A twin birth story---is massively long

I need to write this down so I don't forget :)  They will be 8 weeks old on Tuesday.  Oh my GAWD.

My pregnancy was progressing much as you'd expect with twins.  My cervix was long and holding up like a fortress.  My blood pressure was doing great.  The babies were growing perfectly and I was feeling pretty good.  On Feb. 23 I went to L&D for a routine NST (non-stress test).  When you are pregnant with twins, the doctors appointments are frequent.  Starting at 32 weeks twin moms start the bi-WEEKLY non-stress tests.  During this test they put two toco-monitors around your belly, one for each heartbeat.  For about 30 minutes to an hour they record the babies heart beat accels and decels.  They like to see lots of each.  That tells them that the babies are moving and resting just as they should be.  

So back to Feb. 23, 32 weeks pregnant, my grandma's birthday.  I went to L&D for my NST.  Before they hooked me up to the toco-meters they took my bp and vitals.  The nurse (Anitra, who I came to be very close to) asked me if my bp was usually this elevated.  *PANIC*  I asked her why.  She said it was "up there" but wouldn't tell me just how up there.  Greeeaaaat.  Anitra left to go call my doc, but not before hooking me up to the monitors.  For the next hour M and I sat listening to the swoosh swoosh swoosh of our babies heart beats and a couple rounds of baby hiccups.  Both of us were pretty nervous and we knew that my perfect pregnancy was about to get complicated.

Anitra came back and said, "you just bought yourself a hospital stay".  I sort of figured this was coming.  I knew that having twins gestating meant my chances for pre-ecclampsia were HIGH.  They put in an IV and informed me that they would be doing a 24 hours urine catch.  For 24 hours you pee in a bucket and then they test the urine for proteins.  This is also the point where they told me that my mild symptoms could turn serious at any time and they may have to deliver the babies.  I got my first round of steroids to mature the babies lungs *just in case*, were they to come 8 weeks early.  Petrified at this point.  

A few hours later I was moved to my ante-partum room (the one I'd be in for the next 4 weeks, I never left).  I got settled in my new home and hooked back up to the monitors.  Babies looked fabulous BUT the monitors picked up several contractions.  At this point in my pregnancy contractions were VERY common, I wasn't worried.  The nurses were.  They did a manual cervical check *ouch* and an FFN (fetal fibronectin).  The FFN is a vaginal swab that checks to see if there are any secretions present that may indicate labor is imminent.  A positive FFN means labor is a good possibility in the next two weeks.  A negative FFN means, you guessed it, labor is not imminent in the next two weeks.  Mine was negative and my doc decided that my contractions were probably just harmless.  And they were.  They were present at every NST, but I never went into labor.

So I spent the first of many nights in room 316 on L&D.  My 24 hour urine catch results came back early afternoon the next day.  I was officially diagnosed with mild pre-ecclampsia.  I knew I could deliver them at any time, so I stuck to the doc's instructions and stayed in bed...for a month.  That month wasn't all bad.  I heard many a baby born in the rooms near me.  We'd hear cheering, sometimes screaming, then the beautiful sounds of a newborn set of lungs.  That always made me smile :)  Life was beginning all round me and it was awesome.  

Everyday the OB's would come see me and let me know that things were status quo, but that I'd be staying until delivery.  I was ok with this because I wanted to keep {M} & {A} cooking as long as I could.  The nurses were my saving grace.  Seriously.  Anitra, Sonia, Renee, Sarah, Debbie, Jenny 1 & 2, Melisa, Kristin, Barbara, Kelly, etc etc etc.  Love love LOVE them and always will.  They got me through a tough time and I'll be forever grateful.  

Lets fast forward to the week of the birth, shall we?  I made it, with mild pre-e (go me!) to 35 weeks on strict bed rest.  Three NST's a day, blood draws every Monday and Thursday morning @ 6a (what a way to wake up), physical therapy (for my pelvic separation) three times a week, etc.  March 17, Dr H Lee walked into my room, fresh of a Caribbean vacation-fully not expecting me to have made it through the week she was gone, and told me we had a BIRTH DATE!  She said if I made it to 36w she was ready to deliver me.  D-day was 3/22/11 @ 11a.  She didn't want to push my body any further (the blood pressure was climbing).  OMG.  My babies were coming in a WEEK.  

Day before BIRTH DAY.  M and I sat in my room, the last day it would ever just be us.  We were both nervous and we wondered out loud what they would look like and who they'd be.  Neither of us slept.  At all.  We were so excited!  

