new countertops!
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

Really, my 32nd birthday could not have been any better (besides the minor bit about being in the hospital and separated from my darling girl).

Six specific good birthday things (but so many more little things like phone calls and cards – thank you to everyone):

1. Telfer was here the weekend before my birthday and this time he stayed for three nights rather than one. A very generous friend in the Olympia church donated his frequent flier miles to us and we could not be more appreciative. We watched two movies in one night which for parents, is an unbelievable luxury (picture us in a hospital bed huddled around an iPAD). Our time together felt long enough this time and I wasn't so weepy when he left.

2. A few days before Telfer's arrival I told my doctor that I absolutely HAD to go outside. Seven weeks is a long time to go without fresh air. On Sunday morning she told us we could have a 2-hour "lobby pass" that turned into brunch at a wonderful restaurant in Fort Tyron park (about 20 blocks from the hospital). Whoops! It was so strange/wonderful to be outside with normal people although walking up a flight of stairs was almost too much for me. The weather was perfect, bacon was consumed, and I was with my favorite person.

3. On my actual birthday, Missy took advantage of the August recess and came up on the train from D.C. to spend the night. We had such a good time drinking tea, eating homemade muffins and talking, talking, talking. I really appreciate her and am so thankful for our friendship!

4. Telfer skyped with me on the morning of my birthday to reveal his other birthday gift: new countertops he installed himself! He managed to keep the whole thing secret by telling me he was working on another house project. Telfer is a famously horrific lier so I was so surprised he managed to not tip me off to his little devious plan. The countertops are beautiful – I love them!

5. Eleanor's birthday is one day after mine and we have probably spent the last 8 out of 10 birthdays together. Of course she had already bought her ticket to Washington so we could be together on our birthdays again this year. I am so glad she is in Olympia though – Cate loves her auntie. So Eleanor did the next best thing to her actual presence: she sent her friend Saloni (whom I like very much) up to the hospital bearing arepas. Nice.

6. And finally, my cup runneth over in terms of birthday presents. My pedicure was in a sad state so Telfer took pity on me and sent a nail person up to the hospital for an in-room pedicure. And yes, my toenails are blue. Apparently it's all the rage this summer (according to the nail person).

toes!
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

dinner!
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

The hospital has made me obsessed with food. Watching Top Chef probably doesn't help either.

This was my dinner tonight. Baked goods in bags. Salmon, brown rice and "capri medley" of vegetables. Frozen and scooped out onto a plate to be heated up. No seasoning on anything. The smell is horrendous. So maybe I am a snob, but I just can't eat this stuff.

If I wasn't pregnant I would view this as a great opportunity to become very thin. Obviously I AM pregnant and cutting back is not an option so I eat a mixture of what's on the tray (breakfast is okay and lunch includes a soup that usually has vegetables), what is in my room and what my suppliers bring me.

Telfer went grocery shopping before he left a couple weekends ago, stocking me up on soup and good cheese and olives and crackers and nuts and ginger ale and cranberry juice. My mom and sister have sent homemade power bars. Molly brings me wonderful salads with chicken and avocado and freshly baked cookies from Pret a Manger.

But mostly, it's Eleanor. She comes up to Washington Heights three or four times a week bringing me food and conversation every time – we (ahem, I) love hummus and pita and grape leaves and falafel from The Hummus Place or pad thai from Sura or salad bar from Whole Foods and even a cheeseburger from a diner that we used to meet her at. She stops by the farmer's market and brings me fruit. She was even on the lower east side the other day and brought me up an arepa from a restaurant called Caracas, most possibly my favorite food ever.

Eleanor is really, really nice to me. In general, I don't think I could have made it through this without her. And don't worry, I am paying her for all this food.

possibly the best food ever
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

berries from the farmer's market
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

spudnut
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

32 week mark = relief.

I am not sure why I try to plan anything at this point but we are trying to pin down dates for a scheduled c-section, mostly to plan travel and days off for Telfer and then my mom. Sometime around 37 weeks but not the day of – September 11 is not my idea of a good New York birth day for my little Jane.

My doctor, who is charming by the way, thinks 37 weeks is a realistic goal. I also talked to a NICU-resident yesterday who gave me hope that we could travel with a small infant relatively quickly. All good news. Hope.

In other notable days, tomorrow marks my sixth week in prison, I mean the hospital. I have not been outside in SIX weeks. To elaborate on the prison theme, does anyone remember Steve Buscemi in Con Air? A truly horrible movie but my skin is starting to look very similar to his.

What else? Cate and Elizabeth went to Richland last weekend to hang out with my parents and Alyssa and her girls. As evidenced in the picture above, Cate loves the spudnut. Good Richland girl!

Telfer and Cate and I have skyped twice already today – Telfer gave me a tour of the house by walking the laptop around. If tables were turned, Telfer would have totally gotten seasick from the shaking camera. Fun to see Cate playing in her newly and beautifully painted room. Her hair is getting so long and she is saying so many new words (apple, happy, outside). You will never hear me complaining about the modern world.

eating bbq in the hospital
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

How did I celebrate my one-month anniversary in the hospital? By having another dramatic bleed! So much fun…I had just finished eating lunch, stood up and well, the nurses rushed in, put an IV in and took me up to the high risk floor.

It’s horrible up there. Completely strapped to the bed, on monitors, on magnesium drip (which makes me so flu-like and crazy), a catheter, roommates, and no sleep. But the bleeding and contractions did stop and I came back down to my private room. Yesterday I was completely out of it still but today feel much better. 31 weeks tomorrow.

We were strongly considering the possibility of flying or driving me back to Olympia. I am so relieved we made the decision to stay at Colombia Presbyterian – I am getting such good care. God continues to provide peace (especially when I am not on magnesium).

In other news, Telfer DID successfully visit last weekend and we had a wonderful, although really short, time together. He arrived on Saturday morning after a red-eye flight and left late Sunday afternoon and then worked on Monday.

He picked up good, meaty food for his pregnant wife and went grocery shopping at Whole Foods, armed with an extensive list. He has held up admirably throughout all of this – it’s not easy to juggle a new job, a house that needs a lot of work, parenting, and a wife that needs a lot of support (and happens to be 3,000 miles away). You better believe I appreciate him.

Hoping for a quiet weekend…

so busy!
Originally uploaded by telfandrea.

Definition of this Week.

The nitty gritty details are inconsequential at this point but here's the gist: at the beginning of the week, we thought there was a strong possibility of me traveling home before Jane is born. And now, there's really no possibility – I am definitely staying here in the hospital until I have a scheduled c-section. As you can imagine, a lot of up-and-down emotional stuff this week.

But! Here a few good things (I feel like Martha Stewart):

• 30 weeks today. The next big milestone is 32 weeks – big brain stuff happening in the next two weeks.
• Telfer is taking a red-eye tonight and will be here early tomorrow morning for the weekend. Hoping to get a bagel out of the visit. I cannot wait to see him. I just wish there was an easier way of getting a 22-month old across the country… 
• I had an ultrasound yesterday morning and Jane weighs almost 3 lbs. already. My placenta issues are definitely not affecting her growth. Wonderful news. Also got a good look at this kid's face. I am telling you: this is another cute kid.
• Cate and Elizabeth are getting along splendidly and I am so thankful. Elizabeth actually got Cate to eat the following in one day: cherries, grapes and carrots. This girl doesn't like to try new things so this is nothing short of a miracle. Love it. 
• The mail room here has been stock-piling my mail (interesting) but I guess it finally reached critical mass because I got a huge delivery of cards and a couple of packages. I really needed it yesterday too. Thank you for praying for us and for your kind words and pictures and items.