Day 4...24 to go

So here we are on Day 4 in the hospital. 24 more days to hit our first goal (32 weeks)! I had an ultrasound done this morning to check cervical length and unfortunately, it was down to 14 mm (from 18mm). So I'm still here. They decided against checking to see if I've dilated any more purely because my contractions have slowed down. They'll do another ultrasound in a few days and check cervical length again. If it remains stable, then they will check to see if I've dilated more with a possibility of going home if that is stable.

Right now, Monkey has flipped around and is now breech. But when you're only 28 weeks...there is still alot of room to flip and rotate around! The ultrasound tech did say that the fluid around the baby looked slightly low, but nothing to get worried about yet. Monkey still moves around a lot and is very active, which is great news.

Unfortunately, this is all just a waiting game. Waiting to see if my cervix is thinner...waiting to see if I've dilate more...waiting to see when this miracle will make it's entrance into the world! Our first goal is 32 weeks...and then we'll re-adjust our goal at that time. I asked Dr. VanEerden what my chances are of making it to 32 weeks, or 34 or 36 for that matter! Of course, it is hard to predict, but he did say that he has a mom next door who is pregnant with twins. She came in at 26 weeks, with a cervical length of 5mm and dilated to 5 cm. She's been in for 6 weeks and is still holding on. So with a story like that, it gives us hope!! Hope that the only thing we have to do is bedrest and we'll get through all of this with a healthy baby at the end!

There are so many things that you hope for when you find out that a baby is going to join your family. I think one of the last things people hope for is a term pregnancy...it's just expected. With every bump in the road along this pregnancy, it has shown me just how strong our marriage is, how strong our faith is, how strong our family is and how truly blessed we are. We have Nikki living with us and able to help out with Jack. We have a wonderful church family who is willing to help us out with Jack and help with meals. We have a wonderful team of doctors and nurses who are doing everything they can to keep this pregnancy going. We have a mom at our daycare who is a Child Life Specialist who can help Jack to understand a lot of this. We have Jen who has the patience of a saint with Jack, as he tries to understand all of this. It's summer, so we have my mom, Jon's mom, and Jon's aunts available to help since they're out of school. I have a group of nurses that I work with that stop by to break up my day. We have numerous friends who check in and pray. We truly are blessed with so many things. But most importantly, I've realized what an amazing husband I really have. Jon has been my rock and I am so thankful for that. I am lucky that he does so much with Jack and he isn't one of those dads who is just there. Jack is lucky to have a dad like him and I know that with our faith we will make it through all of this.

Well, that's probably enough for today. We'll see what tomorrow brings and go from there. Jon and Jack are going to come up for supper tonight. Last night was a bit too busy, so I'm anxious and excited to see them both! Thank you all for the continued prayers and keep 'em coming!!

Jon, Jack, Libby and Monkey