Alright, Alright...

I succumbed to the pressure...I finally pulled out the camera. Thought you might like to see my new digs. OK, so they're not so new anymore - I have been in this room for over 3 weeks now. But, for a hospital room, this is a very nice one, so I cannot complain!!

And I was REALLY brave and even took some pictures of myself. So, this is me at 32 weeks. But please excuse my appearance - I have been in the hospital for 3.5 weeks. There is no such thing as looking cute anymore.



And in other news, the boys are still doing great. I had a sonogram yesterday. Grayson is 4 lbs 4 oz and Ethan has caught back up with his brother weighing in at 4 lbs 2 oz! That's right, people, over 8 pounds of baby! And I am starting to feel it, too. I am definitely getting larger (as I am sure you can tell!) , and its getting harder to move. I cannot imagine what another 2 - 4 weeks will bring!

I got nothin...

So, I really don't have any updates, but I thought I should update to let you all know that :) Everything is pretty much the same, which is good news! The boys are doing great. I am still having lots of random contractions, but nothing to be concerned about. The hospital itself isn't so bad, its just the four walls that are getting to me. Basketball is keeping me pretty well entertained (even though all of my brackets are completely messed up!) I have officially started the "Going Home Countdown." This, however, is probably not a good idea since there is no guarantee I will actually get to go home. But a girl can dream, right? IF I do get to go home at 34 weeks, then I have 17 days to go! The only other thing that is really annoying me are the thousands of food commercials during these basketball games. You have no idea how bad I want a pizza right now!!!! Only a few more weeks...

Updates and Observations...

from the weekend:
- I only have to have my finger pricked twice a day now! WOO HOO!
- I don't know how diabetics prick their fingers multiple times every day. I have a new found respect for them.
- I think I have received more shots in the past two weeks than the rest of my life combined, which is saying a lot since we did in vitro.
- Shots do cause bruises. Bad ones.
- Stressful basketball games can cause contractions (only one, but still!)
- When the Bulldogs win a bid to the Big Dance, my husband will also do a dance. Let's hope the Bulldogs Dance is better than Alan's. (Love you, honey!!)
- My dog is afraid of wheelchairs.
- The refrigerator is leaking some strange colored fluid that apparently only Alan and I can see. It has been there for days, and it has not been cleaned up. I thought a hospital was supposed to be ridiculously clean...
- I miss outside.
- Apparently sometimes contractions are brought on the monitors. I swear I dont feel them until they hook me up.
- I am not really sure how I am going to stand being in here for another 3.5 weeks. But I know this is what is best for my children, so I will suck it up.

The Full Moon...

Have you ever heard that things get a little weird at hospitals during a full moon? I had heard it before, but I cant say that I ever really believed it. Until this week. Things have been CRAZY around here. Since I am confined to a hospital bed, I cannot actually confirm that there was a full moon, but the nurses tell me there was. A couple of days ago, things started changing a little. Suddenly, there were people being admitted left and right. It continued right through yesterday - until this hospital was completely full! All the nurses have been running around like crazy, totally stressed out. And I swear my children knew it, too. When they hooked us up to the monitors yesterday, these boys literally RAN from them. They sent three different nurses in here to try and find them, but they wanted nothing to do with it. The monitoring that usually takes 30 minutes took over two hours yesterday. And during all that, I had to change the tributalene cartridge in my pump. It fell apart. Yep, the syringe just broke. All over me. It was the weirdest thing.

We are all still doing really well, I just hope there isn't another full moon before April!

Sonogram

I had a sonogram this morning. The boys are doing great. Grayson is 3 lb 10 oz and is dancing a jig on my bladder :) Ethan is 3 lb 5 oz and actually looked at us today! The specialist wants to add one more shot to my long list of meds, but other than that, no changes. That is good news to me!

The Nursery

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post this. I've been a little distracted by the whole hospital thing. Anyway, better late than never, right?

First, let me start by saying...my aunt, Mary Emma, is AWESOME!!! She is so very talented. I still cant believe everything she did. I know that the boys are going to LOVE their nursery becuase it is impossible to walk in there without smiling. So, here it is...

This is the view from the door. This is the most comfortable chair in the history of the world.

