Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Still here...
No changes over the last week. Still hanging out in the hospital waiting for the babies. I did get wheelchair privileges on Saturday so Steve took me around the hospital, and I even got to sit outside for a little while. The fresh air was nice! The doctors are still pleased with the babies' heart rates, and will not take any action until I am at least 34 weeks along. That could make for a long hospital stay!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
No news is good news
Things here in the hospital are status quo. I'm just hanging out getting my temperature taken every four hours, and being given medicine every six hours - not exactly restful. I have not had any more contractions, and the babies are doing really well. Their heart rates are great and are not showing any signs of stress.
In the last couple of days we've met with a neonatologist and gotten a tour of the intensive care nursery. The neonatologist gave us a lot of information, and gave us an idea of what to expect when the babies come. Like we've known all along, every day the babies stay in is a huge benefit to them - they are gaining about an ounce each day right now!
The intensive care nursery here is very nice - not at all cold or sterile. We will be able to come and go as we please, and they are very supportive of what they call kangaroo care. Kangaroo care is where the baby and parent have skin to skin contact for long periods of time. This helps the baby maintain his/her body temperature, and of course is good for bonding with mommy and daddy.
We are pretty relaxed about everything, and are just taking things one day at a time. Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, and communications - we really appreciate it! This is the easy part! I think things will get much harder once we have to leave the babies here in the nursery and can't take them home with us.
In the last couple of days we've met with a neonatologist and gotten a tour of the intensive care nursery. The neonatologist gave us a lot of information, and gave us an idea of what to expect when the babies come. Like we've known all along, every day the babies stay in is a huge benefit to them - they are gaining about an ounce each day right now!
The intensive care nursery here is very nice - not at all cold or sterile. We will be able to come and go as we please, and they are very supportive of what they call kangaroo care. Kangaroo care is where the baby and parent have skin to skin contact for long periods of time. This helps the baby maintain his/her body temperature, and of course is good for bonding with mommy and daddy.
We are pretty relaxed about everything, and are just taking things one day at a time. Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, and communications - we really appreciate it! This is the easy part! I think things will get much harder once we have to leave the babies here in the nursery and can't take them home with us.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
A change in bed rest location
We had a little development late Friday night - my water broke. So at 1:30 in the morning we were on our way to the hospital! The doctor confirmed that my water had broken and checked out the babies. The babies were, and still are, in good shape. They are estimated to now weigh 3 lb 12 oz, and 3 lb 5 oz - good sizes!
After getting checked out they moved me to a room to monitor the babies' heart rates and any contractions I might be having, started the steroid treatment to help develop the babies' lungs, and put me on IV antibiotics to prevent any infections. Late Saturday morning I started having mild contractions, but nothing to indicate I was in labor. The babies were not in distress so I was given extra IV fluids to try to calm the contractions. It worked. Once the contractions stopped I was moved to another room where things will be monitored a couple of times a day.
When we got here early Saturday morning we weren't sure what was going to happen, but we think we may have bought some more time for the babies. We're not sure how long I will be here, but I might be here until the babies come (hopefully a couple more weeks).
Things here are still good, and the doctors and nurses are all fantastic! Saturday was hard with so little rest, but today has been much better. Steve got to sleep at home, and came in today very refreshed : )
I have access to email, and I have my cell phone so keep in touch! We'll keep the blog updated with any updates.
After getting checked out they moved me to a room to monitor the babies' heart rates and any contractions I might be having, started the steroid treatment to help develop the babies' lungs, and put me on IV antibiotics to prevent any infections. Late Saturday morning I started having mild contractions, but nothing to indicate I was in labor. The babies were not in distress so I was given extra IV fluids to try to calm the contractions. It worked. Once the contractions stopped I was moved to another room where things will be monitored a couple of times a day.
When we got here early Saturday morning we weren't sure what was going to happen, but we think we may have bought some more time for the babies. We're not sure how long I will be here, but I might be here until the babies come (hopefully a couple more weeks).
Things here are still good, and the doctors and nurses are all fantastic! Saturday was hard with so little rest, but today has been much better. Steve got to sleep at home, and came in today very refreshed : )
I have access to email, and I have my cell phone so keep in touch! We'll keep the blog updated with any updates.
Getting bigger!
