Update at almost 35 weeks

I've been out of the house twice this week! Yesterday I went for our weekly doctor's visit. I had a sonogram with the perinatologist, a non-stress test and then an appointment with Dr. Wood. They are not going to check my cervix for dilation until after I pass 36 weeks and go off of my Terbutaline pump. So, all we really found out yesterday is that Cooper and Conley are doing fine and are still in their same positions ... Cooper still head-down very low, Conley still transverse up high in my ribs. All is good! It was great to get out of the house! Dr. Wood also wanted me to get a seasonal flu shot this week (which I had to find elsewhere since her office has yet to receive them) and she also approved me to attend our small group cookout on Sunday. I'm very excited about my excuses to get out and about!! This morning my mom took me to CVS for me to get a flu shot. It was the first time I've been in a store in months! I bought a few things while I was there.

I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow with only one more week of my Terbutaline pump and bed rest! We are in the home stretch and so excited!!

I have really enjoyed being home. I have loved getting to watch the season premiers of some our shows with Matt and with DVR!!! I have loved getting to lay down with Campbell and put her to bed at night. I have loved hanging out with her a lot during the days that she is not in school. I have loved getting to pick out her clothes and fix her hair again. Here are some cute pictures of her from this week.

Home Sweet Home!!

Well, I am finally home sweet home!! We got home before lunchtime on Friday!! I still can't believe I was in the hospital for 10+ weeks! I can say that looking back, it really didn't seem like 10 weeks. Considering how hard it was to stay in the same room, in the same bed for that long, I had a wonderful experience at HEB Harris. The staff was awesome, and I left with so many memories and relationships that I will always take with me. When we go back to deliver, I am hoping that we can stay in that same hall, as a postpartem patient this time, with my same nurses that I've gotten to know so well. They had such a sweet send off for me, even I was emotional! I was so glad to be getting into a car for the first time and going home, but it was a bittersweet goodbye to leave all of my new friends. They came in my room singing "Happy Going Home Day to You!" to the tune of Happy Birthday. They were carrying cupcakes from Celebrity bakery, a balloon and gift for me and a balloon and gift for Campbell. It was such a nice surprise ... so unnecessary, but very sweet! They had made a headband for Campbell to match the two newborn caps that I had made in our previous craft class. They also had a pink smiley face balloon for her. They had a MUCH too generous gift for me that a bunch of nurses had gone in on together ... a HANDSFREE Medela breastpump!! WOW! They tricked me, because I had brought in my breastpump that I have borrowed from a family friend and had lent out to others since Campbell was born. They wanted to make sure that it would be strong enough for me to use, so one of the nurses, Laura, was supposed to stop by my room to check it out and say goodbye before I left. We were starting to wonder if she was really going to come by when they came in singing with the gift. It is like the "Cadillac" of breastpumps right now ... LOL! It really is SO nice! I'm really going to give it my all to continue as long as possible!! I still can't believe they did that. I'm happy to say that I'm still in touch with lots of them on email and Facebook, so I don't feel like it was truly a goodbye. I look forward to my appointment on Wednesday morning when I'll get to pop in to say hello to everyone again. Plus, it will be a nice excuse for me to be able to get out of the house for a change of scenery. We have our sonogram and NST at the hospital first thing Wednesday morning. Then we'll head over to Dr. Wood's office for an appointment with her. I'll have that same schedule the next two Wednesdays.

Then at 36 weeks (only 10 more days!!) I'll be allowed off bed rest and off my Terbutaline pump!! I can't wait! I know I'll still "take it easy", but I've made a HUGE to-do list for that first day that I'm on my feet. I'll probably wear myself out and have to stop for a nap, but I'm looking forward to getting things done ON MY OWN before delivering ... hair cut, nails, baby bow shopping, organize, clean and "nest" at home getting things ready for babies. Everyone has been SO awesome to do so much to help me not go crazy, but the control-freak in me is going stir crazy and ready to bust out!!

Here are some pictures since being home.

Here is my sweet send-off from the nurses

Matt and Campbell taking me to the car

Getting in the car for the first time

Welcome home Mommy!

My new view

Our homemade tent for movie night my first night home

Two growing girls!!!

We had our weekly sonogram today. The girls are looking good and growing lots! Cooper is still head-down at 4 lbs 4 oz, and Conley is still transverse at 4 lbs 10 oz!! I have talked to Dr. Wood, and we are still going to try to avoid a c-section if the girls maintain these positions. We will hopefully deliver Cooper with no problems and then hope to get Conley to turn head-down to deliver immediately after Cooper. This is my prayer and hope right now ... to make it to 36 weeks and to avoid a c-section! After 12+ weeks of bed rest, I would like to avoid a surgery to recover from on top of my fatigue and muscle loss from bed rest. I'm also so looking forward to holding them as much as possible as soon as possible if I am able to once they are delivered, because just to have them far enough along they will possibly spend NO time in the NICU, will be such a blessing and I hope to be able to celebrate in that moment holding both girls in my arms!!! Wow, I just can't believe how close we are!!

Thank you ALL for your prayers over these past 10 weeks! We are so blessed and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from so many family and friends as well as people that we don't even know personally. We have to say thank you to SOOOOOOO many helping hands that have made these last 10 weeks so much easier on us than they could have been. The meals for Matt and Campbell as well as here at the hospital (so I didn't have to get too burned out on hospital food!) have been so appreciated! The visits here at the hospital, flowers, cards and other goodies have been very heart-warming. Thank you to my mom and Matt that have spent HOURS up here with Campbell so that I could see her EVERY single day of my hospital stay. I know it was not always the most exciting thing to do. Thank you also to my mom for doing my laundry this entire time. That has been so awesome! Thank you to all of our family for the help with Campbell and the many many meals. I have eaten so well for having been in the hospital for 10 weeks :-) , and I have not had many lonely days, that's for sure! Thank you Matt for holding down the fort at home so well while I've been gone! I can't wait to be home sweet home!

