What a week!

Wow - a lot has happened since I last blogged! Let me bring you up to date:

First off, we finished our childbirth class last Saturday; I can breathe with the best of them now. :-D But I think it has been good for Jonathan and I, especially for him. I think he's a lot calmer now about labor and has a better idea what to expect.

Then we got home, and truth be told, I felt awful; I was still really struggling with an upper respiratory infection that had started about three weeks prior, and just could not get over, even with prescription antibiotics and decongestants. I still went and got supper on for the kiddos, but excused myself and laid down during the meal. I was hoping that I was just tired, and a good night of sleep would make me feel better.

Needless to say, I didn't. I got up and ready for church, and got the kids up and ready for church, but holy cow - I was weak and achy all over. Jonathan told me to go back to bed and declared Sunday to be a bedrest day for me; he'd take care of the house. I didn't argue much!

I got worse through the night; I developed a really bad headache, and at about four in the morning, started getting really, really dizzy. At about six I called our OB; something just wasn't right - I don't get sick like this. Unfortunately he was delivering a baby, so I ended up talking with one of the nurses from the office, who told me to immediately go lay down, and then get my blood pressure taken as soon as possible. We took the kids to school and drove up to CVS to check it and it was 138/96. Not a good number, pregnant or not. The nurse told me to go lay down on my left side, drink a ton, and check it again in three hours. Did that, and it was 136/94. Still high, so we went in to spend an afternoon at the doctors office for lab work and fetal monitoring. Their main concern was preeclampsia: pregnancy induced hypertension, which would put me on bedrest until she was born, and often, they end up delivering early via c-section or induced labor for both mom and baby's health. Trust me, that was not a thought that I relished! But I was instructed for bed rest until my lab work came back, and to come in again in the morning for another check-up.

That day did not pass well; I was bored with being in bed and worrying about the baby. Jonathan ran the house like a pro and the kids did really, really well. We went back to the doctor in the morning and thank the Lord, the hypertension test came back negative, which was a huge answer to prayer. However, it did show that I have a bacterial infection that had kind of taken over (on top of the respiratory stuff I was fighting off), and I just could not battle both of them. New antibiotics were prescribed and I was sent back to bed. Within 24 hours I felt 100% better; the weakness and dizziness were gone, and even my respiratory infection seemed to start to improve. Now on Saturday, I feel like me again. I overdid it some on Thursday and was really wiped out yesterday, but this is our weekend off, so I hope by Monday I'll be fully well again.

So it's been a good weekend so far; we are in the apartment just up the way from the house that we are staying in for the first time, and really enjoying it. Jonathan and David (our maintenance guy) have done a lot of work in it over the past two-three weeks, and it feels very homey. We will be staying here for about two weeks after the baby is born, so we moved some nursery essentials in yesterday. Then this morning I had a wonderful baby shower; it was a great time of fellowship and fun, and we got some much needed items, like a car seat and baby swing. And then to top it all off, we have two new little girls; not foster kids, but kittens, which we have named Kenya and Egypt! Our boss called yesterday and asked if we would like one or two (a mommy cat had her babies under their porch), and we jumped on it; we have missed our cat very much over the past year. Of course they will be outside cats when we are on campus, but we are enjoying playing with them this weekend.

I think that is about it for now; I'll blog more next week, which will be another busy week for us as we have two getting ready to be adopted in the next week or so, now that school is getting out. Hope y'all are well!