Just checking in...

Hi folks,

Just checking in and letting everyone know that I'm still here and bun is still in oven. Not much going on here. The boys will be here tomorrow to show off their Halloween Costumes. I'll get some pictures. Jeff is actually going to spend TWO nights with me this weekend. WOOHOO!!!! Counting down the days until we get out of here. I can't wait to get home!!!!

Fetal Fibronectin is still positive...

So we are definitely here until 34 weeks. At least it's a definite answer and not more of the... Well...maybe... if.... could happen... yada yada yada.

Not going home...

:::sigh:::

Despite the fact that there are no bulging mebranes, no contractions and no change in my cervix they do not want me to go home. Even though I am still barely a fingertip dilated, I still have no measurable cervix internally and they are afraid I'll go into labor and not be able to make it back here to deliver. If my repeat Fetal Fibronectin is negative, they'll talk to my OB and see if he feels comefortable with me coming home next week. If it's positive or if my OB doesn't like the idea, I'll be here for at least another two weeks. ARGH!!! I knew it was a long shot, but I was really hoping to go home.

32 week belly pic

The belly is really starting to make an appearance. As I mentioned earlier, I can no longer see my feet without bending over. Earlier in the week, I asked them to bring in a stool or chair I could use in the shower so I could shave my legs. I hadn't been able to shave them in almost two weeks because I just couldn't bend over the belly that long...LOL Anyway... for your viewing pleasure...

I just realized...

I can't see my feet...LOL

I'm rarely on my feet these days, so it never occured to me until today. I walked out of the bathrrom and was talking to Jeff, looked down and... NO FEET, just belly. Wow, for someone who was supposed to have this baby weeks ago, it's a GREAT feeling. :)

32 weeks today!!!

WOOHOO!!! We've reached a big milestone by getting to the 32 week mark. The best news is, I MAY actually get to go home tomorrow. They are going to check my cervix tomorrow and if there has been no change, they will send me home. I'll still be on strict bedrest for the next two weeks. At 34 weeks, we'll stop the Procardia and I'll be on modified bedrest for another two weeks. If I go into labor at that point, they'll let me deliver. At 36 weeks, I'll be allowed to go about my business. We'll take a 32 week picture before Jeff leaves today, hopefully it'll be our last pic in the hospital.

It's THURSDAY, It's THURSDAY!

Ya know what that means???
Tomorrow is Friday and then the weekend!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!

There is a chance....

A small chance, but a chance none the less, that I may still get to go home next week. Dr came in today and said that they would check my cervix on Monday and if there is still no change, they would "CONSIDER" letting me go home on bed rest. BIG BIG EMPHASIS on the word consider. As much as I know in my head that being here is the closest to the NICU, I am so missing my family. I know that just my presence at home will make a difference in Jack's behavior, thus making things easier on my mom and Jeff. So keep us in your prayers, cross your fingers, rub your lucky rabbits foot, dance naked in the moonlight, send out your positive energy... Whatever works for you!!!

It's amazing how people find you...

If you look at the lower right hand corner of my blog, you'll see a nifty little gadget called a "Feedjit" It's a neat little toy that tracks the comings and goings on my blog. It tells me when they were here, if they clicked through a link to get here, what link they clicked, where they are from etc... Kinda neat to look at and see where people are from that read your blog.

Some of you may remember my brief post one morning titled "Early Morning Tv (aka infomercials)". Well this morning I was looking at my Feedjit and see that someone linked to me from Google. The string they used in their Google search.... "Love Rub Infomercial" BWAHAHAHAHAHA

I needed that laugh at 5:30am... THANKS!!!!!

Just a few pics from this weekend...

My sister flew in from Dallas this weekend so my mom could go home for the week. Mom picked her up at the Mobile Airport on Saturday, so we had everyone at the hospital that day. It was nice to have a room full of folks. It gets mighty quiet around here during the week.



Hiding from Daddy!





Kisses, kisses and more kisses...






and more kisses...






Giving mommy advice on how to change Michael's diaper.






