Still Here!

Looks like we will be here until Trigger makes his arrival which we hope will be next week. My amniotic fluid had decreased again yesterday to 5.6. We were a little aggravated because the doctor found a good pocket of fluid and then Trigger moved before she was able to measure it. We talked with Dr. Groome and Dr. Harper yesterday. Everyone feels as though we should deliver here, and Matt and I feel that it is definitely the best for Trigger with the level 3 NICU. It is sad that Dr. Harper will not be able to deliver our baby because we love him so much, but we have to do what is best!

The plan right now is to stay right here resting and follow our normal schedule (fetal heart rate monitoring twice a day and ultrasound in afternoon). Monday, July 28th, Dr. Groome will perform an amniocentesis to determine if Trigger's lungs are mature enough for delivery. I must say that I am NOT looking forward to the LONG needle going into my stomach and being that close to my baby but I am know that Dr. Groome is well-qualified to do the procedure. So that's a HUGE prayer request because those of you that know me well know that I absolutely HATE needles!!!!!! The test has two parts. The first part is not as sensitive and will come back in an hour. If that test shows that his lungs are mature, they will deliver Monday afternoon. If it shows immature, they will wait until Tuesday for the second test to come back. If the Tuesday test comes back mature, we will deliver Tuesday afternoon. If it comes back immature, we will have to come up with another plan! Please pray for Trigger's lungs. We really hope that the tests show that his lungs are mature and he's ready for delivery!!!! I think that's all for now! I hope you are having a great day.

Updates!

The weekends are a little crazy around here. Things definitely do not stop on the weekend at this hospital. Everyone (doctors and nurses) is VERY busy. In fact, last night we didn't go for our afternoon ultrasound until 9:30pm. Our amniotic fluid numbers last night (Saturday) were 7.7. And, we just went for our ultrasound today and the numbers had decreased slightly. The numbers were 6.3. The doctor was not worried at all. In fact, I think they kindof expected this to happen. The amniotic fluid can be difficult to measure and all depends on the position of the baby. When Trigger moves, he can reveal or hide amniotic fluid. The doctor did say that Trigger looks GREAT!!!!!! He sure is a trooper. Soooo....we will continue with what we have been doing: Lots of bed rest, Fetal Heart Rate monitoring in morning and evening, and an ultrasound in afternoon. Thank you for all of your prayers. I know that God is working in this situation and keeping Trigger healthy and strong!!!

Hospital Stay

YEP...we are in the hospital! We came over to Shreveport on Monday morning for our doctor's appointment with the specialist. We were really thinking it would be our last time to see him. When the ultrasound tech did all the measurements, I noticed she was doing more measurements than usual and she printed out about 8-10 pictures and took them with her. When Dr. Groome came in, he started measuring the same things. He told us that our amniotic fluid was low and that we needed to be admitted into the hospital for bed rest and iv fluids. We were thrown off guard to say the least. So...they took us over to the hospital and we started the admitting process which means that we did ALOT of waiting. We were put in a temporary room to get the iv started, do blood work, etc. Then, I was wheeled down to a real room which was a semi-private room....YUCK! We had been told that if we were in a semi-private room that Matt (or anyone else) couldn't stay with me and there were two other patients ahead of us on the list for a private room. Thankfully, after a few hours, Matt noticed that there was a private room available across the hall. He went down to the nurses station and used his charm....and we were moved to the private room. I can't tell you the relief that we felt just to be in our own room.
I was hooked up to iv fluids for about 30 hours (I think it was 7 or 8 bags of fluid total). I was so swollen!! The plan each day was for me to be hooked up to the fetal heart rate monitor in the morning, an ultrasound in the afternoon to check fluid levels, and fetal heart rate monitor at night. The doctors told us to plan to be here to delivery because of fluid levels especially when we had our ultrasound on Tuesday (our levels had decreased from Monday to Tuesday). Well...I think the bed rest and fluids helped because these were our levels.
Tuesday: 2.5
Wednesday: 5.2
Thursday: 6.3
Friday: 6.9
The average amount of fluid is between 5-15. Dr. Groome's goal is for us to make it to 7 and maintain it so we are almost there. For the time being, we are just hanging out in the hospital on bed rest. I really do think the rest is helping. Tuesday was a very stressful day with just alot of uncertainties and that's the day that my numbers decreased.
The doctors are not positive about the reason behind the low fluid levels, but they think that the placenta is just not working properly. We will continue to stay here until the levels are to 7!!! Hopefully, they will go up and they will release me. If they do, I would most likely be on strict bed rest and have frequent ultrasounds to check fluid. They did give me a round of steriod shots to develop Trigger's lungs in case we have to deliver early. Matt has been sending out update emails to the people in his contacts. However, I am sure there are some people that have gotten missed on accident...SORRY! I will try to update the blog when I can. I'm trying to stay off my cell and just rest but feel free to text or send emails if you have any questions or just want to say HI!! We have had so many phone calls, emails, and texts already...THANK YOU for your encouraging words and continued prayers! We are very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!!!!!

