March 2009 Archives

Well, the medicine didn't work and Juliette is scheduled for her PDA ligation (surgery to close the hole in her heart) tomorrow at noon.  She'll supposedly be in and out in 20 minutes but it's still such a nervewracking thing to undergo major surgery like this, especially on such a little baby.  Her oxygen levels are pretty good though so assuming this surgery goes well I bet it won't be long before she's off the ventilator.  I'll be at the hospital tomorrow at 11 for the surgery prep and then the waiting...yikes. 

Lily is doing all right.  She's been up and down on her oxygen levels and from x-rays her lungs still look very immature.  I'm hoping she stabilizes more in a couple of days.  The good news for her is that she's tolerating her feedings well and they've upped her to 2ccs/hour of breastmilk.  Grow Lily, grow!

Yesterday they gave Lily a central line which is an IV that threads through her vein up to her shoulder (starting at her arm).  The central line is where she will get her nutrients, antibiotics, pain drips, etc.  They had a line going through her umbilical cord before but that is much less permanent.  Anyway, today they tried to do one on Juliette and weren't able to.  Poor little girl has a pretty banged up looking arm today!  I don't want them to try again but they might have to since the umbilical one is probably just about done.

We had some name drama today.  We picked names yesterday so today I went down to Admitting to officially give them their names and was told that I couldn't because it had been 7 days and there is no changing names after 7 days.  First of all, this was never something we had been told and second of all, we weren't changing the names, we were giving them names for the first time!  They basically said, "sorry, hospital policy, they have to stay Girl 1 and Girl 2 until they're discharged."  I went back to the nurse taking care of Lily and she immediately got on the phone and got transferred to several different places all saying the same thing.  Finally she got a hold of someone who directed her to a couple of forms that we could fill out.  I filled out the forms, brought them back down to Admitting and the woman there said that she probably shouldn't do it but that she would anyway.  Thank goodness - what a weird policy!

Anyway, wish us luck tomorrow with the surgery...we need it. 

First things first - our girls finally have names!  I would like to introduce everyone officially to Lily Elisabeth and Juliette Marie Ark.  Lily = Baby A and Juliette = Baby B.  It's going to take even me a bit to actually start calling them by name versus A and B but I'll do my darndest.

The day at the NICU today was quite eventful.  The medicine is not helping Juliette with her murmur so I'm fully expecting to hear tomorrow that she'll need surgery.  From what I understand, the surgery could even be as early as tomorrow so send thoughts and prayers our way!  Lily had to get her oxygen turned up today because she wasn't breathing very effectively and the IV that was going through her umbilical cord wasn't positioned in the right place so they ended up doing a "central line" which means that they had to thread an IV through her arm up past her shoulder.  They doped her up pretty good before they did that because they needed her to be really still.  I was there and it was tough to watch.  The good news is that Juliette had a very restful day today and Lily got her feedings amped up so that she's getting 24 ccs of breastmilk/day.  That's up from 4 ccs/day when she started.  Great news!

More great news is that Ben and Maia are home!  I am driving again now so I picked them up at the airport and I was so extremely happy to see them.  I was even more happy that Maia was ecstatic to see me also.  She just lit up and it really made things right in the world.  It's going to be a really tough 5-6 weeks of not being able to lift her up due to my 20 lb lifting restrictions so we'll see.

My mom came over tonight to watch Maia while Ben and I went to the hospital so that he could see the girls.  I'm not sure what we're going to do every day going forward.  I'll be at the hospital during the days - maybe just he'll go at nights unless we get a sitter.  I guess we'll play it by ear and see! 

The babies are doing well for the most part but they had a busy day.  They both had head/brain ultrasounds this morning as well as an ECHO cardiogram to check the murmurs in their hearts.  The head scan on Baby B came back normal and on Baby A it showed a level I hemmorage which is completely normal with preemies and generally resolves itself quickly.  They don't do anything to treat it at this point and they only start to worry when it's level III or above.

Baby B had a hole in her heart (patent ductus ateriosis) that they will try to close up with a drug called indomethacin.  It generally works from what I'm told and if it doesn't she may need to have a quick surgery to fix it.  Baby A also has a small hole but it's in a different spot and is at a point where they think they can just leave it alone for the time being and she should grow out of it.

Mom brought me to the hospital today and then did some shopping while I stayed with the babies and pumped.  I also went over to Abbott today to get my staples out so that was exciting.  I'm glad to have them out but it sure didn't feel all that great!  I am glad it's over.

My friend Elizabeth visited today as well.  I love introducing people to the babies so if anyone wants to meet them just let me know!  They're pretty cute in my completely biased opinion. 

After we got back from the hospital my parent's neighbor and close friend Jo brought over some dinner which was so nice.  It was really great not having to worry about what to eat at all.  Plus now we have some more leftovers for later!

Tomorrow I'm going to my niece Annabelle's 2-year birthday party.  I am looking forward to doing something different for a little bit and just getting out of the house to somewhere other than the hospital. 

Ben and Maia are doing okay in Seattle.  I sure do miss them a lot though I know it will only be a few more days before I see them again.  I know that they're where they should be right now and I know she won't forget her mama.

Ben and Maia left today so it's been kind of an emotional day for me.  Maia was being so fun this morning and giving lots of hugs and kisses - I'm really going to miss those while she's gone.  I know it's only for a few days and they'll be home before I know it so i just have to keep my focus on the twins in the meantime.  Dad brought everyone to the airport and then brought me to the hospital afterwards so that was great.

I'm recovering okay.  I had a tough time last night when I had to wake to pump.  I couldn't get myself out of bed because I wasn't used to being horizontal.  I usually have the hospital bed which moves up for me so I had to have Ben help me up and it was really painful.  I slept the rest of the night on the couch bceause it is easier for me to get up from there.  I might do that tonight again too - we'll see.

