What has two thumbs and was admitted to the hospital?

Well it all started yesterday when I went in for my regular 30 week check-up with my OB. The Terbutaline I was taking to reduce my contractions stopped working and I started getting contractions consistently every 4 - 5 minutes that morning. My doctor did an internal exam and I am still not dilating which is great news, but she did send me over to the hospital to be monitored. Once there the monitor showed I was contracting every 5 minutes. I was given two shots of the Terbutaline and two pills of a new medicine called Procardia. Procardia is actually a blood pressure medicine, but it is also used to treat pre-term labor. After all of that I was still contracting on a regular basis, so they admitted me over night. The contractions eventually began to subside and were registering about once every forty minutes. I was released around 8am this morning. I am still getting contractions, so I am monitoring them at home. My doctor officially put me on bedrest effective today through at least October 12th. Fortunately it is modified bedrest, so I am not confined to bed 24/7. Fun times!

Here are a couple of pictures Tim took yesterday.


Here I am being monitored.



















Here is a picture showing my contractions (on the bottom) and Tyler's heartbeat (on the top).














Another picture of my contractions on the monitor, also registering the fact Tim was making me laugh the entire time. :)

30 Week Belly Pictures

Today we officially reached the 30 week mark or 32 on Tyler's schedule. ;) We drove down to Tim's mom and dad's and picked up the nursery furniture today! I can't wait to get it unboxed and moved up to his room. We are hoping to be able to do that tomorrow.

Here are a couple of belly shots from today:

29 Week Ultrasound and Baby Update

On Tuesday, Tim and I went to see the Maternal Fetal specialist for another ultrasound. As usual Tyler is still measuring exactly 2 weeks ahead. He's a big boy at 3lbs 10oz!!! My amniotic fluid is back down into normal levels which is great news. However, my doctor thought that the high fluid levels was the culprit to my contractions, so we still don't know what is causing those. I had to retake the 1 hour glucose test last week and I just barely failed it this time around. The cutoff my doctor uses is 130mg/dl and I was 135mg/dl. Go figure. So on Thursday, I went in and did the 3 hour glucose test. I should have those results on Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday we go back to see our regular doctor for our 30 week checkup.

Here are a couple of pictures of Tyler at 29 weeks 3 days (or 31 weeks 3 days according to his schedule - ha)

George Washington National Forest (GWNF) Camping/Wheeling

Travis, Tony, Marcelo, and I all went to GWNF to do some camping and jeeping. The women were going to come, but since Kelly's knocked up we figured all the bouncing around wouldn't be good for her or Tyler. So the weekend turned into a guy's trip. Travis and I left around 6:45pm Friday to head out on our 2 1/2 hour trip to the forest. After stopping at McDonald's to eat, Walmart to pick up a camping grill, and getting a little lost from the directions given to us we arrived about 11:00pm to set up camp. Tony and Marcelo made it there about 9:30am Saturday morning and we hit the "trails." One spot we stopped to "pose" for a few group shots on a rock. The trails were alright, but we found one area that was what we were hoping the entire place would be like. The section was only about 20 yards long, but the left side had a pretty decent drop off the trail and plenty of rocks to climb down. Everyone made it. I was the only one to try that side coming back up and it required the use of Tony's new winch. Coming up the other side was challenging, but everyone was able to make it up with the stacking of some rocks. We drove back up the hill and found a clearing to camp for the night. The next morning we chose to hit the spot again on the way out. The cb's made traveling back and forth better, especially when I found out that I can hook up headphones to mine so I can hear everyone with the doors off. I'll post more pictures when I get them (marcelo). Here is an e-mail I sent to someone looking for information on the forest and the trails (incase anyone else wants to know):
"Here is the information for the OHV trails at the Dry River Ranger District..... the site has directions, but they're a little off. I'll give you all the information I know because it's pretty hard to find on the web. When you go 33W off of 81 you drive about 10 miles out of the city of Harrisonburg (the road goes down to 1 lane). Take a right on 612 and drive about 6 miles. 612 will make a hard left which looks like a different road, but you need to take the hard left to stay on 612. A mile or so down the road you'll come to a stop sign where you make a left to stay on 612. Another 1/4 mile or so and you'll see Gospel Hill Church. There will be a sign that says ATV/OHV trails. Make a left directly after the church on FDR 72. You need to drive another 6 miles on FDR72, which is a rocky dirt road. Once you get up to the top of that you'll see a sign on the left for parking. Make that left and follow the road to the trail head. You'll come to a big opening that people park to offload their 4 wheelers. From there you'll see a trail straight ahead and a trail to the right. The trails go in V shape with one ending and the other going to 33. The left trail has some turnoff's that take you over to the power lines and the one to the right has some steep rocks towards the end that make it hard if you're trying to get back up unless you have a decent lift and a good spotter. It does make it quicker to get back out to 33 when you're leaving. You'll see the rock ledge and the steep drop off to the left. You'll know when you see it. There is a bypass to the right that is less drastic. Once you get to the end of that trail you're back on 33 and you can make a left to head back into Harrisonburg. Sorry if this is a bunch of information, but I figure it's better to have more than not enough. "

