Luna - I agree with the others, I think it's the right decision to stay. I can't even imagine how hard it is to be on bed rest in a hospital! Hopefully it'll all be over soon enough and you'll have a healthy baby boy. :)
This is a really random question, but since I noticed several of you are from Portland, OR - you're the perfect people to ask!
If my husband and I were to travel to Washington state for a little vacation, what time of year would you recommend for the best weather? My brother-in-law lives out near Seattle on the Naval base, and I've heard such great things about how beautiful the Pacific Northwest is - we'd love to visit! 
We'd maybe even make it down to Portland for some more sight-seeing. This would be sometime next year, of course, if we're able to make it work. But we'd want to avoid the rainiest seasons since we've heard you get quite a bit of that there! (Although my friend who lived in Washington said it's not as bad of weather as people perceive it to be...) I've been looking at pictures of those areas and want to visit so badly! I've lived in the Midwest my entire life with very flat land, and while it's beautiful here with the change of seasons - I just think the mountains and greenery around you guys in the NW is GORGEOUS! 
I might not want to come back to the Midwest afterward, though. 
That seems to happen a lot to everyone we've known who ends up in Washington. They never want to leave...
You are so right- the rain really isn't that bad (it's world's better than snow, and actually the annual rainfall in some parts of, say, Ohio (where I'm from ) is much more than here in PDX - and that doesn't include snow!) Anyway, It does rain a little more in WA in general. But June would be a good bet if you'd like to avoid it, or July if you don't mind a little more heat (but not humidity, just heat!) This year has been odd (much cooler than usual) but September is lovely and I love October- though when we vacationed in Oct. before finally moving we thought it was quite nice (though rainy in the mornings. That's something I've found to be true- the rain is usually at night or in the early mornings. though there might be a haze and clouds all day.) For optimal scenery viewing I'd come in the summer, though.
I think coming from the midwest you'll be in for such a treat (I know I was!) It really is beautiful here... I think it's like paradise.
True story- after our vacation here (it was only 4 days and pretty gray/gloomy) I cried on the airplane back to Ohio. I did NOT want to leave. It's just a whole different world (different lifestyle, people are so very friendly and laid back, and we felt like we fit in so well.) Thank goodness we moved! The transition back into a midwestern style of life was HARD (we moved 9 months later.)
Another note: we vacationed here with a 7 month old baby and it was great. The time change was a little rough, but we kind of liked it because he'd go to bed so early and wake up early so we got a great start to the morning. Plus there are lots of coffee shops to help you wake up 
This is a really random question, but since I noticed several of you are from Portland, OR - you're the perfect people to ask!
If my husband and I were to travel to Washington state for a little vacation, what time of year would you recommend for the best weather? My brother-in-law lives out near Seattle on the Naval base, and I've heard such great things about how beautiful the Pacific Northwest is - we'd love to visit! We'd maybe even make it down to Portland for some more sight-seeing. This would be sometime next year, of course, if we're able to make it work. But we'd want to avoid the rainiest seasons since we've heard you get quite a bit of that there! (Although my friend who lived in Washington said it's not as bad of weather as people perceive it to be...) I've been looking at pictures of those areas and want to visit so badly! I've lived in the Midwest my entire life with very flat land, and while it's beautiful here with the change of seasons - I just think the mountains and greenery around you guys in the NW is GORGEOUS! I might not want to come back to the Midwest afterward, though. That seems to happen a lot to everyone we've known who ends up in Washington. They never want to leave...
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Well, it depends if you want to get wet or not. ;) It's true, the rain really isn't that bad, it's mostly damp and misty. However, it's still not the best to do outside things with babies if it's raining. I'd say that August/Sept are the best months to come. We get all of our sunshine in the summer, so it's a beautiful time to visit.
This is a really random question, but since I noticed several of you are from Portland, OR - you're the perfect people to ask!
