Feeling Better

Today was our appointment with our new doctor here in Portland, Dr. Jenkins. And it was a good visit! Dr. Jenkins took the time to actually explain things to us...what was going on with my body, our goals in terms of how long to keep these kiddos inside me, what their chances of being born healthy were according to how long they stay in, what the medication they have me on is doing and how.

The really positive part of the whole thing was when Dr. Jenkins said that, from what he read in the report from Boise, he expected things to be a lot worse. I guess he didn't get the best information from over there, and was really confused as to why we came to Portland instead of staying in Boise, because he thought that we'd have to stay in the hospital over here. But when we explained to him about being able to stay at Jan's house and having a much bigger support system over here, he said that made complete sense.

After we talked for a while, I got another internal ultrasound where they checked the thickness of my cervix. Evidently on Wednesday it measured somewhere right around 1.6 inches. Today, it measured 1.9 inches and is completely closed...not dilated at all...VERY good news. They also checked to make sure the medication I'm on isn't decreasing the amount of fluids around the kiddos, but they look good also. All of this added up to me not having to go into the hospital for the weekend, what a relief!

All in all, our appointment did a lot to allay some of Nathan and my fears. In Boise, all we really heard was "this isn't good", without getting any sense of whether it was "you need to panic" not good or "you need to be concerned" not good. But according to Dr. Jenkins, while we are concerned, things aren't as bad as they first made it out to be. I'm still on bedrest and will be until Jenkins is satisfied that the babies will be healthy and happy when they come out. But unless there is some change, I can stay out of the hospital. I don't have to stay flat on my back, and I don't have to stay in bed all the time...as long as my feet are out in front of me, the pressure on my cervix is lessened, so I can have field trips to the couch or recliner!

I think a lot of what had me so down last night and this morning was being so uncertain about what was actually going on. Like I said before, we weren't getting any straight answers, so my imagination was left to wander. I hate having so many uncertainties, especially where my babies are concerned. So, the situation hasn't really changed, but the way I feel about it has gotten better. I have another appointment with Dr. Jenkins on Monday at 11, and hopefully things will still be stable at that point!

Thanks again for all of your prayers and positive thoughts...I have no doubt that they had a lot to do with the good news we received today!