Jason’s been taking daily pictures of me and I decided to post them because I’m bored. :)

Unfortunately, all the nastiness I remembered from last time kicked in later last night. Its hard enough to sleep at 32 weeks pregnant in your own comfy bed, much less with all this going on. Well, I got one night under my belt. Two more to go. Doctor told me I’m not going home til Thursday. Goodbye 2009. Its been fun.

This magnesium shit does not slow down my contractions.

*Disclaimer: any posts related to this hospital visit may be more information than you care to hear. Proceed at your own risk.

So… the fun begins again. Doctor appointment this morning. Doc: “Been having any contractions?” Me (sheepishly): “Um.. yeah.” So he checks to see if the contractions are having any effect on my cervix. Feels like its taking forever for him to respond, then he looks at me apologetically, like he knows he just ruined my week, and quietly says, “one.”

I’m thinking, “UGH. That means bed rest for sure.” But it really means a 3 day trip to the hospital, complete with my favorite contraction-prevention treatment: the magnesium drip.

The purpose of this visit is to stop the contractions long enough to get two steroid shots in me, which help the baby’s lungs develop quickly. That way if she does come early, she won’t have severe respiratory problems. Each shot takes 24 hours to work. I get one on day 1, one on day 2, and then they keep me here for most of day 3 to make sure the steroid has had enough time to do its thing. All the while hooked up to the magnesium, which reduces the likelihood that I will go into labor before her lungs are ready.

I start the visit in triage where they hook me up to monitor my contractions and monitor the baby’s heart rate. Then they draw blood. Then they do a culture swab. They turn me over and shoot the steroid into my hip, which doesn’t hurt but the area gets real sore afterward. Then they hook me up to an iv, once they get the call from the doctor that I am to be admitted. Transfer to my room. Rehook everything. Start the mag drip, which makes my arm sore instantly at the injection site. I’m surprised at how sore my arm feels. I had forgotten about that. It only takes a few minutes for me to start feeling the warm fog spreading inside me. I’m groggy suddenly, just as the ultrasound tech arrives. She does her thing (baby looks great, 4 lbs 9 oz). As she’s wrapping up to leave, I signal to Jason to go get the bucket. He remembers this from last time. Out goes my lunch. The worst feeling of all is the I-just-vomited state of my throat combined with that burning feeling. I’m thinking, “Ah yes. This is what I remember hating so much.” As the ultrasound tech leaves, in comes the nurse to catheterize me. It just gets better and better. But then, all of a sudden, as the nurse finishes up, I feel perfectly fine again. Just like that.

I’ve already had my second bag of the mag, this one with no side effects. Except that damn sore arm. But otherwise, I’m shocked at how good I feel. Even ate some hospital mashed potatoes and have kept them down so far. Not too bad. Last time I felt waaaaay worse. Blurry vision. Groggy for long periods of time. Hot and sweaty and nasty. I’m seriously shocked at how good I feel right now.

Hopefully the worst is behind me and I spend the next three days reading and resting and not suffering too much. Except for the whole missing my girls part.

How am I just finding out about this? This is Halle and Elena’s favorite movie of all time. I seriously hope one day there’s a game show just for Cars trivia because I would smoke anyone anytime anywhere. I’ve seen the movie probably 200 times. But anyway, looks like I found Halle’s birthday present in plenty of time. She’s been telling me for several weeks now that she wants a Cars birthday party when she turns 4.  That could be super cute, with her giving her friends rides in her Mustang, adorned with Lighting McQueen-type decals. There’s definitely potential for this party. :)

Our good friends at Disney Pixar put together this video for the kids for our upcoming Hive 2010 Tokyo Drift. So nice of them.

Well technically Jason and I are both putting me on bed rest. The contractions have just been coming too often. Lower back pain too persistent. Exhaustion almost unbearable at times. Really, really, really hoping to make it to week 36 without a hospital visit, and especially without an early delivery. So we’re in agreement over here that I need to stay off my feet and take it easy as much as possible.

Despite my concern last night that Jason was going to grow tired quickly of catering to me, he was FABULOUS today. Let me sleep in til after 11. Went grocery shopping with me (I rode around in one of those motorized carts while he did the shopping). Cleaned, cooked, watched the kids. I’ve been able to rest on the couch with my feet up for the most of the day and its been great. Very few contractions today, so I guess it’s working.

It’s going to be interesting getting through Christmas, but at least I have all my shopping done and 95% of the wrapping too. I even transported most of the presents to my mom’s this week. So the next few days shouldn’t be too bad. Had to cancel the New Years party that we were really looking forward to having this year. Which stinks, but it really doesn’t make sense to put myself on bed rest and try to host a party. :(

I’ll see my doctor next week on the 28th, and ultrasound on the 29th so I should know more then. Hopefully he tells me that all these contractions haven’t had any real impact yet. Fingers crossed.