If my husband and I were to travel to Washington state for a little vacation, what time of year would you recommend for the best weather? My brother-in-law lives out near Seattle on the Naval base, and I've heard such great things about how beautiful the Pacific Northwest is - we'd love to visit! We'd maybe even make it down to Portland for some more sight-seeing. This would be sometime next year, of course, if we're able to make it work. But we'd want to avoid the rainiest seasons since we've heard you get quite a bit of that there! (Although my friend who lived in Washington said it's not as bad of weather as people perceive it to be...) I've been looking at pictures of those areas and want to visit so badly! I've lived in the Midwest my entire life with very flat land, and while it's beautiful here with the change of seasons - I just think the mountains and greenery around you guys in the NW is GORGEOUS! I might not want to come back to the Midwest afterward, though. That seems to happen a lot to everyone we've known who ends up in Washington. They never want to leave...
I grew up in the greater Seattle area, moving about 10 years ago. There are quite a few of us from or currently living in the western Washington area, so hopefully they will chime in, too. It does rain a lot. Misty, grey/white, cloudy skies- a lot- and you cannot count on good weather any time of year. You could hit that awesome 2-3 week period where it is just gorgeous or you could hit a period where it's raining a bunch in the middle of August. But, in general, cool-mild temperatures are common until July and August. You will find more sun then and into September with temps usually in the 60's and 70's, though as the years go by 80's and 90's have been happening more often. I recall many a fourth of July in the rain. The humidity is medium- not a dry heat, but not a sweat box like the south or east coast.
So it would be my recommendation to go in late July or early August to maximize your chances of sun.
I'm from a little tiny town in a little tiny part of southern california that has perfect weather so the rain seems excessive to me a good portion of the time. May through October is the good half of the year, the 90 degree weather in July and August is too hot, so I'd say June or September are the best, but it might rain a little. (Yes, I grew up weather spoiled and I still am recovering from it, I've been here five years and I still miss my hometown weather).
My house is having trouble sleeping. Okay, I mean the people. My four year old usually has a hard time sleeping, but lately she can only sleep with both Dh and I in our bed, which wouldn't be a problem except we only have a full bed. So last night she slept all night with us, my two year old woke up a couple times and needed me to lay in her bed with her (we have two twins next to our full for the girls) and my freaking cat tried to lick my face all morning long. My cat has issues. She will avoid us for weeks on end, and only come around to eat and run, and then she gets all needy and is right on top of me for a couple days and tries and lick my face and fingers and if I push her away she bites me. Julianna woke up so DH got up and threw the cat and the dog outside so the dog started throwing a hissy fit about it, but right then a chicken decided under our window would be a great place to announce her latest egg and the cat came back in through the window to bite my nose some more.
My hips were hurting last night when I went to bed so they are so not my friend this morning after sharing the bed all night.
Libby, my four year old knows the baby is coming soon, and her big thing right now is to pretend to be a baby, to sleep with us, to wear diapers exclusively (she's not potty trained, but she used to be so she will usually go potty by herself a couple times a day). It's been kinda hard, I feel like I need MORE space before baby gets here, but I know I need to give Libby all this extra attention while she still can get it.
Christina, is your water still leaking or did it reseal? Would this be a factor for the hospital to consider when deciding if you can go home or not? I would think your risk of infection in the hospital would be higher than at home, but I know there are other things to consider as well.
I hope you are able to find things to do and not go completely crazy laying in bed eating diabetic hospital food. Ugh! 
Can you watch your own movies or just what's on TV? Want some recommendations?
Jaimee - I can't remember if you said you have purchased through Azure Standard before or not, but I wanted to ask if you have submitted a request to them for your location to become a drop point at some time in the future? I just spoke with a CSR on the phone and she said that Illinois is likely going to be added in the beginning of 2012. She told me that Wisconsin isn't on the map yet but she encouraged me to send an email with my name, address, and phone number to Info@azurestandard.com with the subject heading "Market Study" and apparently that's how they are keeping track of interest in new areas and developing further drop points. Have you done that before? I wish I had more organic friends in my area who would be interested in sending out emails too! I want to get on the map darnit. 
