A quick update...

...still pregnant! I am SO sick of sitting, but I'm grateful that Michael is getting stronger and healthier every day! We are all getting very excited to have him here and we are ready! I am still having contractions and cramping and lower back pain all related to the preterm labor...it's exhausting and getting very old! The contractions are getting stronger and increasing in pressure, but I don't know if I have dilated more. At this point, he weighs about 5 lbs. and I'm not at all worried that he will fall out, so I just wait since when I stop the medication next week, they won't stop my labor. If the contractions start to get close together again, then I will go in. The medication seems to make me feel sicker each time I take it, so I can't wait until that's over! I just hope it doesn't make little Michael feel as awful as it makes me feel!
I can't wait until this little guy is here, but we trust the Lord that he will send Michael when He is ready!

There's a light at the end of the tunnel!

I had another doctor's appointment today and received great news...I get to stop taking the medication at 34 weeks which is 17 days from today (can you tell I'm excited?) The medication is making me weak and dizzy and I am SO tired of taking it every 4 hours around the clock! She said she thinks that most likely my labor will start progressing quickly at that point and they will just let him come! I can't even express the excitement to know that this is almost over and my sweet baby will be here soon! I am still sitting at 1 cm even though the contractions have started to increase. She didn't want to switch medications if we could avoid it, so since the contractions don't seem to be progressing the labor (for now), she wants me to keep taking this one. She is also contacting a physical therapist because she wants to have some exercises done on my legs because I all the sitting is making my body weak. I'm not sure whether I'll have to go to a PT or they will come here, we'll see in the next couple days.
For now, everything remains the same, but the light is getting closer! Yeah!

Getting ready for baby Michael!

On Saturday, Scott got all our baby things out of storage. I think I'm nesting a little bit because I just want everything ready to go, so I don't have to worry about anything when Michael decides to make his debut! It made made me get a little excited and it got Matthew SO excited! He asked me, "Where's Michael?" I told him that he was still in my tummy, but he's coming soon. His reply was so cute, "No mom, he needs to come now!" He has been anxiously waiting for months and just can't wait to see his little brother! He got the bear out that he made for Michael and has been taking care of him like a baby all weekend...I can't wait to see him with Michael.


He's such a sweetheart!



He calls the bathtub a boat, but hey, it works! :)

A date with daddy!

Last weekend, Scott took Matthew to see the Toy Story double feature in 3D at the movie theater. I was so sad that I couldn't go because we had been looking forward to this for a couple months, but it was a good opportunity for Scott and Matthew to have a night together just the 2 of them! We decided to let Matthew wear his Halloween costume to the movie since he's going to be Buzz Lightyear! Scott said everyone at the movie thought it was so cute...I have to agree!

Still the same

Yesterday I had an appointment with one of the many doctors I saw in the hospital. She was concerned about all the contractions that I continue to have, but luckily, I'm still sitting at 1 cm. I'm glad that I haven't progressed any further, but the contractions are exhausting, so it's almost discouraging that they aren't doing anything, but good at the same time! Scott reassures me that it's the medication doing what it's suppose to do! Michael continues to grow healthy and strong which I'm SO grateful for! So we just press forward! I'm still on strict bedrest which is absolute torture...I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! Thank goodness my mom is here to take care of Matthew otherwise I don't know what I would do! I love having her here! It's so nice to socialize with an adult all day! :) Matthew is so happy she is here...he doesn't even seem to notice that I am a loser sitting on the couch all day! I wish that we could go out and do fun things while she is here, but I guess we'll save that for another time! I will post pictures later of some of the fun things Matthew and his Granin have been up to!
I appreciate the love and concern of friends and family and the many calls I have received! I am completely exhausted from practically being in constant labor that it's really hard for me to get back to everyone. I am emotionally and physically worn out that it's actually hard for me to talk about everything! I will try to keep the blog updated as we know more, but for now, Michael is still hanging out where he should be. I'm pretty sure he's totally uncomfortable because he's constantly switching positions. He still tries to fight the contractions which breaks my heart! This is definitely a trial for both of us, but it's creating a bond I can't even explain! I love my tiny son so much that even though this has been the most difficult experience of my life, I would do it all again for him!

Strict, permanent bedrest...ug, ug, ug!