Friday, July 19th
My belly is growing! This is a good thing since it means the babies are getting bigger too!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Discovery Health show on twin to twin transfusion
The Discovery Health channel (channel 35 in the Raleigh area) has a show on twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome called "Twins in Peril." It tells the story of four sets of twins who have different levels of twin-to-twin from diagnosis through delivery. It's pretty good, and informative too. The show aired while we were in Cincinnati, but we didn't know it until we got home. Since then I've been checking discoveryhealth.com, but had not seen when it would air again. Tonight, as I was flipping through the channels, I came across the show and of course we watched it! It is a few years old, and Steve's sister-in-law now works at the hospital in Tampa where the surgical part of the show was filmed - what a coincidence! The twin-to-twin surgery is no longer performed at that hospital, and that doctor, Dr. Quintero, has moved to another hospital in the area. Watching the show was interesting too because many of the articles we read, when our babies were diagnosed with twin-to-twin, were written by Dr. Quintero.
Steve and I could completely relate to the couples on the show and watching it brought back a lot of strong emotions. We are thrilled that our babies were candidates for the surgery and things continue to go so well. If you watch the show you'll see that some of the ladies watch the surgery - I did not do that! I wanted to be completely oblivious to what was going on during the procedure!!
The show will air a few more times in the next month. You can see the schedule on discoveryhealth.com, or make a note of these dates and times:
July 19th, 12 pm
August 21st, 8 pm
August 21st, 11pm
Steve and I could completely relate to the couples on the show and watching it brought back a lot of strong emotions. We are thrilled that our babies were candidates for the surgery and things continue to go so well. If you watch the show you'll see that some of the ladies watch the surgery - I did not do that! I wanted to be completely oblivious to what was going on during the procedure!!
The show will air a few more times in the next month. You can see the schedule on discoveryhealth.com, or make a note of these dates and times:
July 19th, 12 pm
August 21st, 8 pm
August 21st, 11pm
Monday, July 7, 2008
Today's Doctor visit
Profile of baby B!We got great news at the doctor this morning. The babies are growing really well! Last time we had an ultrasound Baby B was in the 10th percentile for growth - today he/she was in the 28th, and is estimated to weigh 2 lb 3 oz! We were very surprised to see so much growth, but obviously very pleased. Baby A is also doing well and has jumped up to the 70th percentile and is estimated to weigh 2 lb 10 oz. We couldn't have asked for better news! We feel like we now have a normal twin pregnancy, but the doctors will continue to watch things very closely.
The babies move and kick a lot these days. I think they are positioned in an X, one sort of under the other. Baby A is head down and kicks pretty hard on the top of my belly. They aren't keeping me up at night yet, but I'm sure that will come soon!
Tomorrow is what I consider to be our biggest milestone (until the birth) 28 weeks! I'm feeling very confident now that we will have two healthy babies when they decide to come out. I'm also very glad to be confined to the house now : ) I never thought I would say that, but as the babies get bigger, I get bigger, and more uncomfortable! I'm suffering from many of the common pregnancy complaints - nothing new for those of you who have gone through this, but I'm lucky to be able to take it easy in the air conditioning and have Steve take care of me. Not every woman is that lucky when she is pregnant!
The babies move and kick a lot these days. I think they are positioned in an X, one sort of under the other. Baby A is head down and kicks pretty hard on the top of my belly. They aren't keeping me up at night yet, but I'm sure that will come soon!
Tomorrow is what I consider to be our biggest milestone (until the birth) 28 weeks! I'm feeling very confident now that we will have two healthy babies when they decide to come out. I'm also very glad to be confined to the house now : ) I never thought I would say that, but as the babies get bigger, I get bigger, and more uncomfortable! I'm suffering from many of the common pregnancy complaints - nothing new for those of you who have gone through this, but I'm lucky to be able to take it easy in the air conditioning and have Steve take care of me. Not every woman is that lucky when she is pregnant!
Please vote!
We've had 18 votes so far, and 72% of the voters think the babies are girls!
Let us know what you think the babies are - the link to vote is in the top left corner of the blog.
Let us know what you think the babies are - the link to vote is in the top left corner of the blog.
Baby Shower
Mom, Me, Laura, and Aunt Lisa
The hostesses (and Lindsay)
Mom-in-law, Laurie, Carson, and Me
What a cute cake!My girlfriends put together a wonderful baby shower! We got so many wonderful things, and it helped get us excited about the arrival of our twins. I was especially excited to go to the shower because when we found out about the twin-to-twin transfusion I wasn't sure we would even have a shower. I had asked that the shower be put on hold until we knew that the babies were doing OK. Everyone was so patient, and once we reached about 25 weeks I finally felt confident enough to schedule the party. It was so nice to go to someone else's (Jennifer Taylor's) house for a little while, and visit with everyone! Thank you to everyone - I had a great time!
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