An Unexpected Christmas Gift...

I'm glad that I got all my wrapping and shopping done early this year or else it could have been a very stressful Christmas. Instead, it was calm & peaceful in spite of a few unplanned challenges. This past week I have been having a lot of contractions, which is fairly normal for my pregnancies. At first they were just happening in the evenings, but by the end of the week they had progressed and were happening all day and night long. I have been through this before with my 2 other pregnancies and usually if I'm not doing activity they will subside. However, these contractions were not subsiding and were becoming more lengthy and bothersome. After ALMOST going to the hospital a few times, I finally called the on-call doctor and he decide to start me on an antibiotic in case it was just a bladder infection, which could be the cause of contractions. After taking it fairly easy all weekend and taking the antibiotic for over 48 hours I was still not feeling any better. My contractions were still about the same. On Monday (Christmas Eve), I called my doctor's office and the nurse told me that I needed to go into the hospital to be monitored and make sure everything was okay. Again, this was not too scary since I have done the same thing with my 2 other pregnancies.

So, on Christmas Eve I got to spend a couple hours in the hospital being monitored. At first, I was frustrated and bummed that this is how I had to spend my Christmas Eve, but I quickly realized how much symbolism my trip to the hospital had. I got to ponder a lot about the Savior's birth. As I was hooked up to all sorts of monitors and being waited on by nurses in a nice big hospital room I thought about Mary in a stable laying on hay, surrounded by animals, no machines, no epidurals, not even any doctors. I soon realized how blessed I was for our many modern conveniences. I'm also grateful that I got to spend a couple of hours in peace truly reflecting on the birth of our Savior. I'm not sure that I would have had a chance to do that had I not been tied down with monitors to a hospital bed. In the end, my trip to the hospital turned out to be as good as I could have hoped for. The doctor informed me that I am having pre-term labor (which I knew was inevitable). However, I was worried that they were going to put me on bed rest. Instead, I am just on "increased" rest. I can't pick up Parker, vacuum or do too much physical activity. Also, I need to be lying down and resting as much as possible. They told me to cut out anything unnecessary in order to DELAY being put on bed rest. I'm really happy with the outcome and I'm very grateful for my Christmas Eve trip to the hospital!