Two months

Today is both the 31 week mark and two full months in the hospital. We can both feel this experience getting a bit tougher, purely due to the length of our time here, but we're committed to pushing through and staying as long as necessary.

Now that the nursery is finished, I've recruited my friend Lindsey to go shopping with me this week for the day-to-day stuff (bottles, wipes, etc.). Looking forward to getting that box checked and glad for the help because I have no idea what I'm doing.

Thanks as always for everyone's prayers and support. We're so blessed.

My game, my rules

OK, since the Seahurst teachers didn't get the blog URL before the pool closed down, here's what we're gonna do. I picked 3 dates at random and assigned them to the Seahurst faculty. If they win, I'll get them the money and they can have a feed in their staff meeting. Of course, I used the RAND function in Excel to generate the dates at random so no one can accuse me of using inside info to bias the pool. Yep, he's a nerd.

New entry list ...

Nurse Kelly G. - October 2
Ringy - October 3
Barb Ryan - October 5
Kari "I don't put my name on my paper" Robins - October 8
Rick's Mom - October 9
Kristen Davis - October 10
Seahurst Teachers - October 12
Shane McGraw - October 13
Cousin Jeanie - October 15
Lindsey Baker - October 16
Jenn Siegrist - October 17
Melissa "Southern Fried" Chickering - October 23
Lisa Parish - October 25
Annette Estel - October 27
Seahurst Teachers - October 28
Christie Fix - October 30
Ruth Anne - October 31
Nancy Estep - November 1 and 2 ... her quote: "It could happen :)"
BT - November 3
Seahurst Teachers - November 4

Teacher ... busted

If you don't put your name on your paper, you don't get credit for your work. If you posted this comment, please post a comment to this posting letting me know.

Anonymous said...

I am saying March 2nd. That is my Bday - but that seems like an unreasonable request.

I am going to have to say Oct. 8!
A teacher just knows these things.

Hazmat suits ... well, sorta

Yesterday we hit the 30 week mark. We are so excited about that. This date was just a far-off dream for us a few weeks ago.

Also, today is 8 weeks in the hospital for us. Shortest 10 years of our lives.

In her continuing effort to relive the plagues of Egypt, Chris now has shingles (adult chickenpox). It is isolated to a patch on her lower back. They are treating it and the pain from it seems bearable. I am thinking about painting the outside of the hospital doorway with lambs blood to fend off any further plagues (BTW, if you don't understand this reference, you need to get you a bible). Shingles can only be transmitted in the form of chickenpox to people who have not had chickenpox. Of course, she's handling it like a trooper as she's dealt with all of this.

Here are the signs on the outside of her door warning of impending doom for anyone who hasn't had chickenpox ...


NOTE: Birth day pool closes at midnight tomorrow (see below). Please do not pick a date that has already been taken.

Birth day pool update

OK, here's the latest on the birth day pool. Pool entry closes this Wednesday.

Nurse Kelly G. - October 2
Ringy - October 3
Barb Ryan - October 5
Kari "I don't put my name on my paper" Robins - October 8
Rick's Mom - October 9
Kristen Davis - October 10
Shane McGraw - October 13
Cousin Jeanie - October 15
Lindsey Baker - October 16
Jenn Siegrist - October 17
Melissa "Southern Fried" Chickering - October 23
Lisa Parish - October 25
Annette Estel - October 27
Christie Fix - October 30
Ruth Anne - October 31
Nancy Estep - November 1 and 2 ... her quote: "It could happen :)"
BT - November 3

Check out the new picture on the right.

Birth day pool

Thus far, we've had the following votes for the birth day ...

Rick's Mom - October 9
Lisa Parish - October 25
Kristen Davis - October 10
Jenn Siegrist - October 17

Place your vote via the Comments and if someone gets it right, they'll get a crisp $50 bill from me to celebrate the grand occasion.

Contest open to legal U.S. residents (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and all other U.S. territories and possessions). Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Employees of failing financial institutions are encouraged to enter to supplement their unemployment benefits. Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates are prohibited from entry because they make stupid commercials.

Hospital day 50 !!!!

Chris and I were talking last night about how amazing it is that we've been here 50 days as of today. As expected in situations like this, in some ways it seems like forever and in some ways it seems like yesterday that she was admitted.

She had a good ultrasound yesterday. Everything is stable. Our next goal is to make it to October 1. My Mom has declared that the babies should be born on her birthday, October 9, so we'll see how much pull she has.

29 weeks and counting ...

Update

Not much to update. Things are quiet, exactly as we want. Today is our 45th day in the hospital.

Only drama is that my air mattress got a hole in it. We'll take that kinda drama.

Thanks as always for everyone's prayers and support.

Quick clarification

If you send something to Chris at the hospital, please send it to Christine Estep, not Christine Grimes. Some of the Grimes mail hasn't made it to her, as she is under Estep in the hospital.

Great ultrasound

Well, we hit the first big goal, 28 weeks. Very exciting day for us.

We've been a bit nervous about Chris' ultrasound today because she's been having more contractions lately, but it went very well. The babies are both just under three pounds, which is really good for 28 weeks. Both babies' amniotic fluid levels have increased and her cervix has remained stable. So we might be here a bit longer, after all.

Nursery pretty much got finished yesterday. All of the big stuff is complete. I have a few small things to tie up. Turned out pretty good, considering it was designed and decorated by a couple of dumb dudes.

Blog appearance

I was getting tired of looking at the same color scheme, so I changed it. I'll do that on occasion just to keep it interesting.

Happy Birthday, Mama !!!

Chris had a great birthday today. Her sister came in and decorated her hospital room in a Breakfast at Tiffany's theme, complete with a charm bracelet from Tiffany's. Her Dad made cupcakes with light blue icing to match the theme.

Monday is the 28 week mark. We are very excited for that. Tuesday is our next big ultrasound where they measure growth and make sure no new problems are arising with the amniotic fluid or cervix. Tuesday will also be our 6 week mark in the hospital.

Thanks for everyone's prayers and support thus far. Special thanks to Chris' teacher crew. Every Monday and Thursday, food magically appears in our refrigerator. I'm thinking once the boys head off to college, they won't have to do that anymore.

Ultrasound update

Had a great ultrasound today. Baby A's amniotic fluid is back up where it should be and her cervix has remained stable. Please keep praying for us. We need to be here at least another month.

If you haven't seen the video from yesterday's post, please scroll down and take a look.

Message from Mama

We are very excited that we hit the 27 week mark today. Ultrasound got moved to tomorrow, but we have a hospital room tour and message from Mama. The video has sound with it, so make sure your computer is not muted.