So we had our 30 week appt yesterday and I was feeling really good about it since I had not done anything active all week - and was optimistic that my cervical length would reflect that. Unfortunately, things didn't go as hoped :( My cervix shortened by 4mm (from 1.8 last week to 1.4 today). I was so scared that Dr. G was going to put me back in the hospital on bedrest. I was so frustrated... I don't know what else I could have done - how is it that after a very active week of hair appt, dinner out, and a baby shower, my cervix stays the same, and then the week I do absolutely nothing... it shortens! Ugh! As we waited for Dr. G I was running through bargaining options in my head to avoid being admitted again - later Jason told me he was too! Once we got in the room with Dr. G, he was not nearly as concerned as we thought he would be- in fact he still considered my length as stable - whew! He said that sometimes bedrest just doesn't work - but we are going to continue to do what we can to keep these babies incubated as long as possible! We are also only a few days away from the magic milestone of 30 weeks - which has been Dr. G's biggest goal through this whole scare. He basically said that at this point he did not foresee putting me back in the hospital until it was time to deliver AND... he also said that in a few weeks he would take me off bedrest and just let nature take it's course. Although I will probably continue my bedrest routine, it is nice to know that I will be able to take care of any last minute returns, exchanges, etc., and go out on a few final dates with my hubby :)
In other news... I passed the 3 hour glucose test after failing the initial screening (all thanks to the steroids in my system from our preterm labor scare). It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and actually went by pretty quickly. I am up about 24 lbs and working really hard to fatten these babies up! At our appt on Monday, the babies were still lookin good - great fluid, movement, heartbeats ect. Baby boy is still head down and baby girl continues to sit in the weird awkward transverse/sideways position despite my efforts to coax her into changing positions! It's a good thing we already decided on a scheduled c-section, cause if baby girl doesn't change position, we would have to have one anyways! In the nursery, Jason installed a second rod in the closet, a cubby shelf over the dresser, and got a nightstand and lamp for next to the glider. After the shower on Saturday, we sure had a lot of stuff to fill the closet and shelves with! We have baby boy's letters for his name, we just need to find a frame for it! Baby girl's letters should come in this week - and I cannot wait to see them!!!
In a few days (Saturday the 4th), Jason and I are going to get our maternity pics done - I hope they turn out good! Memi just had her baby girl Magnolia Elyse last night at 9:14pm after being induced at 8am that morning - she's a trooper - and baby girl is just beautiful and has a full head of hair! I cannot wait to meet her! Sorry no pics today - but hopefully next week :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
28 week appt. & baby pics!
So, I was going into today's appointment very cautious but optimistic and am very pleased to tell you all that everything went GREAT! My cervix went from 1.8 last Monday, to 1.9 on Friday, to 2.0 today!!! We are definitely moving in the right direction! It gives me that needed push to continue to power through this bedrest - knowing that I am really doing everything I can to keep these babies cookin for as long as I can. The sono tech said that the fluid around the babies was excellent, and we even got to watch them practice their breathing -so cool! Baby A is still head down and Baby B continues to hang out in this sort of sideways position looking toward my back that doesn't look comfortable at all - but I did find out that it is his/her shoulder that is jabbing me. We really haven't had any good sono pics in a while, but we hit the jackpot today (well at least for Baby A)! He/She was perfectly positioned so that we could see his/her profile and the sono tech flipped it over to 3D/4D and we got to see what our precious little baby looks like - it was SOOOOO amazing! They didn't take any measurements today, but the babies should weigh about 2 1/2 lbs each and about 15 1/2 inches long! I have finally broken the 20 lb mark and am weighing in at 22 lbs! I'm really trying to put some fat on these babies so they can be nice and healthy when they are born (in about 9 weeks) - so if anyone has any delicious (or at least not horrible) high protein, high calorie recipes - send 'em my way!
I also had my glucose screening today - and it wasn't nearly as bad as some people make it out to be. It basically tasted like really sweet, flat orange soda. We should have the results back tomorrow, but I'm not too worried about it. I already feel like this week is going to fly by - maybe because I am really looking forward to seeing my mom and having my baby shower on Saturday! Well, I guess that's about it for now - be sure to check out the pics from today's sono!
Profile of Baby A
I also had my glucose screening today - and it wasn't nearly as bad as some people make it out to be. It basically tasted like really sweet, flat orange soda. We should have the results back tomorrow, but I'm not too worried about it. I already feel like this week is going to fly by - maybe because I am really looking forward to seeing my mom and having my baby shower on Saturday! Well, I guess that's about it for now - be sure to check out the pics from today's sono!
