Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from the Oftedahls! Although we are spending part of our Christmas in the hospital, we are so blessed to be able to spend this special day with our girls!
Eva & Abriella
Their first Christmas outfits! :)
Friday, December 23, 2011
Our Little Feeders and Growers
I just wanted to give a quick update since I last wrote. The girls were one month old on Tuesday, December 20th. It's been about 4 1/2 weeks for them in the NICU and are doing very well. We are so blessed to have two healthy babies. Abriella is currently weighing in at 6 lbs. and Eva is 5 lbs. 4 oz. They get bigger every day!
Eva holding her pacifier
Sleepy Ella
Many people have asked, "How big do they have to be in order to come home?" We have learned that their weight is not what will get them home. They need to be able to do a number of things. First of all, they need to be able to maintain their body temperature. Check. As I mentioned in my last post, the girls are now in "cribs" and have been keeping their body temperature for a few weeks.
Second of all, they need to be breathing on their own and not having any spells. By spells I mean apnea, bradys (significant drops in heart rate), and oxygen desaturations in their blood. Ella check. Eva not so much. Ella has been breathing on her own for a few weeks now and is doing great! She hasn't had any spells. Eva on the other hand has been a little bit slower with all of this. She recently came off the nasal cannula and has been breathing completely on her own since last weekend. She still has spells though, especially when she eats. The nurse told me that each time a baby "spells", they have at least 5 more days in the NICU. They can't have any spells for 5 days before they go home. So Ms. Eva has some work to do in that category.
Finally, the thing holding them both back for the most part is eating. They both have NG tubes in their noses, which is how they used to get all of their feedings. Slowly, we started breast and bottle feeding. They are doing pretty well with it, but preemies get tired very easily and lack the coordination to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time. In order to go home, they need to be taking 80% of their feedings by mouth (breast or bottle). Once they hit that 80% mark, they will pull the girls' NG tubes and see how they do for 3 days. For 3 days, they need to gain weight consistently. If they can do that, along with the other two things, they are set! Neither of our girls are at this point yet. They have good and bad days. We thought Ella was getting close, but then recently she hasn't been as interested. I'd say Ella is at 50-60% and Eva is somewhere between 25-50%. It's hard to say because it's so different each day, but they both have a ways to go. I've heard from the nurses and other moms that one day it will just click and they will get it. I'm hoping this day comes soon for my girls. :)
Eva bottle feeding!
So overall, they are doing really well and are healthy little peanuts! They passed their eye and hearing tests, so we are thankful for that. It is common for preemies to have immature eyes and potential hearing problems. Their eye exams were the hardest thing this momma has ever had to sit through. They clamp the girls' eyes open while they do it and they just screamed. I felt sooo bad! At least they won't have to get their eyes checked again until they are 2. :) They are just in the "feeders and growers" category now, where they just need to keep getting bigger and stronger. We hope to get them home soon, but I don't want to get a date in my head, because it's too hard to know, and I don't want to be disappointed. So until that day when we get to bring them home, we rejoice and are thankful for two beautiful, healthy babies!
Eva & Ella
Our little family
Many people have asked, "How big do they have to be in order to come home?" We have learned that their weight is not what will get them home. They need to be able to do a number of things. First of all, they need to be able to maintain their body temperature. Check. As I mentioned in my last post, the girls are now in "cribs" and have been keeping their body temperature for a few weeks.
Second of all, they need to be breathing on their own and not having any spells. By spells I mean apnea, bradys (significant drops in heart rate), and oxygen desaturations in their blood. Ella check. Eva not so much. Ella has been breathing on her own for a few weeks now and is doing great! She hasn't had any spells. Eva on the other hand has been a little bit slower with all of this. She recently came off the nasal cannula and has been breathing completely on her own since last weekend. She still has spells though, especially when she eats. The nurse told me that each time a baby "spells", they have at least 5 more days in the NICU. They can't have any spells for 5 days before they go home. So Ms. Eva has some work to do in that category.
