18 Months

Well the good news is we all survived the girls' first 18 months. The bad news is blogging hasn't made it to the top of my to-do list in a while (and making the blog less ugly hasn't made it up there yet either). Here's an update on what you've missed....

The girls are healthy and happy and don't appear to have any ongoing issues associated with being preemies. We had their 18 month check-up last week. Here are their stats:

Alli: 31.5" (48.63%), 22 lb 14.7 oz (30.94%)

Dani: 31.25" (41.24%), 23 lb 12.4 oz (44.30%)

They both had reflux issues throughout their first year which caused (in addition to lots of laundry!) some minor developmental delays and funky head shapes. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes when a baby can't do tummy time. The girls were over 6 months old before they rolled over and nearly 12 months before they crawled. Dani started walking at 15 months and Alli at 16 months. The girls were briefly in helmets to try to correct their head shapes but they had a bad skin reaction to something in the helmet padding so we gave up. Fortunately they finally have some hair to cover it now so it's not real noticeable. I'm looking forward to when they've got enough hair to play with, but in the meantime they're rocking the pebbles hair do.

We were surprisingly good about keeping up with the girls' monthly pictures with their teddy bear.

Alli

 

Dani

 

Together

 

This is them on their 18 month birthday - Alli left, Dani right

 

I can laugh now that the girls seem to be past it, but they wanted nothing to do with each other for a long time. I'd hear other twin moms talk about how much their twins needed each other and couldn't bear to be apart and that was just not something I could relate to. Alli & Dani would go so far as to look in the other direction when we'd try to get them to face each other. At 15 months they suddenly decided that they're friends and now spend most of the day following each other around. They crack each other up. I rarely can catch it on video, but just about daily they run off to play by themselves and I hear them chattering and laughing together. Here is a video from back in March. I was doing laundry and heard them laughing in the next room. They were in the dark but kept it up even after I turned the lights on... Who needs toys when you have each other?

I'm constantly amazed by how 2 little girls that look so much alike can have such different personalities. There are some similarities though. They're both generally pretty happy toddlers. They love to laugh and play peek-a-boo.

Alli is my little love bug. She regularly stops playing so she can give me a big hug and then goes back to what she's doing.  She loves jewelry. She always notices when I have something new (or new to her) on, usually within the first minute of seeing me. I let her wear a necklace a couple months ago (only briefly and didn't let her out of my sight) and ever since she tries to turn just about anything into jewelry. Several of her baby toys have now become bracelets and anything that will hang around her neck is a makeshift necklace. Yesterday it was a shirt from the hamper and the day before she was wearing a pacifier on a string as a necklace. She also loves electronics and can do things with the dvr box and receiver  that I didn't know were even possible without having the remote out. She has figured out how to use the remote too, but that's another story.

Dani is my helper. Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, you name it, she wants to be right there with me helping. She'll go get clean clothes out of her dresser and drop them in my pile of dirty clothes while I'm sorting. One of her favorite things to do right now is to fill drawers and cabinets. Today she packed a shelf in the buffet in our dining room with sippy cups, a pot lid, candles, and blocks. She is like a little squirrel. She has hiding places all over the house where she likes to stash her stuff and she gets mad if it's not still there when she goes back for it. At least she frequents the same spots so I know where to look when things go missing. She loves purses and carrying things around with her. She has a little bucket that blocks go in that she has been using as a purse this week. At one point today it was filled with my cell phone, play keys, and a cup. Not too far off from what my purse looks like these days... She is attached to me but isn't near as affectionate as Alli. Luke is her favorite right now and as soon as he gets home from work she starts following him around.

I'm sure I could spend days on this update but this is all the time I have for now....I'm hoping to get back to posting more regularly, but no promises.

Month 2

This month was all about family time. Luke's company has a sabbatical program called "just stay away." After 5 years with the company you get to take a month off with full pay. Luke hit the five year mark in December and opted to take the month of January off. He turned in his computer and they disabled the email on his phone so he was able to truly unplug from work for the month. When you combine his leave, the holidays, and saved up vacation days, he only worked 9 days between the time the girls were born and February 2nd. Although it wasn't a terribly relaxing month for him, it was really nice to have Luke home as we tried to juggle 2 newborns. It was hard even having 2 of us full-time watching the girls - I don't know how people do it when one or both parents are back at work.

The girls became much more alert this month and had to be moved into separate cribs at 7 weeks. Somehow they could sleep through each other's crying, but the second we tried to unswaddle one baby, the other would hear the velcro and open her eyes and look at you like "what  about me???"

Despite the distractions, the girls started sleeping longer through the night at around 5 weeks. Luke and I decided we needed to get them into a better routine, so for 4 days we focused on nothing but keeping them on a schedule. Laundry,  housework, and running errands were all put on hold during that time. It was well worth it because afterwards they'd regularly go 4 hours between feedings at night which meant 2 extra hours of sleep for mommy and daddy!

The girls also seemed to have a growth spurt around 7 weeks - they were like bottomless pits. At their 2 month well-baby checkup they had grown to 9 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long (Alli) and 9 lbs 8 oz and 22 inches long (Dani). Their doctor was really pleased with how quickly they're growing. They're now falling within the full-term baby growth chart. Although they're on the low end of it, it's a big accomplishment because a month ago they weren't even on the chart and could only be measured on the preemie chart. They've essentially had a month less to grow than most babies since they were born early.

Alli - length: 5.57 percentile, weight: 11.24 percentile

Dani- length: 31.51 percentile, weight: 14.81 percentile

The girls' first Christmas was spent at Grandpa and Grandma's house. They were definitely the center of attention for the day - everyone was more interested in sitting and holding the babies than opening gifts. It was a nice, low-key day which we all needed after the craziness of the last few months.

Alli practicing her Baylor sic 'em in her sleep

Dani wasn't really in the mood for pictures...

Both girls

They were each wearing onesies that said "Mommy's favorite gift" and Aunt Sarah made them headbands for the occasion.

