24 Weeks! Woo-Hoo!

That’s right Amy and the little ones have now made it to 24 weeks, and it’s time for a little update. First of all, Amy and I can not be more thankful for your support and encouragement. She has now been at Santa Monica Hospital for 5 weeks… That’s a long time! But it has gone very quickly for the both of us… especially Amy. The visitors, the cards, the calls, the gifts, the prayers… it has all helped Amy keep in great spirits and feel like every one is behind her. Amy was especially encouraged today as the nursery for the little ones was completed.



Now the grandmas will come in and brighten it up with some finishing touches until Amy finally comes home.

The babies are dong great. On Wednesday the 7th, we had our first full ultra-sound in over a month. They measured each head, stomach, arm, and leg of each baby. Keep in mind; although the measurements were done at 23 weeks, each baby’s progression is on a different time-line depending on how hungry they are. Little Hope is a chubby, beef-eater! Her progress was at 24 weeks 2 days, and weighed 1 pound 6 ounces. Cedar seems to be watching her figure. Her progress was at 21 weeks 5 days and weighed exactly 1 pound. Don’t worry, she’s a little behind, but she’s still within range. Jordan and Jonah seem to be best bud’s already. Both showed progress at 23 weeks and 3 days, weighing in at 1 pound 4 ounces each.



The boys are on the left side of Amy’s belly and seem to have a lot of energy. They are constantly moving around. The girls are both on the right side, and tend to be a little calmer although they wrestle around every once in a while as well. Yesterday, we found out that the kids don’t seem to like Johnny Cash or Lauren Hill that much. But when we put on some Outkast and Jay-Z, they started jumping. It’s crazy to feel them moving around so much. Some times, we can even see an elbow or knee graze against her stomach. The kids are so active that Amy’s belly is constantly changing shape.

With one month down and at least a month and half to go, here are some ideas that could help you support Amy…

1) I was thinking that we could all work together and give her a boost each time she progresses another week. For example, next week she will be at 25 weeks. It would be great if each week she could receive pictures of you, your kids, your pets, your garden-gnomes, WHAT EVER... holding a sign, poster, or something that says, “25 weeks, Way to go Amy!!!.” Her hospital room will look more incredible day-by-day as your pictures and posters cover it. Below you’ll see an example of what I’m talking about.



Here’s a calendar so that you can keep track of her weekly progression.

25 weeks – Feb 21
26 weeks – Feb 28
27 weeks – March 7
28 weeks – March 14
29 weeks – March 21
30 weeks – March 28

Send those pictures! And please keep this a secret from Amy. I’m sure she’ll ask me what’s going on, and I’ll eventually let her know. The address for the hospital is

Santa Monica UCLA Hospital
Amy Shahbaz
Labor and Delivery, #513
1250 15th Street
Santa Monica 90404

2) Amy has not been able to watch DVD’s because her hospital-room TV is too old to connect a DVD player. Many of you have asked if you can send her or bring her DVD’s, and until now I’ve said no. Well, now she’s got a small flat screen TV as well as a portable DVD player. Her AV needs are covered thanks to the support and generosity of a few amazing visitors last night. Send her all the DVD’s you want! She also loves your cards and letters as well, and posts each one behind her bed.

3) Please continue to pray for her. Please pray specifically that her uterus stays calm. Today for some reason she had a few more contractions then normal and was given a shot of terbutaline. It’s a drug that helps keep the uterus calm. She hasn’t needed the shot until now, but I guess it’s to be expected. The bigger the kids get the more active her uterus will become. But we still need to make 30 weeks, so please pray hard.

4) Once again, if you’d like to visit, please call Amy directly. In the last update, I DID write her direct phone # down but I wrote it wrong. The correct # is 310-449-0805. Her cell phone again is 909-534-0644.

Thanks again for your prayers, visits, love, and support,

Phil

Hey gang, Phil here with another update on Amy and the four little ones…

Thankfully, Amy is doing well. On Saturday, January 13th, her doctor put a cerclage in her cervix. In other words, because her cervix was 70% open, he put four stitches in to close it up. The procedure went very well, and Amy is hanging in there. From here on out it’s a matter of fighting contractions and keeping pressure off the cervix. As a result, she spends her days and nights in a hospital bed with her rear-end elevated higher then her head. On Wednesday the 7th, she will be 23 weeks pregnant with four healthy little babies. Their heart-beats are strong, and they jump and move around quite a bit. Saturday night was the first time we could feel the babies kick and punch. It was amazing! If you don’t know their names yet, say hello to Jonah, Jordan, Hope, and Cedar.

Please keep in mind that there are three main things to pray for; 1) That Amy’s uterus stays relaxed and that her cervix stays strong. 2) That the babies stay inside for at least another two months. If they can make 30 weeks, they will have full lung development. Anything after that is an extended blessing and will keep the babies out of NICU that much longer. 3) That Amy doesn’t go crazy in the hospital! Last week the nurse told us that every woman eventually hits a wall and can’t take it any more… then, the babies usually come a week later. What that means is that the boredom of bed-rest, the uncomfortably of having multiples, and the overall pressure of the situation is more then a woman can take. If Amy can last, the babies will last.

Please also remember… care-packages are great, calls are wonderful, but nothing beats spending a couple hours with her at the hospital. The visits we’ve had so far have been the biggest blessing. If you want to visit, call her at the hospital phone, 310-449-0805, or just give her a ring on her cell phone, 909-534-0644.