The babies are doing mostly fine.  Little A had a blood transfusion yesterday so her weight was actually up a bit today.  The doctor came and did rounds this afternoon and she heard heart murmers in both babies so they're scheduled for chest x-rays tomorrow to see what the problem is.  They think that the a valve just hasn't closed up all the way yet (which is completely normal in preemies) and oftentime it closes up on it's own but it also might need drugs to help it along.  Hopefully everything is okay.

Pumping is going much better.  i get more every time so I was finally able to bring milk in today and they both started getting feedings.  They'll be fed through their feeding tube every 3 hours so I'm pretty excited about that.  I had an oversupply with Maia so I'm expecting the same this time around but you never know!

My friend Sarah visited today and Stacy and Jim both stopped by as well.  Finn is doing really well so I'm happy for them that they probably don't have much longer at Children's.  My mom came to pick me up at 6:30 and ought some dinner and we watched a little bit of American Idol this evening.

Tomorrow I will probably be spending most of the day there again.  My mom took the day off of work so it'll be nice to have her available to help. 

What a rollercoaster ride we've been on for the past two days.  I'm writing this while sitting in my hospital room watching Baby B on the TV screen.  I feel so fortunate that I can watch them whenever I want or whenever I can't get over to the NICU to see them. 

Both babies are doing well and are stable.  They're both still on ventilators and are constantly under the bililights for jaundice but that might stop in the next few days.  It all depends on their bilirubin levels which I think they check daily.  We've discovered that babies this small don't regenerate blood yet so preemies generally need 4-5 transfusions during the course of their NICU stay.  The nurse today told me that Baby A will need a transfusion shortly with all the blood they've been drawing for tests.

I've been working on trying to pump for these kiddos but so far I haven't really gotten much more than a drop or two.  It's tough to pump when nothing comes out because it feels useless but I know it will be worth it in the long run.  Hopefully my milk comes in soon!

Ben and Maia are still traveling to Seattle on Thursday.  The circumstances are so sad and the timing is awful but it's necessary that they go.  I wish I could go with them but I need to stay strong and be here for the girls.  My doctor told me that it will probably be okay for me to drive as long as I'm not hopped up on Percocet beforehand so I'm thankful for that.  I know I have family and friends that will be willing to help me out as well.  It's just a tough situation.

Yesterday evening my mom came to visit the babies and then my friend Sara came afterwards (and brought flowers and girl scout cookies!).  Today Amanda, Ivy and Jamey came for a little while to hang out with me which was great.  They don't currently allow children under 5 into the NICU because it is RSV season but I don't know if that applies to siblings as well.  I hope that Maia gets to meet her sisters soon!

Ben and Maia visited me this afternoon and then he is going to come back this evening and we'll go over to Children's.  Hopefully we'll come up with names here shortly!  Stay tuned.

Baby A

Baby B (under a bili-light)

I got about an hour of sleep this morning and got Maia ready for daycare. I don't think she understood what it meant when I said her sisters were born. Oh well... she'll figure it out soon enough.

I visited Becky and the babies. In fact I'm typing this up from the spare bed in her hospital room. Becky is doing really great. I'm sure she'll post later today with her thoughts and feelings on the last 12 hours.

The babies are doing very well. We met with their nurses today. They're both great and took a lot of time to explain everything again (we kind of heard it last night) and let us touch the babies. I got to change B's diaper and hold her legs. They've both already had wet diapers which is very good. It's not untypical for a premie to not wet a diaper for 24 hours. Baby B passed some meconium this morning, too. Go girls go!

Both babies are getting UV treatments for jaundice. It is mild but something to stay on top of. I got some pictures of them under the billi-lights. I'll post those later.

Baby A's ventilator oxygen level got dialed back a bit today. She's also "overbreathing" the ventilator which means she's also breathing on her own. If I understood correctly, they expect she'll be off the ventilator in a few days.

Baby B's blood-gas tests were showing an increased level of CO2 so they put her on a ventilator, too. That's a bit disappointing but not something to be too worried about.

While we were visiting, a little baby was brought in via a medivac helicopter. Talk about dramatic! Those poor parents... I hope they get to come visit their little one soon.

About twenty minutes into our visit, we got a call from the nurses station that we had some guests. This worried us a bit since we didn't expect to have any guests.. turned out it was Jim (Becky's dad) and aunt Diane. It was nice to see them. Jim got to hang out with us for a while. We found out that we're supposed to limit non-parental visits to 10 minutes per hour to keep the babies from being stressed. Thankfully they didn't kick Jim out!

We got a call from Becky's nurse just as we were about to head back to Becky's room. Ron and Kathryn stopped by to visit. We had already exceeded our non-parent visiting time so we met them back on station 54. It was really nice to see them. Hopefully they can come back soon and visit with the babies.

I will post the pictures this evening. Both babies look great--just very small. Thank you to everyone for the kind words of support and congratulations. What a crazy twelve hours this has been! Let's hope the next twelve are nice and calm...

Dr. Wagner performed the delivery. It took about an hour to prep for the surgery and then about 15 minutes to get in and take out the babies. It seemed to take a long time to sew Becky back up. The nurses said it wasn't unusual. Dr. Wagner commented that the placenta was a complete previa. He examined the placenta afterward and told Becky it was definitely a velamentous cord insertion. Becky can fill y'all in on that more tomorrow.

Here are some more stats on the babies..

Baby A
Delivered at 12:44 AM
Weight: 910g / 2lb
Height: 13.75"
Breathed on her own at delivery and cried for a bit.
On a ventilator now.

Baby B
Delivered at 12:45 AM
Weight: 1240g / 2lb 12oz
Height: 14.5"
Breathed on her own at delivery and cried a lot!
On CPAP now with some supplemental oxygen. She's still quite upset to be out in the world.

Both babies are doing well--all things considered. Becky is doing really well, too.

I've got to get some sleep before Maia gets up for the day. Big thanks to Sue for hanging out with her tonight!

It sometimes feels pointless to write entries when not much is going on baby-related but I'm trying to write something every day this month. 

