"Let your faith be bigger than your fears"

"Let your faith be bigger than your fears," a phrase I have been repeating to myself over and over again since last weekend.

Sorry for the long post with no pictures, but I wanted to update everyone on what is going on.

               The night of the 4th I started to feel a lot of contractions, not strong, just consistent. Once I started timing them I realized they were 5-7 minutes apart and although they weren't painful I knew something wasn't right. I decided to hydrate and go to bed and see how I felt in the morning. Unfortunately, nothing changed in the morning so I decided to call the doctor. He didn't seem too concerned, but given my history told me to head to labor and delivery to be monitored. I was thinking they would hook me up, tell me they were just braxton hicks contractions and send me home. After 1/2 hour on the monitors it showed contractions 5 minutes apart and the nurse seemed concerned so the on call doctor came in to check it out. After finding out I was not dilated at all, which was the one piece of good news we got that day, he decided I must be dehydrated and had me monitored while I got some fluids in my IV. The contractions slowed down a little, but not by much so they decided to admit me over night and start me on Nifedipine, a medication used to help women in preterm labor. Luckily I was able to go home on Sunday on bed rest and medication. When I went to see my regular OB on Monday she discovered that I was in fact dilating and my cervix was funneling. Funneling is when your cervix dilates from the inside and your membranes (sack around the baby) are trying to sneak down. This is easily gone unnoticed since it can only be identified through an internal ultrasound of the cervix, which is normally not done after the first trimester.  The good news is that I still have 3 cm of closed cervix, but if I keep contracting that could change very quickly. The doctor decided to keep me on medication and bed rest. I still contract all day long, but the medication helps take away the intensity and frequency. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, daughter, and family who have made this bed rest thing possible for me to follow. It took Ava a few days to get used to mommy being out of commission, but she is finally starting to get used to things and just likes that I am nearby and can snuggle and read stories with her. I am thankful to be at home on bed rest and not in the hospital. Steve's parents came out immediately after I was admitted to the hospital to watch Ava so Steve could come be with me.  Steve's dad moved in with us from Tuesday to Thursday, which was a huge help to all of us! My amazing mother dropped everything to move in with us for the foreseeable future. We are so lucky to have such amazing support from our family. I know the only chance I have to keep this baby in as long as possible is to stay as calm and horizontal as I can. The doctor said we are doing all we can do and the rest is out of our control. I am trying to stay positive and give myself mini goals. Each day I am still pregnant is a blessing for our baby girl. My first goal is to make it to the gestational age Ava was when she was born, which will be July 25th.

Thank you for all the prayers and kind messages we have received! We are very grateful for all the wonderful people in our lives!