Monitor Time

Along with placenta previa comes the risk of placenta accreta, which has been described to me so many times that I just feel like {insert something that you would do when you are really irritated about being told something 20 different times}. Basically, there is a high risk of maternal hemorrhage while delivering the placenta and if they can't get the bleeding to stop then they have to remove the uterus. Whoa! If I don't have a uterus doesn't that mean that I can't have any more biological children? Even if I don't have placenta accreta, God might decide that we won't have any more biological children. I tell you all of that not because I am worrying into the future but just because it puts pregnancy into a whole new perspective when there is an obvious chance it could be my last. God laid it on my heart a while ago (before I ended up in the hospital) to enjoy this pregnancy as much as possible. After being put in the hospital, I feel like I have been given a very unique opportunity to enjoy the pregnancy and really bond with Garrett. I get hooked up to the monitor twice a day for an hour. It can sort of feel like I am tied down because it is more difficult to move around and sometimes the belts get itchy. However, I try really hard to be intentional with this time and for the most part look forward to it being a "date with Garrett." What a gift it is to be able to sit back and relax while listening to his heartbeat for an hour. Some of the things I do to make the most of monitor time are:

Lay back, relax, close my eyes and try to visualize what Garrett will look like

Sing a song

Write Garrett a letter

Talk to Garrett (this sometimes makes me feel like maybe I have lost my mind)

Write in my prayer journal

Write in my journal

Pray in thought

Pray reading through a book For This Child I Prayed by Stormie Omartian

I must admit that every now and then I do check out and just watch TV or read a book but for the most part I try to be very intentional and not just pass monitor time but really enjoy and savor it.