Quick Update - Another Trip to L&D

I ended up in Labor & Delivery late yesterday afternoon. Thursday night I started feeling "off" and just not myself, but really couldn't pinpoint anything specific. I went on to bed and woke up at some point in the middle of the night with what felt like a stomach ache. Not contractions really, but an unsettled stomach.

I ended up sleeping late Friday morning. When I woke up I still didn't feel very well. I got up and took my medicine, and eventually drank a cup of decaf coffee and some water. I felt really nauseous and crampy and had a lower back ache. I kept thinking it would go away. Around noon I still felt horrible and had a feeling I was going to end up at the hospital.

So I did what anyone would do and showered and ate! Ha! I wanted to make sure I looked good and wasn't hungry. I called my doctors office around 2:30 and they told me to go straight to L&D since the symptoms I had (plus more I won't detail here) were indicative of pre-term labor.

Once Justin was home and we were loaded up we headed out. They recognize me on L&D now and as soon as the elevator opened the secretary was like "Oh hey Claire we've got your room ready!" My two favorite nurses were also working! So I had exceptional care.

I started having some fairly strong and consistent contractions around 6:00 and they decided to push a bolus of

IV fluids super fast to see if it helped. Well, because I was considerably uncomfortable and anxious, along with the fluids pushing so fast, my heartrate skyrocketed.

Finally, after starting a second bag of fluids the contractions slowly eased up and I relaxed. My doctor had a delivery and came in around 11:00 and checked me. While my cervix is thin the cerclage

Is holding strong. We agreed I would feel more comfortable staying overnight. I maybe had a handful of very mild contractions through out the night, so after monitoring the babies this morning they sent me on home!

Basically, I am under the impression this could be fairly typical of what to expect the next couple of weeks. Hopefully my uterus will stay calm for me though, because all this excitement is a little too much! 

32 Weeks

Y'all. 32 weeks! 11 weeks ago I didn't think I would still be pregnant right now. It's such a miracle and blessing from God.

I was 32 weeks exactly on Monday. On Tuesday, we had doctors appointments. It started out as a major cluster of problems.

Originally, the plan was I would see my regular OB and also have a biophysical profile (BPP) and non-stress test (NST) in her office. The Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors agreed I could be released from their care with the exception of growth scans every three weeks from the 30 week point. 

My appointment was at 11:20 and we live about an hour from the doctor's office. At 10:00 I get a phone call from the doctor's office saying I actually needed to go to MFM for the testing because I couldn't do it in their office. I specifically asked if they had called MFM to let them know, and the reply was "Yes. They know you had an appointment here at 11:20 but will be coming there first and they said they would work you in."

Well, my Mom and I arrive at the hospital and go to check in at the MFM clinic and they have no idea why I'm there. My doctor's office never called! So I explain the situation and they tell me to wait while they check. Then they say I can go up to the OB floor for the NST and then head to my doctor. Well, I also needed the BPP - which couldn't be done on the OB floor! So long story short, they finally figure it out but can't fit me in until 1:00!! And Dr. W didn't want to see me in her office until AFTER all the testing. It was such a mess.

We ended up going to the restaurant in the hospital and getting lunch, because my favorite nurse said the babies would likely perform better if I ate right before hand.

Anyway, they got me back around 12:45 for the testing. The babies passed the BPP immediately. The ultrasound tech spent about 15 extra minutes just letting us watch them move around. Archer was sucking on his little hand like he was starving! Beckett had NO interest in performing for his Momma and refused to turn his head to look at the "camera." Then I had to be hooked up to the NST for about 30 minutes. Thankfully, the babies heart rates were perfect and I didn't have a single contraction.

By the time the testing was done and I waited on the doctor, it was after 2:00 when I made it to my regular OB appointment. And of course, I had to wait in the waiting room and in the exam room. I ended up laying down on the exam table because I was so tired and my back and belly were aching from being up all day.

My OB was great and answered all my questions. We spent time talking about my "birthing plan" AND scheduled a date to remove my cerclage. So basically the babies should be here within four weeks or less! I am now allowed to slowly start increasing my activity to build some stamina, and get out for little outings once or twice a week. Dr. W just said to use good judgment and common sense. If I feel tired, rest. If I start to contract or feel uncomfortable, take that as a sign I need to really slow down.

So here we are. Just waiting and hoping these sweet boys stay inside for a few more weeks! 

Oh - we had a great friend come take maternity pictures at our house that are "bedrest" friendly. Here's a little peak! I will share more once we have them.

Day in the Life

I thought it would be fun to do a "day in the life" post right now, and then compare it when the babies are actually here. Ha! I picked Friday to do it. My life is actually much more interesting at 32 weeks than when I first went on bedrest at 21 weeks. And interesting is probably a great stretch of the imagination.

4:00 am - finally tired of tossing and turning so I get up and head to the couch.  I feel horrible because I know I wake Justin up and he's been sick all week.

7:00 am - Hear Justin get up so I get up with him. I make a pitstop at the bathroom and also brush my teeth, hair and throw on my comfy pants and a tank. The bedrest uniform. I talk to Justin while he gets ready for work.

