1 Month

My babies are 1 month old already! Where has the time gone?

I love that they're starting to smile more and more; I love that they're begining to respond when they hear my voice; I love that they're sleeping in a little longer stretches; and I love that they're more alert and will just sit and stare at us. I also love how well they are both doing with eating! They still have to be prompted to take a breath while eating when they're really hungry, but overall, they are both doing extremely well!

While I'm happy they're growing; I'm sad at how quickly they're getting big and how quickly they're changing. I realize they're still smaller than the average newborn, but to us they look huge!!

I'm also sad that we still have to keep them in seclusion. I would love to be able to take them out and show them off; but I can't. I'd love to have people over to come hold them and ooo and ahhh over them; but I can't. I'm sure many people think we're just being the classic "over protective first time parent" but that's not it at all.

When we brought Abigail home from the NICU, the neonatologist sat us down to do the discharge and said, "they can't eat, shop, or pray, so there's no reason to take them anywhere. The only place they should be going, other than your house, is to their doctor. But, do not take them in the waiting room. Waiting rooms are for sick people; call them from your car to let them know you're there and stay in your car until it's their turn to be seen. You can take them outside as much as you want. I'm not worried about them being outside, I'm worried about them being around people. People have germs, so you NEED to keep them away from people. Bare minimum is to keep them 'under quarantine' until they are AT LEAST full term (which is still more than a week away) .... any one under the age of 16 needs to wait even longer."

So, there you have it. We've just been trying to follow the instructions we were given. When we go to the doctor, we have to sit in the car; when we go for walks, they always have to have their car seats covered with a blanket so people don't get to close or try to touch them. We have to wash & sanatize our hands constantly! The few people we do have coming to help us have to "scrub in" every time they walk through the door.

We appreciate and feel so blessed that so many of you want to meet them and I promise, when they're ready and we're ready, we'll let you know. They still have quite a bit of maturing to do, and I still have emotional and physical healing to do. That's just our reality. We'll do our best to keep you updated on their progress and provide you with pictures though!!! :)

Without further ado... Here's their 1 month update!

 

 

Abigail Hope 1 Month Old

Weight: 6lb 8 oz
Length: 18.25 in

Eating: 2oz every 2-2.5 hours. Eating half breastmilk, half formula

Milestones: Starting to have more and more alert time. She just sits and watches us :) She's begnning to focus on our faces and respond to our voices. Abby loves to look at things that have lights; such as the TV. It sounds terrible, but when she's awake she loves staring at the TV because of all light.

Likes/Dislikes: Abby is a very smiley and laid back baby. She absolutely loves to be held. Abby sleeps wonderfully in both her bouncy seat and her swing. She loves having her feet tickled... it's so funny to watch how she immediately relaxes and starts smiling. She doesn't seem to have many dislikes at this point... I can't really come up with anything... she's very content pretty much all of the time unless she's overtired or over hungry.

Josephine Grace 1 Month Old

Weight: 6lb 14oz
Length: 18.75 in

Eating: 2oz every 2-2.5 hours. Eating half breastmilk, half formula.

Milestones: Josie usually has at least one "awake time" during the day where, after a feeding, she'll just sit wide eyed and looking around. She starts to look around and move her head when she hears mine or Bob's voice :) She also loves to look at things that are contrasting light and dark colors.


 Likes/Dislikes: Josie LOVES to sit in the swing! Its also her favorite place to poop :) We've had to wach that cover on more than one occassion when she has a blowout. She also loves to be held; she's incredibly snuggly and will curl up into a tiny ball when you hold her against your chest. She hates to be uncomfortable! Whether gas, hunger, or a dirty diaper, she'll let you know that she doesn't like it! Fortunately as soon as she's comfortable again, she's extremely content.

 I can't believe how grown up they are! They're still little, but to us, they look huge!!! Here are some more pictures for your viewing pleasure :)


No, I don't not just let my kids sit and scream... I had about 30 seconds left in my pumping session when they all of the sudden started doing this. 

Life as a mom of twins :)

Abby supporting Uncle Mike's band.

Daddy and Abby snuggling.

 Josie's favorite place to sleep, other than her swing, is on someone's chest.