BIRTH DAY 3.22.11

8am the delivery nurse came in to put my IV back in, pump me full of fluids, give me some nasty drink that was supposed to ward off nausea and some pill-no idea what they were for.  I signed the c-section paperwork-I understand that this is major surgery and can result in infection, blah blah blah and death.  No turning back now :)  

The anesthesiology team came in to tell me all about the dreaded SPINAL.  I signed more paperwork saying I understood that they could miss and I would be paralyzed for life.  Only kidding :)  It was just a consent form for the medication.  I loved my anesthesiologist.  I think that makes a HUGE difference.  Dr Baller was one of the sweetest women I'd ever met and she talked me through the whole c-section.  Loved her.  I saw her just last week and she remembered me and asked me how I was doing.  So sweet.  

Now it was time to take my last few steps as a pregnant women.  I waddled across the hall into the OR and onto the table.  There were about 25 nurses of various practices all waiting for me and my babies.  As I sat on the table, shaking from the nerves and the frozen room, people were prepping me.  I had anesthesiology prepping my back for the spinal.  I had my delivery nurses putting bp cuffs on my my arms and an O2 canula on my face.  The NICU nurses were prepping the warming beds for the babies.  I couldn't stop staring at the warming beds.  I just 20 short minutes my babies would be in there screaming and getting acclimated to the world.  

I sat on the table paying close attention to what the anesthesiology team was telling me.  They needed me to roll my back more.  Are you effing kidding me?  I can't roll it anymore I've got a twin belly resting on my KNEES.  At that point my delivering OB stood in front of my rubbing my arms and legs, trying to keep me warm and trying to pull shoulders forward so the anesthesiology team could find my spinal cord.  The pre-e had me pretty swollen and they were having a tough time.  They warned me, but I still flinched.  "Here comes the 'bee sting'".  Ouch, but not as bad as I was expecting.  Then came another and another and another.  They were numbing me up really well!  Once the numbness started to kick in they brought out the big guns.  Spinal time!  They poked.  OWWW!  They hit a bone-you can't numb a bone unfortunately.  Damn fluid retention.  Poked again.  OOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!  Hit bone on the other side.  At this point I was scared.  Scared that they'd never find my damn spinal cord and that I'd never get these babies OUT of me.  

Just when I thought I couldn't take another zing to the spine, they found the right spot and I felt the warmth of the spinal flowing through my lower body.  They spun me around and laid me down on the table.  They pulled my arms onto the cross bar and put a temp sticker on my forehead.  It was all happening so fast.  At this point it felt like my legs were "asleep".  It was the strangest feeling.  I just wanted to get up and walk around and make that pins & needles feeling go away.  They inserted the catheter and started to test my skin to see if I could feel anything.  NOPE. I was solidly numb from the collar bone down.  I never even felt the tugs and pulls they warned me about.  

M was finally allowed to come into the OR with his daddy scrubs on.  He looked excited and scared and oh so ready to meet these two beautiful creatures.  Around this time Dr H Lee and Dr Sun started hacking into my abdomen.  I was blissfully unaware.  I asked the nurses around me what was happening and they told me they were almost to Baby A.  WHAT?  That was fast!  The next thing I knew Dr H Lee was yelling at M to come see his son born.  Cue tears.  M got to watch our son slither out of my body and into the waiting arms of the NICU nurse practitioner.  M was snapping away with our camera and he followed that little boy over to his warming bed and took pictures of his first moments on earth.  They are beautiful pictures.  

Crying, screaming.  Our baby boy was here!  Overwhelming love.  Just an instantaneous feeling of joy.  I was watching my husband watch our son.  It was amazing.  One minute later, Dr H Lee called to M again to see his daughter born.  She came into this world screaming like nothing I've heard before.  She's still got those lungs and she lets us know it ;)  The NICU nurses brought {A} over to see me and I was in such awe.  I have a blonde daughter.  What?!  I have a blonde daughter?!?!  M was snapping pics of {M} and I called over to him "she has blonde hair!"  He looked at me and his eyes got HUGE.  He was so excited.  He walked over to her warmer and started snapping pictures of her.  I watched all of this unfold as if it wasn't happening to me.  I smiled and I literally felt my heart swell.  

I heard all of this second hand, but their apgars were {M}: 8 & 9 {A}: 7 & 9.  M cut {M}'s cord, but {A} was too squirmy and he didn't feel comfortable around her with sharp scissors.  He left it to the professionals ;).  She's still squirmy wormy!  They had their footprints taken for the birth certificates and all the post-birth brouhaha.  The NICU nurses and M carried the babies over to me and held them to my face while I was getting put back together so I could kiss them.  Oh my gosh, I'm a mom.  These beautiful, squirmy, pissed off infants were MINE.  I smelled them.  I took in everything about them.  I still remember what they smelled like, what they felt like, how they sounded, what they looked like.  Best moment of my life, meeting my children.  We took our first family pictures and they were whisked away to the NICU for evaluation.  Any baby born at or under 38 weeks gets a quick once over...though our babies once over would be anything but quick.  

