Update on our Little Miracles

It is hard to believe that it has been about 3 1/2 days since I gave girth to the girls. They both are already making steps towards coming home. It is really important to keep in mind that a stay in the NICU is equivalent to a roller coaster ride. There are many ups and downs. When there is a regression the baby will have to return to a previously achieved status, and work their way back once again. Kind of the 2 steps forward and 1 day back thought process.

The nurses have made it very clear to get used to the idea that one twin will be going home sooner than the other. They are 2 different people and are going to progress at different rates. With that in mind, we will discuss the girls progress thus far...

Kylee, who was born the smaller twin is doing extremely well. They say that the smaller twin often times does better, because it is already used to fighting for survival in the womb. When fighting for position and size, it causes the baby to release natural steroids and endorfins that allow the baby to be very strong at birth. Kylee was extubated on Sunday, and then yesterday they removed her CPAP breathing machine and she is now breathing on her own with the assistance of a Nasal Canula oxygen mask. She has tolerated the nasal canula very well, and her oxygen saturation remains good. Keith got to hold her Monday for the first time, and we both got a chance to hold her yesterday. She had to remain on all of her monitors, but it was so amazing to have her next to us. She also practiced sucking on a pacifier. Sucking, amazingly enough is a very advanced skill that most full-term babies dont learn until around 35 weeks. She did very well though.

Kaylyn has had a little more difficulty in the airway area. She remains on a ventilator. They tried to extubate her on Monday because she was fighting her tube very hard. She was able to maintain on the CPAP machine, but did not excel. She was working very hard to continue to breath, and had a lot of chest retraction with every breath. To avoid her working too hard and going in to full respiratory depression, they replaced the breathing tube early Tuesday morning. They are possibly going to try to extubate her again today. It is hard to keep in mind that even though she is progressing a little more slowly, that she is right where she should be for a 28 week old preemie infant.

Both of the girls had a ultrasound on their brain done on Monday. The radiologist read the results as negative for any head bleeds. The girls' neonatologist had a more "inconclusive" results, and did not like the quality of the study and felt he could not come to any certain conclusions. He did say that neither one of them have a bleed in the normal spot they find head bleeds in preemies. They are going to repeat the test in 5 days, so we will have more answers then, but right now we don't have reason to worry. That too could change.

On Tuesday, they did a cardiac echo on each of the girls (ultrasound of the heart). There is a valve in the heart that is supposed to close at birth, but often times with premature babies this valve does not close on its own and medicine has to be administered. Kylee's valve seems to have closed nearly all the way on its own, which is probably why she is having a more successful time being off the ventilator. Kaylyn's valve remains open most of the way, so they started her on the medicine to help it close. They are going to repeat this test in a couple of days, and see if any progress was made. This valve is extremely important to be able to move forward with any airway progress. Also they cannot start feeding until the Dr.'s ensure this issue has been taken care of.

I never thought I would be so elated to change a diaper! One of the hardest things about the whole NICU environment has been the inability to do all of the maternal things most mothers of newborns get to encounter. Right now, I can take their temperature, change their diapers, and pump milk for them for when they are allowed to start feedings. I have not even been able to kiss them as of yet, and that kills me. I am just taking things one step at a time, and reminding myself how lucky I am to have these precious girls.

At this point, every little victory is such a miracle. I cannot wait until I get to hold both of them in my arms (We have yet to have the opportunity to hold Kaylyn). Most of the nurses are reluctant to let you hold until their aterial line in their belly button is removed. If for some reason this line got yanked out, it would be very detrimental.

They are so perfect to me, and I am so lucky to have 2 beautiful little girls. I am confident that though its going to be a long road, we are going to prevail victoriously. One day, this whole NICU stay will all be a memory. I will try to keep this updated, but its going to be really hard. They are releasing me from the hospital later on today, so I am going to have to come up with a schedule to see and feed the girls, so I will be coming and going back and forth quite a bit.