Finally, the thing holding them both back for the most part is eating. They both have NG tubes in their noses, which is how they used to get all of their feedings. Slowly, we started breast and bottle feeding. They are doing pretty well with it, but preemies get tired very easily and lack the coordination to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time. In order to go home, they need to be taking 80% of their feedings by mouth (breast or bottle). Once they hit that 80% mark, they will pull the girls' NG tubes and see how they do for 3 days. For 3 days, they need to gain weight consistently. If they can do that, along with the other two things, they are set! Neither of our girls are at this point yet. They have good and bad days. We thought Ella was getting close, but then recently she hasn't been as interested. I'd say Ella is at 50-60% and Eva is somewhere between 25-50%. It's hard to say because it's so different each day, but they both have a ways to go. I've heard from the nurses and other moms that one day it will just click and they will get it. I'm hoping this day comes soon for my girls. :)
So overall, they are doing really well and are healthy little peanuts! They passed their eye and hearing tests, so we are thankful for that. It is common for preemies to have immature eyes and potential hearing problems. Their eye exams were the hardest thing this momma has ever had to sit through. They clamp the girls' eyes open while they do it and they just screamed. I felt sooo bad! At least they won't have to get their eyes checked again until they are 2. :) They are just in the "feeders and growers" category now, where they just need to keep getting bigger and stronger. We hope to get them home soon, but I don't want to get a date in my head, because it's too hard to know, and I don't want to be disappointed. So until that day when we get to bring them home, we rejoice and are thankful for two beautiful, healthy babies!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Life in the NICU
It's been almost two weeks since Abriella and Eva were born. They have made great progress and continue to do very well. We are so fortunate and blessed by God to have healthy baby girls. They still have needs that we could not meet if they were at home, but most of their "issues" are things that are very common for premies. Ella has now passed the 4 pound mark weighing in at 4 lbs. 2 oz. and Eva is about 3 lbs. 9 oz. So because Ella is bigger, her lungs are slightly more mature and she can eat more. Eva still needs some help breathing and is still on a cpap which just gives her the extra puffs of oxygen that she needs to keep her lungs open and functioning. They say she will hopefully be off of that by early next week. They are both completely off of the IVs now and are receiving all breast milk through a feeding tube. We will start trying to breast and bottle feed them early next week (34 weeks). The suck/swallow/breathe reflex takes a while, but with the little practice they've had, they are doing great! I think Eva will be our big eater. Today was a big day too! They both came out of their isolettes and are now in open cribs, which means they can maintain their body temperature. Woohoo!
Eva in her new "crib"
Ms. Abriella WIDE awake!
It's funny how we can kind of see their personalities already! I think Eva will be our feisty one. Brett says that I shouldn't think that because if that's what I think, that's how she will be.. but I don't know! I see it more and more every day. She is more vocal than Ella and more aggressive with her eating/sucking! :) She was the donor baby, so maybe she's learned that she has to fight to survive. I love that they have different personalities. Even the nurses have noticed!
So after crying the whole ride home the first night we left the hospital, I'm happy to say that I have done a pretty good job holding it together since then. Yes, it's hard to leave, but I find that if I leave when they are both happy/sleeping, it's not as hard for me. It's been interesting trying to find a balance of how much time to spend there and doing other things. During the week, I typically go to the hospital around 1:00 and stay until Brett gets there after work. We end up going home around 7:00 or 7:30 each night. On the weekends, it just depends on what we have going on, but at least Brett is able to spend more time with them. It's hard because we aren't able to do much because the girls sleep most of the day. Every 3 hours, they have what are called "cares", where we take their temps and change their diapers. The nurses listen to them and then once or twice a day we can take them out and hold them while we push the breast milk into their bellies with a syringe. Holding them is perfect! :) It's my favorite part of the day. Other than that, they are sleepy girls most of the day. They can only stay awake for about 30 minutes max.
Ella & Eva - What do you think? Do they look like identical twins?
We were able to give the girls baths about a week ago. This is Brett giving Eva a bath.
Overall, our experience so far in the NICU has been wonderful. The staff has been great, and we love our team of nurses. It helps me knowing that when I leave, the girls are in GREAT hands. I'm not going to lie though.. having some freedom has also been wonderful for me. I feel like a new person again. I am feeling really good and have had a lot of "firsts" in the past few days. I drove yesterday and I took the dog on a walk for for the first time in three months. I have also been able to go to the store again which is great! We started putting together the nursery. Once it's up and running, I will post some pictures!
As always, thank you for your prayers and thoughts! We are so blessed!