Happy Baby!!!




Daddy, why do you have that big black thing in front of your face?

Look Mommy, his belly is almost as big as yours!

Shy boy...

We have such a hard time keeping pants on his narrow behind since he's been potty trained...LOL

31 Weeks

Ok folks,

Here is the long awaited 31 week belly pic. The batteries died on my flash, so we had to take this one with available light in the room. It was night time so no light from the window and we had to use the LOVERLY curtain as a backdrop. ENJOY! LOL

We're still here

Just wanted to do a quick post and let folks know that we're still here. I have a 31 week pic and some pics of the boys from this weekend. I just haven't pulled them off the camera yet. I'll get them done after lunch today.

30wk 5d US today

We had our bi-weekly US for growth today. He's 3lb 8oz and very flexible. He had his hands up by his face and his feet over his head...LOL

The US tech was nice enough to burn some pics to CD for me.

Profile with hand up to face

That blob you see above his forehead is his FOOT...LOL

Full face

Is that a smile??? :)

And the winner is....

Michael had his 4mo appt today. He was 15lbs 4.25oz. That means our winner in the Guess My Weight post is Sue Brandon!!!!!!

Here are the rest of his stats:

Length: 25"
Head Circ: 43.5cm

He is in the 50% for Weight and Length.

Above all, he is healthy and such a happy baby. We are so very blessed!

Dangit, dangit, dangit!!!!

Here I thought I was in the home stretch and would get to go home at 32 weeks. Well, the Dr was here talking about how at 32 weeks there is less chance of labor being so quick that I wouldn't make it back HERE and as long as I lived CLOSE... Ummmm Hello, I live an hour away in Gautier, MS. OH, well you'll be here until 34 weeks then.

So now, instead of having 1 and a half weeks left I have 3 and a half weeks left.

Random pics of the boys

While the boys were here yesterday, we took some pictures. I've also received several pictures over the last week or so that I haven't posted. I'll put them up here for your viewing pleasure. Please ignore my hair. I was over due for a cut before I went in the hospital. Now it is just OUT OF CONTROL. I'll start with the pics from yesterday.

Lounging in the bed with mommy


Mommy, Michael and their bed hair


Ok, I'll stand here, but you can't make me smile.


Snaggin' some of Mommy's lunch


Even a hospital can't mess up a dinner roll


Daddy's arm just isn't quite long enough

30 week pic

We forgot to take the 30 week pic on Sunday. So when the boys were here yesterday, I had Jeff take a quickie with our little point and shoot. It's a bit hazy from the flash reflecting off the door, but at least you get a comparison. Little one is definitely growing.

I had all my boys in one room today!!

Jeff was off work today, Columbus day, and brought the boys to see me this morning. They were here for four hours. YEAH!!! They got here around 9:30 this morning. Michael took a bottle at 10:30 and then slept on my chest for about an hour. That was GREAT. Jack and I snuggled in bed and went over his Thomas the Tank Engine catalog. It's amazing how he knows the names of almost ALL of the characters. For anyone that knows Thomas, you know there are ALOT of them. We had lunch. I walked down to the nurses station with Jack so he could charm the nurses out of some apple juice. Jeff took some pictures and will send them to me when he gets a chance to download them off the camera later today.

Hi folks...

I've gotten a few emails today asking if I'm ok since I haven't posted. I apologize for worrying folks. There just wasn't anything to post. We're still here, no contractions, bleeding etc... The third trimester insomnia is setting in and I'm tired and sleepy most of the time. Being here is starting to wear on me and wear on my family. I know I'm here for a reason and that these weeks are nothing compared to the time we'll have with our child. I just see the toll it is starting to take on my family. Jeff's tired, mom's tired, Jack's acting out... My sister will be here next Saturday and hopefully having someone fresh and rested in the house will help.

Anyway, that is where things are now. We'll be fine. :)

Early morning Tv (aka infomercials)

Ok, so I fall asleep last night watching Dennis Leary on Comedy Central. I wake up at 4:30 to an infomercial for something called "Love Rub" =:O OH MY!

