Fall

The weather this week has been wonderful! It has only dropped about 15 degrees, but the absence of scorching heat makes me want to pull out all the fall decorations, unpack my winter clothes (that wouldn't fit anyway), and bake something pumpkin. I just love fall! Dustin and I started dating in the fall, we got married in the fall, and our first babies will be born in the fall. I love the holidays, the weather, the sports, the decorations, the food, and the overall feel of fall. So when I walked outside one afternoon earlier this week (let's not dwell on the fact that I hadn't been out of the house until 3:00 in the afternoon) and a cool breeze hit me, I felt all the excitement of fall moving in. Never mind the fact that it will be back up in the mid 90's this weekend - I'm enjoying it while it lasts. It's at least a ray of hope that the seemingly never-ending Texas summer will eventually fade.

We went to the doctor yesterday and I was a bit anxious about what they might say. I was a little discouraged after last week's appointment mostly because I felt so great and would have never guessed that anything might be wrong. So when we found out that I was having contractions that were causing my cervix to thin and there was a concern about preterm labor, it just took me by surprise. I have spent the last week cringing at every contraction, wondering what effect it might be having and waiting to go back to see if things were staying the same or getting worse. So I was very relieved yesterday to find out that while I'm still having contractions, my cervix has not thinned and everything is under control...for now. I'll be going every week from here on out to be monitored and have an ultrasound to measure fluid levels and blood flow. They will measure the babies for growth every other week, so we don't have any new measurements this week. The babies looked great, the fluid levels were great, and the dopplars were normal, which means we made it one more week. Every day and week we make it now is a huge blessing!

At my very first appointment in Lubbock, they immediately started talking about the possibility of me being in the hospital towards the end of the pregnancy and actually gave me the time frame of around 28 weeks (I'm 28 weeks and 5 days today). I was surprised (and appalled) at the idea of spending so much time in the hospital and didn't really understand the reasoning behind that. It was explained a little better yesterday. My doctor really isn't concerned about all of the preterm labor stuff. What he is concerned about is the still very serious risk and threat of TTTS. This disease can still effect us - it's just a matter of catching it as soon as it develops and weighing the dangers of delivering early vs. the dangers of the disease. He said that babies delivered early with no other problems have a much better chance than babies delivered later, but sick from the effects of TTTS. He said babies born at 28 weeks have an 85% chance of survival, 32 weeks have a 95% chance of survival, 34 weeks is 99.9% - the same as a full-term baby, and at 36 weeks, the babies would most likely get to come home at the same time as me. At some point in time, they will determine that I need to be monitored every day to watch for the signs of TTTS to ensure that we don't give this disease time to effect the babies. The fact that we live 90 miles from the hospital is also a factor in this. This disease is totally pregnancy related, it's not something that will effect them after birth (unless it is untreated and allowed to progress during the pregnancy). I don't know if this all makes sense, but it helped me to understand and accept the whole idea of the hospital.

But since things are going so well right now...we get to go to Iraan this weekend! They are having a baby shower for us and I am so excited! I really thought we would be down there a lot more now that we live so much closer, but it hasn't happened that way unfortunately. It's still nice to be so close and when things settle down (is that even a possibility) on down the road, I'm sure we'll be abe to be there a whole lot more often than in the past.

Sorry to be so long-winded...

Thank you for checking in on us!

Love,
The Grigsbys