M followed our new babies to the NICU and took more pictures, fed them their first bottles and loved on them while I was getting stitched back up and when I went to recovery.  Recovery was AGONY.  I wanted to go hang with my babies, but I had to wait.  M came to see me and brought me pictures and news.  I couldn't believe it was all happening without me!  At least M was there with them.  I relaxed and let the spinal wear off.  I was taken back to my room for some rest and relaxation.  Of course I couldn't rest or relax, I wanted to be with my babies.  I pumped for the first time and tried to keep my cool while I waited for permission to be wheeled down to see them.  M visited several more times, bringing MORE pictures and stories about how beautiful our babies were.  I was DYING to get to the NICU!

The rest of the story coming tomorrow :)  Stay tuned!

Updates from L&D

The first three weeks here were pretty uneventful, NOW is a different story.  We have a birthdate!  We're not sharing :)  We'll make a big introductory post when they arrive, which is VERY SOON.  While that day is scheduled, my pre-e has been really problematic lately.  My bp's are on the rise and almost daily we have to worry if this cluster of bp spikes will trigger delivery.  Its exhausting!  Some days I'm ready, others I'm not.  I like that its not really up to me!  They'll come when they come and if they don't come by 3/**/11 on their own, we'll deliver.  I'm scared about getting really sick with pre-e.  Its not a pleasant disease and its very unpredictable.  If things advance really quickly, my liver and kidneys could be compromised.  I could have strokes or seizures.  The disease could constrict blood flow to my babies.  All things WAY too devastating for me to think of right now.  Its a huge concern and my nurses and Dr.s are watching me very closely in order to avoid complications.

I'm praying that we can get to our scheduled csection with no complications.

Lately, the contractions have been ramping up as well.  Double whammy!  At this point, the Dr reassures me that my contractions are extremely typical for this late in twin pregnancy.  She keeps telling me that my body is DONE being pregnant.  I completely agree!  My uterus is stretched way beyond where it should be and my muscles are just done.  My contractions seem to be braxton-hicks.  They don't really have any pain associated with them, just tightness and some pressure.  When I was checked 3 weeks ago, my cervix was closed and soft, but with these b-hicks, I'm sure I'm starting to efface.  Thankfully, the nurses reassure me that if I was in full blown labor, I'd KNOW it.  I would apparently be in quite a bit of pain.

Babies look great!  They are hanging in there like little jumping beans.  I have 3 NST's a day to check their level of activity to make sure they are getting adequate blood flow and having the proper amount of excels and decels in heart rate.  So far, so good.  Its just unreal that we will meet them so soon.  I've waited my whole life to meet these two, SO CLOSE!

Please keep all 4 of us in your prayers.  Lots of wonderful, yet scary things coming our way!

The twins astrological signs

So we're going to meet these babies VERY soon!   So, days away from meeting my sweet little babes, naturally I started looking around to see what their "sign" would be.  I've never been all wrapped up in astrological signs, AT ALL, but I'm super interested at any glimpse of what these babies will be like.  I don't particularly disagree with what Cancer says about me and M is a text book Scorpio, so I'm interested :)

They will more than likely be born in a cusp-meaning, their birth will fall right in the middle of two signs.  Some charts have slightly different dates.

If they are born on or BEFORE March 20, they will be Pisces.  This strikes me as VERY interesting.  Twin fish are depicted in this sign-get it twins, with the last name of Fisher?  Peeeeeerfect!  Sadly, the only way they will have this sign is if I go into labor or if the pre-e forces delivery.  What a perfect sign for our twins though, right?!  Pisces tend to be compassionate, accepting, devoted and imaginative.  Lovee (we're testing out "grandma" names for my mom, so far Lovee is the front runner, I adore it!) Maureen will be excited about all those hippy traits!  In all serious though, M and I both tend to be compassionate (he may not look the part, but trust me, he's got the biggest heart I've ever seen on a man).  M is certainly the definition of devoted and I tend to be imaginative...when I have time to be.