This morning Ben took Maia to Target to pick up some groceries and then later this afternoon we all headed out to the park.  I just sat on the bench while they played - Maia really enjoyed swinging and running around everywhere.  She has some stylin' new sunglasses that she was proud to show off.  She looked like a little rocker baby!  Afterwards we went out for an ice cream treat.  That was a hit - ice cream always is.

I'm really having a difficult time with the bedrest thing.  I can't help but get up and do the dishes and fold the laundry - I'm not doing as much as I normally would but I know I'm probably doing more than the doctors technically allow.  At least so far all my appointments have been good since I've been home!  I have a home nurse coming tomorrow morning to do the non-stress test so we'll see what that says.

I'm happy to have made it to 29 weeks today!  According to Baby Center, this week our babies now weigh about 2 1/2 lbs and are just over 15".  Their muscles and lungs are continuing to mature and their heads are growing bigger to make room for their developing brains. 

I look forward to weekends and getting to spend time with Ben and Maia.  Maia has been somewhat whiny lately but I think that just goes with the toddler territory, right?  The tantrums are never fun but the laughing, hugs and learning are really what makes me happy.

Not much going on today.  Ben took Maia on a few errands while I "reclined" on the couch.  I really want to get out and do something so it's frustrating not to be able to go with them or to help around the house much.  I still do a lot to entertain Maia while she's home but I want to do more.

Mom and dad came over tonight and mom cooked us swedish pancakes for dinner.  This was my favorite meal growing up and I still love it though it's been years since I've had it!  It was certainly a big hit with Maia - she gobbled up one and a half (and they are BIG pancakes!) and had a big amount of blueberries for dessert.

After dinner and after I put Maia to bed we watched "Rachel Getting Married".  Mom thought it was a chick flick which is why she rented it but it was far from that.  It was very angstful and dramatic and I was really hoping for a light, funny sort of movie.  Oh well.

The babies are doing fine today.  They had some somersaulting going on and were all in all very active.  My next appointment is Monday with the at-home nurse for a non-stress test and then another doppler on Thursday.  Ben and Maia leave Thursday so I'm hoping for a very uneventful week.

Happy Spring!  I'm so happy that winter is finally (offically) over.

Things are pretty much the same as yesterday.  Our family has a lot going on right now so it's sometimes hard to remain positive but I'm doing my best considering the circumstances.  Some good news is that the babies are extremely active today which has been fun and we received a phone call from our vet to say that the bloodwork on Scooter (our remaining kitty) has come out normal.  She has a rare form of feline leukemia and has been on chemo for the past couple of months so this is telling us that the chemo is working.  Great news for Scooty!

No weekend plans as of yet.  Ben's figuring out if he needs to fly out to Seattle sooner than he had planned but we're waiting to see if that is the case.  My mom is coming over tomorrow evening to make swedish pancakes.  It's been years since I've had her pancakes - yum yum!

Today was the last episode of our favorite TV show, Battlestar Galactica.  It was bittersweet and I'm so sad it's over but at least I feel some resolution.

Thank you all for your many supportive comments and e-mails.  It means so much to us, especially right now.  We're lucky to have such wonderful friends and family.

Today has been an emotional day.  Ben got some news that two of his family members out in Seattle aren't doing well so he's making plans to go visit them next week.  I'm really sad because I can't go.  He's taking Maia with him so while that will make it easier on me as far as keeping up my bedrest, I'm going to miss them like crazy for the 5 days they're gone.

I'm trying to stay positive but it's hard when so many things are going on at once and I don't have control over most of them.  I just feel sad.

I am however very happy about my appointment today!  I'm glad that things are still looking mostly normal for both babies and that there isn't anything negative that the doctor could find with the ultrasound results.  My next appointment is Monday with the at-home nurse for a non-stress test and then another doppler on Thursday.

Matt and Meghan visited today during lunch which was fun.  It was great to meet baby Ally - she slept pretty much the whole time she was here so I hope to see her again soon when she's actually awake.  She's pretty cute even if she does look exactly like Matt.

Here's the info from today's doppler appointment.

Baby A
Brain bloodflow ratio: 6.3
Umbilical cord ratio: 3.4
Fluid level: 4.07 cm

Baby B
Brain bloodflow ratio: unknown
Umbilical cord ratio: 3.1
Fluid level: 4.7 cm

Baby B scored 8/8 on the biophysical profile and Baby A scored 6/8 (she wasn't practicing enough breathing).  They both did well on the non-stress test.

All in all a good appointment - all levels are still looking quite normal so that is great news.

Just another low key day today.  This morning Maia slept in until 7:30 which was wonderful even though it made Ben a little bit late dropping her off at daycare.  By the time they got there they had to scrounge up some food for her because breakfast was already over!  Oh well, she still got to eat, she just missed some of the singing/dancing time they were doing in the meantime.  I heard a rumor that some of the kids were doing "the Twist".

Amanda, Ivy and little Jamey came to visit this morning and it was really nice to see them.  Jamey turns 5 weeks old tomorrow - it feels like we were just in the hospital visiting them!  Time goes by so fast these days.  Maia was born exactly 5 weeks after Ivy but I'm guessing these twins won't be born tomorrow (thank goodness).

Tomorrow we have our doppler appointment at 10.  I hope everything still looks great! 

Happy St. Patrick's day to everyone who celebrates it!  Maia was in a MUCH better mood today so I think whatever sickness she had yesterday was gone with her little purging episode.  Whew!

I went to the perinatologist today but it was basically just a "transfer" appointment.  I am allowed to drive to appointments so this was the first time I'd driven in weeks.  It was really nice to get out and enjoy the weather!  Ben had just bought a 2-week parking pass when I was still in the hospital so at least I didn't have to pay extra to park.  Anyway, the appointment it was mostly just a nurse asking questions about my history (even though they should have everything already since I've already been their patient forever) and then they did a non-stress test as well.  Both babies looked great.  The doctor came in then and asked if I had any questions and I don't really at this point.  I'm sure that 2-minute doctor visit will cost $300!  No ultrasound today but that's okay - I have another appointment on Thursday where they'll do dopplers.