Their 2 month birthday was extra special because Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Bill and cousins Katie and Lisa came for a brief visit. They live in California, but Jennifer was about to deploy to Afghanistan and had training in San Antonio before she left. Bill, Katie and Lisa flew out and met Jennifer in San Antonio and drove up to spend a day with us. It was great seeing all of them and introducing them to the girls. We were sad to see them go so soon, but we are looking forward to some more cousin time in March when Katie and Lisa visit for Spring Break. We took advantage of all the extra helping hands and all went for a picnic on Market Street for lunch.  Excluding trips to the doctor and Grandpa and Grandma's, this was the girls' first time out of the house.

We had a good laugh at the girls' expense that day - are big sunglasses still in style? Looks like they might have to grow into these!

We're so proud of ourselves that we remembered to keep up with the monthly pictures with the bear! Now if only we could get both girls to look happy and awake at the same time...maybe next month

Alli

Dani

Final Stats

Weeks pregnant at delivery: 35 weeks, 5 days - doesn't sound like that long to moms of singletons, but for a mom of multiples it's definitely an accomplishment!

Total weight gain: 40 lbs (30 gone within 3 weeks and the rest was gone by the girls' 2 month birthday)

Fun fact: By the time the girls were born I was nearly as big around as I am tall. I'm 59 inches tall and at last measure (about 2 weeks before I delivered) I was 57 inches around. Luke says I got a lot bigger at the end, so it likely was even closer than that.

Total bed rest needed: 13 weeks

Total time spent in the hospital (Nicki): 30 days (includes 4 day stay after the girls were born for my mystery infection)

Total NICU time needed: 10 days

Birth weights: Alli - 5 lbs 3 oz, Dani - 4 lbs 15 oz. Both girls dropped down to 4 lbs 9 oz about 5 days after they were born and then started gaining again.

Random funny: Although this doesn't entirely apply to our situation, it gives you a taste of the fun conversations you have as a mother of multiples. YouTube link

Month 1

The first month of having the girls home was definitely rough. We had been given fair warning in our multiples class about how much work it would be, but it didn't really sink in until we got the girls home.

One of the few benefits to having the girls in the NICU was that by the time they came home they were already on a schedule. They would eat every 3 hours and were an hour apart. So Alli would eat at 2am, 5am, 8am... and Dani would eat at 3am, 6am, 9am... By the time you change their diaper and feed and burp them, it pretty much took up their full hour. This meant that you only get a 1 hour break every 3 hours. Now if you want to do laundry or wash/prepare bottles or pump or something crazy like eat a meal or shower, that cuts into your one hour break and before you know it you've gone 24 hours without sleeping. We resorted to taking care of them in shifts because that was the only way either of us would get any rest. Fortunately my family is close by too so we had some backup help. I'm tired all over again just thinking about it!

The highlight of their first month was a photo shoot with Kelly. She got some great shots of them - I am still amazed by how she was able to do such a professional shoot in our living room. They are just short of 4 weeks old in these pictures. A few of my favorites are below, but here is a link to some additional ones. K. Smyth Photography Link

 Dani

 Alli

It was much more successful than when Luke and I tried to do it ourselves - here is the best one we could get of them. They're 2 weeks old here. Dani is on the left and Alli is on the right.

Here is a picture of the girls on their 1 month birthday. We're going to try to take pictures of them with the same bear each month so that we have something constant to compare their size to. One flaw to that plan was that they weren't quite ready to sit up on their own for this month's photo which made for an interesting photo shoot (babies falling all over each other/spitting up on themselves/screaming and all that fun stuff). Dani is on the left and Alli is on the right.

The NICU Stay

The girls’ time in the NICU was an emotional rollercoaster. It was frustrating because they didn’t really feel like our babies since we weren’t their primary caregivers. I was also getting mixed signals from the doctors and nurses which, combined with my raging hormones, was really upsetting to me. For example, on Tuesday, my doctor/nurses were telling me to stay in bed because I needed to recover. Meanwhile, the girls’ doctor was calling me and telling me “Your babies need you. You need to be here with them to help them improve if you want them to go home…” I hear that and called my nurse immediately to have her bring me to the babies. Once I got there, their nurse told me it was a bad time and that I was in the way and I wasn’t allowed to hold them. Grrr!

Here’s the day-by-day summary of the girls’ stay in the NICU. Probably more detail than any of you care about, but I needed to get it down before it becomes any more of a blur.

Tuesday 11/22 – we were told that the girls would need to be in the NICU for observation until Wednesday, but that they appeared to be healthy enough to be moved to the general nursery at that point and could then be brought to my room if we wanted. I tried to go visit the girls, but since they were in the middle of being assessed, they still wouldn’t let me get close to them. Luke was able to spend some time with them that afternoon though. I was finally able to really hold them for the first time that night.

Wednesday 11/23 – Dani was breathing faster than normal and both girls were having problems eating efficiently and had to get fed some of their meals through feeding tubes, so they weren’t ready for the general nursery. The doctor thought they’d likely still be able to go home with me once I was discharged.

Thursday 11/24 (Thanksgiving) – My family picked up a Thanksgiving meal and brought it up to the hospital and we ate together in the cafeteria before going to visit the girls. The girls were having issues keeping their temperatures up but were staying (barely) within the acceptable range. We were told the girls would have to stay in the NICU a little longer than expected – their doctor estimated that they’d be home within the next week though.

Here is Grandma and Grandpa feeding the girls their Thanksgiving lunch.

Friday 11/25 – Luke and I went to visit the girls early in the day and I was shocked to see that they had been moved into isolettes overnight. An isolette is basically a plastic temperature-controlled chamber. I broke down because it really felt like a step in the wrong direction. They were only allowed out for their bottle feedings and had to be put back shortly afterwards. The doctor assured me that it wasn’t as bad as it looked and that they would likely still go home on schedule. Basically the girls didn’t have enough energy to both keep themselves warm and eat, so both their temperature and the amount that they were eating from the bottle were suffering.

Saturday 11/26 – Being in the isolettes really helped the girls’ appetites. They started eating better and were able to get fewer meals through the feeding tubes. I got my discharge orders early in the day, but I was told that insurance would pay for the full day so I just needed to leave before midnight. Luke and I took advantage of that and stayed until about 10:30 that night. It was sad going home without the girls and seeing the empty car seats in the back seat. I was still in a lot of pain though, so it was good to have a little time to recover while someone else was caring for the babies.