7:25 am - Turn on the Keurig & brew my one cup of decaf coffee. Fill my large Tervis of ice water. Tell J bye and make another pitstop to the bathroom.

7:30 am - back on the couch with coffee and television.

9:15 am - Get up and head to the bathroom again. Put instant oatmeal in the microwave while I pour a glass of milk and refill my water. Head back to the couch and eat breakfast.

9:45 am - Do some online shopping for J's birthday. 

10:40 am - Back to the bathroom. Decide to lay down because my back is really aching. It's not coming and going so I don't think it's contractions (I usually feel contractions start in my back).

11:00 am - Let Oreo out and head back to the bathroom. I can tell it's not going to be a good day when I have to pee every 20 minutes.

11:35 am - Let Oreo in and, you guessed it, back to the bathroom.

12:10 pm - Pee again. Both babies have decided to use my bladder and cervix as their own personal trampoline. Decide while I'm up I might as well eat lunch.

12:40 pm - finish eating my salad, clean up my dishes, let Oreo out to pee and head back to the bathroom for another pitstop. Make sure to refill my water before I set down.

1:00 pm - Decide to watch last nights Parenthood because I am procrastinating writing thank-you notes. I settle in the recliner hoping it will help my back.

1:15 pm - My mom drops off a casserole, salad and applie pie for our dinner. I chat with her and she eats a sandwich before heading back to work. Make a pitstop at the bathroom.

1:40 pm - back to watching Parenthood.

2:30 pm - I apparently dozed off and wake up feeling very crampy and achy in my lower abdomen and back. Everything feels like it's stretched to the max and my bladder is killing me. I get up, take some Tylenol, use the bathroom and refill my water.

3:00 pm - I cannot get comfortable or find relief. I get back up to use the bathroom and walk around the house for a couple of minutes hoping my back will ease up.

4:30 pm - Jay gets home from baseball practice and I burst into tears because I'm miserable. I have a couple of mild contractions but they aren't steady.

5:00 pm - Decide to go ahead and get up and shower. A photographer friend is coming over to take some belly shots. Maybe getting up and the hot water will help.

7:00 pm - Start photos.

9:00 pm - Eat dinner in the recliner. Finally my back isn't hurting as bad.

9:30 pm - Dose off in recliner.

10:45 pm - Jay wakes me up because I have to take my medicine at a specific time, one of which requires me to lay horizontally for an hour afterwards. I go through and wash my face, brush my teeth, take my meds and get in bed.

11:30 pm - Fall asleep.

5:00 am - Decide I'm not sleeping anymore apparently. Play on my phone, try to convince my body sleep is necessary. Make frequent trips to the bathroom.

6:15 am - I'm starving. I get up and eat powdered donuts and drink milk (super healthy).

6:30 am - Get back in bed hoping for more sleep.

So there you have it. A day in the life of bedrest at 32 weeks. Wild and crazy!

Our Little Sunshines

I thought I would post a couple of the newer ultrasound pictures. I think the boys have strikingly similar profiles, so I'm excited to see how similar or different they look at birth.

We think they are handsome little rockstars!

31 Weeks

As of yesterday, we are 31weeks pregnant! Every week is such a milestone now. It's crazy to think I've been on bedrest for 10 weeks! That's 2 and a half months. 10 weeks ago we were petrified, facing the very realistic thought that we could lose the babies we fought so long and so hard to have.

Today I had two doctor appointments. The first was at the high-risk specialist MFM Clinic. There are a group of doctors who rotate every four weeks, and today happened to be my favorite. As soon as he came into the room he exclaimed "look at that beautiful belly! Now that's what I like to see!" I hadn't seen him since I was 22 weeks. His bedside manner is amazing and he made me feel so much more comfortable about everything. My cervix is holding strong around 1.5 which is great for me in general. It's not bad either for someone carrying twins at this point. He said I do not have to go back weekly for cervical lengths anymore, because Dr. W can check me digitally from now on. I don't know if that's something to be excited about considering how bad it hurt last week, but I will take it. Now I will go every three weeks for growth scans to the MFM clinic.

I also visited Dr. W's office although I had to see her partner. It was a quick appointment and I basically moaned about how miserable I am. We talked about some pain relief options and also helping me sleep. Now I will see Dr. W weekly and also have weekly biophysical profiles and non-stress tests. This is typical for a twin pregnancy.

I'm hoping that the rest of my appoinents are as non-eventful as today, and that these babies decide to hang out inside mom for a few more weeks. However, I'm right around the corner from 32 which is a magic number, and I know that this is all in the Lord's hands. He knows exactly when these babies will make their debut.

I will leave with a picture from today. Not

A belly shot :) I laid back in the car while my sweet Mom ran my errands and returned a TON of things to Target for me.

 

PS - still rocking the maternity jeans I bought around 18 weeks. That secret fit panel ain't much of a secret anymore though ;-)

My Bump

Well, I fell off that weekly bump-date bandwagon fairly quickly, now didn't I? Granted, when you have been on bedrest for 10 weeks, the first 8 or so of which I literally did nothing but go from the bed to the bathroom and back, taking weekly photos is kind of difficult.

