I could feel the baby kicking much more often. He seemed to be awake around 3:00 am, 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm, give or take an hour or so. I know this because these are the times when he seemed to be more active in the kicking department. Dennis was always so excited to see my bare belly, which he thought to be extremely cute, but it also made him think more about his son. He was very excited about having a son at this point. Just as I had mentioned earlier, he needed time to adjust to the baby being a boy, but that didn't take long. I could tell that he thought of all the possibilities of having a boy and how much fun it would be. I was equally excited, but when I would feel really hard kicks, I just felt small bits of pain for a split second. :) Dennis was always really excited to feel such hard kicks. He would say "woh" and begin to laugh. Those kicks always made me jump a little. I didn't mind them though, because they made me feel that our little boy was healthy and growing strong. I also was getting up around 4 or 5 times a night to empty my bladder. I couldn't really tell that I had to go, because all I felt was pressure.
During the weekend of the 9th and 10th, Dennis and I met the preacher who would marry us in the summer, and we also spent one last football Sunday with Dan and Jil. Jil was due to have her baby on January 25th, and I was very excited to see her belly and talk to her. The four of us watched one of the playoff games in their basement, but we also did are fair share of baby talk. Not to say that we all had high-pitched voices, but we all were talking about having babies. It was nice to have that night with them. Jil mentioned feeling a bit scared, but I didn't share the same feeling probably because I wasn't due until April. Her days were numbered. Little did we know that the next day, Jil would go in for a routine ultrasound at the hospital and have the doctor tell her to go home and get her suitcase. He felt that she should get to the hospital and deliver soon. She wasn't in serious danger, but he felt the baby should come out soon because of a change in heartbeat. The next time we heard from them was a text message from Dan on Thursday saying they had the baby the day before. On January 13th, little Anne Marie came into the world for them. I was so excited. Jil and I had spent most of our pregnancies together being pregnant, so it was very special for us to know about the birth of their daughter.
Dan and Dennis were signed up for a Daddy Boot Camp at the hospital on that following Saturday. Since Dan was already a dad for a couple of days, both guys went to the 3 hour class to learn more about being dads. From what I heard, Dan stole the show! hahaha This is not uncommon, since Dan loves to talk, and I am glad that they both were able to go. In the meantime, I went over to see Jil and Anne. She was so cute and tiny laying in her bassonet. I held her for about an hour while Jil cleaned up a bit. She mentioned that it was nice having someone around, so she could get some things done. I mentally stored that for later, thinking that I might want to have a person over every so often to help me get things done. Jil was expecting her brother and his family to visit, and from what I've heard, the visitors have been coming steading ever since then. I know that the situation would be different for Dennis and I, since we don't have that many family members in the area, but it did give me something to think about for when the baby comes.
That Monday that Jil went to see her doctor, I was in the neighboring building to see a nutritionist. My blood sugar levels had started acting very strange in December, and my doctor was worried. I got a few good tips on how to regulate my blood sugar that I tried out that week at school. Things were looking up for me, and the baby in my belly was still very active.
January was also the month to work on the baby's room. Dennis had planned that he would paint the baby's room and get the big pieces of furniture put together. Though it took a couple weeks to do on 
the weekends, he was able to get it all done. There was still more to do, but the main and big parts of the room were completed. We still needed to put some supplies in the baby's room and decorate, but that stuff could wait until after the baby shower, which was scheduled to occur in February. My sister actually worked on and sent out the invitations at the end of January.I had another birthday and was happy to receive some more maternity clothes as well
as household, school and baby supplies. Everything seemed to be normal until the last few days of January. On January 25th, I had a regular appoinment with my doctor, who had told me to be off of my feet as much as possible. I didn't really feel that I was on my feet all that much, so I only listened to this warning partially. She also told me that I needed to get a support belt for my belly if I was feeling that the baby was a bit too low. I also didn't feel that this was that necessary. I don't know why I got so confident at this point, but I should have paid more attention to my doctor. On January 28th, I took some of my classes on a field trip to a Chicago-land museum, and I was on my feel for a few hours. I was in charge of the trip, so I had to run back and forth between the buses as well as go on a tour with my small group of students. I tried to sit as much as possible, and I ended up taking the elevator instead of the stairs towards the end of the visit. I was feeling fine, so I didn't think anything was wrong. When we got back to school, I had a substitute already assigned to my last class, so I just went home to take a short nap. That short nap ended up lasting 1 1/2 hours, and when I got up, I could barely move. I had so much pressure at the bottom of my belly, and I could barely walk. Dennis came home from work shortly after I woke up, and he was meant to go and play darts that night. I asked him to go to the maternity store beforehand and buy me a belly belt. It felt like the baby was about to fall out whenever I stood up, and I was really worried. I stayed off my feet as much as possible that night, and I even layed down for most of it. When I awoke the next day, I still felt pressure, but it seemed to be much better. I put the belly belt on, which was in two parts: one for my belly and one for my back. All seemed okay until about halfway through my day. I started feeling more pressure, and I thought about calling my doctor. During lunchtime, I ended up being on hold for 28 minutes without anyone even picking up. This was one of many reasons why I was ready to find a new doctor as soon as I delivered. I called again during my afternoon break, and the nurse told me to come in as soon as possible. The walk out to my car was almost unbearable because of all the pressure, which I thought was weird since I was really off of my feet for most of the day.
When I got to the doctor's office, I was given an ultrasound right away to make sure I wasn't dialated. Everything seemed fine, but my cervix was a bit short. That caused them some concern, so they put me on a monitor. This monitor told the doctor that I was having some minor contractions. I really couldn't feel anything, which was strange, since I had always thought that I would know a contraction when I felt one. This wasn't the case because they weren't that strong. The doctor told me that I would have to be on bed rest until they could see me again. I was shocked. I went home with the sole purpose of laying in bed and taking it easy. My next appointment was on Monday, February 1st when I would be told if I could go back to work or not.
The only issue besides not being able to go to work was that we were supposed to
host the main meal portion of our neighborhood's progressive dinner. Though I was on bed rest, we still had the neighbors come over that next night (Saturday) to eat Mexican food. Dennis did the work of cleaning, cooking and setting up, which is why I love him. The neighbors were so supportive and understanding about everything. Theyh even took Dennis with 
them to the last house so he could socialize and have dessert. I stayed at home and got right back into bed. By hosting the main part of the meal, I was able to participate in the night, when I wouldn't have been able to go anywhere otherwise. My sister and her family came over the next day to bring us some food and help Dennis pick up the chairs and tables. That was helpful. Being on bed rest was really hard to get used to, but it got easier the longer it lasted.
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