Sorry it's been so long. . .

Well, I can't believe that it's been 2 months since I've last updated...time flies!! I attached a few pictures that I took with my phone...the quality isn't great, but they are what I have on my computer at the time!

So, things are going good for us. Allie is back in school. She is in Kindergarten and doing very well. She is wearing a uniform and I love it! She has homework every night but Fridays. She is very good with it and keeps me in the loop with the Kindergarten gossip.

Jake is doing well, he's doing Preschool with Angie. He doesn't understand why he does it every week. He keeps telling me, "Mom I did school last week". I hope that doesn't last long...he's got a life of school ahead of him. He's been a puzzle junkie lately. He got a wooden puzzle for his birthday and since he's mastered it he has been racing through puzzles. There have been a few occasions where he's gotten up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I will hear stirring upstairs and it's Jake doing a puzzle at 3am. He can't leave a puzzle incomplete either. He's such a funny little guy. He has also started soccer. Our neighbor boys his age are all playing. Jake would rather be on the sideline drinking Gatorade or just playing with the red soccer ball by himself. He does like to give the high fives at the end of practice though. He is also potty trained 100%!! Yay Jake!!

Lauren is now 3 months old, can you believe it? I can't!! She is just a little sweetie. She's smiling like crazy and even will chuckle time to time. It's not all of the time, but I sure tickle her hoping for a laugh. My Dad got her to giggle and I know it's in her little body so I'm determined to get one at least once a day. She sits in her bumbo now and talks to me (cooing and growling). She is growing like a weed and just so much fun. We just sit and talk a lot of the time and somehow the day just flies by. She is sleeping her in bed and doing great! Her favorite thing is to take a bath. We usually try and get all 3 of the kids in the tub together. Allie usually holds her and Lauren just loves it. Allie is such a great help. She is my Binky girl...she pops Binky's in her mouth when she starts to cry. She also loves to carry her around. She does very good I must say. She's just a big help to me.

Matt is doing good too. Of course he's busy with work, he's been traveling a lot. It's his busy time in the year and he's got a few trips that he had to make up for while I was on bed rest.

I'm returning to work in November. I miss my friends at work, but love being home...I was away for so long that it's nice to getting stuff done at home and enjoying my time with my little monkeys.

Well, I just wanted to update with a few pictures. Take care!

Busy Busy Busy

We have had an extremely busy and sad week. Matt's Grandma Betty passed away on Tuesday. We all miss her so much, but it was nice to "celebrate" her life with family after the funeral. There were many fun stories shared and it was great to be in good company with family and friends. Today is her birthday and we wish her a good one.

Yesterday was busy as well. We had a shower for my soon to be niece (Derrick and Jen's baby girl). It was a lot of fun. There were so many people that I had not seen because of being on bed rest, so I was able to get caught up with everyone.

Matt's 30th was yesterday as well. So he had to leave and go hit golf balls while there were 5o women in his house. I know he didn't mind hitting balls. We celebrated with naps in the afternoon and then dinner and presents. Next year we'll have to throw him a big bash...we both knew that it would be hectic this year with little Lauren arriving so close.

We celebrated with his family this morning at First Watch. The last time I had eaten there Matt and I found out that we were having a little girl. That was about 20 weeks ago...time flies. Renee then treated the girls, everyone but Lauren, to pedicures. It was fun for all of the girls to go out and do something. Allie ended up with purple toes and polka dots. She knew what she wanted!

I think we are beginning to adjust to Miss Lauren. Jake and Allie have learned that coming in our room isn't so fun with a baby crying in the middle of the night. They are both very helpful and are looking forward to taking a bath with her, I don't know why, but they want to so bad. Allie picks out her clothes for me and blankets. Jake is my diaper and wipe boy. They are great siblings to her. She is growing, at least to me she seems like it. She doesn't have all the rolls I would like, but soon she'll get there. She loves to be held and during the day when the kids are gone and Matt's at work I just hold her and kiss her and snuggle.

Well, I will update later in the week.

What is sleep??

