It's Time To Get This Thing Written

Alright this post has taken far too long. It's been a little hard for me to write any posts lately because I just don't have that much to write about. Rooney is gone everyday and Mike is working constantly. I'm hunkered down in my bedroom most days and only hear sporadic news of what Rooney did that day. Rooney doesn't really like to talk about it, and no offense to my wonderful husband, but he is really awful with asking questions. He's mentioned something about how he didn't want to pry.

We've had a heatwave over the last week or so. The heat reminds me of growing up in LA without air conditioning. Also reminds me why I left LA. Thankfully Mike got our portable a/c unit hooked up in the bedroom so we are able to sleep well and Ailbe, Courage, Rocco and I can all hole up in here during the day. Unfortunately Roon is not so lucky. Although this kid really isn't helping himself either. He refuses to have a fan in his room. I don't know if it scares him or what but the fan has to be out of the room not just off. He also insists on sleeping with his two fleece blankets on him. For a few nights it had to be 90 in his bedroom and I would beg him to let the fan blow on him or sleep without the blankets but kids are stubborn. I did finally get a wet washcloth on his head. He seemed to like that and finally fell asleep.

Here are a few more pics of what's been going on with Roon this summer:


This pic was taken by Kelly



King of the Mountain





At the Movie Theater (Monsters Vs Aliens)




Everything is going well with Ailbe. We are still seeing the MD weekly for ultrasounds. Nothing has changed, which is good, and if things continue not to change then hopefully I will be off bedrest in 5 more weeks. I'm hoping to hear modified bedrest or partial bedrest after next week's appointment.

Mike is going to attempt to paint the nursery this week. I twisted his arm and he is finally taking some of those 200+ hours off (it didn't hurt that our main babysitter is going out of town) but of course he also has to watch Rooney so it should be interesting (if not stressful) next week. I'll post pics if we get something done.

Meanwhile I have been going through Roon's old baby clothes. I am hoping to sell a good deal of them in October at a large consignment sale, but the whole experience is sad. I'm not really ready to part with all the stuff but we need the space and soon we'll have more baby stuff to replace it. Of course if you see Ailbe in a cute little pair of carpenter jeans you can bet you've seen them before.

There Will Be Tears

Since I am still on bedrest it has been a little hard to post. Obviously not because I lack time but mostly because all the posts would consist of pictures of my feet or musings about the dogs laying next to me on the bed. Fortunately for you since I haven't been able to have a pedicure feet pictures are out of the question but since Courage and Rocco have have been my constant companions during my little break I decided to slip in one pic of them. They're such good boys to their momma. They don't tell me "They won't miss me" like another little boy of mine has. My friends keep assuring me that Rooney's just a very secure child and knows that I will always be there but maybe every once in awhile he could throw his poor bed bound mom a bone and shed one tear. I asked him this morning if he was going to miss me when he left and I think he is getting wise to me so he said "I won't cry". Hmmm.

Although many of my Facebook friends may already be bored of this news and pics here is a little bit of what is going on. There are tons of cute pictures and video out there of Rooney's antics with other people, I've seen the evidence, I just can't seem to get my hands on much of it. However, the pics of the kids are from Kelly's house and the car pictures are of our new car we got last week.








24 weeks pregnant

All About Ailbe

So now that our little scare is over it's nice to be able to reflect on some of the positive things that came out of the experience. Mike already covered a big one in his last post...we finally got some time together and a vacation. Whew! I guess he's off the hook with that for a little while. We also got to spend alot of time focusing on Ailbe and even seeing her. This kid will probably grow up to be a model with all the pictures she has taken of her.

Here are 2 that we had taken on July 1st:


The next Angelina?



In case you can't tell that is Ailbe's little nose and lips peeking through on the ultrasound. Unfortunately it was not caught on a picture but for a brief moment I actually got a great look at Ailbe's little face. For just a brief moment it was almost as if I was seeing one of those 4-D ultrasounds. She's just beautiful.

