27 Weeks 1 Day

I really dont have a good excuse for not updating my blog, and I really don't even have a reason either. I guess I just was not in the mood. But we are still pregnant, and that is good. I am sorry if I caused any worry due to lack of updates!

Things have been relatively quiet the last couple of days. My contractions have been a little bad, and have had to be controlled 4 times with a secondary contraction medication.

Yesterday we celebrated the 27 week NON-Birthday. It was really nice. Grandma Silvia brought brownies and juice, Michelle brought in a Non-Birthday balloon, and we had quite the celebration. 1 more week and we will have reached our first milestone of 28 weeks!!

I do have to say that Keith is getting pretty burned out. He has been so amazing. He goes to work everyday, and then comes to the hospital and takes care of me until 10 or 11 at night, then gets up at 5 am the next morning to do it all over again. By last night you could see it on his face that it was starting to catch up with him, and he was really tired-so I sent him home early to get some rest. Tomorrow he has a day off, and he is going to go to the CORR races in Chula Vista with all of the boys, so I think that will be really good for him. I don't know what I would do without him, I really am the luckiest girl in the world.

Everything else is going good, we are just taking things one day at a time. I am hoping they can get my contractions more under control in the next couple of days but we will see. I will try and do better about updating my blog, sorry again for the lapse. Thanks for all of your thoughts, and I will let you know if there is anything else new and exciting to report.

Gestational Diabetes?

So yesterday they gave me my 1 hour glucose test, and I failed miserably. You have to have a blood sugar of 130 or less, and I got a 169! So they were thinking that there was a possibility of me having Gestational Diabetes. So this morning they administered the 3 hour glucose test, and supposedly I passed. My nurse said that you have to have 2 abnormal results, and I only had 1, but the other 2 were extremely borderline to being abnormal. So there is a possibility it is still borderline, but for now it won't change anything. I have to wait and talk to my Dr. Hopefully I don't have it. I don't need anything else to worry about.

I think the girls had a growth spurt. I feel really large today. Usually when I am laying down my belly looks a lot smaller, but today for some reason it seems HUGE! I should really take some pictures.

I am really tired today. They started glucose test this morning at 5am, and I was up well before that. I also did not sleep very well last night. And since I took the Ambien (sleeping medicine) last night and didn't get the required sleep, I think I am still groggy today.

Other than the whole gestational diabetes thing, things have remained relatively quiet. Which is exactly how we like it. We are getting closer and closer to 27 weeks!

Holding Tight Until 28 Weeks

My Dr. did rounds yesterday and decided (after much anxiety and anticipation on my part) that she would not be measuring my cervix this week after all. There are a couple of reasons why she came to this decision, the first is there is no way my cervix glued itself back together so its not any better, and at this point any change in my cervix is not going to change my care unless I was needing to deliver the girls. Secondly, she didn't want to have to stick anything "up there" that is not absolutely necessary. She would just prefer to leave well enough alone. So at this point, I really cant tell you if things have progressed or stayed the same since I have been here. The important thing is that I am still pregnant.

I have noticed that I feel a lot more contractions lately, and it was a little concerning to me. I talked to my nurses and my doctors about it, and they said that the bigger the girls get the more I am going to feel the contractions. So I guess the fact that I can feel them means that they are growing!! Yeah! As long as I don't exceed 6 contractions in an hour I don't have to take the yucky medicine to stop the contractions. I have not had to do that in a couple of days.

So pretty much at this point, I am going to keep doing what I am doing until 28 weeks, which is our big Milestone! My Dr said at the 28 week mark she is going to take me off of the Mag (the medicine I am on for contractions), apparently it is not good to be on it long term. But since I was so early when I came in, they did not have much of a choice. They will also re-measure my cervix and measure the babies. Today we are 26 weeks 4 days, so things are moving right along!

These little girls are loved so much, and I just want them to keep cooking! The baby bash is coming up soon-next weekend already. Everyone better show up, because if you don't I will personally kick your ass when I am out of here. Keith could use the distraction from this place, and work and everything else going on.

I will try to keep things quiet today, and I will let you know if anything else changes!

Damn Contractions!

Yesterday was a non-eventful day until Kristi and Pollard showed up and all of a sudden the girls decided that they wanted to come out and play!