So Matt and I are experiencing the sleepless nights again. Lauren has had some tummy aches that appear the second that she is tucked into her bed. It starts at about 10 pm and lasts until about 2 am. Sounds like the cholic that Allie had. We have been trying different home remedies...last night was much better. She was crabby earlier and just wanted to be held from about 6:30pm until 9:30.

Things are going great other than that. She is an angel during the day and manages to sleep through the noise of Allie and Jake. They aren't quiet kids by any means so I think she's getting used to the loudness of our house.

Lauren Paige

Sorry for the delayed update. Lauren Paige arrived on Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 5:03pm. She weighed 6lbs-14oz and measured 21 inches long.

We are all doing good, a little on the sleepy side, but that's to be expected.

Here are a few pictures of the newest member of the Fishering Family.

Wow! We made it!

I can't believe I'm full term...today is 37 weeks. Matt and I have talked about getting to this mark the day we found out I was pregnant. I must say that this has been the longest 37 weeks...being worried about having Lauren prematurely was in our head everyday. I am just estatic today that we can say we made it! We are getting very excited about meeting this little girl!

Allie and Jake are ready. Allie often tells the neighbors all of the details and I must say she is so convincing of the news. She's not usually accurate but it is definitely believable. She keeps saying that this baby is going to be so chubby. I hope she's right. After Jake I would love a chubby little girl. Jake checks my belly everyday to make sure she's still there and I get a hug and a kiss. He's so sweet. I can't wait for them to hold their little sister.

My Doctor is out of town until Sunday...once he's back I'll stop my procardia and I hope to be mobile. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to drive or not, but when we get to Sunday I'll find that out. Driving sounds so fun! So does strolling down the aisles of Target ;-)

Well, if anything happens we'll make sure to at least post a quick update. Until then have a great 4th of July weekend!

Happy 36 Weeks!

Today marks Lauren's 36 week birthday. We are thrilled to put another week under our belt. Yesterday I had an appointment and things are pretty much the same as they have been despite that my cervix has thinned a little bit. The true test will be any change in timing and the intensity of contractions or obviously my water breaking.

We are slowly putting away our "don't go into labor" thoughts and getting very excited about the arrival of this little girl.

Lastnight my friends came over and showered me with lots of clothes and goodies for Lauren. One night in the hospital I realized that Lauren can't share clothes with Allie because their sizes and seasons won't work...I panicked (just a little) because I am not where I can get out and get the stuff that we need. My friends obviously listened to my hysteria. Thank you girls for the clothes and goodies and of course the good time.

Allie and Jake have been busy as ever. They get to go swimming on the days where they go to Nae Nae and Papa's house. They are so bronzed right now they don't even look like my children. They cannot get enough swimming right now. After they get home from the pool and they have eaten dinner we typically go to the neighbor's house for another swim with the neighborhood kids or pull out the slip n slide. I sit outside in my chair and just laugh.

The neighborhood boys (4 of them at about age 3) are going to be trouble. In fact they already rule the roost. It's pretty funny. Each of them are working on their potty training and so there is a lot of in and out action going on in the pool. Allie's typically the ring leader getting everyone to race or splash.

Speaking of potty training, Jake is still doing pretty good. He has the pottying down, it's the number 2 that we still need a little help with, but yesterday he did do it. I had to sit with him in the bathroom because it was taking so long and he was getting frustrated. I am very proud of him for doing so well. He loves to get high fives and praise after each visit.

Well, I'll keep you posted on everything. If something happens I'll make sure to update as quickly as I can.

35 Weeks and Counting...

Today marks the 35th week. I am very excited about it and looking forward to hitting next week.

Being at home has made life seem a little bit more normal. I am definitely wishing I could get up and organize and fix dinner. Soon enough that will happen and I'm sure I'll wish I could admit myself on bed rest.

Matt got the kids a slip n slide. I don't know how our children could walk after playing on it for about 4 hours. It was dark outside before we shut it off. The neighborhood kids all came over and I think they all had a blast. That may have been one of the best investments ever made. It is just so much fun to watch them laugh and play.