4 Weeks and Counting...

It's hard to believe that I have already been on bedrest for four weeks. Hopefully five more weeks to go! The nurses tell me that if I make it to 34 weeks, then the boys will be developed enough that they will just let me go home and go into labor naturally. So, that is what we are hoping for. It would be nice to actually be at home for a little bit before they get here.



The past couple of days have been a little hectic here in the hospital. I know, I know...how can laying in the hospital be busy? The babies and I have to be monitered every day, so I have to go down to Labor and Delivery for at least an hour. There are lots of medications to take throughout the day. And I had to take the very yucky 3 hour glucose test. Not to mention all the doctors and nurses in and out all day long. The boys continue to be very active and are always doing good. My body, on the other hand, is not cooperating quite as well. I am having intermittent contractions again, but we can still control them with the pump. The bad news, though, is that I failed the 3 hour glucose test (only by one point - which really stinks!!) According to the doctor, this is not unusual with multiples. And since I am already in the hospital, they are just going to go ahead and regulate my diet for gestational diabetes. Again, not the best news ever, but I just have to eat the food they bring me.

I think that is all the news we have. Thanks for all the prayers and support!!

I'm back!

Thanks to my wonderful hubby for updating for me the past few days!! But now I have decided to pull out the computer and return to the land of technology. I have been doing lots of cross-stiching and watching terrible TV. I never knew how much I would miss HGTV and the Food Network. I will definitely not say that being in the hospital is the best part of this pregnancy, but I do have people brining me food and waiting on me. So, I cant complain too much, right?!?

Now for some updates...Alan posted about my contractions yesterday morning. They gave me another shot to stop them, which worked great. At that point they decided that since the tributelene shots were working so well, they would go ahead and put me on the tributelene pump. That means that I would get a small dose of the medicine throughout the day, instead of large doses to stop the contractions. The nurse came yesterday afternoon to "install" the pump. I don't really know how else to say that, but basically its just a needle in my leg that attaches to a cell-phone-like pump that regulates the meds. Its not as bad as it sounds, I promise! And the good news is that I haven't had a contraction since early yesterday morning!! WOO HOO!! I also saw the specialist again yesterday afternoon, and they were very pleased with how I am responding to the new regiment and the babies look great.

SOOOOO, all good news to report. We are doing well - just adjusting to life in the hospital. Will keep you posted if anything changes!

Room with a view!

It's Alan again.

We've been moved across the hall to a larger room with a view of a courtyard. Thanks, Patti! Now Room 191 at Harris HEB in Bedford. It's not the Ritz, but Jennifer definitely feels less like she's in a hospital here. The staff is still great and we're learning how to grease the wheels around here.

Jennifer is still doing well. Probably better than me. The boys are great. Jennifer has had a couple episodes of close contractions, but the low dosage of tributelene that they administer has stopped them each time. Doctors are happy with that so they are going to install a pump (like an insulin pump) in Jenn's thigh so that the dosage will be smaller and constant in order to ward off contractions versus stop them.

We will see the specialist later on today. Thanks for all the prayers, calls, and visits. Love y'all!

Hey everybody, it's Alan. Jennifer is too enthralled in cross-stitching and watching "Family Feud" to type at the moment.

Well, it has been an interesting 24 hours. Jennifer and her Aunt Donna went to see the specialist yesterday for Jenn's weekly appointment. The babies are healthy and assumably happy. Grayson is now at 3lb 5 oz. Ethan is at 2lb 13 oz. The problem is they are a little to eager to greet us. Jenn was having contractions they could all see on the ultrasound. So they left the doctor's office to get checked into the hospital. Luckily, I got a phone call before I got on an airplane to frosty North Dakota.

They have been able to stablize Jennifer. She's only had one contraction today so that's good. She is now in the hospital for the duration of the pregnancy. Hopefully that's another 7 - 9 weeks. She is good. The boys are good. We just have to figure out a new routine and pray for the best.

On a personal note, I had a wonderful 30th birthday this weekend at Rahr. It was a great venue for a party. I was totally suprised by it. I had no idea. Lots of family and friends and great cake. Jennifer did awesome planning it (thanks to those that helped) and it was a great time.