Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Posted by Jaynee

Just wanted to give you an update on Jen, since I know many of you are curious.  She is doing well - or should I say, as well as someone stuck in the hospital for a long stay can be.  She is now in a private room at no extra cost - the hospital moved her there without her requesting it, so she doesn’t have to pay for it, which is a nice bonus!  The room is large and Beau is able to sleep there if he wants to.

She and the baby are fine - on constant monitoring but with no complications since the bleed last week.  Jen has continued to gain modest weight - she looks great and all the weight she has gained thus far is truly just BABY weight.

She still hasn’t been able to get her laptop working, thus no updates over the holidays.  I predict at some point, however, her boredom will take over and she’ll do whatever she can to get computer access.

She received some baby gifts for Christmas - notably, a pack ‘n’ play and a portable breast pump.  She was very excited about both of those, as well as a few other baby related things.

Thanks for your continued prayers and well wishes - she is appreciative and hopes to be back soon!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Posted by Jaynee, on Jen’s behalf

Just checking in - the doctors have said that I’m in the hospital for the exact same reason as last time, but I’m in good shape at this point.

I have a roommate this time, and my only complaint is that said roommate is very loud.  She keeps her tv up very loud at all times.

Other than that, I’m okay with being here - yesterday was tough emotionally, but I’m doing better today.

Thanks for all the comments and prayers.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Posted by Jaynee, at Jen’s Request

Guess who’s back in the hospital?

Last night I woke up just after 3 a.m. and upon a quick bathroom break determined that I had some minor bleeding again.  So Beau and I went to the hospital (I was smart enough to have a suitcase with me this time), and I am officially in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy.

I was really ticked off at first because I just wanted to make it through Christmas without any complications, but in the long run I know it’s better for me to be safe than home for the holidays.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

I can’t get past the first password screen. I talked with my boss and logged in as him with no trouble, so we think my password expired. However, it shouldn’t have expired already because I had just changed it a couple of weeks prior to going on bed rest and I believe it’s a 90 day password cycle. Regardless, the laptop is useless to me until I can get past that first log in screen.  *sigh*

The good news is that he gave Beau a lot of small items from my desk that I thought I would have to battle to get, so he intends for me to do real work (as opposed to the busy work he mentioned on the phone this morning). Just need to get past the security hurdle.

Via an email from Jaynee, I bring you this.

Someone likes The Lord of the Rings a bit TOO much.

I happen to think that while it is a little too, I quite like it. Yes, I’m a LotR nerd.

Monday, December 18, 2006

I had my last Venofer treatment this morning. I’m going to miss those trips out.

I talked with my boss this morning - the laptop is finally ready for pick up. He’s going to help Beau to gather what I need from my office tomorrow and then I can start working a few hours each day. That will be good because I find that I’m sleeping for several hours each day out of boredom (I think). I do know that baby has had a growth spurt in the past few days - I’m feeling much larger - and looking it, too.

Although I’m bored, I’m not interested in some of the things that will alleviate that boredom, including blogging. So maybe I’m really just tired and need the sleep?

The plan for Christmas is that Beau and I will head over to my parents’ house for the weekend on Friday afternoon where I’ll park on their cushy and gigantic sofa in the family room during the days so that I can participate in everything. We’ll return home on Tuesday morning after the Cooties hit the road back to South Carolina.

We’ve been provided some delicious meals by folks in our small group and another will be coming on Wednesday. Beau’s Sis is also coming to visit on Wednesday - it will be good to see her.

Beau is addicted to the Military Channel.

Even with missing getting my vote in on the week I was in the hospital, I came in second place in Jaynee’s Survivor pool. I could have won if I had been able to get a vote in that week.***SPOILERS*** I did pick Yul to win the whole thing.

I have a lot of thank you notes to get written. And I still have Christmas cards for the locals to get in the mail. I plan to work on them tonight.

7/9 Intellect You are 73% knowledgable and 76% intellectual.

Excellent! You have a powerful mind backed by a good amount of knowledge.  Keep cracking books and nothing can stop you.

[via caltechgirl]

Sunday, December 17, 2006

I had made reservations at the Heart in Hand for our anniversary night out. Beau and I were looking forward to spending a romantic evening having dinner at the site of our rehearsal dinner. But since I’m in bed, we needed to cancel the reservation.

I made the call today and had the random thought that maybe we could still have our HiH dinner - take out. So I explained that I had just been put on maternity bed rest, would it be possible for us to do our dinner carry out instead of dining in their restaurant. The gal I talked to said she didn’t think that would be a problem at all but that she’d run the question by their manager and have the manager call me later or tomorrow.

If she says no, then we’ll need to figure out an alternative for our anniversary and New Year’s.

Here’s the latest on Beau’s job hunt:

1. Still no word from Bill of Rights Institute, which we take as a non-offer. We’re assuming they made an offer to the other person they were talking to. Why Beau hasn’t gotten a rejection letter yet is a mystery.

2. Still no word from the colleges in SC and Seattle. We’re assuming they’ve made their selections and that Beau will get rejection letters after the new year sometime.

3. He did get a letter from one of the colleges in Arkansas - a sort of rejection. Apparently, their funding doesn’t allow for hiring right now and that search has been put on hold. So it wasn’t an outright no, just a not quite yet.