It's funny how we can kind of see their personalities already! I think Eva will be our feisty one. Brett says that I shouldn't think that because if that's what I think, that's how she will be.. but I don't know! I see it more and more every day. She is more vocal than Ella and more aggressive with her eating/sucking! :) She was the donor baby, so maybe she's learned that she has to fight to survive. I love that they have different personalities. Even the nurses have noticed!
So after crying the whole ride home the first night we left the hospital, I'm happy to say that I have done a pretty good job holding it together since then. Yes, it's hard to leave, but I find that if I leave when they are both happy/sleeping, it's not as hard for me. It's been interesting trying to find a balance of how much time to spend there and doing other things. During the week, I typically go to the hospital around 1:00 and stay until Brett gets there after work. We end up going home around 7:00 or 7:30 each night. On the weekends, it just depends on what we have going on, but at least Brett is able to spend more time with them. It's hard because we aren't able to do much because the girls sleep most of the day. Every 3 hours, they have what are called "cares", where we take their temps and change their diapers. The nurses listen to them and then once or twice a day we can take them out and hold them while we push the breast milk into their bellies with a syringe. Holding them is perfect! :) It's my favorite part of the day. Other than that, they are sleepy girls most of the day. They can only stay awake for about 30 minutes max.
We were able to give the girls baths about a week ago. This is Brett giving Eva a bath.
Overall, our experience so far in the NICU has been wonderful. The staff has been great, and we love our team of nurses. It helps me knowing that when I leave, the girls are in GREAT hands. I'm not going to lie though.. having some freedom has also been wonderful for me. I feel like a new person again. I am feeling really good and have had a lot of "firsts" in the past few days. I drove yesterday and I took the dog on a walk for for the first time in three months. I have also been able to go to the store again which is great! We started putting together the nursery. Once it's up and running, I will post some pictures!
As always, thank you for your prayers and thoughts! We are so blessed!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Our Sweet Daughters
Early on Sunday morning, November 20th, our sweet little girls came into this world. It was definitely a surprise for us. On Saturday night, Brett and I spent the night just hanging out and right before we went to bed, we decided for some reason to finalize our name choices and their spellings. Since we found out about the twin to twin transfusion, we decided we wanted to give the girls names that had strong meanings, just like people did in the Bible. We chose the names Abriella (Ella) Anne which means "strong one of God" and Eva Marlene which means "life" (which we say like Ava). Each of the girls' middle names are after each of our maternal grandmothers. My grandma was Anne and Brett's grandma is Marlene. They are people who have had a great impact in our lives and we wanted to honor them!
Changing Eva
Eva's first onsie, soo tired!
SO, after we finalized the names, we went to bed. Around 2:00 am, I woke up with some stomach pains, and after a few minutes, I realized I was having contractions. It was the first time that I had pain with my contractions, so after a half hour or so, I called the nurse in. They put me on a monitor and eventually decided that I needed to be moved to a labor and delivery room. When we got down there, I started feeling really bad. I was having chills and feeling like I had the flu. They took my temperature and it was around 102. A few doctors decided that because of my temperature, there was a risk for infection and they needed to get the girls out as soon as possible. By 5:00 a.m. I was in the OR prepped for a c-section and Ella was born at 5:52 and Eva was born at 5:53.
The hardest part for me was not being able to see my sweethearts for two hours after they were born. They needed to get the girls stable and I needed to be stitched up. After I recovered for a while, they wheeled my bed up to the girls' room. Seeing them for the first time was wonderful, what a miracle they are. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were pretty rough for me. I started feeling better on Wednesday and was discharged from the hospital (after a month of living there!) I thought I would feel so happy to leave there, but I cried the entire way home. Leaving my babies at the hospital was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I felt like I was abandoning them, and even now it makes me a little sad to think about it. I'm sure I will get used to the feeling and it will become more normal, but it's still so fresh.
Meeting Eva for the first time
Abriella Anne Oftedahl (3 lbs. 6 oz.)
Eva Marlene Oftedahl (3 lbs. 1 oz.)
