1/14/14: On the eve of 31 weeks

Another good 2 days behind us and tomorrow Baby Brady will be 31 weeks! Pretty amazing and while I haven't really done anything to get here, I'm proud of our whole (little) family. Aaron continues to take such good care of me even with his crazy job and Baby Brady is a champ!

I've found lots of good ways to pass the time. I'm still working in a limited capacity, focusing on helping my team transition and am helping to onboard my new manager. Everyone at work has been super supportive and I'm grateful to work for such a great company. I also learned how to knit! Will save photos and details for when my creation looks like more than a bracelet.

Speaking of work, I got the most beautiful flowers from my friends at CashStar, an awesome company that I work closely with. I also had a chance to catch up on the phone with our good friend Melissa in SF who just had an adorable little boy, Hugo. Lanie in Houston sent me the best care package and I got a visit from my friend Erin Quinn today who brought me flowers and some delicious banana bread that I'm stuffing my face with right now! Good thing I'm done testing my blood sugar for the day =).

Another experience I had this week was attending a support group of other women in the antepartum unit- which means we're all here for pregnancy complications that require monitoring or intervention. I was expecting that people's situations wouldn't be all that different from mine and maybe there would even be someone who was dealing with exactly what I am. Boy was a I wrong. It was a very diverse group both in terms of medical situation, socio-economics, ethnicity and age. I was the only one from Seattle and in fact no one lived closer than 2 hours away. Almost all of the women already had children. One was pregnant with twins and already has 6 kids! I felt guilty sharing that I only lived a mile away and saw my husband every day. 2 women in particular have stuck with me, Tonya and Sortia. They both have major heart issues. Tonya is dealing with the effects of a bad blood transfusion and a very unmanageable case of type 1 diabetes. She's only 17 weeks and they may need to take the baby in order to save her. Sortia on the other hand is 36 weeks and her baby is doing great but she has a hole in her heart, multiple clots in her lungs and is on continuous IV medication for her heart most likely for the rest of her life. She's facing a critical 2-week period after she delivers the baby which she's being told she may not survive. I was speechless. I literally just listened in shock and nodded as they eventually turned to chit chat about bad hospital food and doctors coming in way too early in the morning. The only thing I could do was tell them that I would be thinking about them and hoped to see them next week. Afterwards I asked my nurse how they can emotionally handle situations like that. She explained that this hospital sees a lot of extremes. UW is a cutting edge research institution and anyone with  major risks in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and even Montana gets sent here. She also said they have to focus on the fact that each patient is unique and that they will get the best possible outcome for their situation because they are here. Even 5 years ago, Tonya and Sortia probably wouldn't even have made it to the point at which they are now. It still doesn't really change the fact that what they are dealing with is just flat out terrible.

So here I am again asking you guys to share your kind thoughts and well wishes for these 2 women. Sorry for the long and serious post. I will count our many blessings tonight and be so thankful for our situation and all the amazing support we have.