I'm Home!!

Good grief. This whole thing is just wild, and my emotions are frazzled. For the last three days, I have been weeping uncontrollably (just ask sweet Nick. I may or may not have woke him up from crying so hard last night...um, oops?) and just sure I was headed to the hospital. Today? Tears of joy. Lena's fluid is back up to 1.6 today (up from .5 on Tuesday) and her blood flow is still "ok"!! Praise God! I am just in shock!!  We still need her fluid level to be back above 2 to be in the "safe zone," but the fact that it is back up so much is definitely cause to celebrate. My blood pressure was actually good today too and my preeclamptic lab work came back completely normal (meaning I'm not at risk for preeclampsia right now, which is a huge win). My cervix is still being kind of tricky, and was fluctuating between 14 and 32, but did hold steady in the upper 20's/lower 30's for a good portion of the time Annie was monitoring it. So, Dr. Grant was okay with that for today and said I didn't have to go to the hospital to get a mag drip. Suffice it to say I was pumping my fists and cheering ("I'm going home!! Girls! I'm going home!! This is my best day!" Very mature. Very adult-like.) with all of my people on the way out.

Speaking of my people, one of you ratted me out to them that I've been keeping a blog, so I had to confess to them that I talk about them like they're my very best friends (um, they are) because now they're probably going to read this and see what a maniac I am. But it's true. Annie, Jamie, Diane, Merritt, Mari, Dr. Grant, and the rest of the team - I am totally obsessed with you all and think the world of you. Working at a high risk office has to be one of the most stressful jobs, where delivering sad, hard news is probably a daily occurrence for you, and yet you handle it with such grace and poise. From the time I check in with Merritt to the time I check out with Mari, I feel like I have been treated with such kindness, and even on the hard days you help me find something to laugh about. Truly. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!! You have made the last 16 weeks so much easier on all of us, and we wouldn't want to be in anyone else's hands but yours. Also, if you read back through this and find my reporting of the medical facts to be inaccurate, I'm super sorry. I try to be so good at retelling what you tell me, but it's always a really lot of information. And well, I haven't used my thinking brain in weeks and it's turning to mush.

So, I haven't posted updated pictures of the little guffers in a while, but we got some good ones today, so here you are:

This is sweet Amos's profile. Isn't he so handsome?! That "bubble" he's blowing? Oh, that's Oliver's head. They are all up in each other's business these days, and it's so precious. I envision them wrestling around already and feel like this is a sneak peak into what they're going to be like in the future.

This. This is tiny peanut girl, Lena. We haven't gotten a good picture of her in SO long. But today? She was actually wiggling around a little bit as if to assure Grandma  (my emotional support for today's appointment) and I that she's okay, and Annie was able to capture this photo of her (with her head face down on the right and her cute little spine running across the top of the picture). I'm so, so grateful that my mom and I got to see her squirm a bit today, and I will treasure this picture in the days and weeks ahead. On the days I worry about her and wonder if she and I can do this, I will look at this and remember what a fierce baby she is and trust that she's fighting even harder than I am to make it.

This is little Mavis's precious skeletor face looking right at us. I just love her. She's the one closest to the exit and has the job of holding all the other kids up. At least that's how I envision it working. I feel like she is going to be strong and feisty and boss the other babies around for the rest of their lives. I like that about her.

Sweet friends. I really can't thank you enough for the outpouring of encouragement, support, and prayers you have offered us, especially in the last three days. I am 1000% confident that Lena and I got good reports today because of you, and Nick and I couldn't be more grateful for the love you continually show us. Thank you for fighting alongside us, lifting us up in prayer, and traveling this crazy road through all the ups and downs for these last 5 months with us. For today, we take comfort in knowing that things are better, and we will enjoy that while we can. God is so good to us.