 

We also did they're "newborn/1 month" photo shoot... Here's a teaser until we get the actual pictures.

I'd say we have some pretty perfect baby girls :)

(Sorry, went back and looked at this post and saw some of the pictures are upside-down or sideways, and I can't seem to fix it)

Pictures of Our Angels :)

Getting ready for our first walk.

Baby girls are 3 weeks old already!!



     Can't believe how alert they are!                                              Daily nap with mommy

 Happy Babies :)

  First time meeting Uncle Austin.

When Josie is finished eating and you try to give her the bottle again, she purses her lips like this... Bob calls it her "perry the platapus face" 

 

No matter how upset Abby is (which isn't often) if you tickle her legs and feet she immediately calms down :)

 

Abby likes to sleep with her mouth wide open

 

Happy Abigail

 

Angry Abigail

 

  
         Sweet Josie-Pie

They're Here!

Man, it's been too long since I've updated! The last month has been absolutely crazy though! I know many of you are my facebook friends, so you already know what's been going on, but I thought I'd update those of you that don't know.

It all started on Tuesday, May 21st. I had a routine NST at my Perinatologist office in the morning; and everything was normal. Both girls were doing excellent, and, apart from my continued swelling, everything looked great for me too.

I'd had a bit of a cold for a couple weeks and my throat had started to bother me so I went in to my OB's office for a strep throat screen just to be on the safe side. Well, the strep test was negative, but my BP was 158/96! Of course they immediately had me lay down on my left side and had my doctor come in to see me. She rechecked it and it was still that high, so she wanted me to go to the L&D unit of the ER for observation for a few hours. She also ordered a 24 hour urine test.

Well... I left the hospital 10 days later and 25lbs lighter.

My blood pressure stayed elevated in the ER and my OB had me admitted for "24 hour observation and to collect the 24 hour urine."  For the sake of not making this post insanely long, I'll leave out all the extensive details, and try to keep things brief.

I was admitted to OB Special Care and for an entire week my blood pressure would sky rocket and the doctors would say I'd probably deliver that night or the next day, and then my blood pressure would drop back to normal and they'd say I could leave in the morning. On top of the issues with my blood pressure, I was having serious GI issues! My first night there I suddenly started having vomiting and diarrhea that lasted about 18 hours, stopped for 24 hours, and started up again for another 18 hours. This went on for probably a good 4 days.

Fortunately, the girls were not being negatively affected by any of my issues. I had NST's twice daily and an ultrasound while in the hospital and everything looked perfect. Also, since I was admited at 33w5d, my OB ordered that I get steriod injections, just in case I did deliver early.

By Monday, I had had it! I was fed up with not sleeping, with being sick, and with just being in a constant state of limbo. My blood pressure had been completely normal for a few hours, then all of the sudden jumped again and wouldn't come back down. That night I started having mild, but regular contractions, and the nurses told me to be ready to deliver in the morning.

Tuesday morning when I saw my OB, Perinatologist, and my daily slu of residents, they decided that it was no longer safe for me to be pregnant and I was scheduled for a c-section for 1:30 that afternoon. (34 weeks and 5 days pregnant). I called Bob and told him to get his butt to the hospital because the babies were coming.

Because I was pre-eclamptic, I had to be on a magnesium drip prior to, during, and after my c-section... not fun! It makes you feel sick to your stomach and causes terrible hot flashes! The spinal wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated, but I did get a little sick from it. I think I was in the OR for a grand total of 40 minutes from beginning to end.

In the OR were Bob and myself, my OB, 3 L&D nurses, the anesthesiologist, the anesthesiology nurse, 3 NICU nurses per baby and a Neonatologist. The happiest moments of my life were when each baby was delivered and they immediately started screaming!! I was terrified that they would need breathing assistance.

