We're Blowin this Pop Stand

On Friday Megan began her 32nd week of the pregnancy and as a "congratulations" for making it to this milestone the hospital felt that with Megan's track record in the hospital, her stability and the gestational timing, that she could go home and finish bed rest there. Now, while we have the luxury of being in our own place, Megan is not allowed to really do anything different than at the hospital. She can lay in the bed or on the couch or (if we get a padded lounge chair) she can even lay outside on the lounge chair for about an hour a day for some vitamin D. So if anyone has a padded lounge chair that we can borrow for a few weeks that would be great!
Megan is still only allowed to get up to use the restroom and shower, but at least we are in our own home and she can hang out with our cat! One of the main difference is that while she was in the hospital she had a TOCO to monitor the contractions24/7 and now that we are at home it is up to us to pay attention and track how many contractions she has. She can easily start contracting too much (the criteria is 2 hours in a row of 8) and we could be re-admitted to the hospital, so please keep praying that things stay calm for our little babies and Megan's uterus! Megan is on two oral medications for contractions both of which she was taking while in the hospital.

We are on day 4 at home and it has been pretty great! In total we spent 60 days in captivity at the hospital and it was amazing to see how God worked in our lives, and in the lives of our babies. We truly can attribute the fact that she still has these babies cooking, to Him!

Since we have been home, I, along with help from my mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law started to work on the babies room (we are so blessed to have such an caring and helpful family). We painted over the past two days and i think it is looking good!All we need are decorations and bedding, putting the cribs together, and getting a rocker for the room and we will be good to go! The help was amazing especially since i was at work half the time! Megan says the ONLY thing she misses at the hospital is the ice. They do have the best ice!

Thank you all again for your prayers and support. Every time you prayed, we felt it and God heard it. "Thank you" doesn't seem like enough. Megan and I both can't believe those 2 months are behind us.
Oh, one last thing...we won't be 100% sure on the names until we see their faces but here is what we have been calling them for about 6 weeks.................
Kaden William (William after William Randall and also after Randy's father) and Kaleiah Hope (pronounced ku-lay-uh).

WEEK 32:
This week is a milestone of sorts: Babies born after this time tend to do well even if they are premature. Nearly 10 percent of babies are born before week 37, when they officially come to term. At 32 weeks, all major organs are functioning except the lungs, which may need further time to develop. But your little one doesn't exactly look like a rosy cherub--she weighs about 3 pounds, and her thin, wrinkly skin hasn't filled out with the layers of fat that develop later. Luckily, in many cases, all she'll need is some time in an environmentally controlled isolette to become the chubby angel you imagined.

Approximately:
Length: 18-19 in.

Weight: 4 lb.

We will find our the weight and see how they are doing on Oct 8.

31 Weeks!

Quick updates from week 29- had a growth ultrasound on September 10th and found out that the babies weights are Baby A: 3lbs 2oz and Baby B: 2lbs 14oz. Also, they took her off of a medication that she had been taking all along for contractions because the babies fluid in the amniotic sack was getting way too low-a side affect of that med. We learned this week that the fluid had increased since being off that med and it was such good news!
We also had a cervix ultrasound and we found out that her cervix has lengthened to 2 cm from 0.7cm when Megan arrived at 23 weeks. Anything above 3 cm is what its supposed to be but we'll take 2! Progress is progress! Also Megan had a Fetal Fibronectin test that week (the test we took our first week here that came back neg.) Megan says it's very painful so she doesn't look fwd to them. That test came back skewed and they had to throw the test away... Isn't God funny... we were praying it wouldn't be positive...and it wasnt. It wasn't negative but it wasn't positive either :)