As for an update on the girls, they are both doing very well and have been doing pretty well since they were born. When they were born they were both treated with antibiotics through IV because of the threat of infection. They have a feeding tube that goes from their mouths directly to their stomachs, as they are so young and do not have the suck/swallow reflex. They started out getting most of their nutrients from an IV, but with each day that passes, they are getting more breast milk and less IV. They also had nasal canulas (cpap) which supported their breathing for the first few days. Today was the first day they came off of those and did really well! Eva has had a few episodes of apnea where she stops breathing for a few seconds and her heart rate drops significantly, but always brings herself out of it. They aren't concerned yet because it's pretty normal for premies. Other than that they were both jaundice and had to use bili blankets to get their biliruben levels lower. They've been off of the blankets for a few days. Overall, they are doing well! We know the NICU has it's share of ups and downs, but we pray that they continue to thrive. They are strong and have been fighters since the beginning.
Holding Eva for the first time
They expect the girls to be there for another month or so and Brett and I now adjusting to our new lives. We will spend as much time at the hospital with them as we can. I will most likely spend part/most of my days there and Brett will join me after work for a few hours. We also have so much to do around here that we will try to get everything ready here for them when they come home. After three months of not being able to do anything, I am enjoying my freedom again. We will continue to keep you all updated and I hope to continue to bring good news! As always, thank you so much to you all for your prayers, calls, texts, gifts, cards and support. It would have been hard to get through this without you, so thanks. Here are some pictures of our girls!
Ella during a bath
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Mi cumpleanos
Well, my hospital stay continues and it has had its fair shares of ups and downs! The worst part was getting a roommate for 3 days. There were so many women giving birth that they needed to pair up the women who were waiting to deliver. My roommate was a very kind person and at times, it was nice to be able to chat, but for the most part, it was an invasion of my privacy. I could no longer watch what I wanted on TV, or nap when I felt like it. Brett could no longer stay with me at night, and the time we did have together was hard because it's hard to have quality time with a complete stranger next to you. I was so happy to find out on a Friday night that they were finally able to give her another room, just in time for my birthday! :)
A week ago Sunday (11/13) it was my 26th birthday. I wasn't super excited to spend my birthday in the hospital, but who would be? I even asked one of my doctors if I could leave for an hour or so to go out somewhere to eat. He said no, and proceeded to tell me that he had given a lecture on being a disciplined doctor. As much as he knew I wanted to go, he thought it wouldn't be in my best interest. They told me that we could use a room by the cafeteria if we wanted to have some people come and have a change of scenery. I was crushed, but got over it!
So despite the circumstances and conditions that I was in, Brett, our families, and our friends did everything they could to make my day special. I didn't eat hospital food that day, which is always a plus! Later in the evening, a few of our friends came to the hospital to eat dinner and cake with us. We ordered a large thing of pasta from Benvenutos, pizza from Ians, and my mom got me a cookie cake. Definitely not a healthy food day, but oh was it delicious! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. I got to spend the day with the people who mean the most to me, so I guess in the end, that's what makes a birthday special. :)
My cookie cake!
My family and friends
My sweet husband
A week ago Sunday (11/13) it was my 26th birthday. I wasn't super excited to spend my birthday in the hospital, but who would be? I even asked one of my doctors if I could leave for an hour or so to go out somewhere to eat. He said no, and proceeded to tell me that he had given a lecture on being a disciplined doctor. As much as he knew I wanted to go, he thought it wouldn't be in my best interest. They told me that we could use a room by the cafeteria if we wanted to have some people come and have a change of scenery. I was crushed, but got over it!
So despite the circumstances and conditions that I was in, Brett, our families, and our friends did everything they could to make my day special. I didn't eat hospital food that day, which is always a plus! Later in the evening, a few of our friends came to the hospital to eat dinner and cake with us. We ordered a large thing of pasta from Benvenutos, pizza from Ians, and my mom got me a cookie cake. Definitely not a healthy food day, but oh was it delicious! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. I got to spend the day with the people who mean the most to me, so I guess in the end, that's what makes a birthday special. :)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Hotel Meriter
Hi friends! So many of you already know that I am in the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy, but I will just fill you in quickly on what happened. Two weekends ago, on Saturday, the 29th, I had a baby shower with my family. They were all kind enough to make the trip to Madison since I have not been able to travel. We had a great time! My aunt Laurie planned everything and the food was wonderful, the activities were fun, and it was so nice to do something "normal". I feel like so many things in this pregnancy have not been normal, so it was fun to have a shower.
Decorating the onesies!
The diaper cake my aunt Laurie made
We matched and didn't plan it! :)
Brett trying to fit in!