However, I tried to snap one as often as possible when I was up to visit the doctor.

There's a weekly progression through Christmas, which was week 28.

Week 29 happened to fall around my baby shower, which I will give a little update on later. But here is a picture with my lovely Momma!

We didn't get a picture for week 30 because, well, things got kind of crazy that morning before we rushed to the doctor. I will try to get one Tuesday for week 31 because I'm telling you, this torpedo belly just keeps growing and growing!

The shirts I bought thinking would be big for most of my pregnancy - HA! I have hardly bought anything since being on bedrest other than several tank tops, a couple more pairs of leggings, and 5 pairs of fleece pj pants. Yes, you read that correctly. My daily uniform is a tank and pjs. Sometimes I might get crazy and throw on one of the four-ish long sleeve shirts that fit. But I try to save those for special occasions, you know, like going to the doctor.

I Owe a Recap

Wow! I'm such a slacker. You would think that with 9+ weeks of bedrest I would have plenty of time to blog. I just haven't had a lot to say.

I am now 30 weeks 3 days! Woohoo! When we went in at 21 weeks for the cerclage, we basically were told making it to 24 weeks would be tough and making it last 27 would be a miracle. I am just so, so thankful to be in this position. If the babies decided to come at any time, they would survive with no lasting long term side effects. Praise be to GOD because I'm under no doubts whatsoever that this is all Him. He gets the glory.

These last four weeks have been a little crazy. I always have appointments on Tuesdays with both the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors and also my regular OB/GYN, Dr. W.

The week before Christmas, the ultrasound showed some shrinking of my cervix, down to around 1.5. However, it wasn't steady. My cervix is very fluid and in a matter of a 3-minute ultrasound can vary over a centimeter. The MFM dr was throwing around inserting a pessary, which is a device that basically inflates inside the vaginal canal and holds the pressure of the cervix. My OB however felt it wasn't absolutely necessary and wanted to check again in a week.

The week of Christmas and New Year happened to fall where the MFM doctors weren't in Cape, so I saw my regular OB for ultrasounds and checks. The week of Christmas my cervix was back to measuring over 2.0 which for me was great. She even gave me her blessing to attend our family Christmas gatherings on Christmas Eve!

The week of New Years my regular OB was on vacation, so I saw her partner. Of course, with a different ultrasound tech AND different OB things had to have changed. My cervix was back down to 1.5 and since the doctor wasn't as familiar with my case she decided to admit me to L&D. Thankfully I was not contracting and after making some phone calls, she let me go home.

Tuesday I woke up planning to be at the MFM clinic by 8:00 for my appointment. Since it was a routine check, Justin planned on going to work so he can save his days for when the babies arrive and my mom was going to take me. However, when I got up to use the bathroom I had some light bleeding. I was terrified! That's the first sign, especially with a cerclage, that the cervix could be changing. I screamed through for Justin who ran in, threw on clothes, and flew to the school to get a substitute arranged. Of course, this was before the doctor office opened and then on-call number wouldn't work!! I finally got through to L&D at the hospital who told me to go straight to my MFM appointment (which is at the hospital with the L&D floor) to be checked.

Now, since our surprise admission the precious week, I got busy and already had a complete toiletry bag packed with everything both Justin & I needed (except of course things we use daily that couldn't be packed) and I had a clothing bag started as well. I finished getting dressed and threw everything else we needed in bags, and by the time Justin got back to the house I was ready to go.

After being examined by MFM, the ultrasound showed my cervix still at 1.5 and the cerclage still in place. That was a huge blessing - Gods work #2 of the day! (I will get back to #1). We also had a growth scan and both babies are perfectly healthy and BIG! God's work #3 of the day. The MFM nurse, who I adore, went ahead and called my doctor who was on the L&D floor finishing surgery and filled her in. Dr. W told me to meet her at her office instead of waiting for my appointment after lunch so she could check me as well. God's work #4.

Dr. W did a full internal exam (ouch) and also checked for dilation (double ouch) and discovered what she believed was an infection. She sent me immediately to  be admitted to L&D for monitoring. God's work #4 of the day.

Once on the monitors it was almost immediately apparent I was contracting, though mild and sporadically, but I had no clue. Monday night I didn't sleep and was up frequently to pee and felt general discomfort, but none of the typical signs of contractions. I fully believe the bleeding was God's first way of working in our life that morning to alert me something was off. If if hadn't been for that, it would have taken the contractions becoming much more before I realized what was happening.

We went ahead and did the steroid injections to help mature the babies lungs just in case, along with treating my infection. After an overnight stay I'm glad to be home.

Where does this leave us? Right now I'm measuring 40 weeks so my uterus thinks it is full term. Mild sporadic contractions are normal. If they become painful, more than 4 an hour, or I notice bleeding or leaking of fluids, I call and head straight to L&D. Otherwise, back to bed rest and following up with weekly appointments.

We still need prayers these guys calm down and decide to stay in moms belly just a while longer!

The one picture we took in the hospital - right before discharge!

I will be back with some bump updates, pictures from our shower, and maybe a Christmas recap?