Sunday 11/27 – We went down to the hospital for the morning feeds and I was allowed to nurse them for the first time. We talked to the doctor before we left and she was super optimistic about the girls’ progress. We told her we were planning to get a hotel for the week so we’d be closer to the babies and her comment was “I don’t think you’ll need it all week.” She also said that she was off until Wednesday night and didn’t think she would see us again. We were so excited. It had been a really stressful and emotional week, so it was such a relief to hear the girls were doing better than expected. The girls’ orders were also changed so they were moved back to being 100% bottle fed. Dani’s feeding tube was even removed that afternoon since she was eating so well.

Hooray for no more feeding tube!

Alli wasn't so lucky...

Monday 11/28

We packed our bags for the hotel stay and headed to the hospital in the morning. The girls’ new doctor was there when we arrived, so we got an update on their progress right away. We were still on a high from Sunday, but she quickly burst our bubble. She told us there was no way the girls would be able to go home on Wednesday and she expected that it would be more likely the middle of the following week. We couldn’t understand why she had such a different timeline than their previous doctor when nothing had really changed with the girls. The girls were still in isolettes at that point and would have to be weaned back down to room temperature and then monitored before moving into open cribs. She didn’t feel comfortable moving them down quickly and wanted 48 hours of monitoring. I get angry all over again thinking about our conversation with her. Both girls continued to improve in terms of temperature control and feeding, and Alli’s feeding tube was removed in the afternoon.

Tuesday 11/29

We went to visit the girls in the morning. They were doing well and their isolettes were moved closer to room temperature overnight. We finally were given a better explanation of why the process was taking so long. Basically there are rules in place to where the nurses can only change the temperature in the isolettes in half degree increments and they are limited in terms of how many times they can turn it down during a 12 hour shift. In doing the math, it was impossible for the nurses to follow those guidelines and get the girls down to room temperature and then monitored before Thursday. Also, in order for the nurses to turn the isolette down, the baby needs to be maintaining a body temperature above a certain degree. Each time we had them out of the isolette holding them, their temperature would go down. It wasn’t outside of the normal range, but they weren’t staying warm enough to allow the nurses to change the isolette temperature. So basically by sitting and loving on them we were unintentionally prolonging their stay in the NICU.

In the afternoon I went in for a follow up with my doctor because of excessive swelling in my legs. They ran some tests but said I really needed to be on bed rest for at least a couple of days to help me heal. We decided that it was best for everyone if I took some time away from the girls and stayed in bed. That way they could spend the maximum amount of time in their isolettes and hopefully improve more quickly and maybe rest would help me recover.

Wednesday 11/30

We checked out of our hotel and briefly visited the girls before heading home. The doctor called me later that day and told me they were doing much better than she had anticipated and would likely be able to go home on Friday. She decided that she was comfortable only monitoring them on room temperature for 24 hours instead of the 48 she had initially planned on.

Thursday 12/1

I stayed home and rested and Luke went up to the hospital for a few feedings. The girls were moved into open cribs in the afternoon and just needed to be observed overnight before they’d be cleared to go home. I had been having night sweats/chills for several days, but it became extreme on Thursday evening. I took my temperature around 9pm and it was over 102. I called my doctor and she said to head to the ER. I was readmitted into the hospital and during the night my fever continued to get worse and climbed above 103. They weren’t sure what the cause was, so they put me on a number of antibiotics and I slept on a cooling blanket to try to get the mystery infection under control. They weren’t sure if I was contagious so I wasn’t allowed into the NICU.

Friday 12/2

Luke tried to get the NICU to allow the girls to stay until I was ready to go home, but since the discharge process had already been started, insurance wouldn’t continue to cover their care if they stayed. They could have stayed with me in my room but they would have been completely in our care and given I was still sick, the doctors advised against it. Luke ran between my room and the NICU throughout the day and took them home around 9:30pm. I was so upset that I wasn’t able to be a part of their homecoming, but it was out of my control at that point and I was still running a fever and feeling awful. My mom met Luke at the house and helped him take care of the girls overnight.

First night at home and sharing a crib

The doctors were never able to determine for sure what was making me so sick, but my fever finally broke on Saturday and I was allowed to go home on antibiotics on Sunday night. They would have liked to have kept me there longer under observation but everyone was feeling bad about keeping me away from my babies. My doctors were pretty sure they hadn’t really fixed whatever the problem was and told me the fever would likely return and that I’d need to come back to the hospital when/if that happened. Fortunately I surprised them and the fever didn’t come back.

Thanks to our wonderful neighbors, this guy greeted me when I came home

About a week and a half later I went in for a follow up appointment with my doctor. Based on testing performed on the placenta after the babies were born they were able to confirm that the girls are identical. My doctor was pretty confident that was the case, but she said having the placenta tested is something that she always does with twins. It was also noted in that report that there was an infection creeping into Dani’s side of the placenta. We’re lucky that I delivered early because she could have become really sick if she had been exposed to the infection.

Our Baby Bears Have Arrived!

Sorry I slacked on the most important part of this blog – the girls are here!

Allison Sophia (Baby A) was born at 10:49 pm on November 21 and was 5lbs3oz and 17” long. Danielle Audrey (Baby B) came less than a minute later at 10:50 and was 4lbs15oz and 17 ¼” long.

Much like the rest of the pregnancy, their arrival was anything but predictable. I went to the hospital on Friday night, 11/18, because I was having painful and frequent contractions. It wasn’t unbearable, but definitely felt different from the contractions that I had been having. The contraction meds didn’t seem to be touching them at all either. My doctor came by that night and said that she didn’t want to deliver the girls just because I was having contractions, and added “they have to earn their way out.” Since I wasn’t dilating, I wasn’t technically in active labor. The doctor stopped all medications except for IV fluids and left me on a constant contraction monitor overnight.

Saturday was more of the same. I was still having lots of contractions but no active labor. Even watching our Baylor Bears beat up on OU didn’t put me into labor. The nurses were quite amused following the game from the nurses’ station and seeing how the big plays corresponded to my contractions.

