Here I thought that I'd have nothing but time to blog, blog, blog, and I haven't blogged on in a few days! I'm currently undergoing my Gluclose test (to determine if I have Gestational Diabetes). I fasted all night, just had my pre-gluclose blood draw, then chugged my "Glu-Cola" (not very pleasant drinking a pure sugar, Dimatapp-imitation soda first thing in the morning!), and now I continue fasting for three more hours and get a blood-draw every hour. It will be good to get this test done and get the results. If I d0 have Gest. Diabetes, they'll be putting me on a strict diet and continuing to closely monitor Zachary's growth. It could also affect/determine which drugs/cocktail mix they choose to give me in the future.

The last few days have been pretty good. Things here seem to be a bit cyclical -- just like life, I suppose -- ups and downs, ebbs and flows. Thursday I had quite a few visitors and couldn't answer the phone every time it rang, and then on Friday no one called or came by. It still turned out to be a busy day with a visit from the massage therapist, physical therapist and social worker. I have been so beyond impressed with the quality of care here. For every patient that's here at least three days (and looking at a longer stay), they have a care meeting where a nurse, social worker, and representative from your insurance company all sit down to discuss your needs, prognosis, plan for treatment, why you need to be here, and why insurance needs to pay for it. Linda, the social worker, came by to see me and is essentially just here for 'me' -- for 'us' to help us get through this whole ordeal in anyway she can, to make sure we have resources about Premature Birth, to understand everything that's going on behind the scenes, etc. VERY impressive. I also have to just say again that the nurses and doctors have not ceased to amaze me -- every single one of them has gone out of her way to make sure I'm comfortable, to listen when I need it, and provide any support that she can.

I've made a new friend in the last few days! Apparently there are three of us long-term rebel moms here trying to have babies before we should, and we all have little boys (Matthew is the oldest of the group, I'm told) and we're all expecting boys. Joanne, my next door neighbor has a 20month-old Jackson who I could hear the other day was obviously cranky and not feeling well. It broke my heart for her -- it's hard enough not being able to take care of our little guys when they're feeling well! So, I sent over a note and some applesauce. We have since become penpals as neither of us is allowed out of bed for longer than a trip to the bathroom (and one glorious shower a day). It's very interesting how this experience -- while at times very lame and crappy -- has provided me with constant little reminders of what to be thankful for in life and to not take anything for granted. She had their son Jackson at 30 weeks (still a week away for me) and had to go through two months of him being in the NICU. She's currently 33 weeks, so she's at least gotten past that point but is still terrified of having another preemie. The poor girl has been on bed rest for 9 weeks -- SEVEN of them being here in the hospital. She reassures me that somehow the weeks do go by and any week on bedrest is better than a week with a baby in the NICU. So far, we've been able to learn about each other's pregnancy stories and have also tried to cheer each other up (with our lists of why this isn't SO bad...i.e. 'After suffering from perma-bed hair for months, I may never complain about a bad hair day ever again' to stories of hospital/pregnancy living: Thinking your water broke and freaking out, then realizing that your water bottle just spilled on the bed or thinking you're having contractions and labor is starting up only to be told by the nurse that she bets that you just need to 'break wind'....ahhh, hospital living...where every BM is a cause for celebration!).

I have had some MUCH better experiences with Matthew here in the last few days. He now comes up on the bed and cuddles with me (yes, it usually involves bribes of chocolate and watching 'Thomas the Train', but I don't care)! Mike told me that last night after church, when driving home, Matthew actually asked to 'See Mommy'. They'd already visited for the day though, but at least he wants to come see me now! HUGE progress. My amazing neighbor and friend Linda watched Matthew for us Friday morning and will provide a regular playdate for Matthew on Monday mornings. Matthew LOVEs going to their house and playing with his great pal Stephi. Linda took pictures of them, documented their playdate and made a poster for me to have in here. Matthew was just as excited as I was to see pictures of himself up on the wall. She also left a dump truck stamp here, so that Matthew can get a truck on his hand when he comes to visit! Thanks to everyone for making this whole experience as pain-free as possible! I don't know what we'd do without our amazing support system!!

Mike's doing pretty well -- being an incredible father -- but did have a bit of a rough weekend. I think he finally had time to have this all sink in a bit. While I've had nothing BUT time to lay here and think about how strange and difficult it is to be away from my family, he's been going nonstop between work, watching Matthew, and coming to the hospital. So, this weekend was a realization for him that while this is a temporary situation it's also a bit long-term at the same time. And we've certainly had a glimpse of how hard it is to be a single parent all the time. We both still need to figure out how best to say yes to all the offers of help we've received and how/where we really NEED help going through this situation. I think we're still in the transition phase, getting used to this as a new way of life -- at least for a while anyway. Thanks again to EVERYONE of you who has taken the time to pray, call, visit, send an email, or is waiting 'til the boredom sets into do the above! We appreciate it more than we can ever truly say!