26 weeks

I have now been in the hospital for 10 days and things are going well. Lab work and sonograms are being done often and vitals for both me and the babies are checked about 3-4 times each day. My blood pressure has been doing great since I was admitted (and the medications were doubled) and my blood work has all been normal. Praise the Lord! I have been reminded by many of the tremendous value of bed rest. I am also reminded daily of the tremendous value of prayer!

The regular sonograms are definitely a highlight each week. As I get to look at the babies, I am reminded of why I am here and going through all of this. Rob was even able to be at the Monday sonogram, which was extra special. All three babies still have their heads lined up in a row at the bottom. Drake and Keira angle straight up, while Taerik has now draped himself across the top of them. It is really cute to watch them all kick and wiggle. Drake and Keira's little bottoms are right up against each other and they just go back and forth kicking. The nurses can hardly believe all the movement. It's even hard to listen to their heart rates, as they just won't stay still long enough. At each appointment the babies are each graded on an 8 point scale - 2 points for amniotic fluid levels, 2 points for diaphragm activity, 2 points for arm and leg movement, and 2 points for full body movement. If even one baby fails, I will begin wearing the monitors again and delivery will need to be considered. So far, they have passed each test with flying colors.

On Monday morning, Rob and I also got a tour of the NICU. This was highly recommended by the hospital staff. It certainly did help us gain an understanding of what will likely be in our future. The parents of one little baby even gave permission for us to come and observe their newborn son, who was born at only 25 weeks and weighed only 1 lb., 3 oz. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about him. Such a precious little life with a long road ahead.  

Wednesday afternoon we had a little scare. When the nurse was checking the babies heartbeats, she noticed an abnormality with Drake. His heart sounded like it was skipping beats. She immediately called the doctor who ordered me down to "Labor and Delivery" for tests. I was initially told that I would only need to be monitored for one hour. Howeverr, 17 hours later and I was still hooked up to machines. It made for a nonexistent night's sleep. The doctors clearly detected a heart arrhythmia with Drake. His heart rate would be going along strong at 150 and then all of a sudden would drop to 80 and stay there temporarily. At least one episode lasted about 40 seconds, but most of them were much shorter. In the end, after reviewing the babies echocardiograms and doing additional blood tests, the doctors could not find any cause for this abnormality. I was told that in this case that is what they were hoping for. When the structure of the heart is OK and it does not seem that other factors are causing such stress, it is asssumed that this will simply correct itself at birth. The final decision was to now perform the sonograms 4 times each week and continue monitoring the blood work. We would appreciate your prayers for Drake and this heart issue! 

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

New mercies this past week -
* 23 visits (besides the regular visits of Rob, Griffen, & Rhys) to help the time go by more quickly
* The discovery of on-line shopping
* Girl scout cookies, blueberry scones from Panera, Reese's peanut butter cups, cozy blankets, fun socks, cherry blossom lotion, nail polish, good books, and flowers
* My 33rd birthday (It's definitely the year for 3's)
* Game Day with friends (and even a WIN)
* A fantastic husband who is somehow managing to find time to be with me despite his overwhelming load
* Two very special big brothers who love to come and visit "mommy's hotel" (They especially love the moving beds.)