Ultrasounds

We went to have another ultrasound at Green Clinic today. Everything went smoothly. Mrs. Nancy (the ultrasound lady) was very nice. She measured all Trigger's body parts and everything measured on schedule. He weighs 3lbs. 14 ounces. Wow...he has grown alot! From looking at the pictures, I think he has to be the cutest boy EVER! :) I have attached two ultrasound pictures. One is a normal ultrasound picture of the baby's profile. The other is a 4D ultrasound of the baby's face with his hands up by his face. Isn't he cute?

Baby Books and Our Baby Pictures

I am adding some pictures from when Matt and I were babies. They are not the best quality because they are OLD and because I had to take a picture of them since they are taped into our scrapbook. I hope you enjoy!!!! The first set is of me (Garson).

Matt is in the pictures below.
I love this picture of Matthew. Look at the face. How could you NOT love him?!?!
This is a picture of me with my missing teeth. AND, look at that attitude with my hands on my hips.I'm not sure what this is a picture of...I mean I know it's Matt. I just like his little smile in this picture.

My mom took this picture of me. It was taken in my parents bathroom in front of their bathtub. It seems as though I have a million pictures in front of that bathtub.

LOOK OUT!!!!! Matthew is ready to shoot! A little scary, isn't it. Haha!!!

AND...the last picture is of me in my Cedar Creek cheerleading uniform. We wore our cheerleading outfits EVERY Friday to school and to the football games that night. We, as you can tell, did not have the fancy cheerleading outfits from the children's shop. Instead, we had to have our uniforms made. Holly Haddox (my best friend) and I had matching cheerleading uniforms. We sure were stylish!! And, check out my yellow socks and GREEN shoe laces. Wow...I was bleeding green and gold!!!

Weren't we cute kids?!?!? Yesterday we went to the Woodards house (Matt's parents) to celebrate 4th of July (a few days late). Matt asked his mom if he had a baby book. I had seen pictures of Matt when he was little, but I had never seen a newborn picture. We got the baby book out and Matt and I had the best time looking at it. Do you know who was President in 1981? Well...it was recorded in Matt's baby book along with many other interesting facts. One thing that stuck out in my mind was that Matt slept through the night at one week. Matt's mom said that both he and Jennifer were always very good sleepers. When we got home last night, I went on a search for my baby book. My mom wrote that I slept through the night (8:00pm-7:30am) at five weeks. Okay...so I was thinking...maybe...just maybe our child will inherit the good sleeping genes. I know...go ahead and chuckle out loud. That probably means that we will have a child that NEVER sleeps. Anyway, we had a good weekend. I hope that you did too!

New Poll!!!

Make sure you vote. To the right, there is a poll. Who do you think Trigger will look like? I have absolutely no clue what Trigger will look like, but I can't wait to meet him and see! I hope you vote!!! Maybe I'll work on that video of the room today...HAHA!!!!!

Dr. Harper's Appointment

I went to Dr. Harper today. I am now going weekly to the doctor. In addition to seeing Dr. Harper, I also go to Dr. Groome in Shreveport once a month.
These appointments are usually very uneventful. We got to hear the heartbeat, and I am very thankful each time we hear that little heartbeat. Dr. Harper said he was very excited that we have made it to 31 weeks!!! We are very thankful too!
My blood pressure has been slowly creeping up and I have had increasing amounts of protein (still not alot). Dr. Harper said he is seeing a trend for the increasing bp and protein. He said we are not at bed rest point BUT that I do need to start taking it easy. I have to try to stay off my feet and elevate them as much as possible. :( I love rest time when it's my idea, but the moment someone tells me I HAVE to rest, it's like pulling teeth to make myself rest. I guess it's my stubborn nature coming out!!! Haha. I've never liked being told what to do. Sooo, as I type this, I am sitting in Matt's recliner with my feet elevated!!
Dr. Harper said he hopes that we will make it until 36 weeks (or at least 34 weeks). My first thought was, "I still have sooo much to do." But, I really don't. Matt I finished hanging everything in the room so the room is complete. I have completed most of the things on my "Things to do before baby is born" List. I am currently working on lesson plans for the beginning of the school year.
I am going to have another ultrasound on Tuesday, July 8th to make sure Trigger is still growing like normal. I will try to post some of those pictures. Also, we will go back to Dr. Groome on July 14th. We will have an ultrasound then too.
Matt and I got a camcorder a couple of weeks ago. I have great intentions of taking a short video of the baby's room and posting it on here. We'll see if that happens; I'm not the best at using technology.
Keep checking back. Who knows when Trigger will make his arrival?!? It could be within the next 3-5 weeks.