We did take time yesterday to celebrate Jake realizing that he had to go potty himself. Our wonderful babysitter has really been working with him and he called me yesterday from her house to tell us that he went potty. We know that he still needs some coaching and doesn't really stop to go because he can just go in his diaper. Well last night outside sliding he stopped and realized he had to go on his own. We were high fiving and hugging and dancing. He was proud of himself. I hope that he continues...

Well, not really much else to report. I had a Dr. appt. yesterday and everything went fine. I'll be back next week.

Happy Father's Day Dad's!!

I'm Home!!

Sorry for the delay in updating...we had a busy weekend. Well, everyone that was here cleaning and helping get Lauren's room together had a busy weekend. I had to sit in my bed and dish out orders. While that may sound like fun, I really wanted to be able to help do clean, organize, and get upstairs. I still haven't made it up there. So my Mom and sister have pretty much taken over and made sure that they could get her stuff together, get Jake's old clothes in storage, organize our closet, etc...

Thank you thank you thank you to our parents for really helping us out to throughout my stay in the hospital to keep our house moving.

I got to go home on Thursday evening. Matt came up and got me and we were able to say good bye to my nurses. Allie, Renee, and Jessica had come up earlier in the day to bring cupcakes to everyone. Allie wanted to stay in the nurses station the whole time and just talk with the nurses. I really think that she is going to be in the medical field in some way or another...maybe because throughout her little life we've been in the hospital for multiple months. She's really hoping this baby comes soon.

Anyway, I'm rambling and writing this all out of order, but the main thing is that I'm home. I'm still on complete bed rest which let me say is much harder here than at the hospital; however, my husband keeps me down and my kids are great about just coming in my bedroom. I do make it out to the couch for spurts and I have an anti-gravity chair where I can sit outside when the kids are playing. I did get sunburned on my shoulders in a matter of like 20 minutes.

I'm glad to be home, in my own bed, surrounded by my family that I missed daily. It's still difficult not to be able to "run" the house now that I'm home but I'm sure once there are 3 kids running around complete bed rest will seem like a treat.

I hope you all had a great weekend.

Happy 33 weeks Lauren!

Today marks 33 weeks. We are thrilled to be here! I've had a busy morning, ultrasound, shot, and then a telecon to follow. I wanted to take a minute to update. They measured her at 4lbs-7oz. She has grown appropriately! We are getting closer to a 5lb mark which in our minds is big enough to take home (that is ultimately our goal no matter how far we go). In the NICU 5lbs seemed to be the line in the sand. So we are at least getting close to that.

So today we celebrate Lauren's weekly Birthday and her growth! I never do get to see a good look at her face, but her feet are all over the place!

Have a good day.

Nothing Really...

Well, nothing to report really. I have a growth ultrasound tomorrow and the way things work around here they literally just come in your room and tell you that transport is in the hall and go down to the perinatal lab. I have asked that I either go early at 9am or after my telecon for work at 11am. Who knows how it will work out-I am so anxious to see her growth that I really want to go early.

Tonight Matt and the kids and Jim and Renee came by. Matt brought me some good 'ol Lion's Choice. I could barely eat it. My stomach has been getting so full the last week or so that the meals that would have left me hungry are filling me up without finishing. The dieticians have been in the last 2 days to give me snacks where I'm getting more proteins. My weight gain is fine it's that I intake the right foods now since I'm not able to eat as much. My dream is that this baby is getting all of these calories and that she's a chunky girl.

I think I've mentioned that her kicks are strong. She is in an "L" shape across my belly and must enjoy stretching. Her bottom pushes out the right side of my belly hard enough that I sometimes have to push back. I don't know if her legs are long, but boy do they feel long. A nurse commented on how long she seemed based on her where her "rump" was positoned and her heart. That is so good to hear. I just really hope she's big.

I will update tomorrow. I just wanted to post about the past few days.

Sunday "Run-Day" for Matt

So yesterday was a busy busy day for the Matt and the kids. They had their Target stop to make and they headed out to get things for the house and of course they had to get band-aids and new tooth brushes. They seem to always need those. Then, Matt promised Allie he would get her tennis shoes so they went to the Mall and she got what she calls, "the most awesome shoes ever". Of course they are pink. Then they went home for naps, showered up, and headed to Faust Park. I thought that he just took them there to play, but they went and met a friend of ours, Michelle Twellman, for pictures. So today Matt surprised me with the pictures that she took. They are beautiful and they made my day!