I spent the rest of the day working on my new stitching project, writing some thank you cards and watching a little bit more television.  I think my friend Amanda is going to come over tomorrow morning with her kids so it will be fun to see them.

Happy Monday everyone!  Things are going all right.  I spent most of today on the couch watching TV, starting my next cross-stitch project (a blanket), on hold with our insurance company (ugh), and doing some stuff on the computer.

Maia was in a pretty bad mood for most of the day (at least while she was at home) and we couldn't figure out what was going on.  She was whiny and clingy and didn't eat very much dinner.  After dinner however, we gave her some strawberries which she shoveled in her mouth then a few minutes later proceeded to throw it all up on our kitchen floor.  She sure felt better after that though.  I don't think she's thrown up since she was 7-8 months old so I think it explains her mood today.  Luckily she still went down for bed just fine.

Adam and Holli came over for dinner tonight with their son Noah and their new baby Abby.  It was good to see them - it had been awhile since we'd all gotten together.  I'm just glad that we were able to have Holli's shower when we did since she delivered just a few days after that (2 weeks early).

I have an appointment at Abbvott tomorrow morning where I think they're just going to do a non-stress test and possibly a biophysical profile.  Hopefully it will ve pretty uneventful.

Well, I was on my feet for more than 4 hours today but I'm hoping it's not really that big of a deal.  This morning I got up with Maia - I figured that I had to take a shower anyway so she might as well come with me and Ben hasn't been able to sleep in in weeks.  Maia played in her Pack n Play and then we got her dressed, played for a little while and I made her some breakfast.  Ben took her out this morning to Trader Joe's to get us some groceries and I stayed home and read awhile.

Ben did a lot of cleaning today - our house looks so much better than it did.  It's hard to keep it clean when one person is gone and the other has to take care of the house and a toddler!  This is what makes me nervous about being a stay-at-home mom (no, we haven't made any decisions on that) - I just don't know that I could be that supermom who can take care of 3 kids, get food on the table and keep the house clean.  I am so impressed with everyone else who can do that!

My brother and sister-in-law (Ron and Kathryn) came over tonight with their daughter Annabelle and brought dinner.  Kathryn is an amazing cook and brought - get this - HOMEMADE lasagna.  We usually just make frozen lasagna and there is no comparison.  Thank you Kathryn!  Ben had picked up an apple pie at Trader Joe's today too so we had that for dessert - all in all a nice evening.

Tomorrow will probably be a pretty low key day.  Adam and Holli are coming over and bringing their new baby Abby and I'm really excited to meet her.  Tuesday I have my "transfer" appointment at Abbott and a non-stress test and Thursday is a doppler.  As far as I know that is all we have going on this week!

Oh, and big milestone today!  I'm so thrilled to be at 28 weeks.  This week our babies weigh as much as a chinese cabbage and are approximately 14.8" long.  They can blink their eyes and now sport eyelashes.  They may be able to see light filtered in through the womb.   

Happy Saturday!  It's a little bittersweet because of the beautiful weather today that I didn't get to enjoy but I'm still thrilled to be home.  Obviously I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it in the hospital either.

Ben has been so great so far.  He is constantly reminding me to lay down because I admit I'm probably not doing it as much as I should be.  Maia needs a lot of attention and I am happy to give it to her.  It's been really nice getting to play with her and see her continously again!  Ben got up early with her (I got up too but stayed laying down) even though he was up really really late last night and he's taken care of a lot of the housework today.  I still feel weird just laying on the couch all of the time though.  It's easier on weekdays when Ben's working and Maia's at daycare.

Ben took Maia to the vet this morning - our cat Scooter needed some bloodwork done to see if  the chemo we're giving her is helping her feline leukemia.  We hope to get the numbers back in the next couple of days.  She's been locked up in a big dog kennel for the past couple of months and while I feel bad about it I'm concerned about her throwing up or something and Maia getting near the toxic chemo chemicals.  The vet said that it shouldn't be a problem as long as we keep her only locked up for the hour after she takes her chemo pill so we'll see.

My dad visited today and had dinner with us so that was nice.  He got to play with Maia for awhile and I think Maia had a good time.  My mom is in Florida visiting my grandparents so it was good to get a visit from just him.

Not much else going on.  Matt stopped by to give us a spot remover that they use on their couch (they have the same couch we have) since our couch is full of various stains so I'm excited to see if it actually works.

The babies have been moving around like crazy today.  No appointments now until Tuesday - it's weird to go from 2x/day monitoring to nothing but the movement is reassuring!  Ben did some digging last night and found a study done in the UK that said that monochorionic twins (what we have) should be delivered by 32 weeks, especially if they have problems.  The study pointed out that based on 12 years of research they found that if the twins are taken by 32 weeks there is a 100% chance of survival (assuming they were healthy in the womb at that time) but if you get to 34 weeks and beyond there is a greater chance of "fetal demise" usually from late onset of TTTS.  I don't know if my doctors are aware of this study but I know that Dr. Block at one point had said that he wants to see me get to 32 so of course that's what I'd like to do.  I can't imagine getting to 34 and having something happen.  It's scary.

Here is the graph for the updated growth chart. Unfortunately the data we have only goes up to 26 weeks. That's not too important, though, the dramatic growth of little Baby A is just phenomenal. Big Baby B is doing very well, too.

So it's been interesting being at home so far.  I'm so glad to be here, I have really missed my husband and daughter.  As I suspected, it's difficult to be laying on the couch all day so I need to get into some sort of groove and figure this out.

The doctor ordered "modified bedrest" which means laying down for most of the day.  I can get up and use the bathroom/shower, make myself a sandwich and walk around a little bit (not up for more than 4 hours/day).  I can even pick up Maia (since she's under 30 lbs)!  My discharge papers however said "full bedrest" which involves no lifting, no stairs, no walking unless it's to the bathroom.  I'm going more by what the doctor said because he's the one that knows best.  I'm not contracting or having any premature signs of labor so I'm comfortable with this solution.