We are truly blessed!!

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside. The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. Job 5:9-11

I will not say "Stupid"!

So, Campbell has said "Stupid!" a couple times in the last two days. I've had to start filtering some of the PG movies that sneak past us since we think they are just fun cartoons. Then they bust out with a word here and there ... stupid, crappy, butt .... you get the idea. I'm learning the difference between G and PG pretty quickly now! Anyways, when I get on to her for doing something that she shouldn't be doing, I always tell her to look at Mommy's face. If she doesn't look at me, she won't pay attention and she won't listen to what I'm saying. So, I keep telling her, "Look at Mommy's Face! We do NOT say 'stupid'. It's not a nice word. You will go to time out next time you say that!" She has now told us multiple times tonight, "Mommy, mommy, listen to my face! I will not say stupid, OK?" I am having such a hard time not laughing at her, so it's really not helping the situation. It really is pretty cute and funny when she says something like that!

Picture Update

Here are pictures from Campbell's first day of school

Here are a couple pictures of Campbell shutting herself in Shelby's crate with Shelby.

Here is a picture of Cooper's face at 32 weeks and 5 days. It's a bad angle, so her face looks very smushy. She is looking straight on in this picture and her left arm and hand are up by her forehead along the right side of the picture.

Here is a picture of Conley's face at 32 weeks and 5 days. This picture is also of her face looking straight on.

Almost 33 Weeks!

I can't believe I haven't posted an update since last week! Well, I'm still in the hospital. My fFN test on Thursday came back positive, so they are keeping me here until 34 weeks. Today, I have been here 9 weeks. We had a sonogram this morning. Both girls looked fine and my cervix is still measuring between 1.1 and 1.2. All is good! Cooper is turned where we can't see her face very well, but she is being such a good little girl staying head-down. Conley is still laying across me up high. She was so cute today, because we could see the fullness in her face with her chubby cheeks and she opened her mouth a couple times as if to yawn. I just can't wait to finally get to see them and hold them!!! It's so funny, because I can only picture our babies looking like Campbell, so I just imagine two more little Campbells in there :-) ! It will be so fun to finally see what they really look like. Will they be blonde or brunette? Will they have much hair or be bald like Campbell was? Will they look like a spitting image of Matt or actually resemble me even in the slightest??? We will see!

Campbell started school yesterday. She is going to First Kids Academy at First Baptist Euless on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can already tell that this year will be so much more fun for her and for us! Last year we would ask her about her day and she would maybe answer questions with a yes or a no, but yesterday I asked her, "what did you do at school today?" She was very excited to answer, "I went to sleep, and we played in the MUSCLE room, and we watched a movie...it was Veggie Tales!" I love that she can tell us about her day!! She was so excited! This year she is going to have so many more activities at school too ... dance, music, spanish. I think she even has a recital that the parents get to go watch at least once. I'm very excited for her! She wore her big girl panties and Matt didn't have to pack any pull-ups. She is doing so great!! I think she really is becoming an official "big girl"! Matt took the camera yesterday, so there are pictures to come!!

I also had another big day on Monday ... I made the news again! Too funny! Fox 4 News was out here to cover the story of the program that they have here for us "Mommies in Waiting". They did a really good job presenting it I thought. The reporter was Brandon Todd. He and the cameraman, Nune, were really nice! Also, my friend from college, Casey, happened to stop by and they asked her to come in to visit while the cameras were rolling. She was SUCH a good sport to do it even though she was totally put on the spot and caught off guard. She made the TV story too! Campbell was sitting with me on the bed, so she's on TV too. It was pretty cool! I've requested a DVD copy from both channel 4 and channel 5 so we can show Campbell and the babies someday. Supposedly WB 33 wants to come out this week too, so who knows ... I may be on TV once again ... ha ha!! Here we are with the reporter and cameraman on Monday...

Another short and sweet update!

We have been here 8 weeks today! WOW! I can't believe it's been that long. I guess that is a good thing, since it has gone by faster than it sounds. Our sono was good news again today. Cervix still about the same...1.2ish cm. Cooper is still head-down (good girl!!) weighing 3 lbs 9 oz now, and Conley is still transverse weighing 3 lbs 13 oz. I'm excited to think that in two weeks when we get their size updates that they should be over 4 lbs!! I can't wait!! Everything still looks good! I have my fFN test tomorrow morning - I can't believe it! I may know by the end of the day tomorrow the results. We are praying for a negative so I can be discharged to go home Friday morning!!! I will still be on strict bed rest from home just as I have been here, however I will make 2 weekly trips for checkups....on Wednesdays for my sonograms with the perinatologist and on Mondays or Fridays to see my OB. It will be so nice to get to go on a car ride twice a week and have a change of scenery! I will look forward to those days for sure!!

Praise God for these past 8 weeks and for Cooper and Conley's growth!! We feel so blessed by the protection that He has provided for them. Now, I'm saying big prayers for another 4 weeks! I would love to get to 36 weeks, have a couple days on my feet to get my own bags ready and familiarize myself with my house and their nursery again. Maybe I could get a pedicure, a haircut, go to a movie :-) , play outside with Campbell and then come in to have to be scheduled for a delivery!!! How crazy would that be after all this time??? That would be awesome! Whatever God has planned, we are ready for .... but that is still my big prayer ;-) !

Thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement!! We are SO SO SO blessed with such awesome friends and family!!