I will post some...

I have been doing fine here, beginning to get in the uncomfortable sleeping stage where the tossing and turning begins and my belly makes it difficult to manuever easily. Lauren is quite the mover as well. She is constantly on the move and beginning to hurt at times when she kicks. I am grateful for that though.

Team Ash's Cancer Walk

Today Matt went to Ashley Twellman's annual "cancer free" walk at Creve Coeur Lake. He had Jake in the stroller and Allie apparently ran about a mile out of almost 4 miles. I should add that Ashley is 37 weeks pregnant and this walk was a hopeful attempt to induce her labor. Matt told me that she was the fastest pregnant lady he'd ever seen and that he had trouble keeping up with her. Go Ash!!



By the time they got here at noon Allie had been asleep. She told me her leg muscles were sore...I am pretty confident that she was wanted a leg massage and hours of back scratching.



The kids were great today. Allie made another sun catcher for my window, she played teacher and hang-glide (she means hang-man) in which we always lose even when guessing the correct letters. Then she needed to clean up her mess which involves tons of foaming hand sanitizer and rags and she cleaned the white board, the chairs, the floors. I'm positive that the white board has never been more clean.



Jake pretty much sat with me and ate, drank out of my water cup, ate more, climbed all over Matt in the other bed or in the chair when Matt sat in the chair. Matt has become Jake's jungle gym. He was very gentle with me and gave Lauren lots of kisses and hugs. He fought a nap the entire time which is why he was so active today. He started to fall asleep at about 3pm and I told Matt he better get going or else he was going to miserable. So off they went, not without injury of course. Allie's toe was injured when they both were sitting in the recliner chair and she tried to move it and it ran over her big toe and broke the skin above the toe nail. Of course blood makes it hurt worse and she couldn't walk out of the hospital...Matt had Allie on his head and carried Jake.



I called at about 3:15 and they were both asleep in the car.



I believe there will be pictures of the walk today and you can see all the friends and family who celebrate Ashley being cancer free. I will post some if they come my way.



Christi, thanks for taking the kids for a couple of hours last night. Allie's mani/pedi looked great!

I'll update later.

Happy 32 Weeks!

Today marks another milestone...Lauren has reached 32 weeks. We are very excited and equally excited to report that the fetal fibernectin came in negative. Negative in this case is good.

Allie stopped by around lunch time with Renee to give me my progesterone shot. Renee went to grab some coffee and Allie said to me, "you don't like having babies do you mom"?. She obviously has some understanding of what we're going through even as a little kid. It was really cute. I told her that I wasn't going to have any more after Lauren. Then she reminded me that when I come home I can pick her up and hold her. Such a sweet conversation even if it was short.

Well, I just wanted to report the news today. Have a good weekend.

Branson Pictures

More pics

Pictures from Branson

These are in no particular order but my Mom sent these to me this morning and wanted to share them with everyone. Here are
pics from Branson of the kids. My
sister and Maddie went a long with a
good friend of mine from High School/
Church, Jaime and Jeff Owen and their two cutie pies Olivia and Aubrey. Allie and Olivia played well together and are best friends Allie tells me. They were trading clothes...isn't 5 too early for that?!?

Jake found a Lightning McQueen hat shopping one day and would not take it off. He also had Lightning sunglasses and a Firetruck shirt that he wanted to wear all of the time.

The kids had a lot of fun. I think you'll see that in the pictures. Last night they spent the night with
Nae Nae and Papa and were treated
to a movie night. They were hoping to swim today, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

Kids Reunion

It's been a long week without visits from Allie & Jake. They are home at last!! They had a great time in Branson with Grammie and Papa and are now back to reality with Daddy. They come up and it looked like they both had grown so much.