By Sunday they took me off of the monitors and told me to just let them know if I started feeling different. The doctor came by to check on me in the morning and mentioned that she didn’t think the girls were going to make it past Thanksgiving but she wanted to try to get past the next 36 hours. She was planning to take off from Weds-Sunday for Thanksgiving, so if the babies weren’t born by Tuesday night, another doctor would be the one performing the C-Section. I felt strongly that I wanted my doctor to be the one to do it given all my health issues during the pregnancy and let her know that.

Luke went to work on Monday since there didn’t seem to be anything changing with me. I was allowed to wander the halls with the hope that a little bit of exercise would get me into labor. I had a little bit of cramping but more than anything I was just frustrated that I was just hanging out in the hospital. The doctor came by late in the afternoon and checked my cervix and said that now she could not only feel Alli’s head, but she also could feel an outstretched hand. She didn’t seem concerned though and said she’d come back by later to check on me.

Around 7pm Luke was exhausted and asked if he could head home for the night. I told him to take a nap in the room at least until the doctor came by. She came in shortly thereafter and saw my empty dinner tray and seemed a bit frustrated that I had eaten. I explained that no one had told me not to and it didn’t seem like anything was happening tonight. With a smirk she said “I didn’t say that” and told me she’d come by again later in the evening to check on me again. After she left I was asking the nurse “So is that her way of telling me we’re having the babies tonight?” The nurse wasn’t positive, but thought it was possible. That sent us in a bit of a panic. We knew that the babies would be required to be in the NICU at least initially because I was less than 36 weeks along, but we hadn’t met with the neonatologist group yet. So the nurse called them and had the on-call doctor come up to my room for a consult.

It was kind of funny because she kept saying things like “if your babies are less than 36 weeks…” and I kept interrupting her and saying “yes, they will be…” Given that I didn’t appear to be in labor, she was very confused as to why the babies would be coming so soon.

At 10pm my nurse rushed in and said it was time to go have the babies. My doctor had another patient in labor, but she was progressing slowly, so my doctor wanted to go ahead and do my c-section while she waited on the other patient. It was a little bothersome that she was just going to squeeze my c-section into her schedule since she had some time to kill, but we didn’t really have time to sit and think about it.

They brought me into the OR and gave me my epidural while waiting on the doctor and getting the room set up. As soon as she walked into the room things started going FAST. They had paged the neonatologist and someone was on their way to get Luke, but the doctor was ready to go from the moment she sat down. She asked where everyone was and says “I’M ABOUT TO START CUTTING!” They hurried Luke into the room and he barely made it into his chair next to me before she started. The neonatologist came as soon as she was paged, but didn’t make it in before Alli was born. She came in as they were bringing Alli off to the other room to get cleaned up and checked out. Less than a minute later Dani was born. Both girls cried immediately but they were rushed off before I was able to hold them. I saw them as they passed by me and Luke went with the doctor and Dani to the other room.

They brought the girls back a little while later and put them on my chest for a few minutes each. It was so surreal because they were still working on closing me up and suddenly the babies were back in the room and they placed Dani on top of me. I was holding her and talking to her and then someone says “so do you want your other baby now?” Oh….that’s right…I have 2…weird.

The girls were then brought to the level 2 NICU and Luke and my family were able to spend some time with them there while I was in recovery. I was wheeled in briefly to see them on my way to my room.

Here are some pictures from that night. They were somehow short on carts that night, so the girls rode together to the NICU. Apparently that is pretty unusual because the hospital treats each baby as a completely separate patient – they really weren’t supposed to be put that close together.

In the NICU - Danielle is on the left (labeled as BGB for baby girl B) and Allison is on the right and labeled BGA

Luke & Allison

Luke & Danielle

2 1/2 More Weeks...

It’s been a rough week. I previously had been feeling pretty good, all things considered, but over the past week I’ve really gone downhill. Lots of contractions, lots of aches/pains/swelling, and I feel like my belly has been stretched to the limit. I’m happy the girls are doing well, but I don’t know what’s gotten into them over the past few days – they’re going crazy in there! I got a video of baby A yesterday trying bust out of me. Here’s a link.You can’t see her on the other side, but baby B seemed to be having a dance off with her.

Today we had our 34 week ultrasound. I thought going into it that if I honestly told the doctor all the things that had gone on this week (vs my normal “I’m okay” response) that she would likely go ahead and do a C-section today assuming there was little risk to the girls in doing so.

So she walks in and took one look at me and then says to Luke “She’s really looking pregnant!” and then turns to me and said “and by that I mean you look like you’re miserable!” I took that as my opportunity to give her my laundry list of reasons I’m uncomfortable and not thinking I’ll make it to Thanksgiving. After all that she told me she still wants to aim for the Monday or Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It sounds like unless my water breaks before then, she’s not going to budge on that date.

She did acknowledge that making it to 34 weeks was a big accomplishment, but she wants the babies to be able to go home with us right away which is much more likely at 36 weeks. I can’t really argue with that. It’s a little frustrating though because a month ago she would have been thrilled to just get me to 34 weeks, but now she’s getting greedy and wants to keep pushing it. *sigh* I know it’s for the best though.

Bummer of the day - looks like the girls’ birthday won’t be 11/11/11 (unless something happens over the next few hours).

Good news of the day - the girls are now up to 4 lbs 10 oz and 5 lbs 3 oz. We also learned that they have hair! Here’s to hoping it helps disguise how large their heads are by comparison to their bodies!

I have some tests at the hospital on Monday and then will go back to my doctor next week Saturday for another ultrasound. I suspect that will be the last office visit before my c-section (if I make it that far).

Nearly 9 Pounds of Baby!

Today we had our 33 week ultrasound. The girls have now grown to 4 lbs 5oz and 4 lbs 7oz.  I’m so happy that they’ve both crossed the 4 pound mark and are continuing to do well. It's also comforting that they're close in size again. If it had gone the other way, that could have earned me an emergency c-section. We're proud of them for continuing to share!

I asked about the meds that I’m on to keep the contractions under control and whether there was any risk to the babies being on it. No risks that they’re aware of, and it’s actually routinely given to newborns to help their breathing right after they are born (it’s meant to be an asthma/breathing medication). So that was good to hear – I was a bit paranoid because it seemed to be the contraction drug of last resort.

