Wow!! Time flies!!

It's amazing to think how fast time goes by! I can't believe our baby girl is over 7 weeks old now! I haven't posted in over a month, and for that I apologize. Been a little busy with Reagan! She's grown so much over the past weeks. We take her back to the doctor next Friday for her 2 month checkup, but we are estimating her to be around 6 lbs right now! She's eating well-although not breastfeeding, I'm pumping and she's getting mommy's milk, with a couple of feedings of formula supplemented a day. Some days she's rather gassy and fussy, but, that's okay. Earlier today, I just looked down at her and stared in awe. I can't believe we made something so perfect and beautiful. Life is really something, isn't it? My original due date is tomorrow. It's really crazy to think back at how everything has flown by. I've been printing these posts out to put in her baby book, and re-reading them as I go. It was all so hard to go through, 10 and 12 weeks ago, but now, it's all just a distant blur. And, oh, it was so worth it. I would've stayed in bed the entire 40 weeks if I had to. (Probably wouldn't have said that 12 weeks ago, though!!) I'll try to post here and there in the future. More so to document Reagan's progress and be able to read to her one day than for anything else. Well, I must go now. I've got a perfect, fussy baby in the next room who needs me. :) Oh, and I have to add--I was right about Mike. When I read back on previous posts at how wonderful he was and how he would be the best daddy for her, he really is. He really is. I love them both so much.

Sweet Baby!!

What a whirlwind the past 2 weeks has been!! Let's see where to begin!! Two weeks ago today, on June 30, I woke to excruciating pain at 3am. I woke Mike up and we called the nurse. Things happened so quickly, I'll try to recap! Since I never called out for help, the nurses came running-and they brought a labor and delivery nurse with them. While they tried to get me on the monitor (while I was writhing in pain), they also called the doctor on call. A resident came in to check me, and they determined I was indeed in labor (duh!) and dilated to 4 cm already. Now if you'll remember, with her being so small and my cervix already being thin, they had previously said that if I got to 4 or 5 cm, she could easily come out! Well, they quickly removed my terbutaline pump (the one that kept the contractions away up til this point) and got me on a stretcher headed to the OR. Now all during this time, Mike was on the phone calling in parents and my sister-they all got there really quick! Mike and I were taken to the OR for a C-Section and at 4:38 am, little Reagan Alexis Williams was born! She weighed in at 4 lbs and 7 oz and was 17 inches long. She was quickly whisked away to the NICU. It was about 4 hours  or so before I could see her-we had to wait until I could feel my legs again!! Mike wheeled me over to the NICU (he'd already been by to see her and check on her and gave me a little warning as to how she looked). She looked so pitiful, so fragile. She was on a CPAP breathing machine and had heart monitors and a pulse ox and an IV. Bless her heart!! I cried when I saw her! The next several days went by in a sort of blur. She had to be intubated for a short time to have some medicine put down into her lungs (Surfactant), then got put back on the CPAP. This medicine helped, though, because after a few days she was put on oxygen by nasal cannula and after several more days, she came off the oxygen completely! We had some issues with getting her to eat at times, and she had an NG tube a few times, but after 13 days, she behaved, gained weight back to her birth weight, and was able to come home!! That (almost) 2 weeks seemed like a lifetime to be without our little girl, but traveling up to the hospital several times a day and visiting her helped. Thanks to all our family for driving me all over the city and back!! I was frequently a basket case, but Mike was wonderful to me, and helped me cope with the stress of it all. He is such a wonderful daddy!! Reagan came home yesterday-and we feel so blessed! We have our whole family under one roof now! Mugsy is adjusting well-he's very curious about the sounds she makes and is checking on her often. We thank everyone for all the prayers and will continue to keep you updated on Reagan's progress as she grows!!

An eventful past few days

Whew! The past few days have been busy! Mike and I usually have our "date night" on Saturdays. This past Saturday was going to be no exception-or so I thought! I had some family in from out of town (both California and Georgia), and they were supposed to be coming by for a visit Saturday night. While we were waiting on them, Mike suggested we go for a wheelchair ride, since it was still light outside. Well, he ended up wheeling me down by the ambulance bay and into a conference room-I was clueless!! My whole family was there!! It was a surprise baby shower!!! It was so wonderful!! My sister organized it and decorated it-she did so awesome!!!! I love my family!! 