Profile of Baby A
Friday, August 13, 2010
Back Home... for now :)
So... I got to come home today - YAY! They stopped the contractions on Monday, and with the exception of some uterine irritability, all my monitorings came back great! Babies are doing GREAT! On Wednesday they did an FFN test to see if I was secreting the protein that would indicate pre-term labor - and thank God - it came back negative! The last hurdle was today's cervical exam - if it was stabilized then I would be able to go home and do my bed rest there. So, this morning we had our sono and I went from a 1.8 to 1.9 and the funneling had not increased, which means I was stable enough to go home!!!
Now I just have to relax at home with Lucy in the comfort of my own couch and bed for the next 10 weeks! We do go back to the doc on Monday for our reg appt and glucose test, and we were pre-warned to pack a bag just in case - but I have a good feeling we won't be needing it. In other good news, my doctor told me that I am free to go to part 2 of our child prep class tomorrow, my hair appt on Wed, and my baby shower next Sat. I am REALLY bummed that I don't get to go down to Austin to see Memi have her baby :( but know that I have a more important job of keeping these babies cookin a little while longer. I no longer need the steroid shots, but they are keeping my on the procrdia to prevent anymore contractions. I feel very blessed, things could have been very different and I am so very thankful that God was looking over us this week! I also want to thank everyone who raised us up in their thoughts and prayers and who came to visit me - it was VERY much appreciated - we couldn't ask for better friends or family! This was the last thing we ever expected, but I am just thankful that I am not working and can just relax and take care of these babies!
Here's a few pics of the nursery (new light fixture and dresser) and belly pic via hospital!
I guess it was all the meds, but for some reason it was 66 degrees in that hospital room and I wasn't cold at all, but Jason was FREEZING! This is usually what I look like curled up on the couch at home when it's 78!
27 weeks - hospital belly pic!
Not sure if you can notice or not but, the bottom line is showing no contractions!!!
Finally get to snuggle with my Lucy - she wiggled her way up through the blanket and rested her head on my belly - it was so cute!
The new light fixture in the nursery :)
new light and dresser
New dresser :)
Now I just have to relax at home with Lucy in the comfort of my own couch and bed for the next 10 weeks! We do go back to the doc on Monday for our reg appt and glucose test, and we were pre-warned to pack a bag just in case - but I have a good feeling we won't be needing it. In other good news, my doctor told me that I am free to go to part 2 of our child prep class tomorrow, my hair appt on Wed, and my baby shower next Sat. I am REALLY bummed that I don't get to go down to Austin to see Memi have her baby :( but know that I have a more important job of keeping these babies cookin a little while longer. I no longer need the steroid shots, but they are keeping my on the procrdia to prevent anymore contractions. I feel very blessed, things could have been very different and I am so very thankful that God was looking over us this week! I also want to thank everyone who raised us up in their thoughts and prayers and who came to visit me - it was VERY much appreciated - we couldn't ask for better friends or family! This was the last thing we ever expected, but I am just thankful that I am not working and can just relax and take care of these babies!
Here's a few pics of the nursery (new light fixture and dresser) and belly pic via hospital!
I guess it was all the meds, but for some reason it was 66 degrees in that hospital room and I wasn't cold at all, but Jason was FREEZING! This is usually what I look like curled up on the couch at home when it's 78!
27 weeks - hospital belly pic!
Not sure if you can notice or not but, the bottom line is showing no contractions!!!
Finally get to snuggle with my Lucy - she wiggled her way up through the blanket and rested her head on my belly - it was so cute!
The new light fixture in the nursery :)
new light and dresser
New dresser :)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Wonderful Life of Bed Rest!
So, as many of you already know by now, I have been on hospital bed rest since Monday afternoon - boo :(
Monday started off like any other day, but this was a great day because it was baby appt day!! Jason and I arrived at the doctor's office for our 3 o'clock appt and went back for our standard sono (I'd like to mention that Colleen our trusted sono tech was not there today - coincidence? hmm?). So we go back and the very first thing they check each time is my cervical length. Well... apparently in the course of two weeks my cervix had shortened from 47 to 18! No bueno! At this point, your cervix should not be any shorter than a 25 :( I don't know what caused it to shorten, but needless to say, we were both very scared and unsure about what this all meant for me and the babies. The sono tech checked the babies and they were both doing great - so that was a major source of temporary relief!