Please keep us in your thoughts. Our hope is that this NICU stay is as short as possible, but realistically they probably won't be home until around their due date which is December 28th. Thanks so much for everything. Everyone's support has been amazing, there are not even words to describe it. Well, I must go down to the NICU now to see the girls!

Daddy changing his first Diaper on Kaylyn

Kylee

Kylee

Kaylyn

Newest Additions to the Naylor Family

Here is the story of how it all went down....

As most of you know I was admitted to the hospital for Bedrest at 25weeks 1 day for Pre-Term labor, funneled membranes, and cervical dilation. While in the hospital they had me on Mag, Niphedipine, Terbutaline, and Endocin to stop the contractions and try and prevent the girls from coming too early.

Well my girls are determined, and yesterday morning my contractions came on really strong despite all the medications they had given me. My dr. did a cervical exam around 1300 and determined I was 4cm dilated and she could feel Baby A's (Kylee) Head. At that point they were going to still try and control the labor but it wasn't looking good. Kylee also had some questionable hear decelerations, and they were watching that very closely. Any signs of fetal distress and they were going to take the girls out immediately.

At 1330 I called Keith at work and told him he should probably get down to the hospital. Luckily, he had just finished a call and was offloading a patient at a nearby hospital, so he was able to come over right away. By the time he got here they were shipping me directly down to the OR. My contractions hadn't let up, Kylee was still having decel's, and they did not want to chance the labor progressing any more on its own. Keith had to scrub up in his work uniform.

At 1442 on October 6, 2007 Kylee Anne was born. She weighed 2lbs 10oz and was 15 inches long. Her sister Kaylyn Marie followed at 1443, and she weighed in at 3lbs 1 oz. also 15 inches long. Since they were still very much so premature, Keith didn't get the opportunity to cut the cord. Neither one of them was breathing or crying. They quickly and swiftly sent them off to get resuscitated and stabilized, and then to the NICU.

Keith got to go with the girls during this journey, so it was nice to know that their daddy was with them. It was however, what seemed like FOREVER until I got an update that they were doing well. They recovered me in PACU for about 2 hours before taking me up to my room. On my way to the room we stopped by the NICU and I got to see my little Twincess' for the first time myself. Keith just could not stop repeating how perfect they were and how beautiful they are.

They were both doing considerably well for their gestation upon arrival in the NICU. Thankfully, I had gotten Steroid shots when I was originally admitted into the hospital, and they gave me a booster about 2 hours before I delivered, so that helped tremendously with their lung development. Within just a couple hours, they had started weaning both girls off the ventilator. Kylee had to have a blood transfusion last night due to a low hematocrit level. And they have both had to have some supplementation of electrolytes (i.e. calcium, potassium etc...) to keep their levels at a normal rate, which apparently is very common with Preemies.

Yesterday they had already extubated Kylee, and she is doing quite well. They say Kaylyn is still pretty dependent on her ventilator and it could be a couple of days before she is extubated, but they are slowly weaning her off of it. They both are stable at this point, and look great.

I am doing good as well. I was up and walking around within hours of the c-section. It is amazing how motivated you are to get out of bed when, A-you have been on strict hospital bedrest for 3 weeks, and B-you have 2 beautiful girls in the NICU to go see.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and support. We have a long road ahead of us, but I am very optimistic!!

Kylee

Kaylyn

28 Weeks!!

Yay!! We made it to our first big Milestone of 28 weeks!! Another Non-Birthday has arrived!! This is huge because it is the time when a lot of the significant risks and complications associated with preemies disappear. My Dr says they have close to 100% viability and over 80% GOOD viability at this point, so that is tremendously better odds than what we were looking at when we started this Pre-Term labor adventure at 25 weeks. Hosital Bedrest is paying off!!!

