time from home

So life in the Bay has been okay. First of all, we are SO glad we are here and not in Sac at UCD b/c here we have family. The Marik's have been a huge blessing to us, we got to see a bunch of Yaya's at Susan's last night, and being the holiday season, families are traveling from home to home so we get to catch up with other's we haven't seen in a while too. We would be so lonely and bored in Sac! The hard part about the Bay is how far away it is from Redding. We miss our Stirring family up there, not to mention Elliot wanting to see his grandparents all the time.

He's doing pretty good, but he doesn't like being away from home. In as much as we can't get out of the door fast enough for him when we are headed over for him to play with Ethan and Tyler, he hates coming back to the RMH. We will say that we are going "home" for the night, and when we get in the room and he is lying in his pack'n'play he says he isn't home and he wants to go home and not go night night here. It breaks my heart. Last night, on our way back from Susan's, he asked if we were going home or to the "Donald" house. We said the Donald house and he sighed heavily in the back seat and asked why we couldn't go home. We let him know that Mommie and baby sister Arden need to be close to the doctors that are here and that after she is born and the doctor's say it's okay, we'll go home again. He sighs again and my heart breaks a bit more. He's such a trooper and definitely finds joy everyday, but we can tell that it is taking a toll on him. Poor guy.

Eric and I are okay. We seem to be on edge more here. Elliot's behavior isn't the best lately which we assume has to do with the above (and we're told with the fact that he will be three in two months), but it makes Eric really frustrated. There isn't much privacy here, so any disciplining or fighting we do is for people to hear/watch and that causes me stress too. The RMH is great and has so much to offer, but b/c of who they are offering their services to, they have a lot of rules which are taking some time for us to adjust to as well. No food or drink in the rooms (or outside the kitchen area) is a hard one for me b/c I'm suppose to eat every two hours. So I either stick with the nuts in my purse (okayed by the night super when we checked in) or I travel from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor to stand my our mini fridge and eat a stick of string cheese. We can't leave Elliot unattended - which seemed like a "duh" rule, but the first time we put him down for a nap, made sure he was asleep and then headed down stairs to check out the house, eat something, whatever, we were questioned as to where he was. We said he was upstairs sleeping and we were told that it was not okay that we were not with him yet alone on another floor. So now we sit in the 3rd floor family room for a few hours while he sleeps, and take turns going down stairs to eat or whatnot. Today Eric discovered that the key they gave us to get in and out of our room and the outside doors does not work on all the doors. So when he took Elliot to play on the play structure, he was stuck outside until someone walked by and let them in. When he asked the front desk about it, they said that was just how it worked.

Arden is doing good. She's still baking. We are told that she will be delivered by c-section now. I think my pre-term labor scare has pushed the doctors to wanting a more predictable delivery. So unless we are told otherwise tomorrow at my OB appt, Arden Jane will be born on January 19th. It's weird KNOWING the date of her birthday. I guess I knew Elliot's too since he was induced a day before he was due, but this seems different. Thanks to all my girlfriends who have had c-sections and helped me know I can do it too! Arden has an ultrasound, a stress test, and an amniotic fluid level test tomorrow and I have an OB and an appt with the diabetic counselor. Any new information, we will pass on.

Back on Online

Since I left for the Bay Area, a lot has happened. Now that I'm finally back to myself again, I thought I'd update you all on what happened. I know you've received updates from Eric, Melissa, Juliette, and Renee, and that is good, because to be honest, I don't remember much about the time I was in the hospital.

I was admitted Sunday morning for dehydration and malnutrition. Although, I was eating, my body wasn't processing anything I was eating and after so long, my body just started rejecting the food I was eating. The combination of these (plus a bit of the stomach flu from Elliot probably) sent me into early labor. Praise the Lord we were down in the Bay anyway so I could be admitted to Stanford. They gave me Magnesium Sulfate to calm my muscles and stop the labor. It worked, but man was it awful! I felt like the Sun was inside my body I was so hot. Apparently I was quite out of it as well and looked fairly close to death. Glad to be off the drugs. I was finally released from the hospital Thursday afternoon and have been lying low ever since.

I get to stay at my cousin's house with his family which has proven to be pure entertainment. Eric will show up tomorrow with Elliot (I miss my boys so much!) and we will be at this house for one more night. Then on Sunday we'll be able to get into the RMH, which is great... although when I stopped by today for a quick tour to see what Eric needs to bring and what he needs to leave behind, I was told our housing arrangements were still up in the air a bit. Get this: so we will be staying in the weekend manager's room (room for one person) which is open from Sunday to Friday. They said that if there isn't a place for us to move to by Friday, we will actually have to check out of the RHM and go on the wait list again. He said that when they do that, they obviously don't want to have to check someone out, so we become top priority... but I'm not sure how that matters since no matter everyone is waiting on a doctor to say someone can go home. We decided to go ahead with it b/c it would be a cat-free place for Eric at the very least. It wasn't until I got back to my cousin's that he looked at me and asked: "So if they don't have a place for you they will be kicking you out on Christmas?" Yeah, didn't think about that. So this year for Christmas, we are asking Santa for a room that we can STAY in (and not be kicked out) and will hold all of us. Good grief Charlie Brown!

For now, Arden and I are doing good. My weight is back in the 120's and my blood sugars seems to be more than in control. Tonight I had spaghetti and meat sauce with green beans and I tested at only 107! I'm drinking eggnog now to celebrate. :) Thanks so much to EVERYONE who has supported us through this, we continually have need, but are continually given more than we could even ask for. We are blessed to say the least. As more happens (hopefully nothing too eventful) I will keep you updated.

Please keep praying for us. Eric is finally done with school but still battling with one of his teachers over his grade. He will start his job at my cousin's pizza place at some point once he gets down here and continue to be amazing at supporting his family. Please pray for his stress levels, a place for him to vent if needed, safety on the job as he drives around, and continued support from his friends while we are away. Pray for my health: sugar levels, nutrition, weight, sleep, stress, and anything else that pops in your mind! Elliot has been doing great with his support team up in Redding. Pray for him as he transitions to a new "home", and as my appointments increase that he will still feel the attention and love he needs. As for Miss Arden, we need to be praying that she stays put! None of this early labor nonsense! Continued prayer for her heart as always. The two holes they found in her heart that she had made to alleviate some pressure are getting smaller so that points to more immediate surgery after birth instead of letting her adjust to life out of the womb for a a day or few. The doctor's are saying that I will for sure have a c-section now for predictability sake, and until then, I'll have weekly OB apts and Arden will have weekly echo's to follow her heart's progress. Our next apts are this Monday. If I find out more then, I'll let you know. Thanks once again!