I will continue to have weekly dopplers and an OB homecare nurse will come to our house once a week to do non-stress tests (NST) and make sure the babies are doing okay.  She came by today and both babies were doing excellent so that is great news. 

It's a lot tougher to get all my water in since it's not brought to me anymore and I have to get up and get it but I just have to make that a priority.  I know that being dehydrated can cause contractions and I don't need that stress on top of everything else.

It will be interesting to see how this weekend goes.  I am not sure how we'll handle it with Maia and me being so inactive but we'll make it work somehow.

For now, I'm just catching up on some TV and doing some reading.  I need to get some more materials to start my next cross-stitch project (a blanket) so I'll start that soon.

My friend Elizabeth came to visit me today and it was so nice to see her.  I don't think we have seen each other since my baby shower for Maia and a lot has changed since then for both of us!  Her 5 month old daughter (Julia) is absolutely beautiful so it was great to be able to meet her as well.  Hopefully we can get together again sometime soon so that she can meet Maia too!

Here are the stats from our growth ultrasound yesterday.

Baby A
Brain bloodflow ratio: 6.0
Umbilical cord ratio: 3.0
Fluid level:  5.2 cm
Weight: 1 lb, 11 oz (764g) - 14th percentile
Adjusted age: 25 weeks, 4 days

Baby B
Brain bloodflow ratio: unsure
Umbilical cord ratio: 2.6
Fluid level: 5.2 cm
Weight: 2 lb, 6 oz (1079g) - 50th percentile
Adjusted age: 27w, 1 day

All in all, great news!

Hospital Stay Day 19

I am so frustrated right now.  I just wrote a huge entry and it all got erased because my laptop has been doing some funky weird thing where it will randomly put the Ctrl character before something I type and I was just getting ready to end it and the whole window closed on me (probably because I pressed a "W" which will close a window with the Ctrl key).  So I guess I start over and then call Dell.  Again.

Today was interesting.  I slept in until 7:20 (no 5:45 a.m. wakeup call this morning!) and got my blood pressure/temp taken, took a shower, had some breakfast and then Dr. Wagner and Jill came in on their morning rounds.  If you remember, Dr. Wagner is the one who admitted me to the hospital in the first place.  Anyway, he was excited about the dopplers looking so good the last few weeks and said that depending on how my growth ultrasound goes tomorrow, there is a strong possibility that I will be sent home.

He also said that Ben and I need to make a decision as to where we want to deliver these babies.  Our original hospital of choice was North Memorial (where I was born and Maia was born) since it's so close and convienent but now obviously Abbott is an option as well.  The benefit to Abbott is that it's connected to Children's Hospital which has the best NICU around but the NICU at North Memorial is also very good and since I will be 28 weeks on Sunday, they are more than equipped to handle a baby at that gestational age.  If we switch to North, we will resume my prenatal care with Dr. Gosen (my regular OB) and if we stay with Abbott, our care would be under the perinatologists here. 

It's a tough decision either way.  I'm also worried about being on bedrest at home.  I will not be as inactive at home as I am here - I don't know that I can do it, especially with a 17-month old.  I won't be monitored as much either and that is worrisome so it would really be up to me to determine whether something is "not right".  And if I do feel that way, could something be done fast enough?  These are all questions we have to consider and discuss with our doctor but a lot hinges on the ultrasound tomorrow.  Last time at 25 weeks Baby A was 1 lb and Baby B was 1 lb 11 oz.  I was looking at an informal chart of gestational weights via ultrasound for twins and out of 25 twin moms the smallest baby at 27 weeks was 1 lb 12 oz and the largest was 3 lbs 8 oz.  I would be thrilled if Baby A was up to 1 lb 12 oz but I'd also be quite surprised if that were the case.

Just Stacy visited me today.  It was great to talk to her as always!  Little Finn is back on the nasal canula - 2 steps forward and 1 step back but I'm sure he'll be off again in no time. 

I finally finished my cross-stitch project today!  I'm excited it's done - I just need to add names/weights/dates once the kiddos are here but otherwise it's basically complete.  I added a photo - obviously it needs cleaning and pressing butI think it turned out pretty nice.

Anyway, I'll post the ultrasound results tomorrow - I'm praying for great news!   

Hospital Stay Day 18

This morning my night nurse woke me up at 5:45 a.m. and told me that I was scheduled for my glucose tolerance test to check for gestational diabetes.  I had a feeling that it was scheduled for around now but I hadn't yet confirmed a date - I even asked my doctor about it yesterday and he said something about usually doing it around 28 weeks.  Anyway, I wasn't expecting the test this morning.  She came in with the sugary sweet lemon lime drink at 6 and then told me that Lab was going to come by at 7 to draw blood.  I wasn't able to fall back asleep so I spent a little bit of time cross-stitching.  They drew blood at 7, I ate some breakfast, showered and did my morning monitoring which went really well.

The test results came back a couple of hours later and my level was 131.   I don't know what that means other than the fact that I passed so that is great news!  That's one less thing that I have to worry about.  Of course my blood pressure this morning was 140/89 so if it's not one thing it's another.

I forgot to mention that yesterday Stacy checked with the nurses on my behalf about the possibility of ordering off of the cafeteria menu and they told her that they discontinued that program.  I'm really bummed, I'm getting so tired of the same old food selections!  I realize though that I'm lucky because there always ARE several selections and I know a lot of people in the hospital only have one or two choices so I know shouldn't complain about it so much.

Ben and Maia came to see me this evening so we had some dinner, played for a little while then took my wheelchair ride down to McDonald's for some ice cream.  Maia sure does love ice cream!  Who can blame her though?  Earlier in the day my aunt Diane stopped by for a few minutes to give me a bar that someone in the special care nursery had made - I guess they had extras!  It was really delicious and she promised me some cake on Thursday! 

