How I broke out of the hospital

I'm writing this post from my couch. I am so VERY happy to be in my home with my family right now.

You will recall that I felt much encouraged about my situation after the last couple of ultrasounds I've had, and happy that my doctors are no longer leaning toward delivering as early as possible. At this point our goal is to wait and watch, and to deliver no earlier than necessary. Likely still via c-section, but all dependent on what the ultrasounds show regarding the location of the placenta.

My primary doctor has been on vacation this week, and she arrived back today and came to see me. I asked her if I could leave the hospital for Christmas, and come back if need be after the holiday. I was surprised and excited that she didn't see a problem with me leaving and seemed fine with it. However, before she would discharge me, she discussed the issue with the perinatologist I've been seeing, and he didn't feel comfortable signing off on it. So she came back and told me that I can check out of the hospital, go home on STRICT bed rest, and come back for my next scheduled ultrasound (on Tuesday) to see what we see, and that she is okay with that (and would probably do the same if she were in my situation) - but I would have to sign paperwork for the hospital indicating that I am being discharged against medical advice.

I decided to go ahead and leave. At this point I'm much less afraid of an emergency happening than I was when I was admitted to the hospital four weeks ago. I have had a couple of incidents during that time, but nothing that required care quicker than I would have been able to make it to the hospital. With the vasa previa diagnosis out of the way, most of my worry about a catastrophic event is gone. And I can always check right back in if there is any cause for concern.

The toughest part of getting to come home was convincing Ed! He was excited about the possibility of me coming home, but when he realized I would technically be leaving without the doctor actually SENDING me home, he was a little freaked out. I had to make all kinds of promises about not moving a finger unless absolutely necessary and telling him about any little discomfort before he would agree to take me home.

So here I am. I am relieved to be home, and relieved not to be so scared about things. And relieved to be able to spend the holiday with my family at my house. I'm TIRED - I've noticed that over the last six weeks that I've been on bedrest, I've gotten all weak. Just being up long enough to shower and dress makes me out of breath and feel like I need a nap! I'm going to have a long road to getting back into shape after the baby comes. But for now I will continue to lie around like a bump on a log and hope to continue baking this girl for another few weeks. Thanks so much for all the kind words, and the thoughts and prayers I know so many of you have been sending up. I'll keep you posted.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend - I intend to!