 Baby A:
Abigail Hope  "Abby"
5/28/13 @ 1:42pm
4lbs 12 oz
17 in
    Baby B:
                                                                                      Josephine Grace  "Josie"
                                                                                      5/28/13 @ 1:43pm
                                                                                      5 lbs 0 oz
                                                                                      17.5in

Even though they were both doing well, they were taken to the NICU for evaluation; Bob was able to go with them though. After surgery, I was taken to recover for an hour... still not having seen my babies except from across the OR. :(

On the way back to my room they wheeled my bed to the NICU so I could hold the girls for a few minutes before being taken back upstairs. Perfect moment :)

Unfortunately, it was more than 24 hours before I was able to see my babies again. Even thinking about it now makes me get teary eyed. As a result of the magnesium and the catheter, I was having serious issues with passing out and with bladder control. I was kept in the hospital for 3 days after the c-section, but the girls still needed NICU care. They had to master the "suck, swallow, breathe" reflex.














Abigail - 2 days old





Josephine - 2 days old











The girls had specific things they needed to achieve to come home. 1) Breathe without assistance (which they didn't have any issues with)  2) Maintain body temperature - which they both did within a few days 3) Eat on their own. They also needed to maintain blood sugar and have normal bilirubin levels.  Our girls' biggest issue was the eating. The day I was discharged was one of the hardest days of my life. I had to leave my babies at the hospital for an indefinite amount of time. Bob and I were able to go to the hospital every day to visit them, but every night I left in tears.

 Daddy and his girls

 

The NICU strongly encourages "kangaroo care" or "skin-to-skin" It was awesome for me and Bob too.

                                                    Josephine (left) & Abigail (right)


It was incredibly frustrating that they'd do really well for 3, 4, or 5 feedings and then just be too tired to take any more by bottle. To come home they needed to "nipple" all their feedings for 48 hours; after the first 24 hours, they could have their feeding tubes removed.

Abby's tube was removed 6/613                                           Josie's was removed 6/9/13

The next hardest thing we ever had to do was take Abby home while Josie stayed in the hospital for a few more days. It was emotionally draining trying to divide our time between our daughters with them in different places. But thankfully, it was only 3 additional days. After almost 2 weeks in the NICU,

Abigail came home Friday, June 7th.

 

And Josie came home Monday, June 10

This is their first day home together :)

I know a lot of friends and family have already seen these pictures, so I'll do another post with some new pictures too. But, I figured this post was already too long as it is.

Really?? Where's my punch card??

I'm seriously wondering why the hosptial doesn't offer punch cards.... because I'm back in the hospital AGAIN. Reason?? Pre-Pre-Eclampsia.You read it right... pre pre-eclampsia. As in not pre-eclampsia, but potentially headed that direction.

Today started off normal. I had another NST this morning. Babies did great! B finished in about 7 min and A finished in around 15min! My blood pressure was fine and my swelling was much improved from yesterday.

I think I mentioned it in my last post, but I've had this lousy cold for a couple of weeks. While the cold symptoms seem to be getting better, my throat started feeling swollen yesterday and this morning I saw a couple white spots :( While I know that this does not automatically indicate strep, I figured I should get it checked out sooner than later.

So after my NST I called my OB's office and scheduled a nurse visit for this afternoon to have a strep test done. Simple, right? Of course not! This is me we're talking about after all :)
The nurse took my temp (said I did in fact have a fever), did the swab, I told her my symptoms, and said she'd be back in about 5 min. Well 10 min later, a different nurse comes and says she needs to get my vitals because I'm going to see my OB. I figured that must mean my strep test was positive. So I just went with the flow. We get into the exam room and the nurse asked me if I was told what my temp was... I said, "I think she said around 100." The girl responded, "no, it was actually 106."

Seriously??? 106? I'd be dead or at least having a seizure with a temp that high. So I just said, "oh, ok" Knowing it was wrong.

My blood pressure was 156/94 so of course I was told to immediately lay down on the table on my left side and the Dr. would be in shortly. She also said she wanted to recheck my temp (really? think that'd be a good idea??)  Second temp was 96.4... nope... i doubt it.... third time it was 98.5... ahhh that sounds better :)

Sadly, when the Dr. rechecked my BP it wasn't any better. That combined with the 10lb weight gain in less than 2 weeks and the continued swelling in my feet got me, once again, sent to the Labor & Delivery unit of the ER. (Oh, and the strep was negative... go figure).

