What a Weekend!?!

I will just tell the story, starting from last Wednesday. Actually, before Wednesday even occurred, about two months ago, Heather and I went into the hospital because she was having back pain so bad that it was bringing her to tears. So, we went to the OB screening room, they monitored the baby and Heather for about an hour and a half, told us everything looked perfect and sent us on our way. Well, this past Wednesday the pain started to come back. It was tolerable even to the point that Heather went with Colton and I to Winter Park on Thursday. Of course she didn't ski, but she was able to sit in the lodge and work on her own stuff while Colton and I skied. Thursday went by and Heather said it was just really uncomfortable, but the pain was tolerable. She was able to fall asleep on me Thursday night, but come early Friday morning she was awakened by the pain at about 4 AM. At this time she just moved down to the couch to prop herself up to try and alieve this pain. Colton and I woke up at about 7:30. Heather told me that the pain was only getting worse. We called the doctors office at 8:00, talked to the nurse, she referred us the OB nurse, the OB nurse referred us to the overall hospital nurse, and she told us to try to relax and alternate cold with heat (which we had been doing). Later that day, Heather thought that getting out and moving might get the blood moving and make it better so we went and ran a couple of errands. She dropped me off to get one our cars an oil change. As soon as I got back she came walking outside in excruciating pain saying, we need to go in. So we packed up and headed to the hospital. The thing that really started to worry us was her shortness of breath. Thankfully, our Awesome Aunt Sue was able to meet us at the hospital and take care of Colton for the night, Thanks Sue! We again went to the OB screening room where they started to monitor Abigail and Heather. Abigail's heart rate was in the 180's to 190's, which is fairly high. The nurse practitioner in the OB clinic told that she is going to send us to the ER because if something is wrong they will have the tools there to take care of it. So they got her a room in the ER and wheeled her down there. A little side note, if you ever think your life sucks, go and hang out in Denver Health's ER for a Friday night and you quickly realize that it could be worse. So, we waited in the room for about 5 minutes before being bombarded with 10 people and a thousand questions. Heather at this point was still in, if not worse than before, excruciating pain. So the doctor immediately ordered 4 mg of morphine, which immediately freaked me out. Was this safe for Abigail? Is this going to have any side effects? Well, all the answers were no. Abigail being 34 weeks along helped her out, because she is pretty much fully formed with all of her organs. At this point they said all she needs to do is fatten up for the outside world. They said the morphine will affect Abigail just as it will Heather; it will make her sleepy. So they gave her the pain medication and just continued to monitor her. About an hour later Heather was still in extreme pain, so they ordered another 4 mg of morphine. The same questions came fumbling out my mouth, but again they assured me that it was safe for both Abigail and Heather. Then came what they needed to do in order to find out what was going on; a CAT scan. Heather obviously knows more than me, but being raised by a nurse and then marrying one, I know my fair share and right away we starting worrying, not only about the radiation, but the dye they inject into you. Just the word "risks" and "side-effects" don't sit well when there is a baby on board. They needed to do this because they were afraid of Heather having a pulmonary embolism which is a clot in the, or leading to, the lungs. Women are at a higher risk of these during pregnancy due to the increase of blood in their bodies. Ever had to sign a specific release form for your unborn child because there are "risks" and unknowns to your baby; NOT FUN. The radiologist "assured" us that he didn't "think" our baby was going to be affected; again NOT FUN. The doctors and company felt very strongly that the risks of Heather having a PE outweighed the risks of the radiation and the dye. We had an OB nurse at bedside that also told us that they saw and took care of lots of women that had to get a CAT scan and nothing went wrong. About an hour after the scan the ER doctor came in and told they were able to rule out All of the major stuff. No collapsed lung, no clot, no ... Now we were thinking great we have done all of this and found nothing? We still didn't know what was causing this pain? Now don't get me wrong, THANK GOD nothing major was happening, but it was frustrating still not knowing. So, finally the ER told us that we needed to move up to the OB floor because they needed to fill the ER bed with another drunk; and that night there were plenty of drunks in that ER. Before we moved to the OB floor the OB doctor came and checked out Heather. She was able to rule out the pre-term labor and tell that she felt everything was OK with Abigail and Heather, but to make sure they aren't missing anything, they wanted to monitor her for a while. From the ER to our own private OB suite was literally night and day. The OB nursing and doctor staff at Denver Health was great. They gave us the option to be discharged around midnight or stay the night, and since we had already paid for our stay, we stayed the night. At least we were able to have a more in depth "dry run." Ha-ha, not really funny because of what we had to go through. So the conclusion to all of this:
The only thing they were able to make sense of was a muscular pull or strain. Now, how could that happen. Well, at work Heather has to push and pull these carts around that they say weigh 195 pounds. Are you kidding me? I don't even know if I could that all night, and I'm not even pregnant. The doctors have now wrote her a note saying she cannot push or pull those. Beyond that, Heather's manager, who's NOT a fan of those carts, told her to take the week off. Yay! but Boo because this week is going to cut into her PTO for after Abigail comes. Last night Heather was able to get a descent nights sleep, but the pain came back a little this morning (Mon, March 31). This afternoon we are going to go back to the hospital to file a claim for workman's comp. I talked with one of the charge nurse's on Heather unit and he told me Heather is not the first one to be injured by one of these carts. Me being the enginerd is going to do some calculations for the amount of force it takes to start and stop those carts. I will let you all know the outcome.
As for right now, we are doing alright and we appreciate the thoughts and prayers that have come our way. Hopefully this will pass this week and we can get back to the anticipation of Abby!