At 18 months, Elena:

Talks a lot.  Here are some of the things she can say, off the top of my head: Mommy, Dada, baby, Halle, BB (for Biscuit), puppy, woof, meow, boo (for moo for cow), ooh ooh aah aah (for monkey), bok bok, quack quack, hop hop, roar, baa, maa, Dora, Doo Doo Dora, Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse, Oh Toodles, Pooh, Kitty (for Hello Kitty), me, mine, I do, juice, cup, Mia, Pop, apple, fishies, ball, shoes, yes, no, please, welcome, cookies, meat, cheese, five (for High-5), outside, inside, slide, wee, all done, peepees, night night, achoo, yeehaw, beep, eyes, teeth, toothbrush (sorta), and probably a bunch of others that I can’t remember.

Sings even more.  She’s definitely one of those kids that was singing before she was talking.  She is always singing.  And even though she doesn’t say many of the words accurately, you can always tell what she’s singing.  Her favorites include Row, Row, Row Your Boat; the ABCs; The Barney I Love You song; Yo Gabba Gabba’s Inside Voice/Outside Voice; Dora Theme Song; Real Gone from the Cars Soundtrack; Baa Baa Blacksheep.

Signs only a few things: Thank You, More, and Hop Hop (she says “hop hop” and does the sign for bunny).  Words have pretty much overshadowed signing now.  Oh, she did make up her own sign for “peek” by covering her eyes like peek-a-boo.  She uses this when she sees an animal or character in a book that’s hiding or popping their head out from somewhere.  So cute!

Gets put in time out for pulling her sister’s hair and ripping fuzz off the couch and eating it (ew).  She responds pretty well to the threat, “Do you want to be put in timeout?”  And always answers, “No.”

Loves her TV shows.  Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and My Friends Tigger and Pooh are the ones she requests by name.

Can’t get into my car without requesting to watch the Cars movie.  Whenever we say yes, she gets the most adorable, excited look on her face and thrashes her head from side to side with happiness.

Loves being outside, especially out front, running right down the driveway and turning right on to the sidewalk and continuing on around the cul-de-sac all by herself.

Cries or pouts almost every morning when Daddy and Halle leave for work/school without her.  She grabs her shoes and tries to sneak out with them just about every day.

Loves playing with her big sister and copying everything she does.  One of my favorite of their games is when Elena grabs the back of Halle’s shirt while Halle runs around the house saying “choo choo!”

Takes one nap, usually in the early afternoon, for about an hour and a half.

Is rarely the first one up in the morning.  Halle usually beats her to it.  Halle’s up around 7 or 7:30, and Elena is up at 7:30 or 8 most mornings.

Still loves putting clothes on her head, especially panties.

Understands commands and loves to follow them, like “get me a diaper,” “lay down,” “put this in the trash.”

Has “conversations” between two toys, and is often seen making two princesses kiss each other.

Talks to her stuffed animals like they are friends of hers. She is right now pointing to the facial features of her big pink doggies saying, “eyes, nose.”

Is a little pickier about eating than she used to be, but still pretty good.  Her favorite foods are snack foods: all fruit, goldfish, fruit snacks, pretzels, crackers.  She likes most meat and will eat cooked veggies if they’re mixed up with meat in a bowl.

Loves apple juice and asks for it all the time.  Her one complete sentence that she says all the time is, “I want juice.”

Is a silly goose and loves to make us all laugh with her silliness.  Deep, crazy voices are a favorite, and proof that she fits right in to this family.

Loves to dance, which almost always means spinning around in a circle and break dance rolling around the floor.

Throws very well.

Still puts everything in her mouth.

Loves showers and baths and never has to be talked into taking one.  If the word shower or bath is mentioned, she says “Yes” and starts walking upstairs and pulling on her clothes.

Can walk upstairs by herself no problem, and CAN scoot her way downstairs, but is usually too afraid to do it so she calls for help (which is just fine with me).

Recognizes Daddy and Mia in their tiny little Facebook profile pics that show up next to their comments and excitedly shouts “Mia!” or “Dada!” when she sees them.

Is one of the two most adorable creatures on this planet and makes Mommy and Daddy smile a million times a day.  Jason and I stop and bask in the awe of our kids at least once a day, and I can’t imagine that ever slowing down.

Happy 18 months, Elena!  I love you forever and ever!

Is there anything a parent loves more than seeing their kid in a performance?  Maybe.  But seeing as I was a drama kid and Halle definitely has the performer/confidence gene, I JUST LOVE IT.  Love it, love it, love it.  It was so much fun to watch Halle and Annabelle (and their classmates) sing four Christmas songs for the parents last night.  I took a ton of pictures, of course, and here are a few of my favorites.  (We also have this on video, so you may see some clips of the performance soon too).  :)

Halle before the show in her cute causal Christmas outfit.

The beautiful super stars

My little performer

More pictures from this performance night are up on Facebook.  Thank you, Halle, for making your Mommy smile sooooo much!!