I made it through the shower and felt great. After everyone left around 4:30-5, I decided it would be best to spend the rest of the night on the couch and rest. The Badgers were on, and Brett was just cleaning up the house from the shower. I got up around 7:45 to use the bathroom, and my water broke. For those of you that know me, I am not great at remaining calm when these kinds of things happen. I freaked out and called Brett into the bathroom. We called OB triage and I explained what was happening and they told us to leave immediately and come to the hospital. At this point I was only 28 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and I was so scared that I would be having these babies too early.
We got to the hospital and they did an evaluation. I was not showing any signs of labor (no contractions and I was not dilated), but they put me in a labor and delivery room and monitored me very closely over night just in case. I was also given my first of two steroid shots, which help develop the babies' lungs more quickly and was put on IV antibiotics to prevent infection which is a concern when your water breaks early. The antibiotics made me very sick to my stomach and I puked for the first time in probably 5 years. I felt terrible. In the morning, when they decided that I was "stable", they brought me to a different room where I have been since. I continued to get IV antibiotics for 48 hours and I got my second steroid shot.
Ever since, I have been stable and the girls are hanging in there. I am 30 weeks today. Our baby girls are so strong and they continue to amaze the doctors! Many of the doctors are very surprised that I am still pregnant, and our goal is to make it 34 weeks (Dec. 6), which is when they told us they would deliver them. Yes.. I have a countdown on the whiteboard in my room (28 more days). As much as I know these girls need to stay put for a few more weeks, I cannot lie.. I am SOOO ready to be done being pregnant. I told Brett the other day, on Dec. 6th if I haven't had them yet, I am walking down to labor and delivery and telling them that I'm ready. :)
My home for the next 28 days. (blah!)
This pregnancy has been the most challenging thing I have ever done, but I know it will be worth it when I can hold my baby girls in my arms. Well, thank you for continued prayers! Please continue to pray that the girls can grow and stay healthy in the next few weeks.
I made it through the shower and felt great. After everyone left around 4:30-5, I decided it would be best to spend the rest of the night on the couch and rest. The Badgers were on, and Brett was just cleaning up the house from the shower. I got up around 7:45 to use the bathroom, and my water broke. For those of you that know me, I am not great at remaining calm when these kinds of things happen. I freaked out and called Brett into the bathroom. We called OB triage and I explained what was happening and they told us to leave immediately and come to the hospital. At this point I was only 28 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and I was so scared that I would be having these babies too early.
We got to the hospital and they did an evaluation. I was not showing any signs of labor (no contractions and I was not dilated), but they put me in a labor and delivery room and monitored me very closely over night just in case. I was also given my first of two steroid shots, which help develop the babies' lungs more quickly and was put on IV antibiotics to prevent infection which is a concern when your water breaks early. The antibiotics made me very sick to my stomach and I puked for the first time in probably 5 years. I felt terrible. In the morning, when they decided that I was "stable", they brought me to a different room where I have been since. I continued to get IV antibiotics for 48 hours and I got my second steroid shot.
Ever since, I have been stable and the girls are hanging in there. I am 30 weeks today. Our baby girls are so strong and they continue to amaze the doctors! Many of the doctors are very surprised that I am still pregnant, and our goal is to make it 34 weeks (Dec. 6), which is when they told us they would deliver them. Yes.. I have a countdown on the whiteboard in my room (28 more days). As much as I know these girls need to stay put for a few more weeks, I cannot lie.. I am SOOO ready to be done being pregnant. I told Brett the other day, on Dec. 6th if I haven't had them yet, I am walking down to labor and delivery and telling them that I'm ready. :)
This pregnancy has been the most challenging thing I have ever done, but I know it will be worth it when I can hold my baby girls in my arms. Well, thank you for continued prayers! Please continue to pray that the girls can grow and stay healthy in the next few weeks.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Bed Rest
Since September, my full time job has been to incubate and care for my unborn babies to the best of my ability. I basically rest, eat, sleep, and eat some more (these girls are hungry ALL the time)! Many people have asked what bed rest is like, and depending on the day or stage of my pregnancy, I've had many different responses. After the surgery in Cincinnati, we came back and had appointments with our doctors in Madison. At these appointments, I received a book about coping with bed rest written by a woman who was put on bed rest for both of her pregnancies. I remember sitting on the porch after a few days of being at home by myself, and reading this book. I cried the entire time I read. After only a few days of bed rest, I could relate to everything this woman was saying. I was scared, but I think more than anything it was my way of coping with and saying good-bye to my freedom. I was no longer able to work, drive, cook, care for my husband and dog, run errands, travel, and many other things. Being on bed rest is a humbling experience and is something I believe only someone who has been on bed rest can truly understand. The first few weeks were the hardest, but I am happy to say, that it has gotten easier.
