Hospitalization

Meg went in for her biweekly checkup yesterday and her cervix had shortened considerably, and she was having some contractions. She has been in the hospital since lunch time yesterday for evaluation. She had elevated levels of white blood cells, which could signal an infection. An infection could be causing the contractions, so they're giving her lots of fluids and antibiotics. The contractions have slowed since they started that.

Her doctor is going to give her a test that checks for preterm labor around lunchtime, and the results of that will let us know whether or not she is close to going into labor. If she isn't, they'll let her go home to rest. If she is, then they'll figure out what's best to do next. I'll keep you posted with any updates!

* * * Fast forward 4 hours * * *

Just got the fetal fibronectin test results back and they were negative. That's great news! She will likely go home tomorrow because they are making sure her sugars stay regulated since she got a steroid shot yesterday. Hopefully we won't be back for a few weeks!

thanks again for your prayers!
Jason

Week 30

Hurray! We have made it to 30 weeks! This was one of my initial goal weeks. My next goal is 34 weeks.

Here is an updated belly pic showing weeks 28 & 30. (I can never figure out which way I'm supposed to hold my arms so I'm sorry for kinda hiding my belly in the most recent pic!)
This week has passed pretty quickly. It's definitely getting harder to get up from a seated position and turning from side to side is a bit of an event (especially when I'm tired!). I think I am starting to hit the bathroom more frequently, and I have days where all I do is eat! :) Still battling reflux and I'm definitely hot all the time which makes me feel even sicker. I am so glad that I am able to experience this pregnancy during the winter... I feel for all of you who went through summer pregnancies!!!

Mom is in town for my baby shower and it has been wonderful having her here! My house hasn't looked this clean and organized since we moved in! :) Now the task is keeping it this way...
The nursery is getting finished; we have the decorating left to do, but the room is arranged and the bedding is put on the cribs. I will post before/after shots once it's all done as well as hopefully post some pics from the shower.

I go back to the doctor mid-week for a check-up to look at cervix length, amniotic fluids and heart rates. I'll have another growth ultrasound in 3ish weeks.

Week 29

Your babies are the size of acorn squash! For the next 4 weeks think of the babies as the size/length of acorn squash, cucumbers, pineapples, squash.

Babies already measure about 15.2 to 16.7 inches long. Right now, they weigh about 2.5 to 3.8 pounds but they've still got a ways to go -- can you believe they'll triple in weight before birth?

At 29 weeks our babies are:

• Getting a little cramped in there, since he's growing so fast. But you probably already realize that, since you're getting all those jabs and kicks.
• Growing white fat deposits under his skin, and his energy is surging because of it.
• Feel a subtle twitch? It might be baby hiccupping.

We had another growth check last week and both babies are measuring at 3lbs, 5oz. That puts them in the 67th percentile for weight. Hearts continue to look good and everything else is looking good as well.

My cervix is holding steady at 24mm so the doctor felt confident prolonging visits to every 2 weeks instead of weekly. (granted this will only last another month or so as we near the end!)

The babies are definitely moving a lot, and getting hiccups a couple times a day. I am dealing with continued reflux, pain at times in my left leg and hip from laying on my left side so much, baby boy lodging in under my ribs at times, I'm very thirsty, which then leads to more frequent trips to the bathroom, and some difficulty sleeping. I tend to wake up between 3-4 every morning and have difficulty getting back to sleep.

Bed rest is still manageable. Jason re-enrolled us in Netflix and we bought a Roku which allows us to wirelessly connect to the internet without using the computer so I definitely have entertainment. I'm halfway through making the mobile for the nursery and hopefully will get it finished soon. Jason has to cut a couple pieces of a dowel before I can finish so hopefully he can squeeze that in with everything else he's trying to do!

We're both doing pretty good managing everything though. And I kinda feel like we're getting ready to enter the home stretch. I'm excited to have Mom come in this next weekend so we can finish the nursery and get some of those other to-do list things done!

Anyway, more pictures of things to come soon. (And I have not gotten a 29 week belly picture taken so I'm thinking I'll just wait till 30 weeks and we'll work up to the weekly picture!) So sorry to make the picture lovers wait a few more days!! :)

Week 28

We have arrived into the 3rd trimester!! It's very exciting and yet a little scary to realize that we have anywhere from 6weeks+ before these little guys arrive into the world. I have most things organized in my head...the only problem is that I can't get up to actually complete those plans! There's still plenty of time though and I'm planning on putting Mom to work when she comes to visit in a couple weeks! :)

As for the weekly update on the medical side of things: My appointment on Tuesday revealed very low amniotic fluid levels, which is a bi-product of the indocin I'd been taking. So we stopped the indocin which increased fluid levels, but that also means that my cervix may continue to shorten.

At the follow-up visit on Friday, measurements looked good. I was holding steady between 20-23mm. We also had a Biophysical Profile completed where they looked at the babies heart rates, muscle tone, movement, breathing and amniotic fluid levels. Both babies passed all areas so that was good.

Next week is another growth check so we'll see how big these guys are getting! They definitely continue to move all the time, but there's enough room for them to be doing somersaults. I keep waiting for them to run out of room, but it's not happening yet!

As promised, here is my 28 week picture. I'll also include the 24 week picture so you can see the difference in size. It was requested that I begin weekly pictures so I'll try and start getting a picture up weekly! :)

Folding a Fitted Sheet

There’s probably a correct way to fold a fitted sheet, but I’ve got my own way. It’s not perfect, and it often doesn’t come out rectangular, but it works. The past few months have felt a lot like folding fitted sheets: trying to accomplish all the things I was not used to doing. I think I’m finally in a rhythm now, but the past few months have definitely brought a lot of changes to our house.

The dogs are on a 3-times-a-day schedule instead of whenever they begged Meg to go out. The cleaning gets done a little throughout the week instead of in one fell swoop on Saturday. The alarm clock goes off earlier, and I go to bed later. The times they are a changin’.

Most of the questions that come up are “how?” questions. I know everything will work itself out and God has a plan. I don’t worry about it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about it!