The ABC Family

its been a while. lots of new things.

2009-05-13T15:55:00.003-05:00

Charlie and Brady are home! Mothers Day was their due date!
Charlie came home on April 22 and Brady came home on April 29. Charlie had his hernia repaired at Medical City last Thurs, May 7. All went well. Charlie & I spent the nite and were on our way home on Friday. We are all getting adjusted to life with two new boys at home. They are getting strong quickly. I have no idea what their weights are at this point. They have a dr appt soon for another follow up. And an eye dr appt tomorrow. Mothers day was amazing! It was wonderful to have all my children with me.
In other news... I did go see Star Trek on Mothers day. My mom offered to watch the boys. It was awesome! If you have ever like Star Trek it is a def must see!! I suppose thats it for movies for us for a while. Other good note worthy movies that we've rented recently are: Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Reader (which I saw in theatre), Snow Angels, Frost Nixon, The Dutchess (I ended up buying it).
Today has been the first day since I got both boys home that I've been able to stay home! between going to my moms and dr appts and the grocery store I havent been able to just stay home. Its been exactly what I needed.
For mothers day we converted our aquarium to saltwater and its coming along nicely. Its a slow process. So far we have live rock, live sand, 2 false percula (Nemo clownfish), snails, hermit crabs, snowflake eel (10-12"), sand sifting sea star, and some coral fragments that are on a trial run before I buy any bigger corals. I will post pics eventually. When it is beautiful or close to it, I will post pics. We still need more live rock and some time for some purple algae to grow.
Our boys
Brady is in Blue & Charlie is in "Chocolate"

good news.

2009-04-21T00:51:00.004-05:00

Well. I talked to Dr.T today and he told me Charlie would be coming home Wed!!! I had originally planned for Tues, but they did not inform me until today of an eye appt the boys have Wed morning. So he will stay for that and as soon as thats over we get to go home!! And I am not rooming in. I decided I'd had enough hospital time. Im starting to like going less and less. I'll have to make more of an effort when Charlie is home and Brady is still there.
They took Brady off his canula today, and it stuck. They took him off yest and he had to be put back on again. Dr.T said we would talk more about Brady's discharge on Wed. assuming everything goes well until then.
They are getting their circumsized this week! We will still have to take Charlie to have his hernia repaired but thats down the road 9 mos - 1 yr.
Charlie is weighing 4 lb 8 oz. and Brady is 4 lb. 10 oz (?). Im not 100% on Brady's weight, but its close enough. Anyways. more updates when Charlie's home. Merry Tuesday.

Disappointment.

2009-04-15T13:17:00.004-05:00

So Brady is not coming home this week. He ended up desating before they did his car seat test, due to reflux. They started him on prevacid to help with the reflux. He has now had 4 doses (it usually starts working around doses 4 to 6) and the reflux is getting better. When they started the prevacid they had to put him on 25% O2 to keep his level up. Jessica (their fav nurse) said she was going to try to wean him down to 21% today. Hopefully he will do well.
Charlie is great and if he takes all his feeds well today they will possibly do his car seat test tomorrow, which is the final thing we need, before rooming in to go home. I had a meeting with the dr yesterday and he foresaw a maximum of 7-10 days before they would be able to go home. So Im still hoping to have a baby home before Monday if Charlie stays with the program. Im not getting my hopes up this time, like I did with Brady on this past Monday. We are baby ready! And its driving me nuts that I dont have them home!

Quick update.

2009-04-13T19:04:00.004-05:00

So Charlie is breastfeeding! Yay! He is nipple-ing (bottle) all his feeds. Tomorrow I will attempt breastfeeding both boys at the same time! My mom did this and was very successful - I hope I have the same luck.