This week I don't have many appointments. I believe I have a fetal fibernectin again and then next week a growth ultrasound. I am anxious to see how much she has grown because I know I have. She's finally becoming easier to catch on the dopler for heart beat checks...she doesn't have nearly as much room as she used to. Now that she's getting bigger her kicks are pretty noticable and if she leaves her hand or foot somewhere it's pretty uncomfortable. This is something that I find to be a blessing though.

Matt bought me a wireless internet card so I am able to work without interruptions. Last week was so frustrating...after moving rooms I had low connection the wifi here and so I would get kicked off about every 30 minutes and have to restart my computer. I thought that it may be my computer but after an hour and a half dealing with the Boeing help desk we found that it' s the hospital. They switched their wifi. I'm a much happier employee and patient now.

My room is definitely the hottest on the floor, I really just don't feel like moving again.

Well if there are any pictures of the kids in Branson I'll post them.

Until later...

Another Move

Well, Matt is in the process of moving me...again. My internet has been a nightmare to deal with the past day. I've had to reboot my computer (reboot sounds so old school) about every 30 minutes to be able to access my work email and systems. It turns out my big suite that I was moved to on Tuesday is too far away from the routers on the floor and there isn't anything that they can do for me. So I decided if I wanted to keep my sanity I better downgrade. It's really not much smaller. I have double room without a roommate.

I mentioned that I would download pictures of Lauren's room when it was complete. My mom sent me some pictures and I'll post the 3 finished ones. Matt put up the baby bed so we the room is definitely about finished. We hope to have many more weeks to finish it. He's going to take a picture of the bed in the room.

Lauren's 30 Week Birthday!

Well today we celebrate Lauren turning 30 weeks. It's so exciting to hit, "the thirties" gestationally...I wasn't sure that this day would have come 5 weeks ago. I'm getting greedy now and hoping that I'm only half way done with this little girl growing in the womb.

This morning I had my fetal fibernectin and I honestly was not expecting it to come back negative (which is good) because of the contracting that's been happening. It suprisingly did! If anything this will give us a little more reassurance that in the next 2 weeks this little girl will stay put. Again, it's more of a reassurance game, but it's good to hear!

That's really all I have to offer for now. Thanks for the prayers!

FUNNY JAKE

So tonight Matt brought up the kiddos so we could have our dinner together. Allie showed me all of the things from school that she had made. She gave me an award to hang on my bulletin board that she received from her teacher for helping today. She also gave me a picture that she had drawn. The story below the picture is written (in cursive I might add), "The dog, pig, and hen did a jig!". The picture is in a disco scene with a big disco ball hanging between green lights. There is a radio on the table with speakers on a big pink pig and the hen dancing. The dog is in the bathroom going potty though. I hung it up so I can smile all day when I look at it.

Jake was a little crabby tonight. I do believe he's not feeling his best, but no fever or anything. He was showing off for Uncle D who came by to visit. He would slide off of the chair between the seat and the arm and then pull himself back up using his abs...I'm not going to lie, it was impressive.

Then, my nurse, Cathy came in. He loves when the nurses come in. He just talks and talks. He was asking her what she was doing, telling her about the movie CARS, and after dipping his cantelope in cheese, told her he would walk her out when she was done. After she left he said, "she's a nice lady". I was cracking up.

His little personality seems to be maturing so fast. I miss the days I don't see these things, but they are so special because I can really appreciate it now.

I don't know what else is on the agenda for this week. Possibly a fetal fibernectin tomorrow...it is Wednesday weigh day...big happenings here, I know!! I am scheduled for a NST (Non Stress Test) every Monday and Thursday.

I will post more later just had to share my kids visit.

A busy weekend for everyone. . .

Lots of things were happening this weekend.

My parents and Matt with the help of Jim and Renee's babysitting the kids got Lauren's bedroom all ready. They did a molding on the walls that is sooo pretty and then painted the molding white and the walls are a chocolate milk color. I am very impressed with how it turned out. I told Matt to just pick what he wanted and he did and it looks amazing. Thanks Mom and Dad for working hard to get it all done!! Allie called me and told me that it looked really good and so if I have the approval of a little girl who only likes pink, I'm pretty confident that it looks good. I think she did suggest pink polka dots on the molding though ;-)

I will hopefully get some pictures from my Mom and post them so you all can see.