I also asked the doctor about scheduling my c-section and what she was thinking in terms of timing. At 10 weeks I was told that I would deliver at 36 weeks at the latest, which is Thanksgiving Day. Given our previous discussions and the size of the girls at this point, I really didn’t think I’d make it anywhere close to 36 weeks. She wants to plan for the Monday afternoon after Thanksgiving, 11/28, which would put me at 36 weeks and 4 days. I’m glad she thinks the girls and I are healthy enough to make it that far, but I didn’t think going past Thanksgiving was even an option, so I have mixed feelings about it. On the bright side, if the girls stay on the track they’re on, they could potentially avoid the NICU all together and come home with us right away.

I had a rough night last night (admittedly it was my own fault – I was on my feet more than I should have been and I got myself dehydrated), so I was asking if the doctor really thought I’d make it to the end of the month. She basically said she doesn’t know what’s going to happen but wants to try to wait as long as I can. It sounded like she is open to delivering as soon as next week if I really get uncomfortable, but doesn’t want to take them out without having a good reason. She seemed surprised by how well I was doing and mentioned that her partners were trying to convince her to do an emergency c-section at 26 weeks when I was having all the breathing issues.

We go back on Friday for another ultrasound and we’ll revisit c-section timing at that point and get something scheduled. In the meantime I’m still on home bed rest. I asked about whether I was allowed out of the house for good behavior but she laughed at me and said “no, I just told you that you were doing good, why do you want to screw it up?” Fair enough I suppose. She said maybe after next week’s visit I’ll be allowed to leave the house for meals, but I’m not getting my hopes up yet.

32 Weeks!

We’ve reached another milestone today– the 32 week mark. It’s hard to believe that we’re only 2-4 weeks away from meeting the girls. Who knows, they might even try to escape sooner than that (again).

I was supposed to go back to the doctor last Tuesday, but didn’t make it that far. Last week my contractions had been increasing in frequency and intensity. By Sunday night I had 9 in an hour and the babies were barely moving. I tried everything – drinking juice, eating sugary candy, and had Luke talk to them (they usually wiggle around when they hear his voice), but nothing seemed to be working. I talked to the home monitoring nurse and she said to prepare to go to the hospital. She called my doctor and took care of everything and then called back to tell me to head to labor and delivery. It was so nice to have someone else making the phone calls while I got ready.

Of course, as soon as we got 10 minutes from the house the girls started moving again. I was still having lots of contractions though, so we still needed to go to the hospital. I have to say, I’m really not a fan of the night nurses. I’ve had some great day nurses, but, as Luke put it, it’s like the night ones are just asking for me to be an umm witch. Each time after they left the room Luke was telling me he was proud of me for not yelling at them. It was definitely hard to resist! Anyhow, I could go on and on about them, but I don’t want to send myself back into labor so I’ll drop it for now.

After my previous reactions to contraction meds I was very hesitant to take anything this time. The nurse and I argued quite a bit about it – while I realized that the contractions needed to be stopped so I wouldn’t dilate any further (I was already at 1-2 cm), I was very afraid I was going to have the same breathing issues that I had had previously. The nurse didn’t seem to understand how bad it got the last time and I had never met the doctor on call, nor had she seen my charts or anything. The doctor suggested just giving me 1 dose of the medication (it was supposed to be 3 shots each 15 min apart) and then go from there. Fortunately I was able to handle that dose and got another about 45 min later. At that point they put me on another medication which was more of a long term solution. Surprisingly I handled that better than expected and had very few of the “normal” side effects.

So now I have to take that medication once every 6 hours to keep the contractions/dilation under control. The next morning I talked to my day nurse (who was wonderful and an identical twin herself) and she asked if I was expecting to be sent back home. I told her that while I’d love to go home, I’m more realistic than that and knew I’d likely be staying in the hospital until I delivered. I was extremely surprised when she came back and said she had talked to my doctor and she wanted to discharge me but just wanted to see me first.

Luke was so exhausted that day – he got very little sleep Sunday night because he stayed in the room with me all night. He came over to the hospital after work and stayed until about 8:45 waiting for the doctor to come by to discharge me. At that point my night nurse gave me a speech about how she didn’t think I was actually going to be able to go home, so I gave up on it and sent Luke home to get some rest. At 9 she came back in and said the doctor was down the hall and to try to get Luke to turn around. Grrr! At that point I knew he was exhausted and if I went home I’d have to come back to the hospital the next morning anyhow for my tests, so it made more sense for me to just stay another night. The doctor finally came in at 9:30 and said she was ready to discharge me but was okay with waiting until the next day after my test results came in. Fortunately she also said I was ready to be taken off of IV fluids, so I was able to get rid of the painful IV in my hand that night.

After waiting all day to see the doctor on Monday, I wasn’t too optimistic about being released early in the day on Tuesday. Although she had office visits all day, she ran over at about 2 in between patients and put in discharge orders. My mom was visiting me at that point, so I was able to make a quick getaway without making Luke leave work early.

Since my doctor is now out of the office for nearly a week, I don’t go back to see her until Saturday, November 5^th. I’m expecting to schedule my c-section at that point, but I’m very anxious to see whether she wants to do it at 34 or 36 weeks. I guess it depends on how the next week goes. In my first visit with her, her nurse had told me 36 weeks was December 1, so that’s what we kept going off of. Now that we’re getting closer, I think she was actually a week off. By my calculations, 36 weeks is Thanksgiving Day.

I really want to know what I’m counting down to, but I’m not feeling like I’m in any rush to get these babies out of me. I keep reading on the multiples message board about all these women who are so uncomfortable that they just want to deliver and be done with it. I’m looking forward to being able to sleep in my own bed again (I’ve been sleeping on the couch for over a month because it’s the only place I can sleep comfortably and get in and out of on my own), but otherwise I’m happy just hanging out until they’re ready. I know I’d likely have a different response if I was stuck in the hospital, but being at home makes it a lot more tolerable.

Random Thoughts/Updates

So ya know how when you buy a new car you suddenly see other people driving the same model everywhere? I feel like it’s similar with twins. I know it’s just because we’re looking for it/talking about it, but it seems like everyone has some sort of a twin connection. It’s been really interesting to hear words of wisdom from a broad range of people – parents of twins, identical twins vs fraternal twins, siblings of twins, etc.