My contractions got all out of control, and the nurse even had to page the Dr! Before they would give me a shot of Terbutaline when I had more than 6 contractions in an hour, but after Kylee's little arrhythmia the other night they took it away. So that was no longer an option. The Dr. decided to go back to the Nephedepine (procardia) medication to help the contractions go away. The Nephedepine seemed to do the trick. But man, I just hate the way these drugs make me feel. They make my heart beat really fast, and make me really anxious (which doesn't help when I am already anxious!), but as long as it keeps these little ones inside for a while longer, I will deal with it.

The rest of my day yesterday was very nice. They moved me to a private room, which is good because I suck at sharing. Lindsay came by for a while, then Steph, then Erica. It was nice to see them and it kept me busy. A few more people came by after I had moved, but my room was soooo full that I am not going to sit and name them all. I will just say that I love having the company, and it definitely makes my day go by faster.

Sometimes I am feeling really optimistic and I think-"Wow, its already been over a week", and then other moments I think-"Wow, I have only done a week and I really need to do about 8-9 more!!". I am really trying to stay positive, because being negative is only going to drag this out. The unfortunate thing is that I am still human, and this whole situation is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I know that I will get through it, and I am so thankful for everyone that has been sooo supportive and helped me through.

Today the Dr. that admitted me is the Perinatologist on call, so I am assuming today will be the day that they re-measure my cervix. I have very mixed feelings about this. Part of me wants to know what the heck is going on, and the other part of me leans more towards the ignorance is bliss side. I guess my point is, I am just really anxious about it all. I am scared to hear bad news, but good news would mean I get to take a shower. I guess we will just have to wait and see what the Dr. says.

Other than that, things have been mellow. Oh yeah! Something cool I forgot to mention, my new room has a door to the outside with a patio. And even though I am not allowed to get up and go outside, my nurse propped the door open last night and I slept sooo good with the fresh air coming in. It makes such a big difference to breath in outside air.

Have a good day, and the girls and I will try and keep things quiet!

One More Day Down...

We are now 26 weeks and 2 days!! We are getting closer to our next BIG milestone of 28 weeks!

Yesterday was a really good day. My contractions slowed down, and the girls even cooperated on the heart monitor every time they had to go on it. Kylee's little irregular heart beat corrected as the Dr. said it would.

Stephanie and Kristi came to visit yesterday and we had a little pizza party and hung out. It was a very nice Saturday afternoon. Michelle also stopped by on her lunch break to make sure everything was going OK, she takes such good care of me.

The highlight of my day was when Keith got off work, and came to see me. He gave me a bath, washed my hair, and even shaved by legs (thanks to the Comm. center care package!!) I feel like an actual person and it is amazing. I think it really helped me sleep last night. Last night was the first night I slept all the way through!

So, no New News to report here, and I am absolutely OK with that. Hopefully today is much of the same!

Long Night...

Yesterday was Keith's first day back to work. I am not going to lie, I am a lot more anxious when he is gone. Thankfully I managed to get through it OK. I am hoping that once I get used to everything, it will just become like any other day, and I wont even think twice about it.

Keith's mom, dad, grandma and grandpa came down yesterday to celebrate the 26 Week NON-Birthday of the girls. His mom made cupcakes, and we had a little mini-party. It was fun! Siliva started a Memory Book for the girls, where everyone that comes to visits can sign and leave them a message. I thought that was a really cool idea, and then when the girls are old enough to understand they can see how loved they are and they aren't even here yet.

Laura came by with the coolest care package from everyone at the communications center. It is awesome, and has everything I could need while I am stuck in this bed. Including a Singing/Dancing Turtle that makes me laugh hysterically every time I see it. They also got me smell good stuff since I am not allowed to get up and take a shower. Then all the Goodies were packaged into an emesis basin signed by everyone. It was a really cool idea, and I LOVE it!! I'm sure my visitors love it to, because now I smell good!!

Michelle did the coolest thing yesterday too! She came by last night and brought me a contoured pillow, so my neck wont hurt so bad from laying flat in this bed, and a super soft-cuddly blanket. Its amazing how just these 2 little things can make a hospital room feel more like home. I love it.

So now for The long Night....

Since I have been here I have been having contractions all the time, but I have not been feeling most of them. The doctors and nurses agree that if I am not feeling them, that they are probably not causing cervical change. However, last night at around 7 or so I started feeling them, and they were speeding up in frequency and intensity. So my nurse called the Dr. and got an order for a shot of Terbutaline (a drug that helps stop the contractions). That seemed to help calm them down a bit,and then Michelle showed up to visit and it got my mind off of them so I think that helped as well.

