TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank GOD it is Friday! I have never meant those words so much. We have just been through the week from you-know-where. Never fear though. In true Greer fashion, it has a happy ending : )

Sunday
I am working in the church nursery for the 8:30 service, so I leave the kids for Eric to get ready for church. He calls me barely 10 minutes after I have left barely able to speak telling me I have to get home ASAP. He is in pain and can't take care of the kids. When I get home, I find him doubled over in pain and the kids going crazy. I was so worried about Eric because he has such a high pain tolerance and he was obviously in a huge amount of pain. I mean this is a man who has broken several bones, set a few himself and will wait a day or 2 to go to the hospital if it interfered with a UT game. Mom and Dad rushed over and we took him to the ER. After 3 different pain killers, a CT scan, a wacky Australian nurse, and 2 hours later we found out it was a kidney stone. Thank goodness there was only one and it wasn't too terribly big. It is amazing how a 3 mm kidney stone can inflict so much pain on a grown man. We took our doped up patient home to pass it there. Mom and Dad were so kind to take the kids to their house for the next couple of days while I cared for Eric. I was really worried that I would have to take him back to the ER to get another pain shot since he was so resistant to the meds. Thankfully, he rested comfortably the rest of the day.

Monday
Most of the day was pretty low key. I am sure Eric was annoyed with me asking him "What is your pain number??" "Do you need more water?" "Anything come out that time?" Finally late afternoon, I decided to leave him alone a couple of hours and take advantage of the kid-free time. Little did I know when I was cleaning the upstairs, his pain meds wore off. When I came downstairs, he was curled up in a ball : ( He went for a few hours in a lot of pain. It was awful. We went back and forth about going back to the ER. Finally after his 2nd dose of his pain meds, he got some relief.

Tuesday
What is your pain #???? Eric is feeling better!! We think he may have passed it in the middle of the night, but we aren't sure. Eric decides to go ahead and still stay home just in case. The pain hits him so suddenly and so strong that I don't want him to risk driving to work. Besides, I have my weekly ultrasound today and he can see Peanut! Little did we know how much God was watching out for us when he allowed Eric to come with me to that appointment.

Peanut's heart looked great. It was back in rhythm and had a nice, strong beat. The tech told us that in can go in and out of rhythm, but that it was a good sign that it was in rhythm today. Next they did my cervix check to see how I was doing there. And here is where Tuesday's drama begins. It shortened nearly 10 mm in less than a week.....2mm away from where I was admitted to the hospital with Ethan and Ella's pregnancy. We were devastated. I knew this was a possibility, but not this early! Immediately my mind started racing......will I have to go on bed rest? When will I have to go to the hospital? How will we get childcare for the rest of my pregnancy?? OMG....I won't get to see my kids. Another preemie? Please no!!!! That poor tech. She just kept apologizing and giving tissues. I was so glad Eric was there with me. He reassured me that we would work everything out. Thank God Nana is here for the next couple of days to give us a hand with the kids!

Wednesday
Dr Blake called me first thing to discuss my ultrasound and our next steps. She wanted me to go to the hospital to monitor for contractions. I told her I couldn't today, but I would first thing Thursday. Today I had very important business to attend to - Ethan's surgery!

Since Ethan was having surgery around 3 pm, he couldn't eat anything after 8. I got him up and made him a big breakfast with waffles and bacon. It was good he ate a good breakfast because he wanted nothing to do with this so called clear diet. The kid has texture issues, so he had no interest in Popsicles and jello!

We were so proud of Ethan. He was such a brave boy. He sat in his bed before the surgery and just played with the toys they brought him. He flirted and made faces with the nurses. And when it was time to go back to the OR, he let a nurse walk him back with no tears. The surgery was a success. Dr Thomas said that it was a good thing we brought him in because his hernia on the right side was HUGE and there was also on on the left side that he repaired. He also mentioned a couple of times what a funny little guy we have. Who knows what in the world that weirdo was doing!

When we went back to recovery he looked so pitiful. Wrapped up in a warm blanket in nothing but a diaper, an IV and monitors hooked up to him. Ethan took his time waking up and when he did he was not happy. He wasn't in pain because they gave him an epidural like pain blocker. He was just POed. He didn't know where he was and everyone was trying to get him to wake up and drink some juice. Finally the nurse let us go home. He perked up as soon as he saw his sissy and drank his whole cup of juice.

I have to thank my good friend, Christy. She works at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and she made sure we had the best of the best attending to us every step of the way. She came and sat with us part of the time while we were waiting. It was a good distraction!

Thursday
Ethan slept relatively well. Part of the night was spent with Daddy on the couch. When he woke up, he was good as new. They told us he would be back to normal the next day and they were not lying! He was playing and acting goofy all day.

I went to the hospital early so I could hopefully get in and out. I wasn't expecting any big improvements because I hadn't had much time to be off my feet. But God did give me a sense of peace and I knew at least that I was coming home that day.

I was immediately put in a room (ironically across the hall from my 1st room last time) They monitored me for contractions - NONE!! Measured my cervix - No change which is better than getting shorter. And gave me a fFE test. This is a test that looks for a protein that can predict if you are going to go into labor within 2 weeks. That came back NEGATIVE! So I was so relieved. I talked to my doctor and my orders are to slow way down. No more long walks with the kids, no more picking them up when I don't absolutely have to, no more running around and I actually have orders to lay down when they take a nap and not clean the house! Not too bad, huh? We are so thankful!

I think this was just a wake up call telling me I need to chill. I really have thought I have been taking it easy, but there is still a lot more I can cut out and obviously have to. We are so lucky we have such a great family that is close that I know will help us as much as they can. This weekend we are going to come up with a game plan on how we can make this work for a long as possible. We know that bed rest is probably in my future. And that a hospital stay is probably there too. But if we can put that off as long as possible, then hopefully it will be a short stay and Peanut will be a full term baby!

Friday
Today is our drama free day. It may be a little early to declare this since it isn't even 7 am and the kids are still sleeping, but I am determined to make it that way!