Happy Easter!

It is incredible to me that I was here for Ash Wednesday and have now celebrated Easter in the hospital. This is hardly the ideal place for a family to spend a holiday but we made the best of it. Today also marks 31 weeks of pregnancy for Baby Girl-one week to go to the next big goal!

Saturday Steve brought in supplies to dye Easter eggs. There was a lot of traffic in and out of my room as everyone wanted to check out Annie's art work. A dear friend was here from out of town and she took Anneliese for a few hours to give Steve a break. He stayed at the hospital and napped with me-a well deserved luxury. We capped off the night with dinner and watching Annie color pictures. A very nice Saturday!

It seems my body was less than happy with the events of the day and my night was spent with some increased contractions and bleeding. I was able to stay on my regular unit for monitoring and things settled down pretty quickly. My nurse commented that it was odd that I was not acting concerned. I think I have just learned to wait things about a bit before I get all worked up. This pregnancy has been one long roller coaster and at this point not every dip gets the same reaction.

This morning things had improved and I was very grateful to have the day with Annie and Steve. She was thrilled with her Easter basket and absolutely loves Buzz Lightyear. He is the REAL Buzz, don't you know. Apparently she grew him in her belly. We celebrated Easter lunch with the traditional American holiday dinner of take out from Moe's. There were two nice wheelchair rides outside, an Easter egg hunt in my room and a viewing of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Today was a great reminder that you can be a family anywhere under any circumstances. It was not how I would plan the ideal Easter yet it was such a nice day regardless.

So I did get a new IV on Friday. I discovered the unit's secret weapon-a nurse who used to work on the IV team. It was a such a blessing to have someone both talented with a needle and also willing to listen to me and my needs. By far the best IV placement I have had yet and I spent the rest of the day praising her to everyone willing to listen. I now call her the "vein whisperer." Unfortunately after only 2 days in the IV failed to flush this morning and needed to be removed. I was beyond frustrated. For those who don't know me personally, I have limited use of my right arm due to a nerve condition that also leaves my arm off-limits for needle sticks and blood pressure checks. When I have an IV in my left arm it is very difficult to get a placement that does not limit the use of my left hand. When both hands are compromised I am left pretty helpless. I am pretty good at adapting but there is no way at this point that I will learn how to wash my face and brush my teeth by using my feet.

When the doctors came around today we had the IV conversation again and decided to try for another IV holiday. It makes me nervous as I want them to have immediate venous access in case of emergency but I need to balance that with reality. I do not have the veins for new IVs every few days. I imagine the holiday may be short lived but I am grateful for the break.

Baby Girl continues to do well. Throughout the bleeding and contractions she always looks great on the monitor. People have been telling me all week that babies grown in stressful environments (such as my uterus at this point) mature faster. It's as if their bodies know they need to prepare to jump ship early.

Posts are more fun with pictures so here are some from our hospital Easter. Thank you all so much for your continued support and words of encouragement!