So with the contractions under control, I figured we were going to have a quiet night and go to bed. Well the girls had a different idea. The nurse came in at 11pm to check the girls heart rates and put them on the monitor to make sure they are doing OK. My girls HATE the Heart rate game. I don't know if its the cold gel plopped on their heads, or if its just a fun game of hide-and-go-seek from the nurse or what?-but whatever it is, they don't like to cooperate one bit.

So after chasing them down the nurse finally gets baby B (Kaylyn) on the monitor and actually gets her to stay on the monitor, then she had to hunt down baby A (Kylee). After maneuvering and searching for Kylee, my nurse called in another nurse to come help her find her. How much room can they really have in there? Apparently, A LOT! So the other nurse comes in and finally finds her, but come to find out now that we have found her, her heart is beating irregularly.

So immediately the nurse pages the doctor and is frantically moving about (keep in mind its 2am by this point). Well to me, if it is important enough to page the Dr about this at this hour it probably means it is something serious. So then I start to worry. The Dr. calls back and tells the Nurses that they need to send me down to Labor and Delivery immediately!

OK, now I am REALLY anxious!!! Why do I have to go down to L&D? Are they going to deliver them?? All these crazy questions running through my head, and then my nurse came back in and said that I would get to stay in my room and the Dr. would bring in the Ultrasound machine to me and check things out. So that was a little more reassuring.

What seemed like hours later, the Dr. finally came and did the ultrasound. He did find that Kylee had a little bit of an Arrhythmia, and had some PAC's. But he said it is very normal, and it was probably from the Terbutaline shot they gave me earlier or the chocolate cupcake I ate. He said that this is very normal, and it would correct itself. He said it looks like I have "2 happy kids in there". So that was reassuring.

So after that big debacle, it was now 3am, and I was exhausted. I was able to sleep easier since the Dr had come up and told me everything was normal. I am hoping that today is much less eventful!

26 Weeks!!

Of course everyday we make it along still being preggo is a milestone, but today is a cool day because we are 26 weeks!! We are exactly 2 weeks away from our big milestone of 28 weeks! At 28 weeks so many things change. Their viability rates increase dramatically with less incidence of long term issues due to prematurity. If we can make it to 28 we will be so happy, and anything after that will just be icing on the cake.

Things are pretty much the same as they were before. My contractions started kicking up again yesterday afternoon, so they increased my dose of magnesium and it seemed to be working. The good thing is, is that I am not feeling most of these contractions, they are just being tracked on the monitor. Usually if you cannot feel them they are not going to cause any cervical change. However, it is still important to keep them under control.

My nurses here have all been great. They are all so good at what they do and passionate about all of their mom and babies. They come in and tell me success stories all the time, which is really helpful for me to keep my head up.

Like I have said in previous posts, everyone has been so wonderful, words cannot even describe. From visits, to phone calls, to emails...it is so nice to know that we are not alone. So many people already love these little girls. Keith's mom has been beyond amazing. She has been here everyday, making sure everything is taken care of. It has been wonderful, and I don't know what I would have done without her.

Amazingly, the days thus far have been going by fairly quickly, I just hope it continues be that way. Keith goes back to work today, so I think it will be good for him to get into some sense of a normal routine, as much as possible anyway.

I think that is all for now. I'm just patiently awaiting the coming of every new day!

One Day at a Time

I really want to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support for Keith, and the Girls and I through this very trying time in our lives.

I also want to apologize for not returning people's emails. Because I am restricted to laying straight on my back, it takes forever for me to type, so I find I can make the best use of my time posting a blog so everyone can see what is going on. I am just as bad as returning phone calls, and it does not help that I just got my phone charger the other day. Anyways, please don't take it personally if I don't respond right away.

I am now settled in my new permanent home until the girls come. I was transferred via Ambulance from Grossmont Hospital to Mary Birch, because they have a more specialized- Level III NICU, should the girls come early and need it. It is quite cozy, and several people have sent flowers that have really brightened it up.

My days are full of little accomplishments! Yesterday, my Dr. allowed me to have commode privileges (rather than using the bed pan) and that is sooooo great! It is so amazing what you take for granted until you are told you have to lay in a bed and cannot get up for any reason!!

My Perinatologist came is yesterday morning and kind of went over the game plan. We are going to hold tight doing what we are doing (strict bedrest etc...) for about a week, and then they are going to re-check my cervix. Depending on what the results of that are it can go one of 2 ways-I may be able to take a shower in a shower chair, or I may have to go back to using a bed pan. Lets hope for the first one. She said that we will be taking things one day at a time, and at this point there is not much that we can do except hurry up and wait.

