A riddle for you...

What does high blood pressure and having a stressful job get you? Drum roll please....

Bed Rest!

Yup, after having the third straight day of high blood pressure results at my doctor's office, I have been officially put on bed rest. There is a possibility that if my blood pressure goes down by Friday, I might be able to go back next week, but it's not looking good. I'm actually in the middle of a 24 hour urine collection (good times) to test for too much protein. If that comes back positive, then I will be diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, which is pretty dangerous for the mom, but poses no risk for the baby. Unfortunately, the only cure is to deliver the baby, so Avery may be making an early debut. Right now, we're just praying and keeping our fingers crossed that my test results come back negative. 

So, the hardest thing right now will be staying off my feet when I feel like there's so much to do to finish getting ready for Avery. In reality, everything is done; nursery's set up, hospital bag is packed, car seat is installed, but there are little odds and ends things that I want to finish. The other hardest thing is letting go of school. I tend to be a stress case, even though I know that I've done everything I can to prepare, and now I just have to let it go. 

Well, that's the update from the House of Rulis. We hope that you and your families are well! 

-B

18 Days to Go

So it seems that Avery is attempting an early debut. I went to my weekly doctor's appointment last Tuesday to find out that I am starting to efface and Avery's head has engaged. Being only 34w4d at that point, they put me on the monitor. I was having some contractions, although I couldn't feel them, so they gave me a drug called Turbutaline to stop them. After about a half hour things calmed down and they let me go home. I did, however, get to go back both Wed. and Thursday to be monitored. I wasn't having contractions either time, but my doctor is concerned with pre-term labor, so I'm on "modified" bed rest. She really didn't want me to go back to work, but that isn't really an option, because I still have so much left to do! So, I get to go to work (although I have to sit the entire day), and all other times I'm supposed to be off my feet. I go back in on Monday for more monitoring, and hopefully there are no more contractions. If there are, I have a feeling that I won't get a choice about returning to work. I'd really like to make it two more weeks, just to get things wrapped up.

Nate has been really wonderful making sure that I stay off my feet. He's taken care of the laundry and food, all the while putting up with my complaining. All prayers are welcome as we near the end of our pregnancy. We cannot wait for Avery to be here, and for all of you to meet her! Only 18 more days!!!

B

Our Attempt at Artsy

Well, Nate and I have had a busy weekend. Thursday night I ended up in the ER after having some pretty severe chest pain and shortness of breath for most of the afternoon. After a whole lot of test, and a rather patronizing doctor, everything checked out okay with both me and Avery. Nate was such a trooper sitting by my side for 5 hours in the hospital. I guess it'll be good practice for when it comes time for Avery to arrive. At any rate, I'm hoping that the trips to the hospital will be limited to childbirth classes from now on. I took Friday off of work to rest and because I had to go into my OBs office in the morning for a non-stress test. It's basically just laying around while they monitor the baby's heartbeat, movement, and any contractions. After the night before, it was really nice to have the day to relax.

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My whole pregnancy I've had the dilemna of whether or not to get "maternity photos" taken. On one hand, we have an amazing photographer that would take awesome pictures. One the other hand, do we really want to spend $$$ on pictures that would just get put in an album and most people would never see. So, Nate and I came up with a compromise. We borrowed my mom's hi-tec camera and set up a little shoot in our office. Nate took some great pictures, and then I used my new-found abilities in Photoshop to touch them up. They're not even close to being done yet, but I've included a couple of examples for you to see. Any feedback is much appreciated!

So Very Blessed

This past weekend, my sister threw me a baby shower. I have to say, that never before have I felt so lucky to have the friends and family that I do. I mean, I've always known they are amazing, but their generosity far exceeded anything I could have expected. I had friends come in from LA and Dallas, and Nate's mom flew in from Oregon. We got so many wonderful things for Avery, and it was awesome to spend time with friends. I'll try to post some pictures soon, but they're all on my mom's camera and I haven't made it over there to download them yet.

In other news, Nate would like to tell you about our class tonight. Boobs ... women have them and can use them to feed babies. AMAZING!!! Anyway, the highlight of the class had to be our "child" for the night. It appeared to be some sort of Pee Pee Pants Polly that had been run over by a truck then given a really crude haircut by a four-year-old hairdresser in training. She was definitely the most beautiful baby of the bunch. We have included a picture for your viewing pleasure below. Enjoy the beauty.