Both are out of the isolette's, that happened on Friday. They are doing well. As of yesterday they told me Brady would be coming home this week. He was supposed to do his car seat test today, but some minor stuff happened so I think they may try for tomorrow. I have a meeting with the neo tomorrow at noon. They said (yesterday - tomorrow may be diff) if they pass their cart seat test they can go home! Discharge class is tomorrow at 6! Hopefully both boys can come home this week! That would be amazing! They are both doing so well. I freaked out and had to run out and buy some little things, like the travel set of baby wash and some bottles, just in case they are home before the shower on Sunday. My next post should have some pics of the boys at home!!

Breast feeding.

2009-04-08T20:13:00.003-05:00

Yay! I was able to breastfeed Brady for the 2nd time today! He did great! Brady is bottle feeding 6 times a day, and the nurse said they might up him to all feedings with the bottle tomorrow (he eats 8 times a day). Charlie is up to 3 times a day with the bottle. He was stuck on 1 bottle a day for a while, and has recently been doing very well. Hopfeully he will go up to 4 feedings tomorrow, then on to 6 times and we can start breastfeeding.

Both boys should be coming out of the isolette's shortly. Brady is up to 1806 grams (3 lbs. 15 oz.) and Charlie is 1764 grams (3 lbs. 14 oz.) The limit to come out of the isolette is 1800 grams but they have to be maintaining their temperature, when the isolette is set to 28.0 degress Celcius. Brady's is set to 28.5 Celcius and Charlie is at 28.0. So if Charlie gains weight and Brady's isolette temp goes down they will be able to co-bed. Any day now! They are almost through the NICU!

Bottle feeding.

2009-03-29T20:59:00.003-06:00

Today the boys got their first bottle!! They both did very well. They each get 29 ml. of 26 calorie breastmilk (they have to add extra calories to the breastmilk to make it 26). Brady took 21 ml. and Chalrie took 20 ml - on their own! The rest was administered through their feeding tubes. They both had no brady's or desat's! They did so well! We are so proud! The dr. said they are doing very well and the nurse practitioner hinted she thought they would definitely be home before May 10 - their original due date.

Brady was taken off his nasal canula today as well. They had taken him down to .5 liters yesterday and was able to come off today. Charlie is on 1.5 liters and should be off his canula in the next couple days. Charlie weighs 3 lb. 4 oz. and Brady is 3 lbs. 9 oz. They are definitely growing! We've set Sunday, April 19 as our Baby Shower date. It's getting close, soon they will be home!

1 month in the NICU

2009-03-15T16:46:00.006-06:00

Happy 1 month Birthday boys! As of yesterday, Sat Mar 14, our boys are 1 month old! It coincides with my cousin Ashley & Cory's Wedding, which was a nice get away for us. The boys are doing very well, still on the nasal canula's but hopefully they will be coming home soon. They both weigh a little under 3 lbs but are doing very well and are gaining weight every day. They have come a long way in such a short amount of time. I cant wait for them to come home!

Jeff and Charlie

Me and Brady

Charlie

Charlie

Jeff and Brady

3 weeks ago from this Saturday.

2009-03-06T01:10:00.005-06:00

Well I suppose I should officially update this thing.

Its official. The boys are here! Born on Feb 14 2009 Valentines Day! at 27 weeks 6 days gestation. I developed severe pre-eclampsia and was no longer able to provide a healthy environment for them.

Brady Lee was 2 lbs. 12.75" long
Charlie Duane was 1 lb. 14 oz. 13" long

They are currently in the NICU.
We have had ups and downs but currently they are doing great and the nurses say they are very strong. They are off the ventilators and on to the CPAP things. They are like a nasal canula only the nose phalanges are longer and stick into nose more (which bothers them - they are constantly sneezing because it tickles their nose). After they are off these they will probably switch to a regular canula for extra oxygen even though they are on 21% which is room air (or so they tell me). Sometimes the boys have apnea and forget to breathe on their own so they will have a desaturation and thats where the oxygen comes in handy. Often they will pull the CPAP's out and sometimes the nurses wont hear an alarm, which means they are doing well on their own.
I have held both boys, and we are now able to kangaroo care (skin to skin) with the boys twice a week for now. Its absolutely amazing to hold them! We just took some pictures tonight so I will get that on here as soon as we get them uploaded. Lisa came up to the hospital the day after they were born and took some great photos. You can check those pics out on her Blog.
They are both still on TPN (Total Parental Nutrition) that helps give them extra calories throught their PICC lines. They are also receiving breastmilk through an orange tube that goes down to their stomachs. The next goal is to get them on relying on breastmilk wholely for their nutrition so they can take the PICC lines out, as well as to wean them off the CPAP's which I feel at this point could happen any day. The NP told me tonight that they kind of are dragging their feet at taking them off the CPAP's because they dont want to do it too soon. Luckily they are not on too much oxygen for it to cause additional problems.
The first week or so was more hectic and roller coastery. They have stopped causing so many problems and it looks like both boys are getting more healthy every day!