If they are born on or AFTER March 21, they will be Aries.  The RAM!  My baby brother (who's not a baby anymore.  He'll be 25 next month!) Aries are typically strong willed and courageous.  Would any child of M's & mine be anything but strong willed?!  They also tend to be independent (um, sounds like daddy), enthusiastic (ME!) and optimistic.  I can handle that ;)

I know that a lot of people don't fall into the descriptions of their signs, but it was fun to see what they could be like.  Its funny, in utero, you get a glimpse of personality.  Little Miss A is a very mellow baby.  She hangs out under my right ribs, she's head down (like her brother) and she's got her little legs tucked up under her.  When that little body stretches, her butt pushes out and causes a hugely visible bump on my belly.  Everyone gets a kick out of that!  We predict she'll be mellow and relaxed, just like her daddy.

Little Mister M is a different story.  He's a wild man.  Its like he can't stay in one place for too long-boredom?  M says he's a lot like me in that respect :)  He's a mover and a shaker and the poor kid ALWAYS has hiccups.  I'm praying that doesn't mean he'll have reflux *does the sign of the cross*.  Speak of the devil, he's got the hiccups now ;)  He's also head down, but he has been since day uno.  His head is often seen hanging out on my cervix.  He knows where the exit is and he's ready to GO!  Like Momma, he can't stay in one place too long and he's always ready for the next big thing.  M thinks he's going to be like me and we both think he'll be our "problem" child.  Thats not to say that he'll be bad or cause problems, but we think he'll be the tough one to get to sleep, etc.

We're approaching 3 weeks in the hospital.  No, its not that bad-before anyone asks me.  The nurses are amazing and I have two good reasons to be here-their names will be announced after they are born.  Yes we've known their names for months and yes, their daddy picked both of them.  Last night M and I were trying to watch Inception (hated it, turned it off half way through) and we hear a woman screaming.  M looked at me and asked if we should call a nurse for help (forgetting where he was for a moment!).  Just about 30 seconds later we heard the first sweet cries of a new life.  It wasn't even our baby being born and M got this sweet look on his face and told me he couldn't wait (even more now) to meet our babies.  He's precious, isn't he?  We could faintly hear the mother crying as she met her new baby and the baby crying as he/she got cleaned up.  I feel like I trespassed on an intimate moment I wasn't supposed to hear, but its not my fault the vents are good sound conductors!  This morning I heard another birth.

I don't think I could ever be a labor & delivery nurse, but to be able to be a part of the most special moment in a couple's life, would make all the nasty worth it.

I know I promised to cut down on baby posts, but I have nothing else on my mind at this point.  Sorry :)

Flowers!

The excited grandpa-to-be (my dad) sent us flowers today!  Its nasty and snowy outside today and the walls are starting to close in so it was PERFECT timing.  They really brighten up the room and smell amazing!  Thanks Dad and Nova, I love them :)

I'm starting to think that I'll never want to go home...ok let me explain.  I lay in bed all day and watch TV, play on the internet, text, talk on the phone, watch movies & netflix, and sleep.  I get to eat really good food (no seriously the l&d floor has its own chef) and don't have to cook.  I get to hang out with a whole bunch of really sweet nurses all day long.  Seriously not your average bedrest, right?!  

In all seriousness, I miss home like crazy.  When M brings me fresh clothes and sheets I can smell home and it makes me sad.  I miss our pets and especially my cuddly black dog.  She's really having a hard time with me being gone :(  Poor baby girl.  I miss sleeping in MY bed with me hubby.  Here, he sleeps in the recliner or in the hospital guest bed.  Poor guy.  I miss my couch and my bathroom.  I miss my car and my MILK.  I miss it all really and when I do go home, it will never be the same.  It will be my house PLUS two.  Our family will double in size!  I will walk into my house as a MOM.  Heavy.  

The Dr came in and said everything is still stable.  Woohoo!  They may deliver me a week from today and they may wait two weeks, depending on my bp and labs.  I could be a mom in ONE week.  Holy crap!

My Scottish nurse

She's a hoot.  She's probably in her mid-fifties and I seriously want to bottle her up and take her home with me...whenever that will be.  She calls me toots, she calls the twins "the twinkies" or "wee ones"-yes she sounds JUST like Shrek!  She comes in in the mornings and asks me if I've had "breckie" (breakfast) yet.  She's a gas!  She's from Pueblo, so like 100 miles from here and she travels and stays in a hotel for the week.  That in itself would be rough, add that to the fact that she is elbow deep in cervix, placentas and babies-that makes her a rockstar!