It is a huge relief to have her room done...it's little things like that on my "to do" list that occupy my mind all of the time.

Saturday and Sunday I was having more patterned contractions. On Saturday it was late enough that they were able to give me my procardia earlier and I went to bed and did okay. Yesterday was a different story. The doseage of medicine didn't really slow them down and so I got a shot of tributaline (sp?) and then they stopped. I have been okay so far today with the occasional contraction. The acceptable range for me is no more than 4-6 an hour. I was having 4 an hour yesterday and the measures taken may have been a little more extreme than I thought they would be, but I didn't have anymore.

The kids came up yesterday and we had a great visit. The best part was being sandwiched in my bed between Allie and Jake. Allie got down to color and the next thing I knew Jake was asleep in my arms...just like at home. It was so great to snuggle with him. They behaved so well yesterday so time flew so fast and I was sad that they had to go.

Well, that's the weekend update. Looking forward to rolling over to week 30! I'll keep you posted!

29 weeks!

Well, my anticipation for the cervical length and the growth ultrasound lasted until 3:30 when they finally came to get me. I was up there for quite awhile because there was another patient in front of me.

My cervical scan ultimately showed no change which is great news. The numbers of course vary week to week but it is right at where I was at 25 weeks. Being bed-ridden is buying me much needed time and I'm glad that it's getting us closer and closer.

The growth ultrasound showed that she is about 2lbs-13oz, give or take about 6 oz. I was pleased to see her growth...it makes the sitting seem worth it.

My belly is definitely growing and today I had an accident to prove it. As I stood up to go to the bathroom my belly hit my breakfast tray and knocked everything on the floor. There were broken dishes everywhere along with the leftovers of my breakfast scattered everywhere. I had to have someone come into and clean up my mess.

Well overall the news this week is great and I thank you all for keeping me in your prayers.

Next week we'll have another fetal fibernectin and I believe that will be the extent of my schedule ;-)

No more needles!

Yesterday wasn't too bad. I purposely stayed up late the night before so that I would be tired when the blood lab techs would draw my blood. It worked pretty good. I am not scarred from the experience...although yesterday as I was waiting for the final stick I began to get sick I think because I had been awake without food and then charged with a ton of sugar mixed with a little anxiety. I spent the day in bed.

Today I feel much much better and learned that I passed the test. Yay! I'm so excited!

I will let you know about the growth and cervical scan when I get results. That could be tomorrow.

Needles x 4

Well I had a Glucose Tolerance Test (testing for Gestational Diabetes) yesterday in which I just assumed I had passed. I found out this morning that I am within range of passing but it was high enough to do a repeat. The repeat is a series of 4 needles in 4 hours after drinking some glucocola (sp?).

Anyone who knows me, realizes that I would rather be thrown down a flight of stairs or punched in the face rather than to be stuck with a needle. It's a phobia...something that I cannot seem to kick. So I called Matt in a panic to calm me down. He of course did. When I remind myself of why I have to do this it's definitely worth it and I am not anxious. I always do this...I get myself in a panic until the time comes and I always manage to deal with it and it's never as bad as what my worrying has made it out to be.

So my normally quiet week has been busy. Thursday I will have another cervical scan and a growth ultrasound. Looking forward to seeing Miss Lauren on the big screen.

An update on Angie, our friend. She has moved up to antepardum and we are excited. She moved up yesterday and while neither of us have wheelchair rights at this time I hear she's doing good.

Well pray that the test results are in my our favor. I will update with the news.