What’s funny is how different Luke and I approach it. We’re just generally not wired the same way, but I think that’s a good thing. I’m very much interested in hearing about how other twin moms handled the logistics of having 2 babies at once. Luke however is usually focused on understanding the psychological aspects. So he tends to ask about things like how the twins felt about sharing a birthday party or sharing a room or how their parents made them feel unique, or what they wish their parents would have done differently, etc.

It sounds like there isn’t a right or wrong way to do things, but we’ve noticed a trend that identical twins seem to be much closer than fraternals – they seem to operate more as one unit who like the same things, have the same friends, and want to spend as much time together as possible. Whereas the fraternal twins tend to operate more as siblings that just happen to be the same age. Some have a close relationship with their twin, but others don’t. We’re looking forward to seeing how our twins interact with each other.

On an unrelated subject, we’ve been amazed by the outpouring of support that our friends and family have shown. We know things could be a lot worse, but the last 2 months or so have been especially emotionally draining, so we really appreciate everything that has been done for us and all the people that have been praying for us and checking on us.

One of the nice things about being home all day is that I’m much more available for random last-minute visits. For example, during the last 2 weeks, 2 college friends who both live out of town happened to be passing through town for work and were able to come by the house and catch up for a bit. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to either of them in a long time, so it was great having that opportunity.

I’ve been meaning to post about my baby showers for a long time, but hadn’t taken the time to pull together all the pictures. Since the doctor had prepared me for going on bed rest as early as September, my mom and sister threw a shower for me on August 20. Aside from my immediate family, all of our relatives live out of state. My sister made sure everything sent from out of town was wrapped so the family would all be there in spirit. Everyone was so generous – thanks again! Here is a link to the pictures from the shower. So I guess at some point you can’t keep blaming it on the camera, but I don’t think there is a single flattering picture of me in the bunch – yikes! Family & Friends Baby Shower Pictures Link

On August 30^th, Luke’s co-workers also threw us a shower. They really put a lot of time and effort into preparing for the shower. It was above and beyond what I was expecting. They made 2 diaper cakes, bought tons of clothes and strung them along the wall, gave us a nice double stroller, had snacks and a cake and that’s all in addition to the gifts we received from individuals. Luke has invested a lot of time in his work over the past 5 years, so it was really nice for them to show their appreciation like that. Here is a link to pictures from that day. Luke's Work Baby Shower Pictures Link

Speaking of people who have been taking care of us lately…my friend Kelly is a really talented photographer and took a few pictures before we went to lunch last month. She also came over last weekend and did a full shoot with Luke and me. I’m really glad she worked with our schedule and was able to get some pictures before the girls arrive (I’m especially happy I was able to wear something other than a hospital gown in them and I was feeling good enough to move around so it’s not just a collection of pictures of me as a beached whale on the couch). Here is a link to her website where she has some of the pictures posted. Most of them are from last month, but she’ll post the new ones as she has them ready. K. Smyth Photography Link

31 Week Visit

It’s been a busy week. The pressure was definitely on to try to get everything in order before heading back to the hospital. By Thursday afternoon when we left for my appointment just about everything significant on my to-do list had been accomplished and I had mentally prepared myself for an extended stay at the hospital.

I was feeling pretty good about things. I bought lots of maternity pajamas to wear if I wasn’t connected to an IV (wearing just a hospital gown got old real quick the last time) and packed tons of craft projects and stuff to read. I figured that if I was comfortable and had projects to occupy myself then it wouldn’t be so bad. I warned Luke that he’d look ridiculous bringing it all up from the car, but that it was worthwhile if it meant fewer meltdowns later J . I’m sure the UPS delivery guy is trying to figure out what the heck is going on at our house given my newfound Amazon addiction – my way of coping with being tied to the couch. On the bright side, I’m now over halfway done with my Christmas shopping!

So all that to say, I was pretty convinced it was a one-way trip to my doctor appointment. My feet/lower legs have really swollen over the past week which means that I’m likely building up fluid in my lungs again too. Fortunately though I only gained 2 lbs this week. Amazingly that puts my 1 month net weight gain (including the weight I lost in the hospital) at only 1 lb. We were also happy to hear that the girls have now crossed the 3 lb mark – baby A is approximately 3 lbs 2 oz and baby B is 3 lbs 9oz. The ultrasound tech said that it looks like the girls don’t really have room to change positions anymore. Baby A’s head is still serving as a cork in my cervix and baby B is still head down but facing towards my back. I can’t really feel her kick anymore based on her position, but her latest trick is to arch her back and wiggle her butt where I can feel it and see my stomach move. She’s not even out of my belly yet and she’s already sassy…. we’re in trouble! I guess that’s one way to let me know she’s still doing okay.

The doctor asked how I was feeling about making it to 36 weeks. I told her “I thought we decided on 34 last week…” She just grinned and changed the subject. I know it’d be better for the girls if they could hold out an additional 2 weeks, but it really messes with my mental countdown. I have a feeling the girls are going to make the delivery date decision for us, but we’ll see.

Surprisingly the doctor let me come back home after my appointment. She agreed that the swelling is getting worse, but since my weight gain was within the normal range she wasn’t as bothered by it as I would have expected. I have to have some tests run at the hospital on Tuesday and then I’ll have an office visit afterwards to determine the game plan going forward. The doctor plans to put me back in the hospital at some point before I deliver, so it’s more just a matter of when that’ll happen. She will be out of the office for the second half of next week, so I’m expecting to be put in the hospital after Tuesday’s visit so that I’ll be more closely monitored while she’s gone. Although my last hospital stay was no fun, she thinks I would have already delivered at this point if all that hadn’t happened.

So overall it was a good visit this time. I know better than to unpack my bags, but I’m enjoying the additional time at home.

30 Week Ultrasound

It seems hard to believe that we’re already 30+ weeks into the pregnancy. Given how early I started having issues, I kind of didn’t expect to make it this far. We had our 30 week ultrasound on Friday and the girls seem to still be doing well. Since the doctor just did all their measurements last week, we didn’t do them this time.

