The Battle Continues

Sorry it has been a while since we last posted any updates, we have been having internet issues.

This last week has definitely been a roller coaster of events. The week started out well, on Tuesday I was able to venture beyond my room and Sloan took me on a wheelchair ride around the hospital...it was fun to get out. It was kind of amusing to be the object of every one's attention, people stared at me as though I was a sad case. The fun soon ended a few hours after we got back to the room. I had an awful nurse that left me on the fetal monitor for 45 minutes, this doesn't sound like that big of a deal except the fact that the belts that hold the monitors on were so tight they were causing me to contract. So after 45 minutes I took myself off the monitor and laid on my side to try to get the contractions to subside. After and hour and a half of contractions every 10 minutes, we called the resident to see what could be done to calm things down. I was given my scheduled meds a little early and tried to go to sleep.

Wednesday, Sloan left for his residency interview in Temple and Mom came in town to stay with me in his absence. This day brought more contractions as well. The contractions started pounding away about 3pm and seemed to be following the same pattern as the night before. My 6pm dose of meds was moved up to 5pm and again things seemed to settle down. My nighttime meds were increased and the night seemed to go smoothly. Yesterday didn't prove to be any better...I ended up having to have a shot early in the afternoon to calm things down again. As soon as that wore off around 7pm I started to have sharp pains and mild but painful contractions...so I was given another shot to smooth things out again. This morning Dr. Carpenter came in and decided that we needed to be more aggressive so he increased my Magnesium (my IV meds) and my Albuterol (my oral meds) to try and get things to calm down.

So far today has seems to be pretty smooth. We all knew that meds would have to be increased at some point as the boys grow and my uterus is forced to accommodate them...causing more pressure on my cervix...which in turn triggers contractions. We are just hoping to keep the contractions to a minimum so that what little cervix I have left can hold on for at least 3 more weeks. If we can make it to 28 weeks (December 27th) the boys will be tiny, but they will have a 90% chance of surviving without any longterm developmental or physical conditions.

We continue to be encouraged by all of the prayers and well wishes coming in from all over. There are people all over the country praying for us...it is truly amazing! It is hard to be discouraged when we receive so much encouragement from all of you! Thank you!