Baby Update

I'm so sorry that I've been so terrible about blogging lately. I have some great pictures of Mary Laine that I know grandparents and extended family are anxious to see, so I promise to work on getting those up soon. I wanted to give a baby boy update for now, though. As most of you know, I was put on bedrest with pre-term labor when I was pregnant with Mary Laine. We were hopeful that, knowing the chance that there may be problems, we could take preventative measures this time around and avoid (or at least postpone) pre-term labor. Unfortunately, we noticed that I was having contractions at my 22 week check-up (I can't feel the contractions and have to be hooked up to a monitor to detect them), so we added a medication called Procardia to a series of shots that I had already begun taking. I also began to monitor the contractions on a device at home. At first, the Procardia appeared to be working, but the contractions and "irritability" as they call it continued to increase, and yesterday my doctors decided to move me to strict bedrest and a terbutaline pump (a port placed in my leg that gives me a steady stream of medication that is meant to slow contractions). While I am very thankful for the medication that keeps my pregnancy going, the t-pump is something that I was really hoping to avoid this time - if not altogether, at least for another few weeks. It makes me very anxious and shaky and makes the "rest" part of bedrest very difficult. And I now have a very active 18 month old who doesn't quite understand why Mama can't pick her up or get on the floor and play with her.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to family and friends who have already been such a huge help by taking care of Mary Laine, bringing meals, cleaning my house, and making sure that we are well taken care of. I covet your prayers. Mostly, that this baby would stay put and remain healthy and strong. Also for my patience. In some ways, it is good that I have been through this before and know that I can do it and have an idea of what to expect. In other ways, the fact that I can anticipate what to expect makes it that much harder.

I will keep you posted on my progress. Thank you so much for your concern and your prayers!!

Love,
Gary, Kathryn, Mary Laine, and Baby Veritas #2 :-)