Tomorrow I don't think there is much going on.  My dad may come to visit (my mom left today to visit my grandparents in Florida) so it'll be nice to see him and then I wouldn't be surprised if Stacy came as well.  She's been so awesome coming to visit me on the days that Ben can't - thanks Stacy!

I have a feeling that I'll finish my cross-stitch project tomorrow (except for the babies' names/weights/etc.) so I had Ben bring me some more.  I'm excited to finish and get started on another.

Hospital Stay Day 17 part 2

Well, the rest of today was pretty uneventful.  I'm so happy about our appointment this morning though since everything was "normal".  I don't know if it's the bedrest or what but everything is looking great!  There is still an obvious size discordance but we'll see for sure what that is on Thursday at our growth ultrasound.  I'm just hoping Baby A has grown!

The night nurse did actually order transport for me so that wasn't an issue this time around thank goodness!  It was tough to get up so early though - I am still not adjusted to the time difference so that is rough but it was worth it to see my babies (who were VERY active today).

Stacy was my only visitor today - apparently Finn is off the nasal canula now so he's just breathing regular air!  What awesome news - sounds like he'll be going home in no time once he catches on to breastfeeding.  I'm so excited for her!

I've been doing some "housekeeping" this afternoon trying to find out more info about my leave of absence from work and spending time on the telephone with Dell support since my keyboard is acting kind of wonky.  Of course I can't duplicate the issue when they're on the phone so I'm supposed to call back when it's happening.  I get frustrated when the tech support people try to treat me like I know nothing and am just imagining the problem so I'm not that sorry that I have to call back and talk to someone else later when it happens again.

In other baby news, our friends Matt and Meghan had their daughter today!  They named her Allyson Martha Reich and she's so cute.  Congratulations Matt and Meg, I can't wait to meet her! 

Hospital Stay Day 17 part 1

Another short entry just to update everyone on my doppler appointment this morning.

Baby A
Brain bloodflow ratio: 5.2
Umbilical cord ratio: 4.1
Fluid level: 3.3 cm

Baby B
Brain bloodflow ratio: 15.1
Umbilical cord ratio: 3.4
Fluid level: 6.3 cm

Everything looks good, "normal" even from what I'm told so that is great news!  They both scored 6/8 on the BPP (not practicing their breathing).

Hospital Stay Day 16

The time change was rough this morning.  The night nurse came in around 12:30 (yes, I was sleeping) to change the clocks so I guess my question on who was going to do it got answered.  Of course I woke up because I sleep so lightly while I'm in the hospital and the nurse noticed so she said "well, while I'm here can I take your blood pressure?  I was laying on my left side and she took it on my right arm and it was 96/58.  I' thought that when you do someone's blood pressure your arm should always be level with your heart or it's not considered accurate but maybe I'm wrong.  Oh well!  This morning it was 120/69 right after I woke up (sitting up) so that's a little bit more like it.

I'm getting really tired of the "Dining on Call" menu here.  I keep forgetting to ask my nurse if I really will get to order off of the cafeteria menu soon because I need some different food.  You can only have so much french toast and chicken strips and even fruit and yogurt parfaits before you start to go a little bit crazy.

Ben and Maia came over to visit around 2 today so we read some stories, blew bubbles and had some snacks.  Maia really enjoys trying to put my slippers on my feet so that's a fun game for awhile too.  My parents came by and we all went on a walk (well, my wheelchair ride) around the hospital.  My dad showed Maia how to throw money in the fountain and while she didn't really get the throwing aspect of it she thought it was a pretty exciting activity.

Monitoring went pretty well today.  Both nurses said that the babies looked good so I'm happy about that.  It's also great news that I'm 27 weeks today!  According to Babycenter this week the babies are about 2 lbs (like a head of cauliflower) and about 14 1/2 inches long.  They're sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing their eyes and possibly sucking their fingers.  Their brains are very active now and while the lungs are still immature, they're capable of functioning (with medical help) if they're born now.  Great news!

I have a 7:30 doppler appointment in the morning.  Last week they forgot to call transport for me so hopefully they do that this week.  I keep reminding my nurse but she says that they can't do it in advance so she'll have to remind the night nurse to do it.  I say that they should just let me walk!

Oh, and hi Matt.

Hospital Stay Day 15

Happy Saturday!  I'm trying to figure out how setting the clocks forward works around here.  I wonder if I will just do it tomorrow or if someone will come in and change them all.  I guess I only have two (my main clock and the microwave) but I'm still curious.  I suppose that means they'll still wake me up at the normal 7 a.m. time to do blood pressure and weight and stuff but that'll feel like 6.  Oh well!

I had a bunch of visitors today which was great.  The morning was pretty low key - I watched the Enchanted Blu-Ray disc on my laptop, had some lunch and stitched for awhile.  Ben and Maia were going to come around 1 but didn't end up coming until 3 because Maia's nap went long but Matt and Meghan surprised me by visiting earlier.  It was good to see them!  Meghan is 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow so I'm so excited for her to have that baby!  I keep reminding her that she could go another 2 weeks like I did but she's not interested in that story.  Matt apparently really enjoys being mentioned in the blog so maybe I'll try to work him in every so often even if he's not here.

Anyway, after Matt and Meghan came, Ben and Maia showed up and so did the Solts.  Ivy and Maia had a great time playing and we all got some Shamrock shakes from McDonalds (yum yum).  I got to hold little 3-week-old Jamey (and got to see his eyes open!) Matt and Meg had to leave but Ben and the Solts went to Little Tijuana for dinner while I "enjoyed" the feature of the day - Taco Bake with spanish rice and confetti corn.  At least I got some Mexican flavor in even if I didn't get to go out!  It's okay though, I don't think Ben's been to a not fast food restaurant since I've been admitted.

Lorry also surprised me this evening by coming over (Emma was staying with her parents) and we watched a movie and just relaxed for awhile.  It was nice to unwind!  We saw "The Secret Life of Bees".  Lorry used up all my Kleenex.  Okay, maybe she didn't but she did turn on the waterworks.