We went back to the Dr. G's office and he basically told us that he and I were about to become even better friends and that I would need to go straight upstairs and be put on bedrest :( My heart was racing and I could feel the tears begin to swell behind my eyes - preterm labor was my biggest fear and worry - and everything had been going so, so well leading up to this, I was just left wondering if there was something that I did to cause this. Dr. G tried his best to reassure me and tell me that it was just so that they could monitor me and that it may just be a few days and not to freak out. So... we made our way up to labor and deliver (they didn't have any open beds in the antepardom section). They pretty much immediately hooked me up to the monitors to check on the babies and to see if I was contracting. Well... low and behold, I was contracting every 2-3 minutes and had absolutely no idea! I felt nothing! No tightening, cramps, pain, nothing! Scary! On the positive side - the babies did no seem to be bothered at all by the contractions and their heartrates were perfect! After about 20 minutes of being monitored they gave me a shot of terbutaline - a medication to stop the contratcions. It worked like a charm, but it also made me very shaky and jittery - very strange feeling! Luckily, within about half and hour/45 min the shakiness wore off - and even better, no more contractions! They also started me on procardia which apparently also helps keep contractions from starting back up (pretty much no side effects to this one - at least not that I can tell) - which is good because that means no more of the crazy shaky medicine! They also gave me a steroid shot for the babies to aid in their lung maturity just in case (had one on Monday and one last night) - and ooohhh did it burn, but only for about a minute. They have been monitoring me twice a day, once in the morning after breakfast and once at night after dinner, and I am pleased to report that I have had no contractions - woo hoo!
Jason and I had part one of a two day child prep class designed for multiples, day two is supposed to be this Saturday when we will get to take a tour of the hospital - well I guess I can skip that one! Since being admitted on Monday, I have been in 3 different rooms, so at least I get a change of scenery! I started out in L&D Monday night, then on Tuesday they switched me to a different L&D room (because it had a window), but by Tuesday evening (10:30pm) I was being moved yet again, but this time to the antepardom section (smaller rooms). I really, really loved all of the nurses in L&D - I hope I get them again in about 10 weeks! Not that the antepardom nurses aren't nice - but those L&D nurses were the bomb! I see some special treats in their future!
So... here's the situation now... they told me on Monday night that they would need to do a test called an FFN (fetal fibronectin test). Fetal fibronectin is a protein made by the amniotic sac that attaches the amnion/chorion layer to the uterus. It is found in the normal vaginal discharge of pregnant women until about 22 weeks gestation (I am 27 weeks today). After that point, it isn't released again until 2 or 3 weeks prior to birth. If it is present between 24 to 34 weeks it means that there is a higher chance of preterm labor. It's a pretty easy test - just a quick swab of your cervical area and then that swab is sent to a lab - but, nothing can have been in your cervical area for more than 24 hours or it can cause a false positive - so they had to wait until this morning to run the test. Through lots of prayer and the grace of God - we got the results about an hour later that it was negative - woo hoo! It's like a huge weight has been lifted! Now, the nurse said that they can often have false positives, but a negative is always a negative :) YAY!
So now we sit (or in my case mostly lay) and we wait until Friday when they will check my cervical length again. Dr. G said that it can either continue to shorten (worst case), stay the same (not good but not bad), or it can even begin to lengthen again (ideal). So, it all comes down to Friday - I am very optimistic and I know that we our in God's hands and he will take care of us. I am so very thankful for all the blessings we have received, even though I know we do not deserve them - God is so good.
If in the event I have to stay here longer, Dr. G has told me that I will be able to get a day pass and go to my showers :) So that made me very happy! And get this... Lucy can even come and visit me! I know it's only been a few days but I really miss my fur baby! Hopefully, I will get to go home Friday or Saturday - so keep your fingers crossed and continue to send up those prayers! Thank you all so very much for all of your generous offerings of love and support - we are truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our lives, and we really do appreciate you all. I will keep you updated if anything changes!
In other news... I am 27 weeks today and am officially in my third trimester - woo hoo! And even better - the nursery is almost complete! I would post pics but the camera cord is at home - Jason is going to bring it tonight - so I will post pics tomorrow :)
Monday started off like any other day, but this was a great day because it was baby appt day!! Jason and I arrived at the doctor's office for our 3 o'clock appt and went back for our standard sono (I'd like to mention that Colleen our trusted sono tech was not there today - coincidence? hmm?). So we go back and the very first thing they check each time is my cervical length. Well... apparently in the course of two weeks my cervix had shortened from 47 to 18! No bueno! At this point, your cervix should not be any shorter than a 25 :( I don't know what caused it to shorten, but needless to say, we were both very scared and unsure about what this all meant for me and the babies. The sono tech checked the babies and they were both doing great - so that was a major source of temporary relief!
