The Need to Blog.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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!