November 21, 2007 - 34 weeks 4 days

Monday 11/19

Darren and I headed off to the ultrasound and we got to see great pictures of Noah and how well he has been growing. It is so amazing! We could even see the hair on his head and the little curls at the back. He has been growing great and weighs about 6.5 lbs. The placenta was still pretty low so the doctor wanted to do an internal ultrasound to get accurate measurements. I went to empty my bladdar first, and we were all shocked that when I stood to use the restroom I was bleeding pretty heavy. Luckily, We were just in another part of the hospital, so they whisked me to labor and delivery. It was frightening, but since we had just been seeing Noah jump around on the screen, we felt pretty lucky that we knew that he was doing well.

I was quickly prepped for possible emergency section and pumped full of meds that hurried Noah's lung development, slowed the contractions and eventually stopped the bleeding. Now we have been waiting the 48 hours that the lung development shots need to be the most effective and the will try tomorrow (THANKSGIVING!) to taper me onto a medication to slow contractions that I can take at home. Darren says that I just didn't want to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year! :) If that transition doesn't work, I will stay on the magnesium sulfate (yuck is putting it very mildly) in the hospital until his lungs are mature enough. His lung development willl be determined by amnio, if we need to go that route.

The bleeding was probably caused by my placenta seperating from the uterine wall so I will be on strict bedrest until delivery and the placenta will probably not tolerate labor. We are looking at a C-section almost no matter what. The great news is that Noah is showing absolutely no signs of stress. They have us hooked up to all kinds of machines and he is doing great. Your prayers must be working!

Thanks to everyone who has been helping transport our kids and for your calls and prayers. Although I normally would like visitors, it will have to wait until I can get off this magnesium. I have a whole new level of respect for people who have dealt with long term illnesses and strong chemicals to combat them since it has taken me basically all afternoon just to do this post. Please understand if I am not up to a visit or talking on the phone. I do appreciate your concern and don't worry, my kids really will call if they need any help! Our phone bills attest that they know how to use phones :)

Overall, we feel very optimistic that things will turn out great, we just don'tknow exactly when that will be :) Please continue to keep us in your prayers and thanks again for everyone's love and support.