New Year's Eve, Eve

Well it's the day before the biggest party day of the year, for everyone except us anyway. We had another appointment with the specialist today, and pretty much all remains the same. The boys had both grown, and seem to be right on track at 1lb13oz and 1lb14 oz. The doctor said that all of the measurements look good, and she feels good about how paula has progressed. They didn't even bother looking at a cervical measurement since they are doing all they know to do anyhow. Basically, why measure it if you can't do anything about it. Paula will remain in the hospital however, just to make sure that all continues to go well. It seems as though there had been some thought of going home in a couple of weeks, that's probably not a realistic expectation.

We worked all day today hanging the disco ball and strobe lights, tomorrow we will finish putting in the dancefloor in preparation for a huge party tomorrow night. That's right, we're gonna party like its 2009. Well of course I'm kidding, but we will definitely be watching some dick clark's new years rockin' eve. In fact we'll probably get a little crazy and even set an alarm for 11:55 so we can actually be awake to bring in the new year.

We hope everyone has a great, safe time tomorrow, and we will post again in the next couple of days.

Happy New Year to All,

Paula, Ryon, and The Boys

After Xmas

Well, Christmas is over and we hope santa was good to everyone. Just wanted to give a quick update on Paula's status. Really nothing has changed since my last post. Paula is still holding steady, and ready to go home. We hope to have an appointment with the specialist on Tuesday, but we may have to wait until next week, if they can't squeeze us in. Tomorrow we will see dr schmidt again, and hopefully she will continue to say that paula can go home at week 27. If anything changes you can find out here first.

We hope everyone had a merry christmas, and I will update again in a couple of days. I may actually wait until New Years, so we can let everyone know about our crazy new years eve activities.

Paula, Ryon, and The Boys

We've Been Upgraded

So since Friday, here's what has happened. Saturday was business as usual, however Sunday turned out to be a big day for us. This was the day we got the news: We've been upgraded to a suite. Yeah, that's right, a suite. The room actually is much better than the other, mainly because it is much bigger. If I was smart enough I would post pictures, but basically it is more square feet, a little nicer restroom, my bed/chair doubled in size, we have an armoire, and a little more seating. Paula seems very happy here, we are actually considering selling the house.

Monday, Dr. Schmidt came and visited paula, and said she is very happy with how paula is hanging in there, and brought up the possibility of sending her home at 26 or 27 weeks, if she continues to do well. Also on Monday, paula recieved her first of two steroid shots which are given to help the development of mainly the baby's lungs, but also other organ development as well.

Thanks to everyone for all of the great Christmas cards. We have really enjoyed looking through them, and have managed to hang them all on the nurses information board in our room. I will update again in a couple of days.

Merry Christmas to All, and to all a good night.

Paula, Ryon, and The Boys

Friday December 19, 2008

O.k. it's friday now, and yes we are still here. Yesterday the specialist said that although paula's cervix had thinned slightly more, she thought she could go home if she was very strict about limiting activity. However, dr. schmidt called later and said she would prefer for paula to stay. Since dr schmidt told her that's what she prefers, paula was ok with the decision and is handling it great. So we are here until she delivers.

With that said, I forgot to mention that yesterday did mark 24 weeks and we feel good to be getting closer. Our specialist seems to think we can make it into February, which would put us past the 30 week mark.

Paula said she really appreciates everyone calling to visit with her, but apologizes for not answering calls. She says she would love to visit, however everytime she talks for a long period of time, her contractions worsen. At this point, the only thing we can do to help slow things down, is to stop or keep contractions to a minimum.

Thanks again to everyone for your concern and prayers, and have a great weekend. If anything changes before Monday, I will update it here.

Paula, Ryon, and the Boys

Follow Up Visit With the Specialist

Well, we just finished up the appointment with the maternal fetal specialist. The report is that Paula's cervix has thinned a little more, but not too much more. The specialist described it as being very short, however feels that pending a good outcome from a pelvic exam (hopefully later on today), she feels it would be ok for paula to go home. I'll give another update later today when we find out more information.

Paula, Ryon, and the Boys

Why Are We Here

Well it's Sunday and we were still recovering yesterday from our big night on Friday, so needless to say, we didn't get the blog updated.

Yesterday and today went really well for paula. There were really no concerns throughout either day, contractions were at a minimum and paula was feeling pretty good. However today, the doctor made the decision to leave her contraction monitor off of her, and limit the monitoring to 1 hour on and 3 hours off. The reason for this was due to some skin irritation that the monitor was causing, mainly from being in the same place for so long. So now she is laying in the hospital bed, watching tv, wearing her pump, and wondering why we are here. It seems we could do all of those things in the comfort of our own home.

At the same time though, it is nice to know that the monitor can be utilized at any time, to make sure that her contractions are staying away (since she can't feel them). The appointment with the specialist is still scheduled for Thursday, and we are beginning to speculate that going home may be an option after that appointment.

Paula is feeling good enough now to talk on the phone and have visitors, without contracting as much.

Unless something changes we will hold off on any updates, since thankfully they've remained the same, until after our appointment on Thursday. Once again, we want to thank everyone for your support and prayers.

Good Night,

Paula, Ryon, and The Boys