Saturday Couch Musings

I am always afraid I will miss someone when I thank people on this blog. We appreciate our friends and family so much. Please forgive me for any oversights!

Thank you to Salih, Ritha and Bianca for the wonderful meal last night! Our former neighbors brought over a feast of chicken, beef, rice, bread, cucumber and tomato salad and guacamole. Delicious! Their cucumber and tomato salad and guacamole are two of my favorite things ever! It was great to see you again!

Thanks to Monica for the water dispenser, Cristie for keeping me company this morning while Dave took Lauren out, Kristin for the groceries (Dave said, “Great! Staples!”), and C.F. and Indira for the Thai food. You are all awesome.

Last but not least, thanks to Dave who has suddenly found himself in the Mr. Mom role. He is doing a great job! There have been a few funny mishaps but I’ll let him decide if he is going to share those! And thanks to Lauren who is my nurturing, caring little girl. She is thoroughly enjoying having me on the couch, unable to tell her that I can’t play right now because I am doing laundry, cooking, etc.

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Well, here I am, side-ways on the couch! This is day 3. Every time I stand up to walk to the bathroom, I have a contraction so I think the bed rest is imperative. I’ve got a water dispenser next to my head, a drinking glass, the bottle of Terbutaline, a bunch of pillows and a blanket, the phone, TV remote and laptop, my Bible, a notebook and pen, a magazine, and some books.

Carmen sits right next to me in her chair and the suction machine is within easy reach.

I called the doctor’s office yesterday and had the following conversation with the nurse:

Me: Is the Terbutaline supposed to stop all contractions? I have a contraction every time I get up to go to the bathroom.
Nurse: Are you getting up and walking around your room? I know it’s really hard to stay lying down but it is really important.
Me: No! I am only getting up to go to the bathroom. I am not moving around!
Nurse: Are you sitting up and doing stuff? You need to stay lying down.
Me: I am not sitting up. Believe me, I am taking this seriously!

After hanging up, I thought to myself that the doctors do not need to worry about me not following orders. I WILL take this seriously. We already have one daughter who is going to die. We will do everything we can for this baby. No matter how this ends, I want to be able to say that we did everything we could.

It sounds strange to say, but if I need to be on bed rest then I hope I am on this couch for 3 more months. We pray that the end result will be a very healthy, full-term little girl. Besides, I am a definite Type A personality so I am good at this stuff!

(Dave says that he is a Reformed Type A, someone who normally operates in Type B mode because he sees the problems with Type A personalities. But, he can kick it up to Type A when he needs to!) NOTE FROM DAVE: I know you think I’m making that up but it’s true. Read “Let’s Hear it for the B Players” in the Harvard Business Review (article is probably about 8-10 years old now). How could we survive if we were both Type As? You feel the need to be in charge so I oblige…and as long as the ship is headed in the right direction then you’re free to drive!