I'm thankful for.....

My husband! These last few days have been a little crazy to say the least. It all started Sunday night when Dax woke up crying at about 1 o'clock in the morning. He hasn't done this since we moved into the house and before that since he was about 3 months old. I thought he must have just gotten woken up by something and figured bringing him into bed with us wouldn't be a big deal and he'd be back asleep in no time. I was dead wrong! The child was up until sometime between 4 and 5 in the morning. He was wide awake and ready to play! I had no idea what was going on, but needless to say, no one got any sleep.

Well, when I officially woke up on Monday morning at 6:00 to start work I wasn't feeling great. Figuring it was a combination of being 31 weeks pregnant and getting little sleep I started work. Luckily for me working from home has a lot of perks, and my office just so happens to have a queen size bed right next to my desk. I decided to lay down. I wasn't feeling right but couldn't pinpoint what I was feeling. I decided to leave Dax home with me for the day figuring he'd be a beast with the amount of sleep he had gotten too. By about 9:00 I decided that the best way to describe what I was feeling was cramping. I had just had a Dr's appointment a week or so ago and I remember how the Dr. always asks if I have had any bleeding or cramping. So, I figured I better call the Dr. My Dr. wasn't in, but the Dr. that was said I better go to Labor and Delivery. When I heard that I started to second guess what I was really feeling and thought maybe it was just the exhaustion. When I found myself taking deep breaths through the shooting pain, I realized I was definitely having contractions. Everyone always said when I was pregnant with Dax that I would definitely know when I was having contractions. Since I don't think I ever really had any contractions with him until my water broke, it was hard to convince myself that this was really what was happening.

I called my mom hysterical. She said to get someone to come get Dax and she would drive me to the hospital. My father-in-law was over in less than 5 minutes (the joys of having family so close by) and my mom a few minutes later and we were off to the hospital. What was so ironic was Austin and I took a tour of the new hospital that opened in Sept. where I will be delivering at and pre-registered just this last Saturday. If we hadn't had gone, I would have had no idea where the hosiptal was or where Labor and Delivery was. When we got there I knew right where to go and I was back in a triage room so fast!! It's funny how listening to those promptings of doing things insignifcant can really benefit you even if you don't know the reason right then. The nurses got me all hooked and lo and behold I was having contractions. The great news was, the baby was fine, wasn't in distress at all and everything was exactly how it should be. They can't really tell you why contractions start, but just to stay hydrated and take it easy. I hadn't felt like I was doing anything out of the ordinary, but maybe I was and just didn't know. I guess it was a sublte, and really scary reminder, to slow down. They kept me hooked up for a few hours and my Dr. ordered a series of 3 shots to stop the contractions. Luckily it only took two. The medicine they gave me made my heart race, and feel really jittery, not to mention nauseated, but the pain almost all but went away. They discharged me with Dr. orders for two days of bed rest. YUCK! No doing dishes, laundry, cooking, heavy lifting (including picking Dax up) and no shopping (the nurse amde very sure she thre that in there with her list).

So, the reason I am thankful this holiday season for my husband is the way he has wore so many hats the last few days. He's worked 12 hours days, studied for tests, gone grocery shopping, taken care of Dax, fixed dinner, cleaned the house, done laundry, laid 1800 sq. feet of sod in our backyard (pictures will be coming), made beds, unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned bathrooms and hasn't even let me lift a finger. He's been the perfect "nurse" for this couch ridden patient and I am so thankful for him. In fact, our entire family has really been so great! Austin's family kept Dax all day for me yesterday despite trying to prepare for over 15 house guests and 48 for Thanksgiving dinner, my mom sat at the hospital with me despite her preparation for Thanksgiving dinner, plus brought me and Dax to her house this afternoon to help with him and get me out of my danger zone so I couldn't do any chores around the house, all of my sisters have checked on me numerous times throughout the day offering to come get Dax, and my sister Nicole brought us the yummiest dinner tonight so neither one of us would have to cook. I can easily say this Thanksgiving I am so thankful for my family!! We couldn't be more blessed to have them so near and for them to show their love to us in so many ways!!