Update

First of all, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone. You already know I'm so grateful for all of the prayers, but thank you also for your kind words. I've had so many comments, texts, phone calls, and messages from people wanting to know how they can help and also just telling me something positive and it really makes my day. I don't feel I deserve it, but it makes me so happy just the same. There are so many sweet people and it sets such a great example for me of what I should do when others are going through trials. I think that's one reason we have tough experiences, so we can be awed at the compassion and love we receive and have a greater desire to show that same love to others. Thank you.
As for an update, I was really thinking that I was going to finally have a positive, happy post where I tell you all how great things are going. It looked that way after I got off the magnesium, the new medicine(indocine) was working great at controlling contractions and they were planning on keeping me on it for possibly a few weeks. One side effect of it is that it lowers your amniotic fluid, so they only put me on half a dose and said it shouldn't affect my fluid for at least a week so they would do another ultrasound then. Well, of course if my contractions are under control something else has to go wrong, right? A few days ago, little junior started dropping his heart rate randomly during his monitoring sessions that we do for two hours a day. So they decided to keep me on the monitoring 24/7, which is difficult to keep a heart monitor on a 2 lb baby so the poor nurses have to constantly come in and find him again if he moves too much. His heart rate would drop about once an hour, but it would come right back up so they weren't too worried, he was probably just laying on or playing with his umbilical cord. But sometimes he drops it a lot, one night they actually wouldn't let me eat anything cuz they thought I was going to have to go in for a c-section because he kept doing it. But he always stops before they get too worried. So yesterday my doctor decided to measure the amniotic fluid to make sure that wasn't part of his sudden issue with dropping his heart rate. They found that my fluid was low, not too low, but below normal and low enough that you could see little buddy's feet and hands all tangled up in his cord and you could even see that he was laying on it. A super active baby in a tiny space with a lot of cord means lots of times when it gets wrapped on a foot or hand or just pinched under him and drops his pulse. So they said that while it's not worrisome, it is annoying because they still have to keep the monitor on just in case he gets a little too tangled up and needs to be rescued. They don't anticipate that happening, but it's just a precaution. Unfortunately, the really bad part is they had to stop the indocine since that's what is causing the drop in fluid, which means I can only have the old medicines I was on before that stopped working. Luckily, the magnesium kind of flushes your body and has a "clean slate" sort of effect so the medicines are working better now than before so hopefully they continue to work a little longer and give this little guy at least till I hit 28 weeks this Thursday! So this is where we sit now. Baby is still having some drops in heart rate so he has to stay on the monitor till he stops, and contractions are getting more frequent since I stopped taking the indocine, but overall things are okay. I'm doing good, bedrest hasn't been too bad, I think after 5 weeks I'm kind of used to it by now. Every now and then I think of how fun it would be to cook a nice meal or go on a run, but I'll be able to do that my whole life.The boys are having an absolute ball up in Utah and haven't been homesick once this whole week, so that's a load off my mind. And Jonathan's, too. He's doing the best he can with finals, but we've had three different occasions this week where they told us the baby might come that night, so he's always stressed while he's gone studying during the day that I'm going to call and tell him to rush over, but I think we'll be able to hold out till Thursday when he finishes for the semester. The only really stressful part for me is watching his heart rate all day and all night and every time it drops hoping it doesn't go too low, last too long, or happen too often. It's also stressful when contractions start getting more frequent or painful and I have to just pray my last dose of medicine kicks in soon, but when these stresses are gone I'll have a whole new lot that comes with a baby in the NICU learning to eat, breathe, and keep warm on his own, so I'll take what I have now and be happy.
Plus I just had a shower and my nurse put an eggshell on my mattress so things are looking better already! :)