Still Here and Kicking

In 2 days I will be 30 weeks pregnant! I can't wait to get out of the 20's...it just sounds better! I have just over another 2 weeks in the hospital for sure, then they check me and if I look like I'm still holding steady, they will send me home. Chris wants me here longer, but I really don't think the doctors are going to go for it this time. I haven't gotten any worse and they aren't doing anything for me except giving me progesterone suppositories and bed rest. I can do that at home for a few more weeks until we are out of any danger zone. I don't think he trusts me to be good and stay in bed at home!

I did have an ultra sound today just to check baby's growth. He looks healthy and good, but is measuring small. Lila was the same way. She measured small but healthy the whole pregnancy and even though I had her full term at 39 weeks, she was only 5lb 15oz. This makes me happy for my labor, but I wish he was bigger in case he comes early. His head was measuring pretty good though and he is head down.

The bump, almost 30 weeks.

I'm pretty ready to be out of the hospital at this point. I've been here for 5 weeks and am a little tired of the routine. While every single nurse and tech I've had has been amazing, I'm kind of excited not to have them walk in anytime they want when I get home. I won't miss the food either! I have read lots of good books though, which has been really fun for me. Mostly, I can't wait to see Chris and Lila more. It feels so weird to see them only about an hour most evenings.

It was an eventful day last Thursday when Chris called me in the morning to let me know my car had been stolen from our driveway! I thought he had to be joking, but unfortunately, he wasn't. After this whole pregnancy thing and Lila's tooth disaster, at this point we just have to laugh at our bad luck. Whoever took the car broke into Chris's car first and stole his ipad and ipod and found a key to my car that Chris had stashed in there since he goes back and forth between cars. I'm sure once they realized the key went to my car, they ditched his and took mine. We've been racking our brains to think what was in there. Luckily, Lila's car seat was in Chris's car and her stroller was at Tara's. My ipod was in there, 2 of Chris's golf clubs, a few books and toys Lila had just gotten for her birthday, my scriptures, and about three baby outfits from Gap I had bought before being hospitalized. All of that is replaceable but frustrating to lose. Chris called the police and I got to work tracking down serial numbers on our electronics to give to them.

The scary thing was that there was a house key on the key ring they took, so if they wanted to, they could have come into the house as well. That freaks me out! Chris had the locks changed that day. I keep hoping some teens decided to take the car on a joy ride and that it will turn up abandoned somewhere, but so far no luck. We moved into a nicer neighborhood thinking this wouldn't happen but the cop told Chris that a lot of car thefts in neighborhoods like ours are middle class teens that just don't have consciences. The insurance will pay for a rental for 2 weeks and if the car doesn't turn up in that 2 weeks, they write a check. We still have to pay a deductible and who knows what the insurance will decide is a fair amount to compensate for the car. It's very frustrating that we have to pay out of pocket for someone else's bad decision but we are learning we have no control lately, so what's the use in being too upset about it. The important thing is that we are all healthy and safe, my cervix is cooperating, Lila is doing really well even though things aren't perfect, and we have a lot of family and friends that have been very generous and supportive!

Here are some pictures of Lila that Tara has texted me over the past while:

At Tara's boys' football games playing with baby stuff

Enjoying her food!

She let Tara french braid her hair! Shocking!

Picking flowers on a walk

Running...always running

Cute pony 

And for my mom, who I keep telling how long Lila's hair is getting

28 week update

I'm hoping today is the last celebration taking place in the hospital room during this crazy pregnancy! I am officially out of my 20's and am saying hello to 30.

The best birthday present was having really good results from my ultra sound and speculum exam yesterday. It looks like my cervix is still shut, cerclage is holding tight, and my cervix even grew by 2 whole mm! lol! I'm very surprised it wasn't any shorter and so happy. The baby looks great as well and is putting some fat on his little cheeks. He's also head down now. It was really fun to see him in 4D, where I could really get a good look at his features. I convinced the sonographer to take her time since it was my only outing in 3 weeks! :)

 The only downside to getting such good news on my results was the influx of different opinions again. My ob's had already decided I should stay until at least 32 weeks no matter the results, just to be safe since they know we live about 35 mins away with no traffic and have a very active 2 year old. Chris and my parents also feel strongly about me staying longer to just give the baby the best chance of making it closer to his due date. The perinatologist came to see me after my speculum exam and started talking about how there was really no reason to keep me here since I am holding steady. He said that medically, there is really nothing they are doing for me and may as well do it at home. He mentioned that hospitals have bacteria too that can put me at risk for infection and that really even though people assume staying at the hospital means safety, the same preterm labor could start here just as easily as at home. He didn't seem to think distance was an issue.  He asked what I thought and it was really hard for me. A lot of what he said made sense and believe me, I really want to go home. On the other hand, my family and doctors and one of the perinatologists I had seen earlier all thought I should stay. I felt like, who am I to make this decision? When he heard all the different opinions that had been given to me, he backed off and said he didn't want me to feel guilty if something did happen at home, even though it could happen here too and that it wasn't fair for me to decide. He will leave it up to my doctors. He did mention that if my insurance calls to find out if it is really necessary for me to be here so long, he doesn't have a lot of medical evidence to support my case, but he would try.

So, for now I am here for another month and I believe if I still hold steady at that point they will definitely send me home. If I look worse, I'm here for longer. This will definitely go down as the strangest birthday ever but that seems to be my new norm!

On a different note, Chris took Lila to her 2 year check up yesterday. As I predicted and warned him, she screamed and thrashed pretty good basically from start to finish. He said it took 3 or 4 times to measure her height. My baby is not such a baby anymore. She is in the 98th percentile for height and the 88th percentile for weight. The doctor thinks she will be around 5'9" to 5'11" when she is older. It is so weird to think that most likely, my children will all tower over me! With my husband being 6'4", I guess I shouldn't be surprised.