Pregnancy Update: 26 weeks!

It's been almost 3 weeks since I have been on bedrest - 1 week at the hospital and the rest of the time at home. I have had weekly doctors appointments to make sure things are still going smoothly and so far so good. With all of the shots, ultrasounds, medicines and measurements I am feeling very confident that baby Nolan is staying put for the time being. There are no indications of impending preterm labor and I've had no other symptoms of a placental abruption. All great news.

In fact things have been going so good that at my appointment last week I asked the doctor if he thought I might get out of bed rest. Without hesitation he said no, reminding me that things are probably going so well because I have been off my feet and in bed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess he has a point. However he said he would be willing to discuss again once I make it to the 30 week point.

The good news is that once I make it to 28 weeks I can safely deliver at the local hospital that is just 5 minutes from my parents house. Up to that point if I begin having contractions or any  more bleeding I will need to go 35 minutes north to a hospital with a level 4 NICU. So, I'm looking forward to hitting that mark, especially as winter weather looms ahead.

I have been keeping busy working on that long list of things I had kept putting off for another day. That list was pretty long as the current and immediate needs of caring for 3 kids tended to push many things down to the bottom of the totem pole. It has been really nice to dig into some of these neglected projects and definitely helps me feel as if I'm accomplishing something (even when my feet may not hit the floor more than 1x/day).

Some of the things I've been tackling:

• apertOWL - if you haven't heard, a friend and I are starting a non-profit organization to provide positive resources for individuals touched by Apert syndrome. It has been quite the undertaking, especially when both myself, and my partner Kerry Lynch have been pregnant/had babies this year and now have 5 kids 6 and under between us. While it has been a slow-moving process, we are as dedicated as ever and will be rolling out the finished website in the very near future. In the meantime, I'd love it if you would like apertOWL on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check out our boards on Pinterest!


• Speaking of Pinterest, I have spent oodles of hours pinning, organizing, cleaning up and editing my personal Pinterest boards. In the next week or so I am going to do a blog post on all of the "things I've actually tried" (which much to my surprise is a LOT!) and share how each turned out, how difficult it was and whether I would recommend others try it out too. Stay tuned!


• Christmas shopping! All of which has been done online. I signed up for Amazon Prime a few weeks ago and have gotten free shipping on ALL of my kids gifts. Most are guaranteed to arrive within 2 days too! I have really enjoyed doing all of my shopping on a single site (Amazon compares prices on products across numerous online sellers) and it also seems to have the most product reviews which I consult before buying ANYTHING. But the best part of using Amazon.com has been the "Wish List" feature - I was able to scope out all the things I think each kid would like, add it to their own list, and discuss it all with my husband before making the purchase. Plus, you can share Wish Lists with friends and family members who need ideas too. Even though I do enjoy the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping with my husband every year, being on bed rest has forced me to adjust our plan. And honestly, I know I will continue to shop online all year long! (Be on the look out for my "Best Toys for Boys" holiday shopping guide blog post in the next few days)


• Organizing - I'm the type of person who lives by the motto "A place for everything and everything in its place". However with 3 young kiddos, that task is often impossible to accomplish. Things might start out in their designated place, but pieces go missing, get put away incorrectly, etc.  When it comes to my own clutter I often get behind while trying to keep up with all the kids stuff. So I took this opportunity to get myself organized. I have filed that ominous ever-growing stack of paper, sorted through and deleted dozens of random pictures housed on my computer, cleaned up my digital documents, backed up the important stuff and organized my iTunes files. And boy does it feel good! Now if I could keep up with it instead of it becoming a huge undertaking that requires hours of time...