Cute Overload!

Luke's cozy new bed!

Shhhhh Baby Sleeping!

Luke's Stats: Baby Pool

Quick update

Nothing to exciting to report, which is always a good thing. We had another follow up appointment with the OB doctor on Tuesday. Everything is pretty much the same. My cervix hasn't changed and we are going to repeat another FFN on Friday. The doctor did say that after 35 weeks they stop trying to stop labor. So if anything goes wrong with the pump or my body stops responding to the terb they would call it quits and it would be time to have a baby!

Any bets on when little Luke will come?

How much do you think he will weigh?

How long will he be?

It would be fun to keep track of everyones guesses so let me know!

Gimpy Knee Update

Although this isn't Rob's knee and leg I thought it was pretty cool.

The final (fingers crossed) surgery on Rob's knee is to take place on August 27, 2007. This will put me at 35 weeks which makes me a little nervous! Having both of us fresh out of the OR can't be a good thing with a brand new baby! Pray that Luke stays in a little longer than 35 weeks.

Jackson~Zimmermann Wedding Update

From the city....
to the beach!

Katie and Bernie have decided to elope!

They are in the process of planning a March wedding/honeymoon in Jamaica! No plans as of yet for a reception when they return. I will make sure to keep everyone up to date!

New Ultrasound Pictures!

What a sweet face!
Another face shot.
Luke's foot with possibly a little segment of his cord.
Luke is still a boy and wants everyone to know it!

My Bedrest Set Up

This is where you will find me 99.9% of the day.

I like to keep things within my reach so we brought in the bookcase to help keep things organized. My home monitor is on top if anyone was wondering what it looked like. Notice my plethora of drinks!!
Sakai my little snuggle buddy/spot stealer!

29.5 weeks

Here is a picture of my ever growing tummy! I don't think I look much bigger than one week ago but I must be. If you look close enough you will spot what I've been hoping to avoid a stretch mark!!! What a sad day it is. I thought I might be able to avoid them spending so much time in bed but I guess not. Woe is me!!!

All things food!!

This beautiful and edible arrangement was given to Rob and I from Becky. Becky started out as a co-worker and then we discovered that we were neighbors! We started car pooling and our friendship has quickly grown! This past week Becky sadly had her AC break down. She and her three pups came to stay the night with us. As a thank you she brought over this great fruit bouquet. I feel like we should have been sending it to her! Her company was great and she always offers her dog sitting services when we end up in the hospital. She is a great friend and a wonderful neighbor!

Thanks again Becky!!

Update Update Update!

28.5 weeks

This picture was taken during our second hospital stay (as you can tell by the sharps container in the back ground!). Things since we have been home are going well. We had a slight scare within the first few hours of being home. I woke up from a nap and was doing ok but thought to myself these feel like contractions!! Eak!! So I got on my home monitor and sure enough I set a new record of 10 contractions in an hour. My home health nurse called to give me the bad news and suggested I give myself a bolus. I pulled out my pump and it was soaking wet! I had been terb-ing my little case for who knows how long! It turned out that there was a crack in the tubing line. I quickly changed it and gave myself the bolus and got back on the monitor to make sure things were calming down as they should. The nurse called back with great news. I had only 1 contraction! Thank goodness for terb pumps (when they work!!). Since then I've had a few busy days contraction wise but I've also had several sessions of none to 1 contractions.

Some other news....

We had our second formal ultrasound on Monday and everything looked great. Luke now weighs 3 pounds 6 ounces. He gained a whole ounce in a week according to the two ultrasounds. They also measured my cervix with the ultrasound since it had gotten shorter. Good news again! Either I have a growing cervix or the measurement at the hospital was wrong. It went from 4.2 to 2.9 to 4.5!!! All I care is that it's long and CLOSED! The doctors told us that once a cervix reaches 2.5cm there is no turning back and often times the next phase is cervical dilation.