In the next photo is a profile shot of Ailbe. You can see her little nose and ducky lips sticking up from the side. I think this profile shot came through really well also. I think you can see her little ear and her eyes too.



It's kind of weird to me because when you see these ultrasounds the babies look so big and full. You get to see them moving around and start to see features but then you realize that at this point she is only a little over 1 lb and not even a foot long.

And Susan Says I Never Take Her Anywhere

Last Tuesday night, I was sitting in bed working from home. We were discussing what to do about Friday, as our usual sitter for the day may not have been able to watch the boy the full day while I was at work. Then it struck me: Saturday was July 4th, meaning Friday was July 3, ipso facto, I would be able to watch the boy. Then Susan took a closer look at the website reporting my holiday and vacation time.

"Why does it say you only have 51 hours of vacation? You never take time off!"

"That's not 51 hours of vacation. That's 51 hours of use it or lose it."

"So how much vacation do you really have?"

"171 hours."

Well, things went downhill from there. Eventually, we agreed that Susan and I deserved some alone time together. The very next day, I whisked her off to an impressive (and expensive!) top secret location in Seattle. It was the start of a 6 day, 5 night R&R time for the two of us. Susan is waited on hand and foot, and every once in a while a learned individual comes in and performs an exotic act on her.

We've been able to spend a lot of Swedish time together. Not Sweden, but Swedish.

Not this:

But this:

That's right, not nearly enough of this:


And way, way too much of this:

On Wednesday, we had another ultrasound appointment with our team of specialists. I waited in the waiting area with Rooney, while Susan got probed. When she was done, the doctor, Susan, Rooney, and I had a little chat. According to the ultrasound, Susan's cervix now measured at 7mm, and he was recommending that we go to Swedish Medical Center right away and prepare for a cerclage on Thursday. We dropped off Rooney with Vala and headed downtown. There, Susan was probed again and got another ultrasound. In preparation for surgery, Susan was not allowed to eat that night (fortunately she polished off her box of milkduds before the cut-off), and Susan and I spent our first night apart since we've been married.

On Thursday, I left Rooney with Kelly, and drove in to Swedish. I went up to Susan's room. It was so great to see her; some tears may have been shed. Of course, at precisely that moment the nurse decided to walk in. She saw Susan with a red and teary face, and looked very alarmed. "I'm her husband, and those are happy tears." Fortunately, Susan confirmed my story.

Later a doctor came in, and told us the good news: Susan could go ahead and eat, as there would be no surgery that day. Susan has presented to be an interesting case for our jolly team of experts (or is it "merry band of misfits"?): the results they have been seeing on the ultrasound have not been consistent with her prior history and what the doctors have observed when performing a physical exam. This doctor had a new theory: Susan's cervix was actually at an angle, and the ultrasound was showing her cervix as short as a result. I was very excited to hear this, as I got to flash some math knowledge (pretty sure it involves an arccos, but maybe arcsin; I'm a little out of practice). The doctor's course of treatment: Susan would stay in the hospital through Monday, and then would be subject to a digital exam.

We were very impressed with "digital exam", as we thought this would involve some type of "laser", but it turns out that all he really meant was "finger". Slightly deflating, and probably more than slightly uncomfortable.

So, Susan and I have been staying in the hospital together this 4th of July weekend on what I like to call "extreme bedrest", while Rooney has been off living it up at his Aunt Annie's, his parents a mere afterthought. We saw a couple of fireworks in West Seattle from our window, and caught some of New York's, Lake Union's and Bellevue's shows on the telly (guess which one was the most impressive). Tomorrow, we find out our fate: to cerclage or not to cerclage. Everyone around here seems to think "not", and we continue to hope for the best.

Update 10:10 am, 7/5/2009: We were dragged out of bed at 7:00 for an ultrasound (I may have had sticking up hair), but it was worth it: Susan is going to be discharged; the doctors still want her on bedrest.