Last night was much better. I was actually able to get some sleep. It is amazing what a difference a little sleep makes! However, this morning my contractions started up again, and this time they were more painful than ever. I like to think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but seriously these contractions made me want to curl up into a ball and disappear. They had to give me my Contraction Shot of Turbutaline (that's the one I hate because it makes me feel like a crack head), and even that didn't take the edge off. Luckily, they just started to die down on their own for now.

So much for being first on the list to be scanned this morning. My Dr. came in and immediately she had to do an emergency C-Section. She just came back and told me it would probably be sometime this afternoon because she has 2 procedures scheduled for this morning. I am sooo ready to just get it over with!!

I know, I know, this whole experience is a lesson on Patience. Everyone knows that I am the princess of instant gratification. I truly believe that this whole experience is to teach me the critical parenting skill of Patience. And you know, it just might be working.

That's all for now. I will update with the results from the scan!

Sleep Is Over-rated Anyway!

Last night was a really long night, I think I managed to get a total of 30 min of sleep the whole night. Maybe its practice for when I bring my newborn twins home! Regardless, it sucked and now I am going to be tired all day.

My contractions started getting really bad yesterday around 4pm or so. So they did they usual dose of Niphedipine, which did nothing. The contractions continued to increase in quantity so they called the Dr and they increased my magnesium, which did nothing. So I am still contracting at about 12 an hour and I am only allowed 6 an hour. I miss the contractions that I could not feel! I can definitely feel these contractions, and it is not fun!! So I guess I will have to wait until the Dr. makes rounds today to figure out what the heck they are going to do.

All of this contraction action was not helped by the fact that I really did not care for my nurse tonight. She kept coming in and wanting to put the babies on the heart monitor. I told her that I don't want to irritate my uterus any more than it already was, and I wanted to wait until my contractions were under control. I can feel the babies move, I am sure they are fine. She got a little huffy with me and explained her "Clinical Perspective" again...and again. And I explained my "Motherly Perspective"-that I don't want 2 plastic dopplers being pressed and angled against my uterus when I am contracting the way that I am! If my girls were good at going on the monitor, and they could set the doppler down and that was that, it would be a different story. No, my girls HATE this game and fight it tooth and nail. Yesterday afternoon it took over 3 hours to get them on the monitor, and I am not about to have by uterus bothered and probed for 3 hours when its contacting the way it is on its own.

So...Ugh! Just a long, long night. I am going to try and get a little sleep before I get bombarded by the day crew nurses. Sorry if this blog has a grumpy tone, I am not in the best of moods, as if you couldn't tell!

Disapointed...

I'm so frustrated!! First my Dr said that she was going to scan the babies and re-measure my cervix on Monday, then it was pushed back to today, and now she just canceled for today at 7:00pm! To top it off, she is not rescheduling until Friday or Sunday. I just wish she hadn't told me she was going to do it today, and then I wouldn't be so disappointed. When you lay in bed all day, there is little else to think about, and worry about for that matter. I am just a little ticked about the whole thing.

They ended my dose of Endocin last night, because you can only be on it for a 48 hour period and ever since my contractions have been out of control. I am really starting to feel them, and they are becoming painful. I'm hoping they will calm down soon!

Overall today has been a long day. Much of the day was spent in anticipation for the scan, of course followed by disappointment. I really just want to go to sleep and they aren't even putting the babies on the heart monitor until 9:30 and they have to stay on for an hour…

Oh yeah, my cell phone is on the brink of death. It officially is pretty much out of commission. I did order a new phone, but it won't be here for a couple days so if you need to get a hold of me call me at the hospital. I hope my new phone gets here soon!

Hopefully tomorrow will be better! I'm over this day!

Another Day

We made it through another day! Nothing really exciting to report. Dr. G didn't have time to scan the girls yesterday, so she scheduled me for the growth scan tomorrow afternoon. I believe that is when she will also re-measure my cervix, so we should be able to see if anything has changed in that regard.