Round Two: The Mag wash

I never thought I'd say thank goodness for dial up internet but I'll take what I can get! Rob, Luke and I are back in the hospital for more contractions. Everything was going well at home on the terb pump until Sunday morning it was as if my body just decided to reject it. I started to feel more cramping, back aches and contractions. After three one hour sessions on the home monitor and three boluses of terb I was instructed to head back to OBT to be evaluated. This time however we were smart and packed a bag and took showers. I'm sure the triage nurses were ever so thankful!

I was placed on a monitor and watched for a little while before they tried a new medication to help calm things down. The nifedipine didn't work and things actually felt like they were getting worse (i.e: stronger contractions). So we were once again admitted and put on Magnesium Sulfate. I had the pleasure of being the local pin cushion as my veins went running when they went to start my IV. Three sticks later and I was on my way. *update I've been poked 5 times now and am currently on my third IV! The mag was started and just like last time I was given steroids to help with Luke's lung development. I was also put on a new medication to help calm my ever so cranky uterus down. This time we tried indomethacin. Indomethacin is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that can be used for 48 hours in pre term labor patients. We went the full 48 hours and have just been on the Mag since. The experience thus far was pretty much the same as last time...that is up until we thought my water broke! Long story short: it didn't! Phew! So I've been just hanging out at work not getting paid and getting stuck with needles!

The plan as of today is to turn off the mag on Friday and re-start the terb pump. Although it hasn't been mentioned I think if all goes well re-starting the pump will be followed with being sent home! We will also be repeating the FFN test. Our current goal is to make it to 30 weeks. Once we reach 30 weeks the new goal is 32 and so on. Baby steps I tell you!

My tech support guy (Rob) has me hooked up with some sweet dial up internet connection while I'm in the hospital. It's not the fastest but it sure is nice to have an outlet to the outside world. So get busy with the emails people :) We will try and keep everyone updated as things happen or fingers crossed DON'T happen. Thanks again to everyone for all the phone calls (even if I don't get back to you) and well wishes and prayers. We love you all!

PS. Here is a little Luke update! As of Monday Luke weighs 3 pounds 5 ounces! For those that are counting this puts him at nearly two weeks ahead weight wise! What a little piggy!

The pros and cons of bed rest

Pros

• Keeping Luke in longer
• Not having to work
• Sleeping in
• Having people bring dinners over
• Avoiding the summer heat
• Catching up on my E gossip
• Saving gas money!
• No pressure to ever make plans
• I actually have pretty non-pealing or breaking nails
• Not putting make up on everyday
• My allergic reaction to work in the form of a terrible rash on my hands is totally gone

Cons

• Not being able to do anything for myself
• Jabbing myself in the leg every 5 days
• Having the sleep schedule of a teenage boy on summer vacation
• Not being able to clean and do laundry (I know I'm weird)
• Never being able to make plans
• Missing my friends
• Worrying about money
• Shaky terb hands
• Dreaming about work...does that mean I miss it?
• Discovering how often they re-run EVERYTHING
• The world wide web doesn't seem so wide anymore
• Not being able to set up the nursery
• Missing out on weddings, birthdays and showers
• A trip downstairs and a shower are now the highlights of my day
• Feeling more aware of what I eat because there is no way to burn off Ben and Jerry's anymore
• Waiting for stretch marks to appear
• Thinking of how many more weeks this may go on

Thank godness for sisters

I think I've recovered from Katie leaving (well the tears have nearly stopped) but I'm not sure the pups have! This is a picture of pretty much what every day was like with Katie and the dogs....they were glued to her. I can't even get them to snuggle me! I must smell like I'm bringing in competition or something. I swear they know something is up.

Katie was here for two weeks to help lighten the load and keep me company. She was an amazing help. I think she did 15+ loads of laundry among other household chores to keep things organized while I'm out of commission. She was also great at keeping up with my drink and snack requests. :) It was great to have her here and I was VERY sad to see her go home. But she will be back to help take care of Luke when he makes his grand entrance! I'm sure her Aunt skills will be as great as her sister skills have proven to be.

Thanks again Bella!

I love you tons and miss you more.