Big Update

Since the last update was just a little one, I will make this a big one. There actually has been a lot going on and a lot to come. I will start by just saying congratulations to my Cousins in Minnesota for having their second little girl just yesterday (March 12th). Many of you that read this blog probably don't know that Heather's sister is also pregnant and she is due about 2 weeks before our little Abigail. She is having a boy and they are naming him Nash. This past weekend there was a baby shower for little 'ol Nash. Below is a picture of Nash and Abigail having a little chit-chat (or maybe it was more of a boxing match)

Abigail and Heather's baby shower is this weekend where Nash and Abby can go for round 2! I am already in the process of getting used the pink, but all I have heard about this weekend is how much pink there will be, so thank goodness the boys are doing something else. There are actually a couple of Easter egg hunts that I am going to take Colton to. The house is "almost" there. Of course, there will always be something, but we really are close to being done with the big projects. As I promised before, here is where Abigail will lie her sweet little head:

I think my kids have really made out on their rooms. I know there won't be a lack of space in Abby's room. Heather is so good at decorating that she has really made our entire house so wonderful to live in. I am not one to care initially about the decor, but she has done such a good job with it, that it really just makes everything feel like home. For more pictures of the house (actually only the basement) go to heatpete.blogspot.com.

I saved the most important news for last. We had our final ultrasound this morning. I say this is the most important, but I don't have a whole lot to say, which is good. Of course, Abigail had her hands up in her face and in her mouth, so we were unable to get a good look at her cleft. It is what is, so all we can do at this point is pray that God makes it as easy on everyone, especially Abigail, as He can. With that said, everything else was great. They said she weighed 4 pounds 2 ounces. How they know how much she weighs is beyond me, but they said she looked like a very healthy and happy baby. Nothing makes me more happy and proud than to here that my little one looks happy.

I also promised before some pictures of Abigail's current home. I have to warn you all that the second picture below is not for everyone. The least I can say is that Heather now has a bigger belly than me, even when I am trying to be big. Obviously there is a reason for her big belly, so I hope I don't in too much trouble for saying so. But to help alleviate some of slapping when I get home, I do have to say that she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I could not imagine God picking out a better fit for me. I will let you see for yourself:

Is she not the most beautiful woman ever? She really make me happy.

Warning again for the below picture (it's not that bad). She WINS!!! I am at the disadvantage; 2 vs.1...

I will keep you all posted for anything else to come, but as far as I can see right now, we are only into the count down. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts, it really means a lot to us.

Little Update

I haven't posted in a while, which actually means things have been going good. The house is really coming along and so is Abigail. Abigail likes having her space. When anyone touches Heather's belly with any pressure at all, you will recieve (without a doubt) a "give me my space" kick. We have another ultrasound coming up on the 13th so keep us in your prayers. Our first ultrasound showed no sign of the palate being involved but our second one did, so we are still a little uncertain. We are prepared for the worse, but praying for the best. I am sorry I have been lazy with blogging and also with taking pictures. Earlier this week I put together Abby's crib and dresser. They really look nice in her room. We finally got carpet downstairs, so we were able to move all of the computer stuff down there. I still have some finishing touches to do, but my list has really deminished:

1. Buy Wife Flowers (DONE, but she needs new ones so we will keep it at #1)
2. Finish cleaning the downstairs ceiling and walls from the concrete dust (DONE)
3. Touch up downstairs paint (DONE, but I have new nick's to touch up)
4. Paint downstairs doors (DONE)
5. Hang downstairs doors (DONE)
6. Seal concrete bar-top (On Hold)
7. Install bar sink (On Hold)
8. Install downstairs lights (DONE)
9. Have carpet installed downstairs (DONE)
10. Move HUGE desk out of Abby's room and downstairs (DONE)
11. Move all Computer equipment out of Abby's room and downstairs (DONE)

The list has really come down to just a few things. With Abigail's baby shower on the 15th of March, we will be more than ready, I hope, I think, I pray, I..I...I have no idea what I am in for!

I know I am extremely excited and blessed with such a great family and such great friends. I promise I will quit being lazy and post up some pictures of Abigail's room and of Abagail's current place of residence. This weekend I will also post to our other blog for updates on Colton and the house.