After 2 hours in L&D, labs done, babies monitored, and BP checked every 5 minutes I was told everything was completely normal EXCEPT my blood pressure. It just would NOT go down.

So here I sit. I'm being kept overnight for observation. I also have the joy of doing a 24 hour urine collection to check for protein. They'll be checking my BP every 3-4 hours unless it continues to go up in which case it will be even more frequent.

Good news is both babies are doing 100% fine! They're active, their heart rates are normal, and I'm not showing any signs of pre-term labor.

Bad news:
1. If my blood pressure doesn't go down but urine is normal, I'll most likely be sent home tomorrow afternoon with BP pills to take.

2. If my blood pressure doesn't go down and/or urine shows moderate amount of protein. I'll be kept in the hospital... pretty much until the babies are born.

3. If my blood pressure doesn't go down and/or urine shows high levels of protein, they could potentially induce labor in a few days.

I understand the medical reasons surrounding all of these scenarios... however, I don't like it... not one bit. I think the hardest part to swollow, is that the babies are doing so well and they'd only need to induce because my body isn't working right. I just want them to be able to stay in and get as big as possible!! But for some, unknown, reason, my BP has decided to work against, not only me, but also my babies.

We would really appreciate your prayers as we really have no idea what's coming next or what's going to happen and the sooner the babies come, the more likely that they'll need more medical intervention and more time in NICU. There will be NO decisions made until tomorrow evening, but we'll try to keep everyone posted.

B&B

33 Week Bumpdate

How far along: 33 weeks
How far along am I measuring: 39-40 weeks
Weight Gain: 47. (I think, altho it's probably more than that now).
How Big are Babies: Should both be around 4lbs and 17in. Next ultrasound is in a week, so we'll have a better idea of their sizes then.
Major Achievement for Babies: They're losing their wrinkled look and their skeletons are hardening.
Maternity Clothes: Exclusively... and I'm running low on maternity clothes that fit now. Most of my pants no longer fit over my belly so I have to roll the panel down and wear it under my belly. Trouble is that my belly then hangs out from underneath my shirt.... so I've currently got a rather limited wardrobe.
Sleep: Bad. Between constantly having to go to the bathroom, heartburn, sore hips, and trouble breathing, sleep doesn't really happen, at least not in large doses.
Movement: All of the time! It's awesome! We're doing our bi-weekly NST's now and every time the nurses comment on how active the babies are :)
Food Cravings: French Fries and Burgers.
Food Aversions: healthy food... yuck!
Genders: Baby A - GIRL!!!! Baby B - GIRL!!!!!
Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, frequent urination, heartburn/indigestion, edema, etc...
Best Moment(s) This Week: Both girls have continued to fly through their NST's. We've got a couple of stinkers here though. They DO NOT like have the monitors on and are constantly kicking at them and rolling out from underneath them so the last couple times I've had to hold the monitors and move them around to follow the babies.
What am I Looking Forward To: Baby shower and ultrasound next week!

Not sure if it's because I'm sick... again.... or if its because I'm just reaching the point of wanting to be done or a combination of everything, but I've also been extra hormonal this week. Everything is a big deal and almost everything makes me want to cry. I've also been exhausted for the last week! I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm not sleeping well at night, but I've taken a 2-3 hour nap everyday this week! I also feel like I can't get enough to eat... I'm not hungry, I just want to eat ALL OF THE TIME! Hopefully that means babies are going through another growth spurt!!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...

4 weeks and 1 day until we get to hold our baby girls!!!!!!!!!!

32 Week Bumpdate

Sorry for the gap in updates. My computer is broken so I haven't had a chance to update my blog. I also don't have pictures of every week, but I'll post what I have.

