Keep Us In Your Prayers

So this morning was our appointment with the perinatologist in Boise. We got here, waited for about 40 minutes before getting to see the doctor, and then had an amazing ultrasound of the boys. Both are doing great, measuring the same size and have grown from 11 oz to 1 lb 5 oz each since our last ultrasound! They were both moving like crazy and OH MY GOSH, their profiles were adorable. But no, we don't have the ultrasound pics scanned yet. And here's why.

After doing the regular ultrasound, I had to have an internal ultrasound to measure the size of my cervix...which is apparently thinner than it should be. The doctor came in and informed us that I would be admitted to the hospital if I showed signs of having any sort of contractions. So they hooked me up to the monitor and sure enough, minor contractions. Nothing major, the nurse wasn't able to feel my tummy tightening, but there was definitely uterine activity going on.

With that, they whisked me away to the antepartum wing of St. Luke's and hooked me up to another contraction monitor. At that point, I started feeling the tightness across my belly and then my back would ache until the contraction ended. Not good. I think a big part of that was the fact that I had been up since 3 pm the day before, and it was now 11 am, Baker time. Plus I hadn't gotten to eat since 3 am. Oh, and I was an emotional wreck. Thankfully, my mom came to Boise from Burns, so she could sit with me while Nathan ran back to Baker to get the stuff we'll need to be here for...however long we're going to be here.

The news we were getting was this: most likely, I will be on bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy. It's also highly likely that this bedrest will take place in either St. Luke's here in Boise (where we have no family close-by) or at Emanuel in Portland, where Nathan's mom works and we have a lot of family/friends. For right now, I'm on a light-dose medication that helps prevent contractions, and so far it's been doing it's job beautifully. I'm much more comfortable now, and the monitor only jumps when I move around or when Asher kicks the part attached to my tummy.

Please keep us in your prayers regarding this. Best case scenario, I'm able to go do my bedrest at home, but that doesn't sound very likely since we live 2 hours away from a NICU. I only have about 1 1/2 months worth of paid leave accrued, and we're not sure what our insurance will do when that paid leave runs out or whether I can go onto disability or something, so we'll be giving them a call tomorrow. We also have no idea what this is going to mean in terms of Nathan being able to work...is he going to be able to start working "from home" now, or is he going to have to leave me at which ever hospital I end up in so he can keep working?

I'm trying very hard to keep a positive outlook on this situation...our boys are healthy and BIG! I guess I feel like I'm failing our boys in a way, that my body isn't doing what it is suppose to do in order to help them get the best start possible. And I'm disappointed about all the things I am going to have to miss in the next month or two...our baby showers, time with my young life girls, Sam & Aaron's wedding, finishing the remodel on our home before the boys show up, getting the new carpet and vinyl in, helping set up the nursery, etc.

But I keep telling myself that the most important part is doing whatever will give our boys the best start possible. I just pray that something will happen to make this whole deal easier to handle. Otherwise, I just may go crazy spending the next 10-17 weeks in a hospital bed.

And hopefully Asher's kicking streak will stop long enough to let me sleep tonight! So far, no dice. Goofy kid!