Now, today, I just got back from an ultrasound! Great news!! My cervix is stable when compared to my last ultrasound-which is great! And they did measurements on Reagan. Now these measurements are just estimates, but she measured at 34 weeks and 2 days (I'm 32 weeks and 4 days currently), and her weight measured at 4 lbs and 15 oz!! Even though these are estimates, and even if they are about a pound off, that's still bigger in comparison to her last ultrasound measurements!!! I'm so excited that she's measuring bigger! Yay!! Oh, yea-and no significant contractions in several days now!! WooHoo!!!

One day at a time

So up until a few days ago, there was nothing to update. No news was good news, right? Well, day before yesterday things changed a little. About 5 pm, I started having contractions again. Nothing painful, but about every 7 minutes apart. Just felt a little tightening. They gave me a bolus of my medicine through my pump and that seemed to ease them. then about 9 or 9:30 pm that night, they were back. Same as before. Nothing painful. Actually, on these, I barely even noticed them. I told then nurse that I had felt 2 contractions, and she said, "well, you're having a few more than that." I asked how many, and she said they were every 6-7 minutes again. I was frustrated, but they gave me another bolus of my medicine and they stopped. I had a few yesterday morning, when they were monitoring me, and my doctor's nurse practitioner was already on the floor, so she increased my basal (continuous) rate on my medicine up by 10%.  That seemed to knock them out again. Then nothing all day, until last night. The nurse came in to put me on the monitor (they do this twice a day, unless I feel something, then they'll put me on more often), and I had told her that I felt good and that I had been behaving! Unfortunately, the monitor showed something different! I was contracting every 5-6 minutes! Grrrr!! I hadn't even been feeling them until I had to lay back and relax-that made me think of nothing else but the contractions. This was very frustrating. They gave me another bolus dose of medicine and it helped ease them, but I was so frazzled. Why does this keep happening?? I had a breakdown after all this last night, but I'm better today. I'll be 32 weeks tomorrow!! I'll have been in the hospital for 4 weeks tomorrow, but hopefully, I only have about 2 weeks in here left. The hopeful plan is to send me home on bedrest at 34 weeks, then possibly stop the medicine pump (terbutaline) at 36 weeks. Hopefully, Reagan will hold out til then!! This weekend will be a test though-it's a full moon Saturday!! The night I came in in pre-term labor was a full moon too!! I'll update as things go along! 

Stable is good

I just realized I had not updated in a few days! I had an ultrasound on monday, and it showed that my cervix is basically stable (it was a little bit better than the last ultrasound, but not enough to get excited about). It also showed that Reagan is measuring right on cue for where she should be. I then took my 1 hour glucose test, and failed, but just barely. The medicine pump, Terbutaline, that I am on now can affect my blood sugar, but they can't take that into effect too much. So on Tuesday, I got to do a 3 hour glucose test. I passed! Barely, but I still passed! So I don't have gestational diabetes! So here I am, just chilling out in the bed, being stable. But we hit 31 weeks on Friday, so at this point, stable is good!

Reagan's still in charge

Well, things were going really well. Until late last night. I mean, they're still going well, things just snagged last night. About 10 pm last night, I started having contractions again. After monitoring for a little while, the nurse called the doctor and they gave me a fluid bolus and one shot of terbutaline. I was able to sleep for a while after that. Then this morning, they put me on the monitor again and the contractions started back up. They were about 7-8 minutes apart today, and lasting about a minute each. My maternal-fetal medicine doctor was up on the floor at this time. After a while of being on the monitor and deciding what to do, they decided to stop my procardia pills tonight and they went on and gave me another shot of terbutaline and then put me on a terbutaline continuous subcutaneous pump (it's kindof like an insulin pump). So my contractions have now stopped, at least for the time being. And I'm going to be getting another ultrasound on Monday. It won't decide of going home anytime soon-I'm going to be here for a while-but it may tell us if the contractions caused my cervix to thin even more. And they're going to measure Reagan to see if she's grown more. So we'll just continue to take it one day at a time, and hope that Reagan doesn't decide to change our plans! 

30 Weeks!!

Well, we've hit a milestone!! I'm 30 weeks pregnant today!! Yay!! Mike has planned a date night for us for tomorrow night. I think this is now a weekly occurrence, which I love!! He picks up a movie and dinner-this week, we're going to have ribs!! I can't wait!! The maternal-fetal medicine doctor looked at my ultrasound yesterday. Looks like I'm going to be here til about 33-34 weeks. And that's okay. Someone told me that every day Reagan stays in my belly, it saves her 3 days in the NICU. I don't know exactly how true that is, but I'm using that as inspiration and encouragement to keep her in place! Of course, she makes her own plans and lets us know what they are as we go along!! I has a contraction this morning. Only one, and it was small, but it's the first one I've felt in several days. The doctor says I'm probably having more, and just not feeling them and that's what is making my cervix change and thin out. Oh well. Nothing more I can do about it than what I'm doing right now! So here I sit, on my 30 week mark, thanking God we've made it this far and counting my blessings for all the wonderful people in my life right now. I'll update again soon!!