Boys were here today!

It's a bright spot in an otherwise dreary week. I alway feel lighter and brighter when they've been here. Michael was his usual happy baby self. He drank a good bottle for me and we played on the bed with Jack. Jack tried to feed me Cheerios. I took one from him and kissed his hand. He put his hand in his pocket and told me he was saving it for later. :) Such a sweet boy. Here's a very bad pic to took with my web cam on my laptop. It's not pretty, but it's the three of us.

I should be in movies!!!

Or at least my stomach should be in movies. Little man is big enough now that when he gets really moving my stomach looks like something out of the movie Alien. It's really kinda scarey to watch sometimes. I'm going to see if maybe I can catch a video of it w/my web cam and post it later. WILD STUFF!

29 weeks

Well today makes 29 weeks. Evidently the Dr is always still surprised that I'm still here when he comes in to do rounds every morning. He said there is me and one other woman he asks about when he walks onto the floor. Is Mrs. Lucas still here? He said today that he didn't know if it was shear will or just the baby was stubborn little cuss...LOL I'll take it either way. Well, here is my Week 29 belly picture for your viewing pleasure. As attractive as it is... at least I don't look as miserable as I did in my last one.

I'm famous!

Actually my cervix is famous. The Dr came in the morning and told me that the US of my ugly cervix was going to be in a text book he's writing with a colleage. There are three high risk OBs here and this Dr had not actually looked at my US until today. He'd heard from Dr. Baker how ugly it was already. She told him she knew better than to look at the second US because she knew it scared her to see the 1st one. I guess it's by shear will that this baby is still inside me and not in the NICU.

He also said they wouldn't be testing my sugar anymore because they had been text book perfect and at least he can get rid of that torture for me. Evidently, if I was going to develope gestational diabetes, we'd be seeing signs by now.

Not much else going on...

We're still here!

Baby Update

We had an US today to get some growth measurements on our baby boy. He is now 3lbs, up from 1 lb 13oz on September 17th when I was admitted. He's growing at at good rate, so we're hopeful I can keep him in another 3 weeks at least. That will put us at 32 weeks. Of course the bigger he gets, the harder it will be for me to keep him in where he belongs.

So send up your prayers, good wishes, rub your lucky rabbit's foot, dance nekkid in the moonlight etc... etc... We need all the help we can get!

The joys of being in a teaching hospital

You are NEVER left alone. I'm a pretty low maintenance patient. I don't have an IV. I take Procardia every 8 hours and Heparin every 12. But my day starts are 5:30am with the on call Resident coming in my room to ask if I've had any problems overnight. Ummmm nope, if I'd been having ANY problems overnight, you'd have heard from me. I roll over and 6:00am the nurse comes in take my blood pressure, temperature. Then someone else is 15min behind her to listen to the baby's heartbeat and sometime there someone else has come in to give me my Procardia. 6:30am, a Med Student comes in and asks me the same questions the Resident asked me an hour before. Ummmm nope, nothing has changed in the last hour. 7:00am, breakfast. 7:30am come in and hook me up for an NST. If the baby cooperates and stays on the monitor, it takes 30min. If the baby doesn't cooperate or the nurse just forgets about me, it can be anywhere from 45min to an hour. 8:00am Dietary comes in to get your tray and go over you menu with you. I've been here for two weeks, I think I know how to fill the darn thing out. Now, around 8:30am, the nursing students come in to do your vitals again. They are encouraging you to take a shower so they can change your bed linens. But you aren't ready to take a shower because the Drs are rounding and you don't want to miss them. So she comes in every 15 min asking if you're ready to get in the shower. Then they wonder WHY you are napping before noon. UGH!

Mom brought the boys today

I had a loverly visit with the boys. Jack was his usual happy self. He ate about half of the stuff in my snack drawer and charmed the Dr, nurses and med students that did rounds today. Michael is getting so big and is getting very social. He was just talking and talking and smiling. He had a bottle while he was here and fell asleep on my chest. I miss them both so much! :(