Thanks Joanie. We did just officially get on the route starting in January of 2012. I am considering being the drop point for Urbana, but there will definitely be one in the C-U area. It's exciting! You do need to get quite a list of interested people going in order to get added. We had over 80 people for our little area in central Illinois. So what you would need to do is join up with all the natural, holistic, organic, crunchy groups you can find and post messages telling people where to send their info to get on the route. I guess it took 8 years to come here after the first request. Yikes! But if interest was really high immediately, I imagine that you could get it going sooner than that.
Christina, is your water still leaking or did it reseal? Would this be a factor for the hospital to consider when deciding if you can go home or not? I would think your risk of infection in the hospital would be higher than at home, but I know there are other things to consider as well.
I hope you are able to find things to do and not go completely crazy laying in bed eating diabetic hospital food. Ugh! Can you watch your own movies or just what's on TV? Want some recommendations?
Thanks, Jaimee
Yep, I'm still leaking, unfortunately. But all tests so far have shown no infection present, so that's good.
We have decided to stay. Out biggest factor is that there's the possibility our insurance wouldn't cover my stay if I leave AMA. And that's not a financial burden we could handle right now.
So, I asked to speak with the nutritionist again today and DH and I spoke with her about how we eat organic, local, grass fed, etc, etc, etc and that nutrition is very important to us. She was thrilled to hear this, which surprised us, and said usually she's struggling with patients who just want to eat a bag of Doritos and a Diet Coke for lunch. 
So, she is going to work with us and the hospital kitchen to tailor my meals. She even said she'd made a trip to Whole Foods to purchase the specific gluten free/organic items that make up the majority of my meals/snacks! I was astonished and told her my DH is more than happy to get that stuff - it's not a burden on him because it's the foods we eat every week, anyway. But she said she wanted to do it and that she's here to take care of me. 
Made me feel a lot better!! And I'm still in shock over the whole conversation.
And we're still in a holding pattern. I'm still leaking here and there, but no blood at all and no cramping in any way. NST show baby is fine, and he's still kicking on his normal schedule. Everything seems fine! We are still taking it day by day.
Wow, the nutritionist/hospital is going to go out of their way to provide you with the food that you specified? Did I read that right? Incredible!
Wow, the nutritionist/hospital is going to go out of their way to provide you with the food that you specified? Did I read that right? Incredible!
Yeah! I'm still in shock! 
ETA: It's good timing, too - I just weighed myself and I've lost five pounds since Monday! 
That's amazing news, Luna! I'm so glad she is being so accommodating.
Did you find out what your amniotic fluid levels are yet?
So glad baby (and you!) are doing well!
Yeah! I'm still in shock!
ETA: It's good timing, too - I just weighed myself and I've lost five pounds since Monday!
Yay! I'm glad that they have a nutritionist on hand that actually has some knowledge. :)
Yeah! I'm still in shock!
ETA: It's good timing, too - I just weighed myself and I've lost five pounds since Monday!
This is a really random question, but since I noticed several of you are from Portland, OR - you're the perfect people to ask!
If my husband and I were to travel to Washington state for a little vacation, what time of year would you recommend for the best weather? My brother-in-law lives out near Seattle on the Naval base, and I've heard such great things about how beautiful the Pacific Northwest is - we'd love to visit! We'd maybe even make it down to Portland for some more sight-seeing. This would be sometime next year, of course, if we're able to make it work. But we'd want to avoid the rainiest seasons since we've heard you get quite a bit of that there! (Although my friend who lived in Washington said it's not as bad of weather as people perceive it to be...) I've been looking at pictures of those areas and want to visit so badly! I've lived in the Midwest my entire life with very flat land, and while it's beautiful here with the change of seasons - I just think the mountains and greenery around you guys in the NW is GORGEOUS! I might not want to come back to the Midwest afterward, though. That seems to happen a lot to everyone we've known who ends up in Washington. They never want to leave...