Goals

So I've seen one of my doctors this morning. Still waiting on the other one, but I did get some answers to my questions and, more importantly, some goals to keep in mind! My short term goal: possibly going home on bed rest at 32 weeks, still depending on the ultrasound results. My long term goal: possibly getting induced or sectioned (depending on Reagan's position) at 39 weeks. Now a lot can happen in between those two goals, or even before the short term goal if Reagan has anything to say about it! This little girl has had her own agenda from day one, and every time we think we're on track, she derails us! But it's great to have these goals to look forward to! I'll be 30 weeks pregnant on Friday, so my short term goal is only about 2 weeks away! I know that going home still will depend on my cervical length on ultrasound closer to 32 weeks, but when I think that almost 2 weeks ago, we almost had a little girl join us so early, I feel so blessed to know that we've already come this far safely. Every day counts!!

Better today. Yesterday was a different story

Well, today is a better day for me. Yesterday, not so much. So I went for my ultrasound yesterday. We had been hoping that my cervix had stayed stable, and that I might be able to go home on bed rest. But unfortunately, my cervix is at it's thinnest since all this has been going on. It was very hard for me to deal with. I really tried not to get my hopes up about going home, but that's hard to do! Especially with my back getting very achey from this hospital bed, and the fact that I'm really missing Mugsy. I know he's being taken care of wonderfully by Buddy and MaryJo, and that he's happy as a clam, but I still miss him. (On a good note, they are planning on bringing him up here and Mike will wheel me downstairs in the wheelchair so I can see him for a few minutes on Thursday!) I was just so frustrated because I didn't know why this is happening. I've stuck with my bed rest just like they've told me, only getting up to the bathroom then back to bed. Why is my cervix thinner now? Does this put Reagan at risk? I'm not having any contractions any more, so what's causing my cervix to thin even more? I've had a couple of different doctors covering for my regular doctors for a few days, which I totally understand, but I look forward to tomorrow, when both of my regulars will be back. What I do know about all this, is that I am not getting to go home. I get to stay here, at least for a while longer, in the hospital on bed rest. When I got back to my room from the ultrasound yesterday, I cried. A lot. Mike was at work, unfortunately, but he was wonderful. He called me and talked to me a lot. And he called in reinforcements! I had called my mom already, but he called and texted his mom and my mom to have them come up here as soon as they could. MaryJo was the first one here, and I didn't even know she was coming. My mom and dad were not far behind. And my sister came up later, after work. I was a basketcase yesterday. It was a great help having family come spend time with me. I don't know what I would do if we didn't live so close to family. So now today is a better day. I wish I could go home, but I know that this is where I need to be. And I'm okay with that. Whatever it takes to keep my precious baby girl healthy! She just keeps acting like she wants to make an early appearance! She's already a diva!! So, that's where we are today with everything. I'll continue to keep you all posted on progress, trying to post daily, but some days are a little harder than others. Love to you all, and thanks again for all the prayers and support. 

No news is Good news!

Well, the doctors have come in today. We are planning for an ultrasound tomorrow morning. Once we see how my cervix looks there, we'll see what the new plans are! If my cervix is stable or better than it was on Friday, then I may be going home on bed rest tomorrow or Tuesday! I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!! I'm really trying not to get my hopes up though. I'll post more tomorrow once we know if things are changing! Til then. . .

New Possibilities

So a little bit has happened since my last blog entry. Yesterday, I had an ultrasound. We got good news from that. My cervix has "thickened", so to speak, and is now measuring 1.1-1.5 cm! Yay!! Well, today, when the doctors came in, they discussed this with me and discussed the possibility of me getting to go home today. I have been stable since on the procardia pills, and that has kept the contractions away for the most part (yes, I have had a very occasional ctx, but nothing like last weekend). I thought about this possibility, and while it excites me to think of going home on bedrest rather than being in the hospital on bedrest, I'm also very nervous about risks and don't want to put Reagan in any more risks than necessary. So I discussed this with the doctors, and I'm going to stay here a little bit longer. I'm hoping that they will get another ultrasound maybe Sunday or Monday and, as long as I'm stable or better than the last ultrasound, then I'll feel more comfortable going home. Of course, we have awesome family and friends who will be willing to stay with me and be on standby in case anything happens (thank you all!!). I'm looking forward to seeing what next week holds for us! I'm 29 weeks today, by the way! It's so great to know that I made it another week, when we really thought we would meet little Reagan last Friday! Anyway, I'm here at least through the weekend, but its great news to know that there are other possibilities on the horizon for us! 