Another year older

Well the Birthday Celebration was great. It was a fun-filled day enjoyed with family, pizza, and lots of dessert. It was great to get out of my room for a little bit, the change in scenery was nice and to spend the evening with family in one room was a lot of fun. My guests included: Jim, Renee, Matt, Allie, Jake, Derrick, Jen, Jessica, Richard, Grandma Josie, and Aunt Mary. I was spoiled with so many wonderful gifts. My favorites were of course hand made from Allie and Jake. They both made me cards. Allie's card came with $5 in and a picture of a snow cone. The money is for us to go get snow cones ( a treat for her after school sometimes ) when I get out of the hospital. She also made me an ant made out of clay and painted it. You'll see Jake and I looking at a colorful little thing...that's my ant. Jake picked out a car from the movie CARS and expected nothing less from him. I am going to become a mad woman online--I receieved a lot of gift cards so I can do some online shopping. I'm very excited and I've already started!

The night ended with a progesterone shot. That was not my ideal ending to a great birthday, but it was for Lauren...her little dessert for the evening.

The pictures were courtesy of Renee from the party and some from this evening. Enjoy and I'll update later.

Jake busy at work

This was drop your kid off at their grandparents for work day...Jake was helping Papa Jim with his shipments. I just loved the picture and wanted to share it.

Test Number 2 Results

Well yesterday's cervical length test wasn't exactly great news. It appears that my cervix has shortened so my dreams of being in my king sized bed with my kiddos all around me (and Matt too) are put on hold. Maybe later I can feel comfortable about being at home, still too early.

It was Lauren's 28th week BD yesterday and that was something to celebrate. I remember looking at the calendar when I first got admitted thinking that 28 weeks seemed so far away, but it's finally here and now we can shoot for our next goal of 30 weeks.

I would like to ask for your prayers for a close friend of Matt's family, Angie. She is carrying triplets and was admitted to Labor and Delivery on Wednesday night with preterm labor. We know how scared she must be and we just ask that you pray for her 3 baby girls to grow and stay put. I am praying that Angie and I will be on the same floor soon.

Tonight is a special night. We reserved the "play room" as my kids call it down the hall for my Birthday. We are having my favorite birthday cake and a party...quite a big day for me. I have permission to go as long as I'm reclined. I know my kids are excited to be able to be in that room. It has toys, a Wii, scrap booking stuff, movies, games...it's a really nice place for families to hang out. I have a feeling Matt is going to watch me like a hawk to make sure that I don't move. I think he was going to have them wheel me in my bed across the hall. LOL! It's literally 10 feet across the hall, but I think I have to get a wheel chair. I can't wait to be able to walk around!!

I am so sad to not be able to plant flowers this spring or be outside and enjoy our grass and of course the kids running around in the yard. Soon enough I'll be wishing I was back in confinement when I have my hands full with 3 crazy kids. I'm dreaming for that day to get here!!

One test down...

Today was a big day for me. For the last two weeks I have not had anything really to report other than weekly Birthday milestones for Lauren. Well today I had a test called a Fetal Fibernectin done. To keep it simple, it's a test done that will yield a positive or a negative result. If you have a positive result, there is a chance of labor happening in the next 2 weeks. If a negative result is yielded you have a very high chance that you will not go into labor in the next 2 weeks. There are other issues of course that can reduce the odds of delivering of course.

My test was done this afternoon around 1:00 and we found out that the results were negative. This news is a huge relief and I will keep on ding what I'm doing. Sitting, sitting, sitting...

Tomorrow I will have a cervical length ultrasound and I hope to get a good look at Lauren and see how much she's grown. I know I'm growing and I hop that she is enjoying this cafeteria food more than I am!!

I will post tomorrow after my test. Who knows when I'll get taxi'd down...they just sort of come and get me.

I do want to thank you who have made trips to visit me. I really appreciate the company and the conversation.

Well nothing new to report. I didn't know if I would get another cervical scan today or not. Turns out I didn't so there are no new results to tell you about. Things are pretty quiet...no major changes.

Renee taught me how to knit today so I have a feeling I will be giving scarves for Mother's Day since I won't be doing any shopping. It will be fun once I get the hang of it and get fast at it. It definitely will make the time go by...I told Matt to bring me a sewing machine up here and I could learn to do some creative projects...I don't think that he took me seriously. With as much HGTV that I watch I feel like I should be sewing drapes for Lauren's room or making pillows or something. I guess I would have to rely in Matt or Allie to pick out my fabrics though. Maybe I should just wait and take up sewing when I'm not bed restricted.