So the inevitable happened...Wednesday night, the contractions started flying! I noticed they were getting a little close, so I laid down and started timing. My doctor told me to go in when I had 4 in an hour, so when I had 4 in 20 minutes, I knew we were going in! I called Scott's aunt to come stay with Matthew while Scott got Matthew in bed and I continued to time them...8 in an hour! I was freaking out! Suddenly, I was not ready! They were getting stronger too, so as soon as Scott's aunt got here, we were gone! I told Scott that I refused to take a wheelchair up because I always felt like a total loser when they took me up in one, but I regretted it! I had 2 relatively painful contractions in the 4 minutes it took to get to Labor and Delivery! We walked in to L&D and my husband (who I love dearly, but can't handle a serious situation without a joke) said to the nurse at the desk, "We are here for the tour!" She looked at him like are you serious and said, "We don't have any tours right now!" Scott's jokes would be funnier if people didn't take them so seriously and if his wife wasn't right in the middle of a contraction. I looked at him and wanted to punch him, but said, "No, he's joking." They got me all hooked up and we waited what seemed like forever for the doctor (big surprise!). He checked me and sure enough, I was half a centimeter dilated. I could not believe it! They gave me a shot of terbuline to stop the contractions, but it didn't do anything. An hour later, I was dilated to 1 cm. So we switched medications and they admitted me. They decided it was best to transport me to another hospital where they had a better NICU with more staff for such a young baby, but we had to wait until the contractions slowed down, so that I didn't have a baby in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. They started an IV (which took 3 very painful tries!) and they we were off to the hospital. The ride in the ambulance was so bumpy and uncomfortable that I kept thinking, "This is going to be what breaks my water or something!" Scott was driving right behind us the whole way and I kept wishing I was just in the car with him! When we got to the hospital, the ambulance driver told me, "Your husband is a ninja." Very confused, I asked him why. He said, "Because he was right behind us the whole way!" Apparently, that makes him a ninja! Scott thinks that's really funny! By the time we got to the new hospital and settled, it was 2am and we were exhausted! The nurses and doctors were wonderful and very informative. They had even had a bed waiting for Michael in the NICU, which was a little scary, but still. Of course, when you are in the hospital, you can never sleep long because nurses are going in and out all night. Needless to say, neither Scott or I slept very well, but I stopped dilating...thank goodness! The scary thing is that one of my doctors told me that since Michael is so little, most likely I will only dilate to 5 or 6 cm, so being at 1 cm is not great! But I could just be dilated 1 cm for weeks, so we'll just see how it goes! Michael continues to look healthy and remains strong! Every time the doctors would touch my stomach, Michael would give them a nice swift kick! I continue to have contractions, but I came home this morning with medication to take every 4 hours and orders to stay in bed. I can get up to go to the bathroom, but that's about it! It is going to be a blast! Luckily, my mom came out yesterday to take over with Matthew, so now I can just stay in bed! I hate it already! Today, my mom took Matthew to Disneyland and I'm bored out of my mind! It was a long couple days, but I'm glad to be home. I guess we'll see what the next couple weeks bring! Good thing I love my little Michael SO much!
Here are some pictures from our adventure!


Matthew came to visit after they picked my mom up from the airport. Matthew loved this curtain!

A present for Michael

Last night, we took Matthew to Build a Bear Workshop and let him build a stuffed animal for Michael. When each of my sisters were born, my parents took me to buy a gift for them to give them when they were born. My mom then bought a gift for them to give to me. I don't actually remember this, but my mom told me that I was so excited when Chelsey gave me a present when she was born. I have actually been looking forward to taking Matthew to do this for a while and since little Michael could make his appearance at any time, we decided we should do it sooner rather than later. Matthew was SO excited all day yesterday when I told him what we were going to do! He kept asking me, "Are you excited Mama?" I would say, "Yes, Matthew, I'm very excited. Are you excited?" He would reply, "Yes, Matthew is very excited!"

When we got there, we let Matthew pick the animal he wanted to stuff for Michael (except, I did have to do some persuading that maybe we shouldn't get the pink bear!). He picked a cute bear and he was very excited! (I apologize for the quality of pictures...I couldn't figure out the coloring problem!)

Can you see how excited he was?! :)

Then he stuffed it and put a heart in it! (He was being very shy and wouldn't smile because the lady was talking to him!)

The stuffed product! He was so cute about it the whole night...he was genuinely excited to make something for his baby brother!

Then we dressed the bear...Matthew wanted to do baseball (shocking) and Scott helped him pick an Angels outfit (which I'm still not sure how I feel about, but both of them were excited).


And of course no baseball bear would be complete without the cleats (all Scott!)

Tying the shoes was very serious...you can see how much Matthew is concentrating! :)

The finished product!

Matthew insisted on carrying it out himself even though the box house was half his size! He was very proud!

This morning at breakfast he say, "Hey mom, guess what I have? A bear special for Michael!" It was so fun to watch him get so excited to make something for Michael! I can't wait to see Matthew give it to him! (And I'm even more excited to see Matthew's face when he sees the gift Michael got him!) Hopefully this will be a gift that Michael will treasure from Matthew as he gets older...and more importantly, hopefully Michael likes baseball! :)

Our little, big boy!

Bad news first...the contractions continue to progress me into preterm labor. Good news...not enough to put me in the hospital yet! Phew! We had a few ultrasounds today and Michael looks AWESOME!!! He is following in the steps of his big brother and measuring WAY ahead of schedule! He is measuring about 1-2 weeks ahead weighing in at a hefty 3lbs. 5 oz! WOW...what a blessing! And I have to say...he's totally adorable! My heart skips a beat every time I see him...I am so in love and can hardly wait to meet him (although I am glad he's not here yet!) The perinatologist was amazed at how big he is because she kept saying how small I am! Apparently I hide my big babies well! :) After she measured me, she had to look at him on the ultrasound again to make sure he actually was as big as he measured! We are relieved that he is doing so wonderfully and have only our Father in Heaven to thank for that...He sure is watching over our sweet boy! More good news...his head is down...thank goodness! Although it's a little further down than we'd like it and it's very uncomfortable! I remember feeling like this the week before Matthew was born...but I'm hoping to get at least another 2 weeks with Michael!
Since I wasn't sure what was going to happen today, I had Scott take a couple quick pictures before we left!

Of course, Matthew didn't smile at the camera, but at least he's looking! Honestly, I feel much bigger than the doctor was saying I was, but oh well!
So our little, big boy is still cooking...right where we want him! Thank you for all your prayers...they are definitely being heard and felt!