Not much as far as baby news goes.  Baby A was being stubborn this morning and didn't stay on the monitors well but this evening they both did great.  They drew blood today again which was super exciting.  Even though they've done two "Type and Screen" tests on me already I guess they have to do one every week so today was the day.  Needles don't bother me at least.

For those of you keeping track, I have a doppler appointment on Monday morning and a growth ultrasound on Thursday.  I'm looking forward to the growth one to see how Ms. Peanut is doing!

Hospital Stay Day 14

Today was all right.  The highlight of the day was that since it's the first Friday of the month the hospital sponsors an "art project".  Molly from Alternative Medicine came by this morning letting me know that if I was interested she would be leading it at 2 p.m. today.  I figured, why not?  It's not like I have anything better to do!  So at 2 I went out into the center circle and a group of about 6 women were there and we made collages.  We were supposed to pick a theme and then cut out things from magazines to represent the theme.  I chose to do a collage on my relationship with Maia once the twins are born.  I'm nowhere near done but it was a nice hour and a half diversion.

After the art project, my aunt Diane stopped by to take me on my wheelchair ride of the day and we went to visit the special care nursery where she works.  It was a quick tour but it's nice to see so many premature babies doing so well!  It gives me a lot of hope.  It's also nice to see the facilities they have for parents that stay overnight and for moms that pump.

This evening my mom went to our house to watch Maia after she went to bed and Ben came to the hospital.  We rented a movie and just hung out for awhile.  It was nice to be here with him doing something normal.  We watched Dark Knight - poor Ben didn't get to leave until about 10:30 which means that he probably won't get enough sleep tonight.  I hope Maia sleeps in a bit for him tomorrow!

Stacy also visited again today.  She told me that if I'm here two weeks then I get to start to order off of the cafeteria menu!  I know that probably shouldn't get me excited but it does - I'll just have to confirm that with the nurses.

Oh, monitoring went okay today.  Both times the babies behaved and stayed on the monitors but the nurses were a little concerned that they didn't see a lot of heartrate accelerations with Baby A.  They said it was nothing to be alarmed about and that it's pretty normal for babies of this gestation but the fact that they both commented on it was a bit concerning.  I know they're looking for decelerations as a bad sign and we didn't have any lengthy period of those so that's good.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow!   

Hospital Stay Day 13

I am feeling somewhat emotional right now.  Ben and Maia just left and I just feel so sad.  I can't believe how much I miss then and it's such a semblance of normal when they're here with me.  I miss having that all the time.  I am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that when I do get to come home I won't be completely home because I'll have to be at the hospital all the time for the girls.  I'll be pumping again which will take up a lot of time and things will just never be the same again.  I know it will be a positive thing in the long run and that being here is the right place for me right now but I can't help the emotions.  I miss my husband and little girl.

As far as today goes it was fairly uneventful.  I had a biophysical profile this morning and Baby A got 8/8 and Baby B got 6/8.  Baby B wasn't in the mood to practice her breathing today even though we watched her for a good 20 minutes.  It was almost like Baby A was saying "hey, look at me, I may be small but I can breathe!"  We know that Baby B CAN do it since she's scored 8/8 on previous BPPs but today it just wasn't happening.   Breathing practice is the least important factor on the test and the ultrasound tech said she wasn't worried at all.

Lorry came today and brought me some Taste of Thailand lunch.  It was pretty good but I should learn my lesson that I should just order mild instead of medium-mild.  It was a bit on the "too spicy" side for me!  It was nice to see her though.  She went over and saw Finn at Children's Hospital after she saw me and I know she was excited to be able to meet him too.

My friend Holli (who I threw the baby shower for on Sunday) had her baby either yesterday or today.  I haven't heard the official news but I'm waiting on pins and needles for the scoop.  I think they had a little girl.

The alternative medicine lady (Kathy) came by today and gave me a back massage.  My lower back has been starting to feel the strain the last few days and I've just been somewhat sore.  The massage was really nice - it felt great. 

Oh, so last night I had some excitement.  Normally the evening nurse is the last nurse I see since they get off at 11 and that's when I go to bed.  The night nurse barely ever comes in since I'm sleeping but last night at about 12:30 the door opens and a flashlight starts shining in my room.  She comes in and aims the flashlight at my face but I'm pretending to be asleep because I SHOULD be asleep.  She writes her name on the whiteboard (normally the night nurse does not do this - if I need something I can press the nurse call button on my bed) and then shines her light directly in my face again.  I finally open my eyes and she cheerfully introduces herself and asks me "are you having any pain?  Contractions?  Bleeding?  Leakage of fluid?  Are the babies moving?"  Umm, no lady!  I'm sleeping!  She finally leaves but come on.  Really? 

Anyway, off to watch American Idol!

Hospital Stay Day 12

Today was a pretty decent day all things considered.  I got a good bit of stitching done again today, watched a bit of TV, had some visitors and participated in "group" for the first time.

I remembered hearing a rumor when I got admitted (Ben likes to say I was committed) that Wednesday was "group day" but I never really knew what it meant.  Last Wednesday nobody mentioned it to me and I figured that if it was happening someone would let me know but nobody ever did.  Today I thought I'd ask Barb (my nursing assistant) and she told me that they haven't had it for the last couple of weeks because nobody was interested.  Today however, 3 people wanted to go so Barb made some popcorn and we all got together out in the center area of Station 54 and chatted.  There is no leader, just the opportunity to talk to other women who are here.  I met Peggy who is here because she has a placenta previa (like me) but she's been bleeding constantly.  She's 33 weeks along and they'll let her go to 35 weeks when they're scheduling her for a c-section.  She has been here for 4 weeks already and she's having a little girl.  I also met Angie who is only 25 weeks along (she doesn't know what she's having) and has a funneled cervix (1.7cm).  She has to remain horizontal for the whole day except the 20 minutes she's allowed to be vertical.  A lot of women in her situation have a cerclage (meaning they put a stitch in the cervix to prevent the baby from "falling out") but the baby is already way too low and they're afraid that doing that will break her water.  Anyway, it was really nice to connect with other women stuck on hospital bed rest and to hear their stories!