The Need to Blog.

2009-02-10T20:04:00.005-06:00

I do not feel this need to blog, nor talk on the phone, nor read, nor really do much of anything. I lay in this "Kraft-matic" hospital bed for 22 hrs of every day and not do much of anything. Trying to muster the motivation to get out of bed to use the bathroom and the daily shower is about all I can handle. My mom has been encouraging me for the last 3 wks to blog since alot and seemingly nothing has happened. I am on my 23rd day here. My blood pressure is up and it would seem that I am developing preeclampsia. The babies are doing great. They are staying on the monitors better than they ever have. We have had no serious decels, sometimes the monitors pick up my heart beat instead. When we deliver it will most likely be from the preeclampsia instead of our original complication. We are currently at 27 wks 2 days gestation. Our Biophysical Profiles/sonograms are done every Mon and Thurs. almost every time both babies have recieved an 8 of 8 score. Only a couple times has it been 6 of 8 because Baby A or B did not do his breathing movements, lately they've both been doing them great. The last weights were on Jan 29. Brady (A) was 1 lb. 11oz. and Charlie (B) 1 lb 8 oz. Hopefully both will gain 1 lb by this Thurs. when their weights will be taken again. They are only measuring in the 30% and 25% in growth and there is a possibility they wont gain the 1 lb they need to, but we have to wait and see.

My dr put me on a diabetic diet last week seemingly for no reason other than he wanted to monitor what I was eating, although I only had gained 1 lb per week since I had been here. After a couple days of that I became very discouraged and thoroughly complained to every one that came in the room. The supervisor of the floor felt my pain and spoke with my dr. Since then he has taken me off of the diet and given me instructions to make healthy choices. I think the hospital has a weekly food rotation luckily I can "write in" other food. It is hard to "make healthy choices" here when the food is bland and limited, and I end up eating the same things over and over. Ordering in is an option but there is not many "healthy choices" around, unless I want to order a salad.

I was keeping track of how many pokes I've had since I've been here, but I lost count today. I think Im on my 9th or 10th IV Hep-lock and they've drawn blood 4 or 5 times, plus I've had 5 or 6 terbutaline shots for contractions, and none of this includes the other times my veins have blown and they've had to redo it. On the up side, my hep-lock is lasting longer than a day now, the last one lasted almost 4 days and I think we are on day 2 of this one, hoping for another two days, but its starting to hurt consistently when they flush it so maybe only another day.

Im sure it seems that Im somewhat negative, and honestly I am. Its been hard to be positive here lately. However, they did bring in their new flat screen tv and a dvd player to boost my moods, which has helped. So I've been watching movies in between sleeping and visitors.

We have 5 weeks left until our expected delivery week, but it looks like there is a good possibility the babies will be delivered before then.

Admission day!