4. Beau’s mentor called last week to let him know that one of the folks on the search committee at the other Arkansas college has called him. Turns out that when they saw the reference letter from the mentor for Beau, one of the guys recognized the name and followed up with a phone call to said mentor. Just the other day Beau got an email letting him know that he made the first cut, along with 5 other people, and that he needs to set up a phone interview for early January. At this point, I’m praying baby Jesse doesn’t interfere with that interview by coming early and throwing all thoughts other than baby out the window.

So it’s looking like we may have the chance to move this summer after all, just not the location that we were hoping for. But we’re trusting God in it and are waiting to see what happens. In the meantime, Beau continues to prepare for his classes at GMU that start in late January.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Thank you, Worcester Wreaths.

Friday, December 15, 2006

All this week when I’ve tried to read The Thinklings page during the day it’s all hosed. But in the evening it works again.

What’s the dealio?

Thursday, December 14, 2006

From The Llama Butchers:

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate with marshmallows or whipped cream, please.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa will be new to our home, but I believe he wraps.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I like white on both, Beau likes colored. I sense many minor arguments at Christmastime in our future.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I never have in the past, but I can’t rule it out for the future.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Typically, I like to start working on decorations right after Thanksgiving. However, I am so glad that I did them early this year or we would have none because of The Bed Rest.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Like Robert, we go traditional English: Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with two veg.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: That’s a tough one. I distinctly remember when we got our second dachshund for Christmas when we lived in England, though.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was about 6 years old and we lived in England. My dad put me on his lap and told me about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy in one fell swoop. I was then warned not to tell my younger sister, but I believe that I ran right out and promptly told her because I never kept secrets from her.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We used to open all of the gifts on Christmas Eve. With the arrival of CootieGirl and CootieBoy, we have moved all opening of gifts to Christmas Day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights, vintage frosted glass ornaments that used to be my grandparents, some Americana ornaments, random other sentimentals. I have a red punched tin star for the topper.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? A little of both. I love it but I dread having to drive in it in this area.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, not very well.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Too many over the years.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? The reminder that God came to earth as a tiny baby.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Always pumpkin pie, but also my mother’s Chocolate-Eggnog Layer pie.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Just getting together with my family.

17. What tops your tree? The red punched tin star that I’ve had for years.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I love the giving much more.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? I can’t name just one.

20. Candy canes: Not so much, but maybe that will change with having a kid around.

21. Favorite Christmas movie? Elf.

22. What do you leave for Santa? He gets bupkus right now, but that may change with having a kid around.

Since I caught some kind of cold while in the hospital I have been super congested, mostly at night. A friend from church said that she used Breathe Right Nasal Strips during her last pregnancy and that they worked like a charm. So I asked Beau to get some. We both used one last night and were better able to breathe through our noses rather than mouth-breathing. I have one on already for tonight and I can tell it’s working. Amazing.

I heartily endorse Breathe Right and plan to continue using them and will probably try to use them when I have congestion in the future, too.

I was getting frustrated at the thought of Beau being house bound with me for the next two months. Or of having to have someone here at the house with me at all times when he went out for things like church or small group or whatever. I mean, seriously, it’s not like I’m a little kid who needs constant watching. What I need is some good common sense about this bed rest thing, right? In today’s cell phone age, surely Beau could be tethered by the wireless phone when he’s away from home? Or my mother or my neighbor or friends from church?

So I called my OB’s office to get clarification on this 24/7 care thing. Turns out I’m good with the common sense thing and Beau has officially been released from being housebound along with me. I’m so relieved, because while he seemed fine with it, I was stressing over it. We were facing a lot of instances when I would be alone over Christmas weekend and trying to find people to be with me was going to be a challenge. Now we don’t have to worry about anything except keeping our respective cell phones charged.

I also asked for a letter from the doc clearing me for light work via laptop to appease my boss. He’s been reluctant to let me do any work except very minimal things by phone. That’s not going to cover enough time to save on the advanced and donated leave. My doc should have faxed a letter this morning giving my boss clear approval to have me do work from bed, so I’m hoping to get my laptop early next week and start working. I’ve thought of a lot of things that I can still do from bed with the laptop, so I should be able to work for several hours each day if the office cooperates in getting things to me here.

That should help a lot with the restlessness and boredom. For now, I’m doing OK with that, but I know that after Christmas it’ll probably increase with the natural letdown after the holidays.

That reminds me, I need to cancel our reservations at Heart in Hand that I had made for our anniversary. We’re going to rain check that date for after Jesse arrives - maybe in March or April.

I had my 8th Venofer treatment this afternoon. I forgot to mention that at the last treatment there was this guy there whose veins were hardened from bad reactions to two antibiotics and therefore the nurses were having a very difficult time finding a vein for his IV or whatever he was there to get. He had arrived before we did and they were still trying to find a good vein when I left about an hour later. I felt terrible for him and for the nurses - all were very stressed.

Today’s treatment was the best so far. The nurse put the needle in my hand and let the saline drip freely. She was done pushing the Venofer before I knew it and the only discomfort I had was the initial needle stick. Here’s hoping the final two treatments go as well.