                                                                 29 week Bump

 

31 weeks

 

32 week bump

How far along: 32 weeks
How far along am I measuring:  39-40 weeks - clearly getting bigger by the day
Weight Gain: 45 lbs - After a rather discouraging response from my perinatologist about my weight gain a few weeks ago (he basically said I was fat), I asked my OB and she said as long as I wasn't vomiting or intentionally restricting calorie intake, she was ok with my weight gain being so low! she was surprised I hadn't gained more!! :)
How Big are Babies: The ultrasound at 30 weeks showed Baby A was 2lbs 15 oz and Baby B was 3lb 2 oz. Dr. said they're growth is very good! The specialist said that he was surprised they're growth has continued following the same upward curve because I guess twins usually start to slow down around 29/30 weeks.  But they're both still right around the 40th percentile. Also, Dr's are very happy that they're growing at the same rate still. They said they want twins to be within 20% of each other in regards to size and our girls are within 6% of each other!  This week they're supposed to be about 3.75lbs each and almost 17 in long!
Major Achievement for Babies: They have hair now!!  From here on out they'll gain an average of .5lb per week (although twins usually gain less than that)
Maternity Clothes: Exclusively
Sleep: Last few days sleep has been pretty good.
Movement: Constantly! Its fun to feel how different their movements are. Baby A is very gentle; just rolls around and occasionally kicks or hits. Baby B flips around like crazy and kicks so hard my entire stomach moves.
Food Cravings: French Fries and Burgers.
Food Aversions: healthy food... yuck!
Genders: Baby A - GIRL!!!! Baby B - GIRL!!!!!
Symptoms: Back Pain, edema, fatigue, shortness of breath. And stretch marks... they finally revealed themselves right around 28 weeks, and have continued to grow and deepen. I'm 98% ok with having stretch marks... its part of being pregnant, but I had no idea they would HURT so much!!!
Best Moment(s) This Week: Baby Shower a few weeks ago was wonderful! I also had my first maternity massage.... hopefully will go once more right before the c-section. We also did our maternity photo shoot and we're so excited to get the pictures :) Oh yeah, and its finally flip-flop weather!! I am SO relieved to beable to finally wear flip-flops. My feet are so swollen, none of my other shoes fit. The girls also passed their first Non-Stress Test (NST) today with flying colors! It didn't even take the entire 20 minutes; I'm definitely a proud mama :)
What am I Looking Forward To: Next Baby Shower is in 3 weeks and I'm very excited! Next ultrasound is on the 23rd and I'm anxious to see them again!!


Couple of other things since my last update...

1. We ended up in the ER, again, last week. I was diagnosed with "preterm labor brought on by dehydration and GI spasms." Basically, I had a 24 hour stomach bug and all the vomiting and diarrhea caused me to have contractions. Fortunately, once my symptoms were under control, the contractions stopped.

Of course, it was, once again, a bad experience. Got another RN who didn't know what she was doing, but at least its over with and both girls are healthy.

2. How you can help us:

We've had a TON of people ask what they can do to help us and say they'd like to bring us a meal once the girls are born. Well, since you all insist on being so wonderful ;) our dear friend Beth helped us set up place for people to sign up to bring us meals. Its the a website called Take Them A Meal (I attached the link below).

http://www.takethemameal.com/index.php

If you follow the link, at the top of the web page is a spot that says, "Find a Meal Schedule." Just type in our last name, and then the password is "meals."

The nice thing with this website is that then people can pick a day that works for them and you can put what you're planning on bringing and see what other people are bringing... because, as much as we love lasagna, I have a feeling we'd get sick of it if everyone brought us lasagna for 3 months straight :)

We have ZERO expectations for people to sign up to do this; however, because we've had so many people offer to help, we wanted a central place to coordinate everything. So thank you in advance!!!!!!

3. Only 5 weeks from tomorrow and we'll be holding our precious daughters in our arms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

28 Week Bumpdate & Another Trip to the ER

How far along: 28 weeks!  Officially in the 3rd Trimester!!
How far along am I measuring:  35 weeks.
Weight Gain/Loss: 35lbs.
How Big are Babies: both should be around 2.5lbs this week; approximately the size of an eggplant.
Major Achievement for Babies: Gaining more and more fat. And lungs are mature enough to survive outside the womb (although we don't want that to be the case yet!)
Maternity Clothes: Exclusively
Sleep: Bad. Baby B is really high up right now so whenever I try to lay down I get terrible heartburn and indigestion. I'm living on Tums at night.
Movement: Yes. Although they seem to have different schedules now.
Food Cravings: Captain Crunch.
Food Aversions: Fruit and eggs
Genders: Baby A - GIRL!!!! Baby B - GIRL!!!!!
Symptoms: Back Pain - Right side, upper back hurts all of the time. Sitting makes it significantly worse. More and more Braxton Hicks, shortness of breath, acne, continued cankles, etc...
Best Moment(s) This Week: We had to have an ultrasound done in ER, and it was very reassuring to see both babies doing well! (more info below). We also started getting gifts in the mail and, because of this, I've been able to almost completely finish the nursery!!
What am I Looking Forward To: Baby Shower tomorrow!! Also going to be scheduling a maternity massage for the next few weeks!