The girls really feel like they are getting bigger to me. I can feel body parts now when they move around. As of yesterday Kylee was vertex (head down) at my cervix, and Kaylyn was transverse (sideways) across my ribs. Surprisingly, they still have quite a bit of room left in there. Their kicks are also getting a lot stronger, and they are mastering the "rolling" motion, which is totally weird to me. It trips me out to see this baby rolling across my belly, it is the oddest sensation. It is very reassuring that they are so active through. They say that fetal activity is the best indicator of fetal well-being.

My phone charger is on the fritz, and my phone has been dead or not cooperating, so I apologize if I have not answered or returned your calls. The only way I can get it to charge is if I manually sit there and hold it in a particular spot and even then it doesn't even always work. I am going to have to get a new one, but I am due for an upgraded phone so maybe I should just do that. I don't know, I will get it figured out. But I am sorry in the meantime.

Our friends Howard and Arlene had mentioned the girls at their prayer group when I got admitted here, and their church decided to do a prayer quilt for the girls. Apparently how it works is that every time someone says a prayer for the girls, they tie a knot on the quilt. I thought this was such a cool idea! I guess it was finished over the weekend and Silvia picked it up yesterday, but I have not gotten to see it yet. I can't wait, I think its going to be great!

Everything else has been fine. My contractions have seemed to have mellowed out for the time being, I am not even feeling the allowed 6 an hour that I had been in the past. So that is really good. Keith has had the last 2 days off, so it has been really nice to spend some time with him. He had been working so much I really hadn't seen him much at all.

We are getting closer and closer to the HUGE 28 week Milestone!! Only 3 more days!! I will let you know how the growth scan goes tomorrow. I am a tid-bit anxious about it, but I suppose it goes with the territory. I will be worrying for the rest of these girls lives!

We're Still Pregnant

The last couple of days have been very hard on me emotionally, so I haven't really been in the mood to blog. It is getting harder and harder to lay in this bed 24 hours a day. It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. Of course, I know it is what my girls need right now and that is why I am doing it, but I am still human...

Yesterday morning they had to give me 3 contraction medications because they were so out of control. They had me on Magnesium (the one I have been on since I got here), then they decided to start Endocin (its a 48 dose of contraction meds), and I had still had more than the allowed amount of contractions in an hour (6 an hour). I think I had like 12 one hour or something so they had to give me the Niphedipine. Since they have started the Endocin, I don't feel as many of them but I am not sure if that is good or bad, but hopefully good.

Then yesterday afternoon when they were doing the babies heart monitoring, Kylee's arrhythmia came back, and you could totally hear it. So again, I started to get extremely worried. The nurses paged the Dr., and the Dr. on call for the day said that he wasn't going to take care of it, he was going to leave it for Dr. Gerstenfeld (the Dr. that admitted me), but he was going to recommend a fetal echo test. Well this pissed me off because who knows when the next day that Dr. G is on, it could be several days, and what if something was wrong with my baby. So then I proceeded to get more anxious and get myself worked up. It wasn't good, but I eventually calmed down. It didn't help that Keith was gone and I was here by myself, and with everything else-I was just was mess.

Last time she had this arrhythmia it corrected itself by the next monitoring session Well, I think the girls just wanted me to worry some more because when they came in later that evening to do the baby monitoring, her arrhythmia was definitely still present. And of course I freaked out again, but the nurses wouldn't do anything this time because the on-call Dr. had already been made aware. They told me I had to wait for Dr. G.

Thankfully, Dr. G came in to see me first thing this morning. She reassured me that they see these arrhythmia's all the time and 99.9% are benign and will resolve themselves by birth or shortly thereafter. She also talked of re-measuring the babies and my cervix today, since today is the 2 week mark of my admission into this hospital. I think I would rather have these measurements taken care of today because Keith is here today, and I seem to do a lot better when he is around.

So the girls gave me quite a weekend, but thankfully we are still pregnant and that is what matters, and that is the whole reason that we are here (even as hard as it is) I feel so out of control of my own life, and all of you that know me-know that doesn't fly with me. But I am learning to adjust, and I am learning to be patient.