Fetal Fibronectin Test

Yesterday, I was feeling a little bit of cramping so Peter and I decided to run down to Abbott to have it checked out. Everything looked good! They did a test called a Fetal Fibronectin test, which tells you with 99.2% accuracy if you have a chance of delivering in the next 2 weeks. Basically, if the doctor finds no fFN, there is very little chance (less than 1%) of you delivering within a 2 week time frame. Our results were negative!!! No fFN! We are very thankful because 2 weeks will get us to that big 28 week goal!! (Though we are still shooting for 30+ weeks) One day at a time.
A cerclage can sometimes cause a false positive test, so we were thrilled to get a negative result. What a blessing!!! I had a quick ultrasound today and all of the girls look great. They have lots of fluid and room to grow. Baby A is a thumb sucker. :) We have a complete ultrasound on Thursday where they will estimate size and weight. We'll post an update after that appointment.
Thanks again for your continued prayers!

First Pumpkin

In the spirit of Halloween Ali and her mom decided to paint a pumpkin for the girls.

I will let the photo speak for itself.

Ali and I are going to carve pumpkins today for the family. Last year we had 2 pumpkins and this year we will have 5 pumpkins on the front steps. We are going to be a large target for the teenage boys in the neighborhood.

We will update again after our appointment on Thursday.

Week 25 Appointment

Praise God for another good appointment! The babies look great! They were having a gab session today...all facing each other, kicking and playing.
My cervix is still holding tight at the stitch. Please pray that it continues to hold strong!
Everything is looking good. We have a big appointment next Thursday. They will take another very close look at the babies and estimate their size and weight. Pray that they continue to grow healthy and strong.
We are on the countdown to week 28 which is a HUGE milestone for us. Pray that the next couple of weeks go smooth and quickly. We are so thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers. We are blessed with wonderful friends and family!
Ali

It's Flu Shot Season

Well, my arm is sore today since I got my annual flu shot as directed by our doctors.

Our doctors have told us that we will need to make sure that anyone that is around our house and/or kids this winter through the flu and cold season will need to be healthy since the kids will have weak immune systems. Even though getting a flu shot does not rule out other colds, etc. our doctors have told us to make sure our family and friends get flu shots as a start.

I was promised by the guy at the Minute Clinic that my arm soreness will go away quickly...

Thanks for obliging the already cautious parents!

Holding Tight

We had our weekly appointment today and it was another encouraging hour with the doctors.

The stitches are holding tight, all 3 babies are active and growing. We saw one of the girls practicing breathing, which is great. We are all still very optimistic that we can make it to 30 weeks, praise the Lord!

We got the hospital bed late last week so it has made life a little easier for Ali getting up and down all of the time.

We have another complete ultrasound in 2 weeks where they will check out all the girls in depth again for breathing, size, activity level, etc. At that point we will be at almost 27 weeks and heading into the final weeks before our 3 little angels bless us with their presence.

We have finally painted both rooms up stairs to start the process of changing from Ali's "dorm room" to the nursery and changing/rocking chair room. We are getting close to completing the basement so there is an extra bathroom that I can use now that we will have 4 females looking for bathroom time.

Thank you all again for all of the meals, calls, visits, etc. It is fun to see everything pop on the calendar!

Wednesday Update

We had our weekly appointment today and we got great news again, praise the Lord.

All 3 girls are looking great and the stitches are doing their job and holding tight. They do not want to admit Ali to the hospital yet since she is doing so well at home and there is less chance of infection at home.

Ali is looking more and more pregnant each day and with that it becomes harder and harder to get up off the couch each time to go to the bathroom. So they are looking in to getting us a hospital bed for the house so she can raise her self up and down easily with less strain on her body. Who knew all of this stuff was available? We will take it if we can get it!

We continue with the twice a day monitoring and the twice a week home visits by the nurses to keep us busy.

Continued thanks for all of the meals, calls, e-mails, prayers, etc. we can't express our appreciation enough.

Stay Tuned!

4 1/2 more weeks to 28 weeks and then the hard press to 30+ weeks.

Peter and Ali +3

A Busy Week

Well, of the past 8 days we have spent 5 of them at Abbott. We have become "frequent fliers." Ali had a good appointment on Wednesday. The stitches are holding tight and her cervix has sustained its length. The girls are all weighing around a pound each and growing strong, baby C is the smallest at 15 ounces and Baby B is the biggest at 1 lb. 3 ounces. Ali was still feeling a little crampy with contractions, so she is now being monitored 2 times a day over the telephone.
You have to love technology! She wears the monitor for an hour and then plugs it into the phone line and calls the nurse hotline. The information is transmitted, and then the nurses call and let us know what they see and let us know if we need to get in the car to head to the hospital, or if we are okay to stay at home.

We are continuing to hold out for early December.

Hopefully the next 8 days will provide some more restful days and nights here at home.

Thanks again for all of the prayers, calls and e-mails.

Peter and Ali +3