Ch Ch Changes

Recovering from uterine surgery with a baby still growing inside you kinda stinks but there's been plenty of ups that keep me going. Here's some happy highlights I've enjoyed recently:

Last week my mom ran into an elderly missionary couple here at the hospital. They took down her information and passed it onto the bishop of the ward which covers the UCSF hospital. On Sunday we had a member of the bishopric stop by to bless the sacrament for me and my mom. He then passed our information on to the relief society. Yesterday two relief society sisters stopped by and brought us some Russian pastries from a local shop. They said they'll come visit again and make sure the compassionate service leader in the ward has my name so she can arrange for other sisters to come visit and entertain me while I'm here. Our church is so cool.

Yesterday I received a phone call from Belle. Princess Belle. She called because she heard I was spending the night away from home. She knows it can be a fun adventure but it can also be a little scary. When she has to do difficult things she thinks about how proud she will make her Papa and that helps her. She wished me well on my adventure.

Yesterday I also got permission to have the fetal monitors on me LESS. The gel from the monitors has been irritating my stomach and I can't move much when the monitors are hooked up or else we lose track of the baby's heart beat. I started out with the monitors on constantly, then progressed to two hours on/two hours off. Now I only have to monitor for 20 minutes every 6 hours! That means I get to sleep for longer periods during the night and my stomach feels much better. Yeah!

Today I knew I'd be having guests so I asked if I could wear real clothes instead of my hospital gown. The doctors said yes! I'm feeling more and more normal every day and now I look more normal, too. Uncle Paul and Aunt Sherrie came through San Francisco today with Adam and Sarah on their way to a family reunion in Oregon. It was sweet of them to stop by and pay a visit to a lonely pregnant lady and her mother.

 I took another big step today when I sat in a chair (not my hospital bed) and played a game of Scrabble with my mom.

In the afternoon a nurse came by to invite me to a Maternity Party for pregnant ladies staying at the hospital. I told her I wasn't allowed to leave my room due to bed rest. She said she'd ask permission for me to go to the party. Once again the doctors said yes! I walked all the way across the hall to another patient's room to mingle and sympathize with 3 other ladies. It felt like an addiction support group or something where you talk about your problems. Apparently it's a weekly event I can look forward to now.

Last awesome thing--I was surprised today by beautiful flowers from my Middlebury coworkers.  Thank you Shelsea, Fumiko, Alicia, Katherine!! I miss you gals!! It totally makes my day when people ask for my address and offer to send me anything I want or need. People are SO thoughtful! I can't even say thank you enough to everyone who is helping emotionally with phone calls, emails, visits; physically with books, DVDs, finding a free parking space in the city; spiritually with prayers and fasting, and I could go on and on! For those of you who have asked, here is the best address for where to send things:

UCSF Fetal Treatment Center
Rachel Perry, RN
400 Parnassus Ave, A123
San Francisco, CA 94143-0570

Rachel is one of my awesome nurses who is willing to have things mailed directly to her since it will be most direct and more simple for me. Also, the hospital is very liberal with visitors so you can come visit me whenever you want. There's even free housing available for you if I have enough notice to request it. And I can get you some awesome free hospital food for you in exchange for your company. Have I convinced anyone yet?