I live in the area you are talking about. I would say the best time of year is the end of Spring- not too soggy, but everything is not dead yet. Haha. If you like touristy things (and if Im assuming right and your brother is on one of the Naval Bases in Kitsap) there are a lot of festivals around the end of August and begining of September.
I had my iron infusion today and had a terrible allergic reaction to it. I started getting hives, my legs swelled up, my BP got really high, and my pulse was 130. It was really scary. I spent a few hours in L&D after being given meds to counteract the reaction. I also had to be checked by a cardiologist because of the issues I was having my my heart rate. Everything is fine now, even though Im still kind of terrified it will happen again. Baby looked awesome on the monitors so they let us come home...
Thanks for the suggestions about good times to travel to the NW, everyone! 
Hubby is happy that I want to visit out there because he hasn't seen his brother in almost two years and they were pretty close. I think we'll just take rain or shine in stride anyway after all of the lovely things we've heard about the area.
Jaimee - That's awesome that you'll have Azure Standard products available to you now. Maybe in a few years we'll have it here, too. I'm sure there are other people around Wisconsin who are working on it. I'll just have to find them!
Luna - So glad to hear your nutritionist is being so wonderful! I'm in shock by what she said too! That's so great she'll accommodate your needs! Especially since you started dropping weight now. Good timing to get things squared away and get you eating better!
dashley111 - I'm sorry to hear you had an allergic reaction to the iron infusion! 
I can only imagine how scary that must've been. Will you have to have more infusions (obviously in a different form) during your pregnancy or are you in the clear now? Glad to hear they were able to counteract the reaction and you're okay now.
Three cheers for your nutritionist! Hip hip Hurray! Hip Hip Hurray! Hip Hip Hurray! 
I bet you're a god-send to her and maybe she can get some essential changes done in the hospital cafeteria because of your awesomeness. I'm so glad things are getting better for you there and that your baby is sitting tight. I often send you good vibes throughout the day! 
So, I asked to speak with the nutritionist again today and DH and I spoke with her about how we eat organic, local, grass fed, etc, etc, etc and that nutrition is very important to us. She was thrilled to hear this, which surprised us, and said usually she's struggling with patients who just want to eat a bag of Doritos and a Diet Coke for lunch.
So, she is going to work with us and the hospital kitchen to tailor my meals. She even said she'd made a trip to Whole Foods to purchase the specific gluten free/organic items that make up the majority of my meals/snacks! I was astonished and told her my DH is more than happy to get that stuff - it's not a burden on him because it's the foods we eat every week, anyway. But she said she wanted to do it and that she's here to take care of me. Made me feel a lot better!! And I'm still in shock over the whole conversation.
So, she is going to work with us and the hospital kitchen to tailor my meals. She even said she'd made a trip to Whole Foods to purchase the specific gluten free/organic items that make up the majority of my meals/snacks! I was astonished and told her my DH is more than happy to get that stuff - it's not a burden on him because it's the foods we eat every week, anyway. But she said she wanted to do it and that she's here to take care of me. Made me feel a lot better!! And I'm still in shock over the whole conversation.
I have been absent for a long time but I'm here now.
My stuff: Seraf, Sara, 11/8, third child.
My partner (another Sara) is also pregnant, due in May. My first 2 births were homebirths. The second was very fast and she arrived before the midwives. I have since moved and most of the midwives are much farther away, which I'm not comfortable with. I have seen an OB this pregnancy, but I'm preparing for what I believe is an inevitable UC.
Luna, I have been following your tale and wanted to chime in about being able to sign a waver that you acknowledge the risks of eating your own food and whatnot, but it sounds like everything is working out.
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