Photos....Mom to be, nursery and more

Back at Home...32.5 week belly

So Meghan made it through her hospital stay and is back at home (she was discharged on Tuesday, July 22). Below is a 32.5 week belly photo.

In the hospital....again.

Well, 3 weeks of bedrest at home went by fast and Meghan was starting to get used to the daily bedrest routine...

- Breakfast in bed (strawberry-banana smoothie, or granola/berries, or cereal/fresh fruit)
- Catching up on the morning news with Meredith and Matt on the Today Show
- Shower (or not, depending on her mood!)
- Trip downstairs...moving to the Living Room sofa
- Lunch on the sofa
- Afternoon of crosswords and books and bad TV
- Dinner on the sofa
- Trip upstairs...time for bed
- A night of sleep interrupted by 37 trips to pee
- Repeat....

...But the bedrest at home was not to last. Early on Tuesday (7/15) morning, she awoke with very painful and frequent contractions. We waited for an hour or so, monitoring contractions to see if they went away. After waiting it out without any sign of improvement, we called the Doctor and was told to head to the hospital. They measured her 3 cm dilated with contractions every 5-7 minutes, and immediately gave her medicine to help calm the contractions. Luckily, it is now Friday (7/18) and the babies are still snug in her belly. But now she is on bedrest in the hospital, and the daily routine has gotten significantly less fun. Not to mention that she misses her pups, Duchess and Dixie. The Doctors say they are going to keep her here until Tuesday (7/25), since that is when she will be 32 weeks. At that point, they will decide if she is going to stay here, go home, or deliver. We're both hoping and praying for Option #2!!!

Luckily the trip to the hospital came after her Baby Shower which was on Saturday, 7/12. The location of the shower had to be changed to our house so that she could stay comfortably on the sofa. The planners of the shower, led by Meghan's sister Chele, did a great job organizing food, decorations, flowers, etc., and everyone had a great time. We thank everyone that was able to attend. It was a great afternoon. We didn't get pictures with our camera and so don't have any to upload, but we will upload some when we get them from others.

Watermelon smuggler???.....

....or maybe just a Baby Mama who is 29 weeks pregnant with twins....your call.

Uh oh....a brief scare, a hospital stay, and bed rest

On Monday, June 16, we arrived home from our beach vacation after making the long drive from Washington, DC (we drove from NC to DC on Sunday the 15th). Meghan was having some regular back pain and was generally uncomfortable. That night, around 3 am, she woke up very sick and got sick several times over the course of the morning. When she called the doctor that morning, she told Meghan to go to the hospital. We drove to the hospital and found out that Meghan was 1 cm dilated and was having contractions 2 to 3 minutes apart. That's when the scary part began....

Meghan was started on an IV to get her hydrated, some drugs to slow down the contractions, and she was injected with steroids to help develop the babies' lungs in case they were born (at this point they were less than 28 weeks). They then transferred her to Beth Israel, which is clearly a good hospital, since it is the Official Hospital of the Boston Red Sox....

Meghan spent the next week in the hospital, being monitored for contractions and having lots of attention from the nurses. They think she got very dehydrated from the virus that she caught and the resulting vomiting, and that may have caused the contractions. Happily, on Tuesday the 24th, she had an ultrasound and the doctor declared her stable enough to be released to home...where she is right now...on bed rest. Thanks to all who visited her in the hospital and said prayers for the health of the babies and the Baby Mama. We hope the babies stay inside the human incubator (i.e. Meghan) for another 6 to 8 weeks!

Below is a photo of us in the hospital....since our 4th Wedding Anniversary was June 19th, this is the only official photo taken during our 4th anniversary stay at the Hotel Beth Israel!

Outer Banks Beach Trip

On Friday, June 6, we got the OK from the Doctor to go on our vacation to the Outer Banks. We rented a beach house in Corolla with Meghan's family and were looking forward to lots of time on the beach and next to the pool!!

We stopped in DC on the way and went out to dinner with Chele, Jen Dallas and the Haykens (complete with little Jack!) It was great to catch up with old friends and to meet the new Hayken... what a cutie! Below is a photo from the dinner:

Once we arrived in NC, we settled in for a week on the beach. It was a relaxing vacation, where Meghan spent a lot of time keeping cool in the pool and elevating her legs on the pool chairs! The dogs enjoyed themselves as well! See some photos below from the trip:

We were also very surprised by a family Baby Shower, complete with favors like small baby bottles with blue and pink candy and a cake made by the same person who had made our wedding cake almost 4 years ago! Below is a picture from the shower.

26 week (almost) Ultrasound Update

No pictures this time, but we wanted to post an update on the babies with info from the last ultrasound. The little boy now weighs 1 lb 13 oz and the little girl is a solid 1 lb 9 oz. Both heartbeats were strong, and we saw the little girl kicking the boy in the head during the ultrasound, so they are already fighting!! Foreshadowing of things to come??