I do have to take a minute to brag, and let everyone know that I am the luckiest woman on the face of this earth. My husband is amazing!! He gave me an endure bed bath, washed my hair (in BED!!), brushed it out for me (he said it would be practice for when the girls are here), and helped me change my clothes and my bed. I am so thankful to have him, and I really don't know what I would do without him. These little girls are going to have the best daddy in the WORLD!

The girls are still doing great. Their heartbeats are strong, and they are moving around as much as ever. At this point we are considered acute status, yet stable. They have removed the 24 contraction monitor and now only monitor for contractions every 4 hours for an hour at a time. The Magnesium seems to be working very well at stopping the contractions, so that is good. We have gotten through one more day, so that is 3 less days they will have to endure in the NICU.

At this point, no news is good news, and I am very happy with that. Everyday the girls get bigger and stronger and their chances of survival increases. I am hoping to hold on for a while longer, but unfortunately it is all out of my hands.

Lots of people have come by to visit, and I love having the company. So if you want to come by, you are more than welcome. It really helps the day fly by. Keith goes back to work on his regular rotation tomorrow, so we will see if the weekend goes as fast as this week did.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and continued support!! We Love you!!

In the Hospital Until the Girls Arrive

Well its been a crazy couple of days! The girls are trying to push their way out early!

Saturday afternoon when I got off work, I went home and I just was not feeling well. I was having major pressure/cramping and decided that I probably should call my Dr. so I did. She told me to go to the hospital right away, so I drove my self to the there (Keith was at work), and then the fun began.

They got me all hooked up to all of these crazy pregnant monitors and found that I was having contractions 1-7 minutes apart lasting 30-90 seconds. Then they administered this test known as fFN test (fetal fibronectin SP?), it tests for a protein that is present when a woman is actively in labor. If the tests comes back negative there is a 99% chance she will NOT deliver in 2 weeks. Well mine came back positive. They they did a cervical exam and found that my cervix was in fact dilated. They could not tell to what degree is was dilated because the ultrasound machine was not readily available. So based on all of that my Dr. felt it would be best to admit me overnight for observation.

While being "observed", they proactively gave me steroids to help further along and speed up the development of the girls lungs, and they gave me large doses of antibiotics to make sure I did not get any kind of infection.

By Sunday afternoon, my contractions were under control and I figured they were going to be sending me home. Well Monday morning, I saw the Perinatologist (OB/GYN high risk specialist) and they did an ultrasound on the girls and they are doing fine. However, my cervix was not fine, it is dilated, and funneled and the membranes are protruding through the opening. Pretty much at any minute my water could break and I would have to deliver these girls.

The treatment for this drug therapy to control contractions so that it does not dilate any further. And the strict of the strict bedrest, bed pan and all. I cant even sit up to eat.

This is probably the scariest thing I have ever had to go through in my entire life. I am just trying to do everything I can to keep them inside my tummy, 1 day in my tummy is 3 days they don't have to be in the NICU.

Everyone keeps asking if there is anything we need or anything they can do, and to be honest the only thing we need right now is time. We need these babies to cook for several more months! We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family.

And don't think just because I am stuck in the hospital that the Baby bash is a wash! The Baby bash will go on, same place, same time-the only difference is there will be an after party in my hospital room.

I will try to keep this as updated as possible. It is very hard to type laying down flat, but I will do my best. Thanks again for all of your love and support. These girls are strong, they just need some more time, Each day is we make it through is a huge milestone at this point.

We had a GREAT Appt today!!

The girls are getting really big. At this point, they still have quite a bit of room to romp around in, and it seems as though they prefer to cuddle together at the bottom of my uterus. They are both head down. They should take advantage of all the open space, because its not going to be long and they are going to be pretty squished in there!!

My cervix has actually lengthened since last week, it was 55mm today, up from 37mm last week. So that is really good.

Originally, 24 weeks was going to be the milestone to start our weekly appointments, but my Dr. said everything looks great and she doesn't need to see me for 2 more weeks. At the next appointment I will have my 1 hour glucose test. I'm not to sure what that entails, but I will let you know. Hopefully the next 2 weeks are non eventful, and you won't have to hear from me until after the next scheduled appointment.

Oh yeah, this Friday we will be 24 weeks along, and that is the point where the babies are considered "Viable Births". So that is pretty exciting as well!