Now for the ER update. Starting on Tuesday afternoon I was noticing that I wasn't feeling Baby B move nearly as often as I was used to. Just about the time I'd start to get concerned though, she'd flip over or start kicking me. Wednesday was the same.... felt like a general decrease in movement from her, but she would still move. Thursday it got worse though. I hadn't noticed her move all morning so after lunch I made a point of just laying down and doing the "kick count." For those not familiar, there are different recommendations for doing the kick count, but my OB's office says you should feel 10 movements/kicks within a 2 hour period.

I made sure to do it after eating and was drinking ice water the entire time (both increase babies' movements). Within 15 minutes I felt Baby A move at least 18 times. After and hour and a half, Id only felt Baby B move 1 time. Now, with twins, I'll admit I can't always distinguish who's who and I know there's a strong possibility that they could have changed positions so the movement I was feeling could have been from either of them.

For the sake of my own peace of mind, I called my OB office to ask what they thought and they immediately said I needed to go to OB triage for decreased fetal movement. Of course I was home alone and couldn't get ahold of Bob right away so had to drive myself there. (I did eventually get ahold of him and he met me there :)

Thankfully my OB's office had called ahead so the triage nurses were waiting for me and had me hooked up to the monitors within minutes. Now, don't take this personal anyone... but I have this thing about RN's.... every RN I've ever personally worked with or interacted with in a medical setting, has been a bit of a.... dummy...... as in, they don't seem to really know what they're doing. As was the case yesterday. She started out by telling me that my blood pressure was way too high and she'd need to continue to monitor it... it was 135/74..... I'll admit this is higher than normal for me... but please, I was in the ER for decreased fetal movement, of course it's higher than "normal!" Also, this is NOT a concerning high blood pressure. Period.

The woman had no idea how to get both babies to show up on the monitor. And once she figured out how to do it, she never actually found both their heart rates. My babies' have NEVER had the same heart rate... Baby A is always in the 160's and Baby B is always in the 140's. I know that this can change; however, I also know that two separate individuals do not have the same heart rate that fluctuates up and down at the exact same moment. She kept commenting on how cool it was that our twins were so "in sync" with one another.

Thankfully the Dr. walked in, took one look at the monitor and said, "Those are picking up the same baby.... why would she position them like that?" (which I'll admit made me smile). The Dr. then tried to adjust the monitors to get separate heart rates, and finally was able to find Baby B's heart rate. HUGE sigh of relief! (She also said my blood pressure was "good" and did not need to be rechecked.)

They left me on the monitor for about 15 minutes then ordered an ultrasound to check for fetal movement and amniotic fluid levels. I don't remember what this type of ultrasound is actually referred to as, but with a standard ultrasound they're checking blood flow and size and development of the baby. With this one they were going to give each baby 30 minutes to perform a variety of movements that they should be able to do at this gestation. We were told it would take about 1 hour and 15 minutes for the entire thing. We were done in 20 minutes!! Both babies were so active that they only needed a few minutes to record all of the movements necessary! The ultrasound tech was shocked at how much they were moving.

I was so relieved... and yet felt so stupid! I couldn't feel half the movement we could see on the ultrasound and was told it was probably because of how Baby B was laying at the time.

Baby B is sitting extremely high and is still transverse with both legs fully extended. With Baby A is actually head down now... so far down that she's literally using my bladder as a pillow :) Which explains why I have to run to the bathroom all of the time. She's still curled into a tight little ball though.

Anyways, there's my long, drawn out explanation of why were in the ER yesterday. We're very thankful that everything looks good!!

B&B