After surgery, the hardest thing for mom was feeling like she was twice as pregnant!  When you have abdominal surgery, air can get trapped and make  you feel bloated like a big balloon.  Walking the halls and moving around helped relieve that.  While mom was recovering from the surgery, she got to meet another special mom who had the surgery, Christa.  Christa was in the hospital because her baby girl, Molly had been born!  It was exciting for mom to meet another family who had been through the surgery.  Christa had mom listen to a song called "Sometimes Miracles Hide".  It is by a man named Bruce Carroll and it brought tears to her eyes because it is a song about another special baby.  After mom listened to it, she turned the earphones over to my Grandma Lyon, because it was  a "must hear" kind of song.  Mama says that it is one of my songs.  She found it on a CD once she got back to Oregon so she could play it for me and my sisters.  Sometimes it still makes mama cry, but it is a very special song.  God doesn't make mistakes and it is a good reminder for all of us.  

Anyway, after surgery, we were discharged from Vanderbilt and we went back to stay at the Guest House Inn.  We got to leave the hospital on Sunday and we flew out from Nashville on Wednesday.  Matria sent a nurse over to be sure mama knew how to change the site where she got her terbutaline to keep her pregnant and me cookin' on the inside, and also how to change the syringe and such.  You see, to keep mama from having me too early, she wore a pump 24 hours a day and changed the site every 3-5 days (that meant a needle poke - ouch!).  It was not the easiest thing but mama knew it was the best thing for me, so she did fine.  Daddy seemed to like the poking part!  This is the same kind of pump that some diabetics use to get insulin and it is a very handy way to get a continual dose of needed medication.   Our flights home were a bit stressful because Grandma Lyon was a bit worried about mama.  Mama felt fine, but they made sure she still rode in the wheelchair.  What service, to be wheeled everywhere!  Mama says she felt a little silly, but it was for the best.  Our Matria nurse happened to be on the same flight we were out of Nashville!  It was late leaving so we missed our connecting flight in Dallas, Texas, so the airline bought us lunch and we had about two hours in Dallas.  It gave mama more time to go hunting for Beanies, and we had a nice lunch so all in all it wasn't that terrible.  It just meant that we had a longer day traveling.  We got home to Portland, OR, but low and behold our baggage didn't make it until late that evening.  Nice of the airline to send a taxi out to the house with our bags!  So, mama had surgery on February 10th, flew home on  February 16th and actually went to work on February 22nd.  Shhh, don't tell her perinatologist!  He wanted to see her first, before she went back to teaching.  Her appointment was for the 23rd, so she figured daddy could drop her off and pick her up from school on the 22nd.   Fortunately for mom, she had a terrific team teacher who was a student teacher with lots of experience working with her this school year.  Alison was with the class of kindergarteners from the first day of school so while mama was away having surgery and recovering, there was someone who was consistent with her class.  She also had a great sub, Dawn that was also in the classroom.  Things went smoothly for mama going back to teach kindergarten.  She was sure not to get too tired out and things went very well.  Mama loves to teach and she knew it was also important to take good care of me.

After surgery, mom had weekly appointments with her perinatologist, Dr. Winkler.  He made sure we had weekly ultrasounds following the surgery and it was great because mom got to see me every week and watch me grow.  We also got to see the ventricles of my brain go down in size, even as I grew.  This is what we were hoping for from the surgery.  Things just looked better and better to mom and dad.  All signs looked good and I stayed put, just like everyone wanted me to.  Each day mom would monitor for contractions.  Once in the morning before going to school for one hour and once in the evening.  Things were going very well and everything looked good.  Mom continued to teach and take care of my two sisters.  Then March 31, there was a change. 

Mom had quite a few contractions that evening.  Maybe it was because she had been walking around at the Scrapbook Expo awhile, but maybe just because it was time for a few more contractions.  Mom was feeling a bit tired, but on Saturday morning she only had one contraction, so she figured she was good to go for another fun day at the Scrapbook Expo with her mom and sister.  It was an event they had all been looking forward to since Christmas! On Saturday morning before she left the house, mom did have a little thought "hmm, it seems my bladder might have leaked a little", but there weren't any other signs that things had really changed, so off she went to meet her mom and sister to ride the train to Expo.  The three of them spent the morning taking classes, and looking at all the booths.  Mom was a bit tired but other than that, things were fine.  Then she noticed mid day that things had changed, now there was a sign that things were different, so she paged the on call doctor who said to take it easy.  This is what mom thought, okay, take it easy.  Sitting down to take a sticker class with my mom and sister would be taking it easy, right?  So we stayed for our class.  Probably not exactly what the doctor meant, of course but in the end it worked out.  We also stayed for the awards since it was almost time for them anyway, and good thing, because mom got an honorable mention for some pages she had submitted and she got a lot of really cool prizes!

After the Expo was over, mom, Grandma Lyon and Aunt Neva all headed back to our house.  Mama knew she needed to monitor to see how things were going and by this time, there was a definite leak.  The Matria nurse talked her through the steps and told her to call her doctor.  Again, she talked to the on call doctor and he said if things hadn't changed by morning, to come in to be seen.  That evening the leaking stopped and the contractions were under control.  Sunday morning, there were a lot of contractions and extra medication did not help stop them.  The advise was to come in to be checked out.  Mama said, only after I have my shower!  My sisters stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Schuermyer.

When being "checked out" really means Checking In!