2009-01-19T17:35:00.003-06:00

Well its finally here. Im finally admitted to the hospital! We came in at 1:30 this afternoon. Im finally just now getting to the point where the nurses are gone. Im on 24/7 monitoring. I ended up opting to have the IV hepa-lock put in, after arguing with the nurse about it I gave in. Ive had my first steroid shot, the second I will receive tomorrow. I also had a BPP done today on the boys and they both look really good. Both are doing breathing movements, which I guess is something she was glad to see. I will be having those twice a week on Mon & Thurs. They said dinner was at 5 and Im assuming I wasnt put on the list since I havent seen it anywhere. They brought a bed in for Jeff to sleep on, luckily its a pretty big room. Hopefully this will be an uneventful stay. Im glad as it seems these nurses really care about the quality of care Im going to be receiving and so far seem to be on top of everything. My Dr says I will be seeing him almost every day and when he doesnt come in it will be someone from his practice. The sono lady that came in really didnt seem to know too much about monoamniotic pregnancy and after I told her what my complication was asked if I had one placenta. The nurses seem to be up to date on my complication though so thats reassuring. Hopefully Ill be getting dinner soon! Happy Monday!

Pic problems.

2009-01-15T00:48:00.003-06:00

We are experiencing technical difficulties.
This pic would NOT post and STAY to the previous blog posting even though I used Picassa like Lisa instructed me. Hopefully it will take to this one!

This pic you can see both boys' bodies. The one on the left's arm & thigh and the one on the right's legs. You can see how close they are, almost intertwined.

3d/4d ultrasound

2009-01-15T00:24:00.007-06:00

I guess we should start at the beginning of the week. I havent had much down time since Im trying to get people in and get their hair touched up before Im unavailable for an unspecified period of time. I cant wait for this Sunday! I have no appointments! Just have to pack for the hospital, since I will be going inpatient on Monday!! at 1:30pm. How cool is that!! I know not wonderful, however this is a milestone for me & jeff and the boys! They can now be born (preemie) and still have a fighting chance at survival!! And its a good possibility be perfectly fine, just small. This is what Ive been waiting for for the last 3 months, other than the actual birth day of the boys.

Monday we had to run by Wal-Mart (the new one! in HV). We just happened upon a GREAT deal! We found 2 cherry sleigh beds on clearance for $100 each!! It was too good to pass up! Ive been wanting a darker crib for the boys since Addison's was white. White is for girls! I had to buy them! When I got home I didn check their ratings, amazingly enough they had customer ratings by alot of people and everyone gave them 4 to 5 stars! I dont know what got into me. I have been so good about NOT buying much. I didnt want to jinx it. Jeff has been advised to only assemble 1 and if something happens HE will be returning the other crib. I really want to assemble both!! And I just may!

We did the 3d/4d ultrasound this Tuesday which was way cool! I actually got a little bored towards the end, but some of my family and Jeff's family came and I think it was more exciting for them. We see the boys all the time, so its not a biggie anymore. We did get to see what they look like, I thought they were cute initially now Im starting to think they are more funny looking than anything. Im sure they will be adorable once they are here and if not, surely by a couple months they will be looking more like normal babies. Jeff & I went on a "date" on Tues evening. We ate at Bari's which ended up being more expensive than normal and we saw Bride Wars. My mom and sis were at the theatre seeing 7lbs. and my mom ended up joining us which is always nice! Im going to try to see as many movies as possible before I go in the hosp. I fig my movie going days are soon to be over. After all, once you have 3 kids isnt your life mostly over anyways, atleast until the oldest is 13 and can watch the others. Ahh! and just think I actually wanted this, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking!

Its getting close.

2009-01-02T18:54:00.003-06:00

Well I feel like this week has been eventful. New Years Eve was nice. We spent it doing what we do every night! I sat on the couch and watched tv with Sandra. Jeff came home and watch tv with us! I typically think New Years is overplayed. People get drunk and drive and I just want to go to bed, usually before midnight. Its especially overplayed when your 21 weeks pregnant with twins and being on your feet and out past 9pm is painful.

Jeff just switched to nights, so he is working 10pm to 6am for the next 2 months. He graciously agreed to help out since I'll be in the hospital and it works out for us better that way. He had his first night shift last night. He isnt adjusting well so far, but Im sure he'll get the hang of it shortly.

