Week 37: Chaos

I'm going to attempt to do a weekly post now that baby time is drawing nearer, though I can't make any promises.  Life has been chaotic this last week - pure and simple.  We knew it was going to be busy as we had several meetings during the evenings scheduled.  Wednesday night, we got a ridiculous amount of rain where we live.  We were awoken around 5am Thursday morning to a strange noise in our finished basement.  Yes.  There was a waterfall (no exaggeration), pouring through what was still standing of our ceiling down there.  The pipe that connects the sump pump to the exterior of the building had disconnected.  While the sump pump itself was still working like a charm, all of the water was being dumped onto the ceiling (instead of outside) and flooded that entire room and half of another.

During the event.

After removing everything damaged.

The larger room that was also damaged.

All of the furniture, the flooring and part of the walls in that specific room were ruined.  Our carpeting and favorite giant bean bag beds in the other room were also ruined.  Our insurance company is trying to get out of paying for any of it with a loophole of sorts so we've got a battle on our hands.  The same evening, we also had some water spots and a large puddle appear in our garage.  After inspection, it seems we also have a roof leakage that we're following up on.  It has been a long, draining, emotional week.  We've had many friends offer help and encouragement, which has been a blessing and testimony to their love for us (and God's!) for sure.

Much of the summer, things have been going very well.  Overall, life has truly been enjoyable.  These home disasters all came after a few weeks of other stressors however.  A few weeks ago, my cell phone was either lost or stolen and never found.  I'm supposed to get an upgrade in October, so in the meantime, I'm using a loaner phone some friends gave me.  Then a few days later, I found out I'm Group B Strep positive again (as with my last pregnancy).  That is a real bummer.  Now the catch is making sure I'm in true labor and can get to the hospital with enough time to get the antibiotic treatment before Abigail is born.  I believe it takes 3-4 hours to receive the full dosage.  My labors have varied from 7.5-18hrs long.  I've often struggled with false labor so this is not as easy as it may seem.  Just last weekend, James and I were in Cincinnati celebrating our anniversary.  We almost drove back in the middle of the night because I was about 95% convinced I was in labor.  I had very painful contractions for nearly 2 1/2 hours but they never got regular.  Eventually they stopped.  So even with baby #5, it's still not crystal clear.  Praying for knowledge and surety when the actual event happens!

My midwife checkup was interesting.  Outside of finding out I was GBS positive, I actually lost three pounds - in one week!  However, my physical measurements increased and I was only measuring one week behind (I usually measure multiple weeks behind at this point).  We're chalking it up to some tummy troubles I had over the weekend and all the walking in Cinci.  Otherwise, baby seems to be doing well, heartbeat sounded good, and I'm still moving on towards that day!

Thanks for hanging in there with me and this super long post!  Hopefully the next one will bring a little more sunshine!

Until next time...

Take care,
Terra