I Can Go To the Bathroom (And I Have a View)!

Big news today...

The catheter is out and I've been disconnected from all of my IVs (which previously consisted of Magnesium Sulfate, antibiotics and a standard fluid drip). This means that simply by disconnecting from the fetal monitor and releasing my legs from these weird compression current things to prevent muscle atrophy (who buys these for home usage, WTF??), I can go to the bathroom all by myself like a real adult! HUGE. However...no, I do not get to shower. So it's sponge baths in bed, along with teeth brushing, hair combing, etc... I must say, though, I believe the hospital staff is very impressed by my array of personal care products. I am trying to line up a mani/pedi next.

At this point, this is my only movement from the bed, but I'll take it however I can get it. At least I can eat whatever I want - a far cry from the first night, when I starved on a diet of ice chips. They even have menus for me to order special hospital food from - though admittedly, I've been supplementing that with yummy food we order in, have brought in by friends/family, etc.

Things are progressing very well so far. The Perinatologist came and spoke with us this morning, and he maintained that my condition and the baby's are both good. His heart rate is moving right along, we're both fighting infection, and I don't have uterine activity - this is a good thing. At this point, the goal is to get me as close to 34 weeks as possible, at which point they will deliver. The only meds I'm now on are oral antibiotics (amoxycillin) and, well, a stool softener - more information than you probably need, but let me tell you, I was mighty happy for that earlier today...

So it all continues to be one day at a time. Tomorrow should be exciting - we have a few visitors coming by, and it's College Football Saturday in football country - doesn't get much better than that. I am surrounded by books, magazines, DVDs and games (courtesy of many of you) I haven't even made it to yet because I've been busying myself with email, phone calls, and lists of getting crap done - this is what I'm good at. This little laptop and my Blackberry are way too much power for the bed-confined...

Many of you have asked where Brad is staying - he is right here in the hospital with me. I was moved to a beautiful room with a downtown ocean view, and he stays alongside me on a pretty fashionable pullout leather chair thing. I'm not sure how comfortably it sleeps, but no doubt it's better than the labor bed he was subjected to for the first four nights. Meanwhile, my mom is staying at the hotel we'd booked. Longer term, we have a lot of options in place - thanks to so many of you for reaching out on that.

In the meantime, keep the emails and phone calls coming - it helps keep me sane! In return, I'll continue to furnish you all with way more information about pregnancy in general and pre-term labor in particular than you could possibly have ever wanted to hear.