All the nurses here are just wonderful.  One has been a bit strange-she wakes me up from naps just to chat.  Seriously sister?  Momma needs her rest.  Other than that, they are all super sweet.  We've been through the whole rotation at this point (I think) and they are all really supportive and my biggest cheer leaders.  They make being away from home a little easier to swallow :)

I'm starting to get sad that I have to be away from home.  I'm hoping its just that I'm tired and hormonal.  I've done so well, but as we reach this two week mark, I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself.  M is wonderful, he stays with me most nights-and you know how uncomfortable these hospital guest beds are.  Bless his heart :)  The days he's got to check in at work or spend time with the menagerie, he sleeps at home.  We're trying not to completely piss off the animals, that will happen soon enough when we bring home two teeny little screaming bundles.

I feel bad that M has to do it all.  He keeps up the house, pays all the bills, takes care of me, makes sure the animals feel loved, etc.  He's positively wonderful.  He does all this while preparing himself to be a dad to twins.  Men don't get much better than him :)  I hope he knows how much I appreciate him and all he's doing for us.  He claims its his "job" as the head of the household, that he's been waiting his whole life to be Daddy and this all just goes along with it.  He seems not to care about the load on his shoulders and in fact, he seems to love it.  I'll take his word for it!

Last night we were watching a movie and Baby M started to really roll around.  M came over and started talking to my belly, this kid loves his daddy!  We saw a little arm/elbow pop out and move around by my belly button, so sweet!  I never knew the love you have for your children is so intense...I haven't even "met" them yet!  Seeing M love on his babies (even though they aren't here yet) is seriously the most precious sight in the world.  I'm so thankful for him and these beautiful babies.

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)  I promise I'll try to think of more interesting things to blog about-other than the hospital and babies.  Its sort of my world right now (I haven't left these four walls in nearly 2 weeks...yep, true story).  If all goes well, we have about 2 weeks left, sigh.  I have to keep pumping myself up and telling myself that this is the best place for us and we NEED to be here.  We want to get these babies to 36 weeks and I know that probably won't happen if I go home.  I'll be trying too hard to help M out or make meals or help with the animals.  It will go down hill fast.  So for now, I just keep plugging away.  Every day is one day closer to meeting our babies!

33 weeks

Still here, hanging out :). Today marks 33 weeks. Whoop! Every day is a milestone. The babies put on so much weight and grow so fast at this point, every single day is huge. So far things are stable. The babies are doing great, they love all this lounging around! They are the "side show" on the l & d ward at this point. The nurses all come in to watch baby girl do her somersaults. My whole belly completely distorts and I swear with much more momentum she could throw me out of bed! Active little babe. Little man gets hiccups every single night when they put him on the monitors. I swear you can almost hear that sweet little voice :). Its funny that such small little babies can make such bit movements!

My bp is stable at this point. My labs are all looking good still and the docs are just watching me very closely for any changes. I don't have a whole lot to update, sorry! I pretty much just lay here and sleep most days. Let's hope the rest continues to do good things and stave off delivery, at least for another week or two.

Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers! We appreciate them so much :).

Update

So they have diagnosed me with mild pre-eclampsia. :(. I'm here for another night to see what my bp does. Its weird. The bottom # (diastolic) is good, but the top (systolic) is elevating. The med team is thoroughly confused at this point...hence further monitoring. This will ultimately be the reason for delivery but they are hoping to buy us a week or two. Just got my second steroid shot and I'm praying that we can keep things controlled at least a teensy bit longer.

They haven't started talking about imminent delivery yet and the mag sulfate won't come until they do. At least that's what the nurse says. Dr L will be here shortly to talk over the game plan. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Please keep praying for us.

Love to you all :)

"You just bought yourself a hospital stay"

I went in for a routine NST (non stress test) and fluid check and they notices my blood pressure was high. I've never had high blood pressure. The dipped my urine and sure enough I was spilling protein. They immediately popped in an iv, started steroids for the babies lungs and ordered a 24 hour urine catch, which I just finished. A couple hours into our stay I started contracting...only I couldn't feel them. The did a cervical check (closed, soft, long) and another ffn which was negative. Thank goodness.

BUT the pre-eclamptic symptoms are really troubling. When we get the results back from my urine catch they will make some big decisions. I may go home on strict bedrest. I may stay hospital bound on strict bedrest. They may try out magnesium sulfate-barf. It's an evil drug used to lower bp and stop contractions. The side effects are hideous and I'd have to get a folley(sp?) catheter. Yuck. Then there is the chance that the protien got so high that they need to deliver asap. My bp has been normal and borderline so at this point things could swing any way. The good news is babies look beautiful! Its just my body that is failing them :(. Come on body-let's regulate and keep these sweet babies IN for at least 2 more weeks!

Please keep us in your prayers. We are in great hands here, but no one wants me to deliver this soon. I'm about 32.5 weeks. Thank you for thinking of us :). I'll try to keep everyone posted.