It’s been over a month since we last got pictures of the girls, so I was anxious to get some updated ones and told the ultrasound tech that I’d love to try to get some 3D shots again if she had time (it was end of the day on Friday, so I knew she probably didn’t want to just hang out if she didn’t have to). She laughed at me, not because of the timing, but because apparently twins are nearly impossible to get good shots of since they’re usually on top of each other or squished against the placenta. Sure enough, the best we could get was the upper half of baby A’s face. Oh well, it was worth a try. It's hard to tell what you're looking at, but her eyes are in the middle of the picture. Still looks bald as can be. I guess we'll have to wait until I deliver to know what (and who) they really look like.

I asked the doctor about whether we had a new goal in terms of delivery date. It sounds like she’s now aiming for 34 weeks instead of 36 because of my breathing issues. If I’m magically doing better at the 34 week mark, then she may push the delivery date back out to 36 weeks, but that is unlikely. Luke mentioned that I was hoping for the girls to have an 11/11/11 birthdate and her first response was to tell me that she wasn’t going to deliver them that day just because I thought it was fun. But then as we talked about it, she seemed to open to up to the idea of it – that would put me at 34 weeks and 1 day. She said she’s working a half day that day, so it’d have to be first thing in the morning if we were going to do that. So it looks like we’re only 4 weeks away (at most) from meeting the girls J

The doctor is thinking that I’ll likely need to be back on hospital bed rest starting after my next appointment (next Thursday) which will continue until I deliver. She is concerned that the fluid is starting to build back up in my lungs again and that my oxygen levels aren’t being monitored closely enough from home. It’s going to be hard to stick to my strict bed rest this week knowing it’s my last opportunity to get things ready at home before the babies arrive. Fortunately there isn’t much left on the to-do list. I just need to be careful because if I start having more contractions or if my shortness of breath gets worse, then I could end up back in the hospital before Thursday.

I was talking to the nurse after my appointment and the doctor came by and told me she changed her mind and wanted me to go over to labor and delivery to check on my oxygen levels. She has already figured out that I’m stubborn and am trying to stay out of the hospital, so she wasn’t convinced that I was actually fine. I was determined to make it a brief trip and did everything I could to get in and out of the hospital as quickly as possible before they could find an excuse to keep me there. My oxygen levels were within the normal range (barely), so I was discharged in less than an hour. Whew – that was a close one!

29 and 29

This week we celebrated making it to 29 weeks (on Thursday) and my 29^th birthday (on Friday). We also had an ultrasound appointment on Friday.

The last week in the hospital I didn’t have any contractions, so I was very frustrated when I came home and started having them regularly. On Thursday I had 5 contractions during my morning hour of monitoring. Since I exceeded the allowable amount (4), I was told to drink lots of water and then monitor again. If I couldn’t get it down to 4 or less then I’d have to go straight to the hospital. I was such a mess for the rest of the day – with the way I was acting you would have thought I was about to be sent to prison or something. I kept telling Luke in between sobs “I don’t want to go back there!” Fortunately I only had 3 the second time I monitored, so I was allowed to stay home. I was pretty convinced that I was going to be back in the hospital after my Friday appointment though. At least this time I knew what to expect and packed a bag to bring to our appointment. I’m on a message board for moms of multiples due in December and over the past week several of the moms had their babies. After reading that, I was very afraid that I was going to get babies for my birthday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m anxious to meet the girls – I just really don’t want them to have to be in the NICU any longer than absolutely necessary.

Friday I woke up in a much better (less hormonal) mood. Luke made me breakfast and then ended up calling in sick for the day. He had had a rough day on Thursday dealing with me and the reality of his non-diagnosis and was just all around exhausted. It was really nice being able to spend a relaxed day together and having someone home with me to help me off the couch! For my birthday he had a pendant made for me – it’s a nest made out of copper wire with 2 pearl eggs in it. I especially appreciated it since it took some planning ahead and life has been particularly crazy lately.

My mom and sister brought over lunch, flowers and birthday gifts. Then Luke and I headed off for the doctor appointment. It was the first time I had been out of the house in a week, so even the car ride was a treat.

I waddled into the waiting room and another pregnant woman asked immediately how far along I was. I told her 29 weeks with twins and her response was “that explains why you’re so huge!” gee thanks – just what I needed to hear. I’m by no means in denial about my size, but you’d think other pregnant women would be a bit more tactful about it.

The doctor’s visit went well. I gained about 5 lbs over the past week, but was still 2lbs less than the day I ended up in the hospital (almost 3 weeks ago). The girls have also gained some weight – one is 2lbs 13oz and the other is 2lbs 8oz. Baby A still has her head wedged against my cervix which I was concerned about, but the doctor said its acting as a cork and keeping them in there, so it’s actually a good thing. My cervix has gotten even shorter, but not enough to earn me a trip back to the hospital. I was so happy when the doctor asked me to come back in a week, I said “So that means I get to go home in the meantime?!?!” She kinda laughed at me for being so excited, but said yes, home was fine for another week but to call if anything changes.

We were hoping to get another set of 3D images of the girls, or at least some good ultrasound shots, but the doctor had somewhere else to be so I figured I shouldn’t push it. Maybe at next week’s visit. We’re hoping they’ll have crossed the 3lb mark at that point too.

We stopped for cupcakes after the appointment and then went out for dinner. It had been over a month since we had last had a dinner out, so it was a nice birthday treat. I guess the upside of being on strict bed rest is that it really made me appreciate all the little things I got to do.

Hello 3rd Trimester

We’re very excited to have reached the 28 week mark. The last few weeks were pretty rough for us, so making it this far before the girls’ debut is a definite win. I’m hoping to carry them for at least another month, but at least now I’m far enough along that the risk of serious long-term health issues for the girls is pretty low. If we can’t make it to 36 weeks, I’m kind of hoping to deliver them on 11-11-11, but that seems like a long way off at this point.

I apologize in advance for the novel of a post below.

I had my 26 week doctor appointment on September 19^th. I had been good about following my doctor’s orders throughout the previous week, but still had been having contractions. Nothing painful and no more than 3 in an hour, so I was within the allowable range, but I still had a bad feeling going into the appointment (I was also still trying to figure out the “really bad news” from my dream a couple days before). I gained another 4 pounds over 10 days, which seemed impossible given I hadn’t been eating much. The ultrasound tech took the girls’ measurements and they came in at 1 lb 15 oz and 2 lbs 3 oz. One baby was measuring 1 day behind my due date and the other was 3 days ahead. We’re happy that they’re staying on track.

