Day 24

1 day until 32 weeks

15 days until 34 weeks

29 days until 36 weeks

Currently: 31 6/7 weeks

YAY!!! The 32 week mark is only 7 hours away!!! I honestly never thought we would get this far with this baby. I thought it would for sure be between 30-32 weeks. I can't even begin to tell you what a sigh of relief this has put on my heart. I know at 32 weeks, this baby has much more of an easier ride if he/she ends up in the NICU. It won't be easy if it is soon, so we're still at the 'every day is a blessing from above' kind of goal for Monkey's sake. But my heart is now at ease...I am 32 weeks tomorrow and things will be okay!

My cervical check this morning was the same, which is also a huge relief. So this bedrest for the past 24 days has done it's job and hopefully will continue that way. Dr. VanEerden felt it was best to give another round of steroids (betamethasone) shots so I got one today, and will get one tomorrow before going home. We won't need to do Magnesium Sulfate at this point, as baby's brain is more developed at 32 weeks than even a week ago and doesn't need the same type of protection as before...another sigh of relief! From here, I will go home on complete bedrest (basically bathroom and shower privileges only...same as here) for the next 2 weeks until 34 weeks. At 34 weeks, I will go off the Procardia, but remain on the progesterone shots until 36 weeks. At this time, bedrest will change to partial bedrest. What does this mean?? It means laying low, but I can get up and help with supper and that's about it. It doesn't mean going back to work. It doesn't mean taking care of Jack by myself. It doesn't mean I can do everything. It just means I can be up and around the house a bit more than before or go sit outside for a while. Like my nurse said tonight, "It means you get to sit around and eat bon bons in the living room as well as upstairs." She's hilarious! Now...if I happen to make it to 36 weeks, then I will stop the progesterone shots and bedrest. Now I'm not 100% sure that means going back to work or not. My guess is that at 36 weeks I can go back for half days, but not full days. Let's hope that's a problem we need to figure out!! My heart tells me that I will deliver sometime between 34-36 weeks. My hope (and faith) is that we well past 36 weeks and I can go into labor naturally and our dream of having a healthy, term baby and all of our hopes in introducing Jackson to this new sibling will happen the way our minds have always imagined. I will have weekly appointments with Dr. Kemper to make sure that everything is still good. Dr. VanEerden felt that now that cervical lengths are done and we are out of the woods on many things, that seeing Dr. Kemper will be enough and we don't need to double up appointments. We talked about doing another ultrasound for growth, but this baby has grown nicely and hasn't been an issue, we won't do another growth until 36 weeks (if we make it that far!). So I have an appointment with Dr. Kemper on Monday and hopefully everything is golden and stable!  

Our one and only hope is that this baby arrives at an appropriate time and can go straight upstairs to the regular newborn nursery, rather than the NICU, and be with us all of the time. That way Jackson can come and meet his new sibling and we can get acquainted and have some good family time! That is the one of the huge things I am so hopeful for! Yes, I'm excited to meet this baby and find out if we'll have another son or a new daughter, but I am even more excited for Jackson. I can't wait for Jack to round the corner and we can all sit on the bed as a family and just love on this baby. We can count fingers and toes. We can figure out who he/she looks like. Jack can hold this baby as long as he'd like. We can try on hats (since we have a few!). We can be a family of four. To sit for hours and just be a family is what I'm looking forward to the most! I mean, this is changing all of our lives immensely, especially Jack's..doesn't he deserve a few hours before having to share this baby with the world! :) Let's hope that is what happens, rather than the NICU setting and we can have this dream come true. After all that happened with Jack, it would be nice to have something "normal" happen with us!

So we would like to thank each and every one of you for the prayers that you have said for us over and over! Each one has helped us get to this point and each prayer going forward will get us through to the end of this! We truly believe in the power of prayer and know that all of these prayers will get us through whatever scenario will happen!! Our faith has been strengthened once again and will continue to grow each and every day. Because as we know, where would we be without faith and God. He is the one who gets us through all times. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 This verse has been the guide for our life and will continue that way for every day until we are called Home. We thank God for what he has given us and thank Him for the wonderful plans he has!