Week 31-
Yesterday we had another Fetal Fibronectin test yesterday and it came back positive (not the desired result of this test). That means last night Megan had to have the first steroid shot and tonight was her second and final. The steroids are to help develop the babies lungs to develop a bit quicker in case of pre-term delivery.
Also starting about 4 days ago Megan started complaining about lower back aches that persisted pretty much all day. The Dr.'s and nurses said it was pretty common and unless it came WITH stronger contractions it was pretty much nothing to worry about. As each day passed it got worse, messages, heat packs didn't work. 2 nights ago and yesterday she was in so much pain she didn't sleep for more that about 4 hours. I have never seen her in so much pain, it was excruciating. She was drained from the lack of sleep. Finally yesterday they gave her a concoction of meds that really did the trick. A muscle relaxer, Motrin and vicodin. Thank God she was finally out of pain and finally slept last night. Also, she woke up this morning to no more pain! The pain was most likely caused from a pinched nerve, the growing babies therefor a growing stomach and or just the result of being bed ridden for 2 months now. We are just so grateful the pain is gone.
I tell you, there is never a dull day here. She goes through so much! Weather it be tests, shots, new things happening to her body that can cause a scare, tons of contraction...everyday there is something new. But, we are getting closer and closer to the end and the important thing is that the babies have stayed put! That's all we can ask for.

Oh, some great news for Megan is she was granted bathroom privileges (now she can use a real toilet like the rest of us! AND she gets to take a shower (sitting down of course) twice a week! Things we for sure take for granted.

My Babies

They're entering a growth spurt. For the next eight weeks, they'll gain weight faster than he increases in length, at the rate of about half a pound a week. The bigger they get, the harder it will be to "see" them on ultrasound and get a good estimate of his size--the margin of error increases to 15 percent by the end of the third trimester. But they're definitely growing fast, and you'll notice that his kicks will start to feel more like squirming as they runs out of room to roam.

APROX WEIGHT: 3.5 LBS

APPROX LENGTH: 17.5

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Thank you for your continued prayers. Here is a pic of her belly at 31 weeks (fresh out of the shower :)

We are in our 30's!!!

PRAISE GOD. We have now made it into the 30's! I am 30 weeks exactly, today. All I can do is thank God. We are praying for 5-7 more before we meet these miracles but would even be grateful for 2-4 more.
We have quite a bit to update (and will do so in the next few days) but I usually leave the blogging to Randy as it's very hard and awkward for me to type laying down and on my side. To all of you I haven't written back to via email, myspace etc please know it's not bc I don't care or don't want to...it's just very hard. Anyways, here are a few pics of my belly at 30 weeks. I got a few minutes today with my monitor off so we seized the moment.Also, my awesome Dr. was SO thoughtful and brought me cupcakes to celebrate.Not just any cupcakes but Sprinkles! AND my two favorites, carrot cake and coconut :)She is so great. THANK YOU as always for your prayers, just look how they are being answered. Our God is amazing.
Love, The Crafts

Week 29

Week 29

Baby's Length: 15.75-16.25 in.

Baby's Weight: 2.5-2.75 lbs.

Baby's Size: Basketball


This past friday we hit 29 weeks and as a treat, Megan got to go outside for the first time in 5 1/2 weeks. On top of that she got to see her favorite kitty Riley! It definitely was a process as Megan had to be switched from her bed to a gurney and then was wheeled outside. On my end, i went home, grabbed a kitty carrier and tried to put Riley in it. He willingly went in the half open box, but when it was time to put the lid on i had a reality check... we have a BIG cat. So big that he no longer fits in the cat carrier... So i did what any person would do; strapped a leash and harness on him and put him in the car. I didnt realize that in his nervous car ride he would shed everywhere! Despite the meowing and hair clean up, it was worth it to see Megan outside and enjoying the sun with Riley!!! Here are a few pics from that day!

Love,
Randy Megan +2

Week 28!

Friday was "the big day." It was the first milestone that we had been aiming for- 4 and a half weeks. It's the goal I kept in mind from day one. Randy and I talked about it every day. Whenever I got discouraged about how much longer we had here, he would help bring the focus back and help me remember short term goals are what we need to think about and week 28 was the first one.
I knew we would make it, there was never any doubt.
The Dr.'s would come in everyday and just explain how much better things would get once we hit 28 and also how the survival of the babies increases tremendously as well as long term disabilities etc decreasing. I also had hopes of things changing a bit as the Dr.'s had said for 2 weeks that at 28 weeks they planned to take my IV out which meant no more magnesium among other changes.