We went back to the Dr. G's office and he basically told us that he and I were about to become even better friends and that I would need to go straight upstairs and be put on bedrest :( My heart was racing and I could feel the tears begin to swell behind my eyes - preterm labor was my biggest fear and worry - and everything had been going so, so well leading up to this, I was just left wondering if there was something that I did to cause this. Dr. G tried his best to reassure me and tell me that it was just so that they could monitor me and that it may just be a few days and not to freak out. So... we made our way up to labor and deliver (they didn't have any open beds in the antepardom section). They pretty much immediately hooked me up to the monitors to check on the babies and to see if I was contracting. Well... low and behold, I was contracting every 2-3 minutes and had absolutely no idea! I felt nothing! No tightening, cramps, pain, nothing! Scary! On the positive side - the babies did no seem to be bothered at all by the contractions and their heartrates were perfect! After about 20 minutes of being monitored they gave me a shot of terbutaline - a medication to stop the contratcions. It worked like a charm, but it also made me very shaky and jittery - very strange feeling! Luckily, within about half and hour/45 min the shakiness wore off - and even better, no more contractions! They also started me on procardia which apparently also helps keep contractions from starting back up (pretty much no side effects to this one - at least not that I can tell) - which is good because that means no more of the crazy shaky medicine! They also gave me a steroid shot for the babies to aid in their lung maturity just in case (had one on Monday and one last night) - and ooohhh did it burn, but only for about a minute. They have been monitoring me twice a day, once in the morning after breakfast and once at night after dinner, and I am pleased to report that I have had no contractions - woo hoo!
Jason and I had part one of a two day child prep class designed for multiples, day two is supposed to be this Saturday when we will get to take a tour of the hospital - well I guess I can skip that one! Since being admitted on Monday, I have been in 3 different rooms, so at least I get a change of scenery! I started out in L&D Monday night, then on Tuesday they switched me to a different L&D room (because it had a window), but by Tuesday evening (10:30pm) I was being moved yet again, but this time to the antepardom section (smaller rooms). I really, really loved all of the nurses in L&D - I hope I get them again in about 10 weeks! Not that the antepardom nurses aren't nice - but those L&D nurses were the bomb! I see some special treats in their future!
So... here's the situation now... they told me on Monday night that they would need to do a test called an FFN (fetal fibronectin test). Fetal fibronectin is a protein made by the amniotic sac that attaches the amnion/chorion layer to the uterus. It is found in the normal vaginal discharge of pregnant women until about 22 weeks gestation (I am 27 weeks today). After that point, it isn't released again until 2 or 3 weeks prior to birth. If it is present between 24 to 34 weeks it means that there is a higher chance of preterm labor. It's a pretty easy test - just a quick swab of your cervical area and then that swab is sent to a lab - but, nothing can have been in your cervical area for more than 24 hours or it can cause a false positive - so they had to wait until this morning to run the test. Through lots of prayer and the grace of God - we got the results about an hour later that it was negative - woo hoo! It's like a huge weight has been lifted! Now, the nurse said that they can often have false positives, but a negative is always a negative :) YAY!
So now we sit (or in my case mostly lay) and we wait until Friday when they will check my cervical length again. Dr. G said that it can either continue to shorten (worst case), stay the same (not good but not bad), or it can even begin to lengthen again (ideal). So, it all comes down to Friday - I am very optimistic and I know that we our in God's hands and he will take care of us. I am so very thankful for all the blessings we have received, even though I know we do not deserve them - God is so good.
If in the event I have to stay here longer, Dr. G has told me that I will be able to get a day pass and go to my showers :) So that made me very happy! And get this... Lucy can even come and visit me! I know it's only been a few days but I really miss my fur baby! Hopefully, I will get to go home Friday or Saturday - so keep your fingers crossed and continue to send up those prayers! Thank you all so very much for all of your generous offerings of love and support - we are truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our lives, and we really do appreciate you all. I will keep you updated if anything changes!
In other news... I am 27 weeks today and am officially in my third trimester - woo hoo! And even better - the nursery is almost complete! I would post pics but the camera cord is at home - Jason is going to bring it tonight - so I will post pics tomorrow :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
