones...when money is less tight, of course!)...the Best Western Plus Raffles Inn.  I'll give the reasoning for that choice in a bit.  The kids were up, but exhausted when we got here, and I don't think we were all settled in and bedded down until around 2 or 2:30 am!

Moving right along, in my excitement, I end up waking up right before 8am, and about 20 minutes later I hear Jared up.  Jared and I run down to the breakfast room at the place we're staying and grab a few things, trying to encourage Mike and Daniel to wake up so we can go!

And we're off...we walk all the way there (a bit of a bigger hike than we really anticipated) and pick up our passes into the park.  The excitement is palpable!  We head into Disneyland, and we manage to catch a couple of the characters coming out to do their meet and greet thing.  Immediately, we see Pluto and Donald, and there's a pretty short wait to see Donald, so we wait.  Before we can get out any cameras and pull Jared out of his stroller, Daniel is up giving Donald a BIG HUG, hi-fiving and having a great time having a one-on-one with Donald Duck!  He was not shy AT ALL.  I wish I could have caught that moment on camera, but I guess I'll have to settle with the mental picture.  We grab a quick family shot of the four of us with the web-footed one, and we spy Mickey and Minnie together!  The two weren't out for long, and we were the 2nd to last in line before they were cutting people off.  Jared seemed entertained by Minnie Mouse (he gave her a hi-five and smiled at her even!).  So we got some great pictures there!

Satisfied with our character greetings, we head towards Tomorrowland.  That actually took longer to get there with a suddenly cranky toddler.  We had a detour into one of the candy shops, and eventually veered towards our intended destination.

First ride at the park...the Astro Orbiter!  They said it was an estimated 5 minute wait (the wait something we actually care about now with kids...right?), but it was more like 15 before we boarded (probably four cycles of the ride).  Jared was pretty good, even though he did want to stand up and look out when the ride was just getting started (they scolded us for it, sort of, before I pulled him down).  Daniel, of course, loved it!

Moving on to something else that somewhat unexpectedly became the most popular ride for us today!  Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlasters!  Now, Daniel has played the XBox Kinect version of the game (in Disneyland Adventures), but he loved this so much that we went on the ride FOUR times.  Each time, Jared huddled quietly next to us, we couldn't tell if he was enjoying himself or not.  It was fun!  We would have probably done it another dozen times if it had been up to Daniel.

And...next, while still in Tomorrowland...we make our way to Autopia.  They had FastPasses to that, but I don't really think that was too necessary for that ride.  Jared ended up being too short to go on it (weird, since he was measured tall enough at the doctor's office!).  So we made use of the "rider swap" feature.  It worked out well because Daniel got to go on the ride TWICE (once with each of us) and didn't have to wait really between the rides.  Good feature.

After that, it was approaching 1, and time for naps.  So we walk back to the hotel (long walk, really hot), with Jared asleep for most of the ride.  He goes down for a nap, Daniel settles in with some web cartoons, and Mike and I nap between Daniel fussing about whenever one of his shows would end.  We get pizza, and get ready to head back to Disneyland for the evening.

Just as we're getting back in there (we decide to cheat and take the parking shuttle that happens to be close to where we're staying), the parade starts!  Everyone seemed to be enjoying that (Daniel recognized some of the characters, and I think Jared likes the music).  Then time for one ride.  It took a while as we followed behind the parade to get to the general area of the rides we wanted.  And we ended up choosing It's A Small World.  Again, both kids enjoyed the boat ride!

We get out of our last ride and it's already dark, so we decide to head back to the hotel.

So that's our day!  We've gone on 4 different rides (and went on one of those 4 times!), so we're off to a slow start, by hard-core rider standards.

Tomorrow...California Adventure!