The main reason I have been able to cope with being on bed rest is due to the amazing people in my life. Brett has been so supportive and has really stepped up in taking care of our family. He is our only source of income over these next few months and has been working so hard to provide for our family, and I am so thankful. My mom, bless her heart, has driven down to Madison from Green Bay and has spent a few days with me each week! She cooks, cleans, shops, walks the dog, and keeps me company. I am so blessed to have a mom that is willing to do this. I hope some day that I am able to be this kind of a mom to my sweet little girls. Our good friend, Matt, organized some of our friends to bring us meals a few times per week, and that has also been such a blessing. I am also so thankful for all of our family and friends that have just stopped over to visit me or have sent us notes/cards saying that you are thinking and praying for us. I cherish your time and your visits more than you know!
So what have I been doing? Good question. The first month of my bed rest was slightly more strict, and I only got up to use the bathroom and grab something to eat. Most of my days were spent laying on the couch, reading, watching tv/movies, knitting, doing crafty things, writing emails, napping, etc. Towards the end of September, we had some great appointments and found out that the babies were doing really well! At 24 weeks, there was only a 1% difference in their weight and our "recipient" baby's heart was continuing to improve. Their fluid levels were great, and I was feeling really good. We were given the "ok" to start doing a little bit more. I still spend most of my days on the couch, but I was able to walk around a little bit more, and the highlight of my day was walking to the mailbox to get the mail. I know, right? Yippee! :) I have also been able to go out for dinner a few times, which has been really nice to get out of the house. My doctors just don't want me to stand or walk around for long periods of time. My sanity is important, but I need to do everything I can to stay pregnant for as long as possible.
My doctors want me to make it to 35-36 weeks. That would put delivery between December 13-20. It's amazing how much I love these little girls already and as much as I want to meet them and I want to be done being pregnant, I know that each day they get inside of me is a blessing from God! I am 28 weeks today and we have some big appointments this Thursday. We get to find out how big they are and how our recipient's heart is doing. Oh, and yes, we are working on names, but will most likely not share them until they are born. Thank you for all of your prayers. Keep them coming!
Until next time, I will leave you with some pictures. We have had many weekend visitors that have kept us busy, especially Brett's family.
The main reason I have been able to cope with being on bed rest is due to the amazing people in my life. Brett has been so supportive and has really stepped up in taking care of our family. He is our only source of income over these next few months and has been working so hard to provide for our family, and I am so thankful. My mom, bless her heart, has driven down to Madison from Green Bay and has spent a few days with me each week! She cooks, cleans, shops, walks the dog, and keeps me company. I am so blessed to have a mom that is willing to do this. I hope some day that I am able to be this kind of a mom to my sweet little girls. Our good friend, Matt, organized some of our friends to bring us meals a few times per week, and that has also been such a blessing. I am also so thankful for all of our family and friends that have just stopped over to visit me or have sent us notes/cards saying that you are thinking and praying for us. I cherish your time and your visits more than you know!
So what have I been doing? Good question. The first month of my bed rest was slightly more strict, and I only got up to use the bathroom and grab something to eat. Most of my days were spent laying on the couch, reading, watching tv/movies, knitting, doing crafty things, writing emails, napping, etc. Towards the end of September, we had some great appointments and found out that the babies were doing really well! At 24 weeks, there was only a 1% difference in their weight and our "recipient" baby's heart was continuing to improve. Their fluid levels were great, and I was feeling really good. We were given the "ok" to start doing a little bit more. I still spend most of my days on the couch, but I was able to walk around a little bit more, and the highlight of my day was walking to the mailbox to get the mail. I know, right? Yippee! :) I have also been able to go out for dinner a few times, which has been really nice to get out of the house. My doctors just don't want me to stand or walk around for long periods of time. My sanity is important, but I need to do everything I can to stay pregnant for as long as possible.