I suppose you could call it "quitting", but I dont like to... So I moved my stuff out of the salon. Which was a last minute decision. I hope Bonnie isnt mad about it, I didnt give 2 wks notice. Honestly I didnt ever consider doing that until right this minute. I am currently doing some work at my mom's house. Its working out so far, except for today half of the kitchen outlets went out and they had to call an electrician. Oopsies. I feel pretty badly about it. But surely a blow dryer can't cause all that ruckus. The refidgerator wouldnt even turn back on. And if you've seen the fridge you would know its no small thing.

I went to my last MFM appointment this morning. It was the same as usual. He checked the babies. He checked the knot. He checked the cord flow. All is as well as can be expected. The boys weigh 1 lb. each. He suggested once more to go in at 23 wks.

We decided last week Lewisville Med Center is the best option for us, reguardless of what others think. The boys will receive continuous monitoring there as opposed to 3 NST's per day at another hospital. I think my OB is doing this to make up for not having Dr's there 24/7. He wants the best opportunity to catch something as soon as possible and doesnt feel that 3 NST's per day is enough. Or this is how Im taking it. We were going to go in Mon, Jan 19, but with my MFM's advice and because all my Dr's think 23 weeks gestation is viability I am planning on going in sometime the week of Jan 12-17. I have an OB appt the morning of the 12th so it will be decided for sure on that day.

Happy New Year to All!

Recorder & Our Dec 27 Dr Appt.

2008-12-28T23:18:00.003-06:00

My parents got us a video camera for Christmas! Yay!! We have been wanting one since we found out about the twins. Since Christmas Eve, when we officially opened presents and received this wonderful device, Jeff has recoreded just about everything, from Christmas morning to our Dr appt on the 27th, Fishing for his brothers cats, and his job this evening. I was able to see how absolutely boring 911 can be, although Im sure if it werent boring that would mean plenty of people could be having the worst day of their life and also he wouldnt have had the time to record. Im always thankful when his job is slow. I am looking forward to our next Dr's appt tomorrow morning. We will be talking with Axline more about which hospital and then from their I will hopefully be meeting with either the Peri/MFM at Lewisville Medical or the other OB and MFM's I will be seeing at the other hospital. Hopefully I can get an "official" confirmation on Jan. 19 as inpatient, so far its only been a "unofficial" confirmation. I could use some solid info. I feel like everything has been in limbo since we found out about the Monoamniotic diagnosis. Wishing a Merry Monday to All! And hopefully some good news for us!

Dr Appt 12-27-08

MFM & umbilical cord knot

2008-12-19T21:23:00.002-06:00

I saw a different MFM than I normally have been seeing, and he was absolutely wonderful!! We decided on Lewisville Medical as opposed to Baylor Grapevine for inpatient... and then apparently my OB had brought up the possibility of Medical City Dallas for inpatient. I dont know how I feel about this. Obviously I want the best care possible, right? I dont think my quality of life at Medical City will be the same as Lewisville. First off Medical City is alot farther away than Lewisville. I wont see my family nearly as much. Addi will be left without a mother for up to 10 weeks, which absolutely breaks my heart. And then on top of that I will have to drive every day to Medical City to see my babies. Frustrating. And then there is the part of me that knows I have no control over this, no matter which hospital I choose God is totally in control. They could live or die according to His Will at either hospital. So do I take the chance and stay close to home knowing God will take care of us and have His Will in our lives or do I decide for the other hospital and use the most control I have over the situation? Is it irresponsible? I dont know if I feel good with the Medical City decision? I dont know if it sets right. And then I have to decide do I feel that way because that's what I've been planning on or because I have intuition? Either way for sure inpatient Jan 19, unless something happens and I have to go earlier. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Some days.