The doctor came in and went straight to doing her own measurements of my cervix. We were shocked to see how much it was funneling (basically opening up from the inside) and had gotten even shorter than it had previously been. Within 5 minutes of having her in the room, we were told “I don’t know what your plans for the rest of the day were, but they’re changing. I’m sending you straight to the hospital.” So off we went. The doctor’s office is in the building next to the hospital, so we were over there pretty quickly. I was admitted into labor and delivery and was immediately given a steroid shot to try to help develop the babies’ lungs. I’ve had some pain on my right side just below my chest, so they thought my liver may not be functioning properly so they also began tests for that.

Then they got an iv going to give me antibiotics to get rid of potential infections that could harm the babies if they were delivered right away and they also started a medication to stop contractions and try to avoid preterm labor.

I also had an ultrasound of all the organs on my upper right side. My liver was functioning fine, but the pain was coming from sludge in my gallbladder. Looking back, I think my gallbladder was likely having issues even before I got pregnant, but all the stuff I had been eating to try to gain weight made the problem even worse. So now I’m supposed to continue gaining weight, but on a low-fat diet. If I weren’t pregnant, they would go ahead and remove my gallbladder now since it’s not an essential organ, but they don’t want to risk harming the babies so I need to wait until after the girls are born to have the surgery.

By Tuesday night my doctor was pretty sure things were under control, so I was moved to an antepartum room to continue iv meds and monitoring. The next morning I was walking to the bathroom and my legs collapsed underneath me. I thought it was strange but kinda tried to shake it off. As the day went on and I got more doses of the medication, I started having a hard time breathing. I felt like I had a brick sitting on the middle of my chest. I mentioned it to the nurse and she got my doctor on the phone who agreed to give me a smaller dose. I continued having problems and they had to stop the contraction medication all together because fluid was building up in my lungs. They gave me medication to try to get rid of the fluid and then gave me a different type of contraction med – the kind I had been on at home. Again the same result and so I got another dose of the stuff to get rid of the fluid and was put on oxygen.

In addition to all this, Luke was at his diagnostic thing down the street through most of the day on Tuesday and half of the day on Wednesday. Since it took so much time to get him onto their schedule, I really didn’t want him to miss or reschedule it. I really wanted to be there, not just to be a second set of ears, but also to make sure nothing was left out and to be able to ask them questions directly. Technology is a wonderful thing – Luke left the iPad with me and had his laptop with him in his room. So I was able to be there virtually via Skype. The doctors weren’t sure how the head doctor was going to respond because they had never done that before, but it turned out that he seemed to like it. I think he enjoyed having an audience and felt like he was on TV. At one point he even stopped the conversation and walked over the computer to tell me that “Dr. House is in the house” and then went on to have a brainstorming session with the group. In true Dr. House fashion, he asked everyone what they thought and then told them why they were wrong. Fortunately they didn’t have to do near as many tests as we were anticipating because Luke brought the results of all the work that had been previously done. I was very happy to have him back with me sooner than expected and that he hadn’t had any major procedures done to recover from. They were pretty sure they had identified the problem, but were waiting on the results of one last test before getting to the diagnosis which was supposed to occur the following week. Unfortunately we still don’t have a diagnosis. The doctor called yesterday and explained that while he knows what the problem is, he doesn’t know what’s causing it and just wants to follow up in a few months. So frustrating!

Thursday morning I woke up to someone coming in with a portable x-ray machine to look at my lungs. Then someone came in to do an echo to check my heart. It was a really crazy day - people kept coming in to do all kinds of tests and specialists kept coming in to check on me. After numerous blood draws, an ultrasound of my legs to look for blood clots, another xray of my chest, and a ct scan of my chest, they eventually determined that my heart was in good shape but that my breathing problems were the result of the fluid in my lungs caused by either pneumonia or compressed lungs from the weight of the babies. It was all a bit of a blur – I didn’t entirely know what was going on or how serious it was. They started some iv medication to fight my potential pneumonia but within minutes I was having major contractions, dripping in sweat and could hardly breathe. They stopped the medication and gave me Benadryl to deal with my allergic reaction. I was an emotional mess at that point, but fortunately the Benadryl put me to sleep.

I got another dose of meds in the morning to try to get rid of the remaining fluid in my lungs but after that, the only medication I was getting was the stuff to fight infections. I finally started feeling better at that point. I still needed to be on oxygen, but it was a huge improvement over the previous few days. The pulmonologist (who was brought in from another hospital) came to see me at least once a day each day between Thursday and Saturday. He was able to rule out pneumonia based on my improvement without medications. The fluid seems to have been caused by the contraction medications, so the longer I was off of them, the better I got. The weight of the babies isn’t helping the situation, but I lost 6 lbs while I was in the hospital which they think was the result of the removal of the buildup of fluids.

I tried to convince the on-call doctor over the weekend that I was ready to go home. I at least had him considering it because he called my doctor at home to get her opinion. He came back and told me she basically said “heck no!” and that I needed to wait til she was back on Monday to talk to her. On Monday I feeling pretty good, and was hoping to go home. My nurse on Monday was the same one as on the previous Wednesday and Thursday. I told her I was hoping to go home and she explained how unlikely that was. Apparently I was much worse the previous week than I realized. She said they didn’t want to scare me by letting me know everything going on, but I was very close to being transferred to the ICU. She was right, the doctor was not ready for me to go home yet that day.

I continued breathing exercises and oxygen for most of the week, but was finally well enough to go home without an oxygen tank or medications by Friday. The doctor did an ultrasound before I left and my cervix has gotten even shorter but I’m not dilated at all and hadn’t had any contractions in a week. She didn’t really look at the babies at all – their heart rates stayed in the normal range throughout my time in the hospital, so I don’t think they’re the concern at this point. After a long lecture and making me promise to be on strict bed rest at home, I was released Friday night.

I go back in this Friday, 10/7 (my birthday), for a follow-up and to check the girls’ measurements. We’ll see whether I end up back at the hospital afterwards. Let’s just say I’m not planning any big celebration for that day.