Happy Easter

Gaines and I are still here and still together but we did have a little scare last night. After my family left with Reed, my nurse hooked me up for my nightly monitoring. Well Mr. Gaines decided to drop his heart rate a couple of times so I got to stay on the monitor for a good bit longer and talked to two doctors. Drops in his heart rate are normal because of the lack of fluid. One of the purposes of the fluid it to float the cord. If you don't have much fluid the baby can "step" on the cord and cause his heart rate to drop. This is nothing new to us as it happens all the time and is expected. Last night he dropped it pretty low (I think it hit in the 80s...120-160 is the preferred range) and it took it a little longer than normal to come back up. That type of drop only happened twice but it was enough to send two doctors in here.

Anytime a doctor comes in that isn't on regular rounds (at the crack of dawn) it scares us. This first doctor just basically told us that I was going to have to stay on longer and watch to see if it kept happening. He explained that it could also have been Gaines moving around and the machine picking up my heart rate for a minute. Either way, we held our breath and stayed on the monitor. A while later that doctor and his attending came in. Now, if one doctor is scary...two doctors is really scary. I just knew that this was it. He was coming in to tell me they needed to take the baby. Luckily, that doctor thought everything was ok. He agreed that the drops were concerning but by the time he came in, Gaines heart rate looked "very reassuring" and like the "heart rate of a 35 weeker". Hopefully this morning's monitoring will go well. Please pray that Gaines' heart rate stays in the acceptable range.

Beau and I decided that this was God's way of reminding us that He is in control. After 25 days of nothing, you start to get a little bit of cautious confidence and maybe aren't relying on God quite as much as you were. I was quickly reminded that I'm not responsible for these positive results we've been having...God is. It was also a wake-up call for us that you can have those 25 good days but eventually something is going to happen. The younger doctor from last night reminded us that even though we are so much better off than we were, almost 28 weeks is still very early for a baby to be born. He listed some of the various problems with a baby born so early...thanks doctor...just what I wanted to hear.

In other medical news, I am now having my 3rd gestational diabetes test this morning. I have no idea why and neither does anyone else around here. The only explanation I can get is that they normally do it around 28 weeks for the best results. Who knows? Please pray that I pass.

Also, I have a sonogram scheduled for Monday. Please pray that Gaines is growing and developing as he should (or ahead of schedule!) and that there is a good leval of fluid around him.

My breakfast is here so I guess I'll run. I decided pancakes would be an appropriate Easter breakfast.

Oh, did the picture of Reed yesterday not melt your heart? That little lovefest lasted about a minute but it did wonders for my spirit.

Happy Easter!

Brittany