2008-12-15T20:50:00.003-06:00

So this pregnancy I've been mostly positive, considering Im a worrier. Today was not one of those days. I had a mini-cry session (I never cry) & disagreement with Jeff at the Dr appt even though both of our boys look Great! Its hard for me to watch our boys on the screen knowing they are doing so well and wonder if they will still be doing well at the next sono. They are measuring almost the same size and weight. Roughly about 1/2 lb. and 8"-9" long each. There was much less room than there seemed to be 2 weeks ago. I cant believe how they've grown in just a short amount of time. My Dr got a new suggestion from my Specialist which recommends 23-24weeks gestation for inpatient, up from the original 24-26weeks. Im not sure what this means now but hopefully I can get more answers on Friday. Making it to inpatient will be somewhat of a relief. Atleast I know they will be monitored multiple times a day and can possibly come into the world if something goes wrong. Right now there is nothing we can do but trust God's ultimate plan whichever way that may take us.

Cord Complications

2008-12-08T23:34:00.001-06:00

wanted to give everyone an idea of what goes on inside the womb of a Monoamniotic Pregnancy. Keep in mind most babies born with knots in their cords are not born alive. This happens every time with a MoMo pregnancy.

Compliments of Kate. She has two beautiful MoMo twin girls, born at 32 wks 5 days. This mass was detected at 28 weeks on ultrasound.
Amazing

Recent Pics of our Boys

2008-12-08T11:32:00.002-06:00

Baby B Face

Profile.
You can see Jeff's jaw line on the boys in this picture.

Baby A Face

So far, from what we can tell, the boys will look nothing like me and everything like Jeff. Atleast I get to be Mom!

What are Monoamniotic Twins?

2008-12-04T16:13:00.000-06:00

Monoamniotic Twins are identical twins which develop inside the same sac, share the same placenta and have their own umbilical cords. The egg splits late in this case and there is no membrane to divide the sac into two seperate compartments. This may sound like typical identical twins, but almost always with any twin pregnancy there is a membrane between the babies. Monoamniotic Twinning occurs 1 in 35,000 to 1 in 60,000 pregnancies. Monoamniotic Twins occur in 1% of Identical Twins.

Monoamniotic Twins are at a high risk for health complications as the can become entangled in their cords and can compress their own and each others cords as well, endangering their oxygen and food supply. The survival rate was once thought to be 50% for Monoamniotic Twins but with new technology and inpatient monitoring at 24 weeks the survival rate is now 60% to 70% or higher. Upon diagnosis some doctors will actually suggest termination, this however is ridiculous, any time spent with these beautiful babies whether it still be in utero is a blessing from God.

All Monoamniotic Twins are born premature, typically between 32 and 34 weeks but some surviving as early as 23-24 weeks. Medical professionals feel that the risk for cord entanglement and cord compression becomes to great after 32-34 weeks. Monoamniotic Twins are always delivered by cesarean section.

Also it is thought that 75% of Monoamniotic Twins are girls. Ours are boys!

Monoamniotic Twins Support Site

Beginning of our Adventure

2008-12-04T15:47:00.000-06:00

Jeff and I met at Carmelita's Mexican Restaurant in May 2008, but had actually met in April. Jeff does not recall this meeting, ask him why.

We immediately knew it was "IT". I knew God had sent me him, there was no other and we would be together "as long as we both shall live". We were married by a Justice of the Peace on July 24, 2008.

I became with child on August 13, 2008.

We had our first OB appt and sonogram when I was 8 weeks, Oct. 2, and found out we were having twins! My Dr told us that there was a possibility we were going to be having Monoamniotic "Mo-Mo" Twins. I now realize how wonderful my OB is, he never once suggested termination with this pregnancy, as I have read many Dr's do suggest this.

I had a follow up OB appt at 10 weeks, and the Dr confirmed the Monoamniotic diagnosis.

I was sent to a MFM/perinatal specialist at 12 weeks and the diagnosis was confirmed.

I am currently 17 weeks and seeing my OB every 2 weeks. I have sonograms everytime I go in and it is wonderful to see both of my boys doing well.

I plan on going inpatient at Lewisville Medical Center at 24 weeks, Jan 19. The plan is to keep the babies in there as long as possible with multiple daily monitoring and sonograms atleast once a week, up to 32 weeks.

I have been blessed truly. How God sees me fit to be a mother again and of two more, at the same time! I could not ask for more!