First, use different colored markers to make a line along the bottom of a paper towel strip. Label each towel with the marker you are testing.
Then dip it in water to let the capillary action of the towel disperse the colors contained in the ink of the marker.
Finally, observe the colors that make up the ink colors of each marker. Number 1 was a regular black marker. Number 2 was a black Sharpie. The colors in the black Sharpie ink did spread out a bit but it held pretty fast to the towel so its hard to see.
Michael Anne & Henry hamming it up together!
Addi feeding "her" baby.
I was on the computer one day & Addi was supposed to be napping, but when I heard a noise I looked over & there was her little bumb toddling on the craft table!
Addi tossed her baby doll & it landed in this cute yoga pose!
Here I am in the hospital. I've been here since about 12 midnight, this morning. What happened is that I was getting ready for bed last night around 11:15pm when I went to the bathroom & noticed light pink bloody discharge (TMI, I know). I got nervous & called Derek at work. He suggested I call Dr. Wold just to be sure, so I did. Dr. Wold said I ought to go to the hospital to get checked out since there was no obvious reason for the bleeding. So off I went, leaving Addi & Michael Anne in bed with Grandma & Grandpa Johnson upstairs. When I arrived at the hospital I got hooked up to the monitors & they did a pretty thorough ultrasound to check the placenta, my cervix, & the baby. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary so they went ahead and did a urine test to check for a bladder infection. That came back negative as well so Dr. Wold asked them to keep me under observation until the morning.
It was a long night. I called Derek at the hospital, too bad he doesn't work at this one! I told him what was going on so he called in the on-call person & went home to be with the girls. I tried to sleep but couldn't really so I watched t.v. and tossed & turned a lot. It was nice that the nurse was so accommodating; they all have been very kind & helpful. It is nice to have good care when things are up in the air. Finally, this morning around 8:30 Dr. Wold arrived and checked me out. He was about to send me home when he noticed that I had been rubbing my belly on the right side. He asked if it was bothering me, which it was. So he said we'd better take a look there with the ultrasound. So he did & sure enough that's right where my placenta is. Since it is often difficult to detect bleeding from the ultrasound he said I'd better stay here to keep an eye on things. If the placenta tears or begins to separate from the uterus it will cause the baby to die as its blood, oxygen, & food source would be cut off. That made me worry and I almost burst out in tears but I'm glad he is taking good care of me and helping to make sure that the baby & I are safe. I am so excited to have this little guy join our family. I would hate for something to go seriously wrong & compromise his health. We don't have a name for him yet but he is very much wanted and loved already! Dr. Wold did say that if he comes sooner rather than later he should be okay, but it would of course be better for him to remain tucked away in his little hot tub until he is actually full term. They did however; give me the steroid shot that would help his lungs develop more quickly just in case he needs to be delivered sooner. I am so amazed at the ability of the body to make babies but I am also so impressed with the knowledge, care, and intuition of my doctor & the nurses who have taken such good care of me!
So the day has been long. I had a headache for part of the morning and then again later in the afternoon. I'm feeling pretty good right now, although lying in bed seems to make me more tired than you would expect. Thankfully, the H1N1 scare has died down enough that the hospital has relaxed its visitor policy. So Derek brought the girls by for a while, until Addi needed to go home for her nap. They are so dang cute. Michael Anne brought me some things to keep me comfortable, a beautiful picture she drew of our family (I like seeing how she writes at this point, sounding out names like Brenden & writing it Brendin), a little bobble head dog toy of hers, a lucky penny to make wishes with, a couple of treats (candy cane, Clementine, nuts, and a grape Dum Dum sucker). She also came with her mothering mode on. She wanted to do everything she could for me. She loves to take care of me when I'm not feeling well. She says things like, "anything for you mom," & "your wish is my command!" She also climbed up in bed with me snuggling and watching Animal Planet with me after Daddy & Addi left.
A little while later Mom & Dad came for a visit. It was nice to see them & I'm glad my mom is feeling better today. While they were here I got to talk with my brother, Jeff. Before they arrived Dave called & later in the evening Kevin called. It sure is nice of them to take the time to check on me & make sure I'm doing alright. I never thought of us as super close when we were younger but I have really felt their love over the years and that means a lot to me. Michael Anne went home with Grandma & Grandpa Church. She loves going with them & it will be nice to not worry about her while I'm here.
Argh, my bootie is sore! I need to squirm some. That's better! I kind of can't wait for my sleeping meds for tonight as it is so hard to get comfortable in these hospital beds. They did however change my bed from a birthing bed to a regular'ish one once it was determined that I would stay here for 24 more hours. Another NICE thing that is keeping me busy is my baby computer! It is so nice to be able to sit here typing my story and surfing the net while I've got the time…all the time I could possibly want! Thanks Derek!!!!!!! It is also cool b/c it has a built in web cam which I used to take a picture of myself lying here & posted it to my Facebook profile. In fact, maybe I'll just post this journal entry onto my blog as it's been pretty neglected lately & this is what's going on with me! Yeah, that's what I'll do next.
Hopefully I'll be going home tomorrow morning with no foreseeable complications or indications of anything else to come except for a healthy, happy baby! Wish us luck, I've been wishing with my lucky penny!!!