My visitors today were Ana, an old friend of mine from middle school, my aunt Diane (who is going to take me up to the Special Care Nursery on Friday for a tour), Stacy (she's so awesome and tries to come on days that Ben and Maia can't make it!), my friend Celeste and my parents.  Tomorrow Lorry is going to bring me some lunch (hopefully from Taste of Thailand)!  I can't wait.  I also have my BPP tomorrow so they'll wheel in an ultrasound machine and give these kiddos their score.  I'm sure they'll both get 8/8 again as usual!

Here is a photo of me and Maia from Sunday.

Hospital Stay Day 11

Not much exciting happened today.  The monitoring went well though a student nurse did it this morning and she had a tough time keeping the babies on - she had to hold them the whole time.  The good thing about when that happens is that the time I'm monitored is generally cut shorter than the hour they usually keep me on for!   Both babies were kicking and moving like crazy but it just proves that they're doing pretty well in there.

Ben and Maia came this evening.  Ben is going to try to make it here every other day and make time to have some dinner and hang out.  Maia was in a pretty good mood and it was so good to see them both.  Tomorrow Ben is hanging out with the Reiches at our house watching American Idol so it will be some good downtime for him.

Wednesday will be another pretty low-key day I think.  I'm getting pretty far on my stitching and I've been using my laptop a lot so I'm not too terribly bored yet thank goodness!

Hospital Stay Day 10 part 2

I don't have much else to say for the day but I thought I'd just fill everyone in on the rest of today.

After I got back to my room this morning, Jill (the resident who does rounds with the doctor every weekday) came in to let me know that the hospital has a therapeutic pool and that I will be given permission to go and "float" in it for 20 minutes a day.  It's apparently a small, warm pool that patients go in to help with achiness and in my case, hydrotherapy for babies.  She says that the babies love it and are usually really active afterwards.  I will get 20-30 minutes and I can borrow a hospital swimming suit.  Um, no thanks.  I'll bring my own!  It sounds good though and it will be something nice to break up the day even if I'm not allowed to actually swim.  They don't let people in the antepartum ward go in if they're bleeding, having regular contractions or have ruptured membranes (broken water) so she was pleased to see that my dopplers were stable and that I had none of those symptoms.  Me too.

Not much else going on today.  Stacy stopped by to visit for a few minutes and my aunt Sandy came by for about an hour.

I spent most of my day cross-stitching and reading (I finished up on a series I had been working on for a few months) and spent my evening watching the Bachelor finale. 

Tomorrow Ben is getting off work at 4 and he and Maia are going to come visit me so I'm looking forward to that.  I miss my baby girl.

Hospital Stay Day 10

First of all, happy 5th birthday Emma! This will be just a short entry (I may write more tonight) but I wanted to let everyone know how my doppler appointment went this morning.

Baby A
Brain bloodflow ratio: 7.5
Umbilical cord ratio: 4.9-6.2
Fluid level: 5.26cm

Baby B
Brain bloodflow ratio: 5.6
Umbilical cord ratio: 3.0-3.5
Fluid level: 4.25cm

Cervix: 4.2cm

What this means is that Baby A is staying pretty steady with where she's been.  They're looking for the umbilical cord ratio to be less than the brain bloodflow ratio (which it is) and they are looking for absent to reverse flow.  She still doesn't have that - she has resistant flow but it's not gone so that is a positive thing.  Baby B looks great as usual.  They also did a biophysical profile (BPP) on these kiddos and they both scored 8/8 again so that is excellent news.

I asked the doctor if I need to stay and he hemmed and hawed for awhile but said that yes, I should stay just so they can keep a close eye on these babies.

Hospital Stay Day 9

Today was a pretty good day.  Nothing really exciting happened in terms of the twins but at this point, that is a great thing I think.  The monitoring went well both morning and evening (I had both nurses comment again on how good they look for their gestational age) even though Baby B wasn't cooperating very well by staying on the monitors!  My blood pressure was pretty steady today at 122-130/80-84 so not bad.  I try to take deep breaths whenever they come in to take it and it seems to be pretty effective.

My mom and dad came to visit around 1 pm then my aunt Nancy and uncle Jan came just shortly after that.  It was good to see them!  Nancy and Jan brought Maia a stuffed bear and a soft book that she could look at while she was at the hospital and they also brought me a beautiful flowering plant and a crossword book.  Ben and Maia showed up while everyone was here and I think Maia was loving all the attention she was getting.  She was in a great mood this afternoon!  I even got a hug and I haven't been getting many hugs from her since I've been in the hospital so it was nice to see her back to her normal self.

This evening we had a baby shower for my friend Holli.  Our friends Sarah and Sara came and we had brownies, opened gifts and talked about kids.  I'm so excited that Holli is due in 2 weeks!  I can't wait to meet her new little one.

Tomorrow morning I have my doppler (bloodflow) and biophysical profile appointment at 7:30 a.m.  I have to remember to set my iPhone's alarm so I have time to get up and shower first.  Ben can't make it since it's so early so the hospital is arranging a transport to come get me.  I imagine that means a person who will wheel me over to the perinatal clinic.  Come on guys, just let me walk!

Not too much else going on today.  Tomorrow will be busier with my appointment and just the fact that it's Monday and hospital staff will be doing their rounds.  I think I heard that Dr. Wothe (the Dr. that first discovered our SIUGR) is the one in the perinatal clinic tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what he has to say now.  He's the one who originally gave Baby A a 50/50 chance at survival - but that was back at 19 weeks.

Speaking of which, I'm 26 weeks today!   Woohoo!  This week, the network of nerves in the babies' ears are better developed and more sensitive than before.  They may be able to hear my voice even when I'm not talking specifically to them.  They're inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid and weigh about 1 2/3 lb and measure about 14" long.  (Well, maybe one of them weighs that much anyway!)