Carving a Pumpkin

Last night Brian and Lindsay stopped by the hospital to carve a pumpkin for me. First Lindsay helped Daddy draw a face on the pumpkin...

Then Brian did the carving and Lindsay was a little scared at first but ended up loving the pumpkin.
Today is Lindsay's 2nd birthday so stay tuned for pictures from her "party" we are going to have for her in my room. :)

Happy Birthday Luke!

Yesterday my nephew Luke turned 4. Here are some pictures from his party that I of course couldn't go to but Brian was able to take Lindsay.
Luke and Lindsay
Lindsay hitting the pinata.
The kids getting their candy. No, Lindsay was not the one who broke the pinata.
Cake time!
My brother, my sister-n-law, and their two adorable boys!

When Lindsay comes to visit...

This is what we do. She lays in bed with me and I read to her or she colors. :)

5 pounds to be exact....

I had my ultrasound yesterday and everything still looks good. My cervical length did shorten some but it is still at a good number and my doctor was not worried about it. The babies are doing great. They are all ahead of schedule by a few days. The boy weighs 1 pound 12 ounces (which is what Lindsay weighed when she was born at 25 weeks) and the girls are 1 pound 9 ounces and 1 pound 10 ounces. I can actually see them moving now and it is so weird. It is like a circus in there!

I have got a few pumpkins in here.....

Since I know you all like to see the belly pictures I thought I would humble myself and post these for your viewing pleasure. Let me first say that I have no make-up on, contacts are out - glasses on, and my roots are in desperate need of a touch-up. Oh, also I am proud to say those are veins on my stomach not stretch marks (at least not yet haha). These pictures were taken Wednesday when I hit 24 weeks. I got my steroid shot Wed and Thurs. however I had some strong contractions and irritability Wed. night due to the shot, which is common. However it did scare me and they were talking about having to put in an IV and give me stronger medicine to control it because nothing else was working. However thankfully things calmed down before that measure needed to be taken. And since then things have been calm and good. So since all that happened my doctor didn't want to stir things up anymore by doing a check so tomorrow he is supposed to do a cervical length check and a full ultrasound to see how big the babies are now. I'll keep you posted. :)

After 3 weeks here is what is going on.....

First I want to thank all of you for your care, concern, thoughts, and prayers. It is really much appreciated! I know you probably check my blog often for updates and fortunately not much changes day to day so that is why I save it all for a weekly update. Pretty much right now no news is good news. :) But here is what has happened in the last week....
My doctor was off the last 3 days so he's not going to do a cervical length check until Thursday. I did get to go outside in a wheelchair for 30 minutes on Sunday to get some fresh air. It was nice but I was pretty much uncomfortable the whole time since I haven't sat upright for that long of a time in awhile. I have also had some contractions here and there the past 3 days that required the nurses to give me extra medicine but its nothing that my doctor is worried about. Tomorrow I will be 24 weeks which was my first milestone to get to so that's exciting. My next goal will be 28 weeks. I will be getting my steroid shot for the babies' lungs tomorrow and Thursday which will help their lungs mature faster if they were to be born prematurely. I received this shot when I was pregnant with Lindsay and although it seemed to not make a difference when she was first born, she didn't have to go home on oxygen which is rare for preemies. So in the end it did make a difference. As far as going home, I will most likely be staying in the hospital until I deliver. I feel much safer and more comfortable in here than I think I would feel at home. As hard as it is for me to stay in here, I just want to do what is best for the babies' health and don't want to jeopardize the possibility of life-long disabilities they could have just because I wanted to go home for a few weeks.
Lindsay and Brian are doing good. She is staying on her normal routine which is good for her right now. Brian's sister has been a huge help staying the night at our house and getting Lindsay to daycare when Brian has to work early. The hard part for me is that I don't see them during the week because it is just too much for Brian to drive down in the afternoon, then deal with traffic going home and Lindsay getting to bed late. So I see them on the weekend although I talk to them everyday on the phone. My conversations with Lindsay are usually the same, she says "Hi mommy", I say "Hi Lindsay, I love you", then she says "love you" and we both say bye. :)
So that's about it. I will keep you posted if anything changes, although as I said no news is pretty much good news right now. I will get through this as I have in the past, I can do it again! Although did I mention that I am done having babies after this?! ;)

Jessica's Boys

So since Jessica's last post is about her wedding in June (which she didn't post about until July) I thought I would help her out, since I have so much time on my hands, and post these pictures that were recently taken of her boys. I also owe her since she brought me lunch from Paradise Bakery on Saturday. So her boys, James & Conner, are now 9 1/2 months old and are so adorable as you can see from the pictures. Look at their matching Puma shoes!!! So cute!!

Things are looking good!

It has now been two weeks since I have been in the hospital and I am doing really well. God definitely hears our prayers! I had another check-up yesterday and again my doctor was happy with what he saw. My cervical length hasn't changed since last week. The babies also looked good, have plenty of fluid, and are moving like crazy now. I have also not had any extra medicine to control contractions since last Wednesday. My doctor is even talking about me possibly going home on bed rest once I reach 24 weeks (which is a week from Wed.) as long as everything stays looking good. Lindsay is doing well, she spent last week at my parents house and then this week she will be back home with Brian. Oh, Julie you will be so proud of me, I am staying on top of all the baseball games. :) I don't have a favorite team yet, I suppose I should choose one soon!
Here's Lindsay with my dad and her cousin Mark.
Lindsay loves playing with my dad, who she calls Papa.
My mom said one morning she walked around the house with this blanket on her head! :)

Update - week 1 in the hospital

Well, here is what has happened in the last week. Last Monday I went to my doctor appointment and my cervical length shortened a little more to 2.3. So the doctor put me in the hospital on bed rest to be monitored. I had surgery last Tuesday and the doctor put stitches in my cervix to help keep the babies' in and keep my cervix from getting any worse. However, I still have to be on bed rest because any pressure can tear the stitches. Yesterday my doctor checked my cervical length since the surgery and he was very happy with the results. My cervical length is now back up to 3.7 which is good. In 2 more weeks, when I am 24 weeks, I will get the steroid shot to help the babies' lungs mature faster. I got this shot with Lindsay as well. After that my goal will be to get to 28 weeks and then of course the more weeks they can stay in the better.
My dad hooked my laptop up in my hospital room so I pass most of my time on the internet. At least I have been through this before so I know what I have to do and I will do whatever it takes for these babies to be born healthy. The hardest part this time though is not being with Lindsay. She comes to visit almost every day and will lay in the bed with me but thankfully my parents, Brian's mom and sister, and of course Brian are helping out so much and trying to keep her routine as normal as possible.
Well, that's it for now. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers and I will be sure to keep you posted as the weeks go by.