Tyler's First Football Experience

Watching the Steelers/Eagles Preseason Game at home. My Hines Ward jersey still fits... well sort of. :)

When did new home appliances become so exciting?!

Our new washer and dryer were delivered today!! We ordered the:

• LG 4.2 Cu. Ft. Ultra Capacity Front Load SteamWasher and
  
• LG 7.3 Cu. Ft. Ultra Capacity Electric Dryer with TrueSteam Technology

We were able to stack them giving us lots of storage space upstairs, which we desperately needed. I am already breaking them in washing the clothes Tim brought back from his 3 weeks in England. I can't wait to start washing all of Tyler's things! Those of you that are already mom's are probably laughing right now. Here are some pictures:

What a night...

Yesterday while at work I noticed I kept getting what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. They were sporadic at first, but then I started to notice that they were coming a bit more regular. So around 12:30pm I started tracking them. Turns out they were coming about every 30 minutes. I called my doctor around 3:00pm and the front desk said the nurse would call me as soon as she was available. Well at 3:30pm I was ready to leave work, so I decided to just go over to my doctor's office since it is across the street. When I got there I was able to talk to the nurse in person. My doctor was also in the office and said she would like to go ahead and do a pelvic exam just to be on the safe side. My cervix looks good and I have not dilated. She also did a fetal fibronectin (fFN) test, which is a protein produced by fetal cells and a type of fibronectin. It "leaks" into the vagina if a preterm delivery is likely to occur and can be measured in a diagnostic test. I will have those results on Monday. After the exam my doctor said she would like me to go over to labor and delivery at Reston Hospital to be monitored for a few minutes to make sure we weren't missing anything. I walked over to the hospital, they got me registered and took me back to a room to start the monitoring. Turns out I was actually having contractions every three minutes that were lasting approximately 40-45 seconds each. They weren't painful at all, just a bit uncomfortable. So my doctor ordered two shots of Terbutaline and a pill to stop the contractions. That seemed to do the trick. So she gave me a prescription for Terbutaline that I am supposed to take every four hours from now until whenever. I was told not to work today and to call the office Friday to let them know how I am feeling. Then on Wednesday I have my regular 28 week appointment where they will check me again. I was finally discharged from the hospital around 9:00pm. I am feeling fine and Tyler has been bouncing around the entire time. Tim is on his way home as I write this and we can't wait! Always something exciting... huh?

Just my luck!

Brits are nice. So nice they decided they wanted the navigation in the rental car more than I did. They took it in the hotel parking lot while I was eating dinner. It was still light out!! I found out when I got back to my room and saw the announcement on the TV. They smashed the drivers side window (great thing it’s raining today). Guess I get to see how the L-3 insurance works ;) Wish me luck!

I found out more information Today (08/06). I guess there was an off duty police officer in the parking lot when it happened. He was able to get the Registration Number (British for License Plate) of the vehicle and knew the people who took the GPS. I'm not really worried about it because insurance will cover it. They must be stupid thieves because they left my Oakleys sitting in the center console. Also, the Marriott was about get catch them on camera. I'm waiting for Hertz to come to come to the hotel to switch cars so I can drive to Molesworth and drop off my badge then head to Heathrow to turn in the car and go to the Hilton at the airport for the night. ONE MORE DAY!!