After Allie got out of school my sister brought Jake, Allie, and Maddie (my niece) up for a visit. She is brave, but she did it smoothly. They were good and brought me chocolate chip cookies that Mallory and Jake baked today. I have eaten waaayyy to many today. Mallory's been a huge help and it's so nice to have the kids at home and know that they are in good hands. I know it's not easy uprooting a 4 month old and then picking up my duties for 2 more kids, but she's done great!! They love their "Mousie" and I know the kiddos are going to miss her (Matt too). Thanks Mall for staying with them and helping so much. We all appreciate it!

I'm hopeful for many more quiet nights and will update with any new info I get or if I get bored.

Yay! My kids are home!!

I was so thrilled to see Allie & Jake on
Saturday. My Mom drove them back home and I could barely wait. Allie brought me lots of pictures and some new slippers and Jake just kept hugging and kissing me. It felt good to have them with me. They stayed for quite awhile until Matt decided to leave and venture out to Chipotle for dinner.

My Mom stayed with me and we had fun just catching up and talking about decorating and silly girl stuff. We had a yummy dinner and then it was off to bed for me. It's amazing how tired I get even when I do nothing.

Today the kids got to spend their day with Jim & Renee (Nae Nae & Papa Jim). I know they were excited to see them. Matt and my Mom ran errands for me...returned some dresses that I had bought, went grocery shopping, and did some cleaning around the house. Then they brought lunch and stayed until my Mom had to get home. I'm sure she's exhausted after a week of Allie & Jake...she will appreciate her quiet house soon enough.

Jim and Renee brought the kids up and to visit with me and brought me a yummy dinner. I'm going to get spoiled! I had to remind the kids to be good for my sister who is spending the week at our house to help out. I'm glad that she's going to help out...Allie's been out of school and will need some structure back. Mall is good with schedules ;-)

So my weekend was quiet, no change to report...I'll keep you posted. Hope you had a good weekend!

Happy 26 Weeks!

So today Miss Lauren is 26 weeks old and we are so thrilled to be celebrating this milestone. I had a cervical length test done yesterday and there was no change to report which is wonderful. There will be no change to my daily activities of sitting, but that's okay. We are pleased that there was no change and look forward to many boring days.

I'm still working and I'm glad that I am able to do so for my sanity. Who would have thought working would relieve stress?!? While my kids are in Kansas City I've been missing them like crazy, but my little prince calls me daily to tell me that he loves and misses me. It takes all of me not to cry on the phone. Allie is busy, busy, busy, she went to school with Aiden today. Apparently Aiden was so proud to have her with him and they just had a blast together. I know that they are having fun and that makes it a little easier to not see them. They will be back on Saturday and back to more normalcy. Hopefully Allie can adjust one more time to this and Jake, I think he'll do okay as long as he gets some hugs and kisses.

Take care until tomorrow!

Easier this way...

So with all of the emails bouncing back and forth I thought that it may be easier to just create a blog that I could update so that I didn't leave anyone out of the loop as to what's going on. So, in the event that this is the first time you're hearing that something is going on...here's the brief version.

Obviously my Doctors have kept a close eye on me with this pregnancy based on Jake's early arrival. I had an appointment on Friday, April 10th for a scan of my cervix length and they found that my cervix length had shortened. This is a sign of pre-term labor. I wasn't in labor or anything, but they referred me to the perinatal team (high risk specialists) for a consult and eval. I was admitted to the hospital on Friday and I've been here ever since. Since Friday I've received my steroid shots (these are for the lung development of the baby) and a progesterone shot, and I'm on daily doses of Procardia (to prevent contractions).



I will be here until this baby arrives I believe. I will most likely have weekly scans on to get a measurement on the cervix length. Other than that it's me getting up to go to the bathroom and shower...



The baby is doing just fine. She is quite the mover and very active.



Obviously we don't know what each day brings so pray for quiet and boring days for us!



I do want to say thanks to all of you for coming and visiting and bringing goody bags and books, magazines. I really appreciate it.



I'll try to update this to keep you all informed.