New Plans

So, this morning, I had an ultrasound. We got both good news and bad news from this ultrasound.  Good news: Reagan is measuring larger than expected. Her estimated weight is 3 lbs today and she's measuring at 29 wks, 1 day, instead of the 28 wks, 3 days we are actually at. That's excellent in case she does decide to make an early entrance. Bad news: my cervix is thinner than it was on Friday. So here's the lowdown as I understand it: a normal cervical length for my gestational age should be about 4-6 cm. On Friday, mine was about 1.5 cm. Today, it is about 0.7-1 cm. What that means is that there's less resistance for her to go through to exit her current place of residence. We don't know my dilation, and they probably wont check it for a while (doing so can cause contractions to start back up, and we don't want that). I'll be getting ultrasounds every few days instead. So what all this boils down to is that I won't get to go home anytime soon. We met the maternal-fetal medicine/high risk ob doctor today. He was awesome. But when he learned my ultrasound results, he told me that, basically, I'm going to be here in the hospital for approximately the next 4-6 weeks. It's a little disheartening, but whatever we have to do to keep Reagan healthy, that's what we'll do! So, here I am, sitting in a hospital bed (oh yea, I'm on bedrest-I can get up to the bathroom, but then right back to bed!), trying not to think about how long the next 4-6 wks will be! Lot's of computer time! Lots of tv time! Lots of magazines (thanks to all who've brought some by!! I will have plenty of time to read them all!!)!  If anyone plays "words with friends", please let me know so I can start up a game with you! LOL!! We're going to stay positive and happy and know that Reagan and I are in the best place we can be with all the given circumstances. We appreciate all the love and prayers! God is Good and He is listening. We have had great nurses and doctors, and will continue to be blessed in this journey!! I'm going to watch a little tv for now and maybe take a nap! Will update again soon! Love you all!

Another day

Well we are still hanging out in the hospital.  The girls are doing ok.  We are starting up some oral medicine to try and keep the contractions away.  They did come back last night and the nurse got a handle on them pretty quickly so we didn't have to many issues.  She managed to get a little sleep through the night, and has only had a few times today with some small non painful contractions.  We still aren't sure of our plan to go home, but we have an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow to see how things are doing.  Our baby girl still has a strong heart rate and continues to impress the nurses with her strength.  We will continue to keep everyone posted on how things are.  We are asking that the girls not have any visitors at this time just because we are trying to keep them calm and relaxed to keep away any contractions.  We are hoping that they may be able to go home sometime this week, but there isn't anything definite right now.  Please don't hesitate to post or ask questions.  I'm constantly checking phones, facebook, and emails.  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers, we are definitely feeling them.

A scary day for the Williams Family

Well, This is my first blog, but I know I need to keep people updated now about what's going on! So here we go!!

 About 12:00am Friday morning, I started having contractions. Once timing them, they were about 3-4 minutes apart. We called the dr and headed to the hospital as directed. Fast forward several hours, I was contracting every 2-4 minutes, dilated 1/2 cm, 50 % effaced, and my cervix was shortened. Not good signs for being 28 weeks pregnant. They had me on several medications to stop the labor, and eventually put me on mag to stop it. I ended up on the highest dose of mag, and I was progressing through it. I was 1-2 cm dilated and 60 % effaced, and I was having back labor. Painful! I got some medicine for pain and it relaxed me enough to help the mag work. My contractions finally started to slow down some. This was all yesterday-it was pretty scary. We really thought that little Reagan Alexis was going to come see us so much sooner than expected! She needs to stay in a while longer. Today is much better. My contractions are very spaced out (haven't had one since 8:15 am!!) and the mag gets turned off completely at 4 pm. I'll probably be in the hospital til Monday, and looks like I'll be home bound on bed rest for most, if not all, of the remainder of the pregnancy. But whatever we have to do to keep Reagan safe and happy and healthy!! Please keep us in your prayers and pray for Mike-this is a lot on him too! I know he's stressing more than he's letting on to me! He's doing so incredibly awesome with me and Reagan-staying so calm and level-headed. He's an awesome husband and going to be the best daddy little Reagan could ever hope for!