Update

A lot has transpired here in the past couple of days. This could be a really long entry, so bear with me!
First of all - the appointment on Monday went really well for the most part. My mother-in-law Linda and I went in and they checked the babies measurements. They are looking great! Baby A is measuring at 3 lbs. 4 oz, and Baby B is measuring at 3 pounds. I was blown away with how big they've gotten! Dr. McCoy said they are measuring closer to 30 week babies than 28 week babies so that is great news! We were able to capture some 3D pictures, but I need to scan them into my computer so they will be coming shortly. They are truly amazing. I REALLY think that they look like Chris! I got choked up looking at them and seeing their perfect little noses, lips, eyes. They are just precious. I also got my dose one of the steroid Betamethasone to help jump start the surfactant in their lungs and get them developing faster. The final part of the day was to do another Fetal Fiber Nectin test to indicate if labor in the next two weeks is a possibility. I had to call back later in the day to get the results. My cervix was also checked and indicated that it had grown even weaker over the past week. As the Doctor said, now it's just time to get greedy and hope for one more week after one more week!
I left feeling really good about everything though and feeling confident that my boys are in a good place and getting to be of good size.
I did call back in the afternoon and was told that my Fetal Fiber Nectin test did come back positive. The results of the positive can be so easily skewed, so I don't invest a lot of energy and time into it, however it is just one more thing to be watchful for.
I went back Monday afternoon to my in-laws house and hung out there until Chris was able to come and get me after class that evening. It was so great to see him again! Him and I came home and went to bed around 11 Monday evening. I couldn't fall asleep (which has become a pretty common occurrence) and started noticing around 12 that I was having contractions that seemed to be pretty close together. I decided to start keeping track of them around 12:30. At first they were about 9 minutes apart. As I kept monitoring them across the hour or so I noticed that they were getting closer and going to 8 minutes, than 7, than 6. By 6 minutes, at 2 a.m. I woke up Chris and told him what I was experiencing. We both laid there in the dark for awhile and tried to decide what course of action we could take. As we laid there I noticed that they were coming 5 minutes apart, so up we hopped and headed off to the hospital! In the car my contractions were coming every 3 minutes, so we were glad to be on our way.
We arrived at L & D at 3:15 and they weighed me, had me use the restroom, and then once again hooked me up to the fetal and contraction monitors. The machine detected what I thought, and my contractions were three minutes apart. The boys themselves looked great, but the contractions - not so much. They saw that I was a bit dehydrated so they inserted an i.v. to provide me with fluids. They also gave me two pills of Nifedipine, which is a pill used to help stop contractions. I laid there for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours and we did notice that my contractions were going down. The on call Dr. then wanted to do a cervix check on me and see if there was possibly any dilation. He said it appeared it looked closed, but upon further investigation he noticed that I was in fact dilated 1-2 cm and was even able to feel the top of my little boy A's head! He welcomed me to the hospital and told me that I would be getting admitted for a little while. After he left to get me my hospital gown I broke down in tears. It was all so sudden! I didn't expect that I would be dilated, but as he said I may have been dilated for a long time now. Nobody has checked me since October 14th, so it's hard to say how long it's been that way.
So...into the hospital gown I went (this was about 6 a.m. now) and into my new room I was lead. They laid me in bed and hooked me up to monitors again and then gave me the second round of the Betamethasone.
The wonderful thing was that every Tuesday morning at 8 all 9 doctors in the practice meet together to discuss current patients in the hospital and their status as any of the 9 doctors may be working with us. It was nice to know that my regular doctor was included on what was going on with me and was able to be a part in the decision making process of my situation.
So all day yesterday I laid there in the hospital hooked up to iv's of fluid and also an antibiotic. I was put on a clear liquid diet just in case I would have to go into surgery.
The nurses and doctors were AMAZING the entire time and took such incredible care of us. They answered all of our questions and we never felt rushed or put off at all.
Throughout the day the boys hearts looked great on the monitor and my contractions seemed to be under control, so they moved me to a separate part of labor and delivery that is reserved for mothers who are not in labor, but are expecting. I was put on monitors throughout the evening but luckily was put back on a regular diet just in time for dinner. I was starving! :) Last night they took all the monitors off of me so that I was able to sleep better, and they even gave me a sleeping pill as I hadn't slept more than 1 hour in the previous 24 hours. I slept so well last night! This morning the on call Dr. came in and asked me if I wanted to go home! I was thrilled. He didn't feel that I was showing any signs at this point of going in to labor and that I would continue to take the Nifedipine at home for contractions for the next few days. After the third day I will be taking the pills as needed if I feel contractions coming on stronger.
I am now home, had lunch, showered, and I am back in bed. It is just extremely important that I get as much rest as possible and really take it easy. Because of this I am going to tuck myself away and not have any visitors or phone calls for awhile. I just don't want to take any chances with getting too worn out or pushing myself too much during this crucial time. I do welcome your emails or comments on this blog. We do know how loved we are and it helps so much to know! We love you all back and look forward to the day when we can be around you all again and show off our new little bundles! Chris and I both feel real peace about this situation. I apologize for not letting anyone besides our parents know what was going on in the past 48 hours. We didn't want to worry anyone until we knew more information. We do feel really good though now about where things stand and how the boys are doing. Your prayers and thoughts are continued to be welcomed as we head into the last however many weeks of this pregnancy. We are thankful for each and every day that I am being given to keep them safe inside, and we will see when their arrival date will be!
Much love to each of you. Pictures of the boys and maybe a belly shot or two will follow within a day or so.
-Beth-