The day before I turned 28 weeks (8/28) I was very anxious, good and bad anxious. I was extremely excited that we had made it that far, that we could actually realize an accomplished goal, and all the possible privileges that may come along with reaching the milestone. I was also anxious about being taken off Mag as the first go around was NOT successful. Due to all the anxiety I was feeling I did have to get a shot of turbutaline that afternoon.

Along came the "big day" and they took my IV out bright and early at 7:00Am. That IV had in for 9 days which is twice as long as any of my other ones and they normally leave it in for 7 at the most but my doctor was trying to eek out a few more days because she knew it was coming out and she didn't want to have poke me again to get a new IV for just a day or two. They started me on a new oral medicine to help with contractions, which at first didn't seem to have any effect so about an hour later I had to have another one of those shots. Off and on all day I was contracting more than usual but for the most part each hour was under the allotted "maximum" number of contractions I could have (8).

One of the privileges of getting off mag was that I no longer had a fluid restriction, so as soon as the IV came out my nurse asked if I wanted to have my water jug filled up (previously I was only allowed to have a 1/4 of the mug each hour). Of course I said yes and I have been able to drink as much as I want, when I want since.

Later that afternoon, Randy (who stayed with me all day because it was our special milestone) gave me a sponge bath and for the first time my nurse let me take off my TOCO (contraction monitor) and for the first time in 4 1/2/ weeks I was COMPLETELY free of any wires or tubes!!! Immediately after my bath we seized the moment with no monitor on my belly to take a quick picture of 28 weeks. Because I lay in bed so much I didn’t really know what my belly looked like or how big it had gotten.

That night to celebrate our milestone my mother-in-law brought my favorite food to the hospital for dinner. King Crab Legs (which I hadn't had my whole pregnancy) and Filet Mignon along with my favorite green beans and a loaded bake potato! Yum!

I don't know if it was the excitement of the dinner, or if it was because it was the first day off Mag but soon after dinner I had to have another shot...

... It has now been almost 4 full days and I am still off the mag which has been amazing! Although I have had 4 shots in these 4 days, it has sort of been a whole new world for a couple of reasons:
1. Bedside Commode privileges- no bed pan!
2. No fluid restriction
3. I can wear whatever I want because no IV, blood draws, way less assements... Which means I had Randy go home and get my favorite shirt of his to wear.
4. And the best perk of 28 weeks was that they let me take a sit-down shower!!!!!!! While it was a non-luxurious shower, I sat on a special bench in the shower and I could only take about 5 minutes. Just in and out. This meant I got to walk to the bathroom (which I haven't done for 5 weeks) and while its only 10 feet away it felt SO good to be able to get out of bed and walk! I will never again take for granted the little things like taking a shower. The hot water and being able to wash my hair and body at the same time was awesome.

Finally, since we have reached 28 weeks, they are now monitoring the babies heart beats for 20 minutes at a time and today after our monitoring our nurse made a comment that our babies hearts looked/sounded great and that they were very mature. When we asked what that meant she said that their heart rhythms were monitoring more like a baby that was 32 weeks than 28. That was just good to hear because we want any advantage possible for our little bundles of joy!

All of the little privileges that we have been able to enjoy recently have been such a blessing and we continue to praise God for each day and we continue to place or focus on him.

As always we thank you and continue to ask for your prayers, they are obviously being heard!

Love,
Megan and Randy + 2

Randy feeding me breakfast bc I was too out of it. Also, sunglasses bc the light hurt my eyes so much (this is from our first week)













The first time I was allowed to drink that much













My mom, keeping me company













Randy, washing my hair













Me at 28 weeks






































Week 28 Celebratory Dinner













Calendar we have up in our room to count the days.