My doctors want me to make it to 35-36 weeks. That would put delivery between December 13-20. It's amazing how much I love these little girls already and as much as I want to meet them and I want to be done being pregnant, I know that each day they get inside of me is a blessing from God! I am 28 weeks today and we have some big appointments this Thursday. We get to find out how big they are and how our recipient's heart is doing. Oh, and yes, we are working on names, but will most likely not share them until they are born. Thank you for all of your prayers. Keep them coming!
Until next time, I will leave you with some pictures. We have had many weekend visitors that have kept us busy, especially Brett's family.
Brett with his brother, Michael, and his padres
Our sweet niece, Alexis, with Roxy!
27 1/2 weeks
Monday, September 26, 2011
Cincinnati
This entry is a continuation of the first blog. So it was around 6:30 - 7:00 pm and we were headed for Cincinnati. Why Cincinnati you ask? Well we asked the same thing, and learned that the procedure we were hoping to have done is only done in a few (maybe 5-10) places in the country and Cincinnati has a phenomenal group of doctors that do the procedure. We stopped around midnight to sleep for about five hours or so, and then continued on in the morning where we had a day full of appointments on Thursday. I had an ultrasound, an echo cardiogram to look at the babies' hearts, and an MRI to see the babies' positions.
After these appointments, we had a meeting with two doctors and a nurse to go over the results of the tests. We learned that there are five stages in TTTS. Stage 5 is death of the babies and we were told that we were at stage 4 because of the severity of our recipient baby's heart problems and fluid in her body. This news was hard to take, and we knew we had to do something! The doctors explained the procedure that they recommended and the potential risks that were involved, but we knew the risks were much greater if we didn't do anything.
We made the easy decision of having the surgery and we were scheduled for the next morning at 7:00 am. They explained that they would make an incision less than half an inch on my side and insert a long tool that had a laser and go into my placenta and clot the blood vessels that were connecting the babies. We went to a hotel for the night and came back at 5:30 on Friday morning to be admitted and get prepped for surgery. After a few attempts and blood all over the bed sheets later, they started an IV, and wheeled me down to the operating room, where I received some meds that made me pretty tired, and an epidural. The surgery itself was a blur and relatively painless. I was taken up to a recovery room where I would spend the rest of the day and night and be discharged to a hotel in the morning.
While I was in the recovery room, everything seemed to be going well. They were monitoring my vitals and keeping track of my contractions (which is normal, as they go through the uterus in the procedure). I felt pretty good all day. It was around 8:00 when a few nurses came in and told me that they were seriously concerned and explained that my contractions were 4 minutes apart. This came as a surprise to me because the contractions were not painful. They had tried a few shots to stop the contractions, but when they did not help, I was put on a heavy dose of magnesium sulfate (a muscle relaxer) through my IV and I was taken by ambulance to another hospital. Magnesium sulfate, by the way, is the worst thing I have ever been put on. I instantly felt like my entire body was on fire and that I had the worst flu of my life. I was taken to a labor and delivery room, still on the magnesium, and unable to eat or drink anything in case they needed to deliver the babies. At this point I was only 20 weeks, and delivering the babies would have resulted in death for them both. We were really scared.
With the magnesium, another drug, many prayers, and God's grace, my contractions lessened and I was in a more stable condition by the next day. The problems weren't over, however. I went to sleep that night and woke up in the middle of the night with itching in my hands that I cannot explain. It was the worst itching I've ever felt. As time went on, my feet and the rest of my body began to itch as well. It took them about a day to figure out what was causing the itching, but they eventually diagnosed me with cholestasis, a condition where the liver and gall bladder cannot process the fats in my body because of the pregnancy hormones. One of the major symptoms of this condition is itching. I am now on a medication that helps my liver and gall bladder function properly.
I was then moved to a special care unit in the maternity wing where I spent four more days. After another ultrasound, echo cardiogram, and a meeting with the doctors, I was discharged. This was when I learned that I would be on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy. I will write soon about what it has been like to be on bed rest for the past month, but for now, I will include some pictures of our sweet little girls. :)
After these appointments, we had a meeting with two doctors and a nurse to go over the results of the tests. We learned that there are five stages in TTTS. Stage 5 is death of the babies and we were told that we were at stage 4 because of the severity of our recipient baby's heart problems and fluid in her body. This news was hard to take, and we knew we had to do something! The doctors explained the procedure that they recommended and the potential risks that were involved, but we knew the risks were much greater if we didn't do anything.
We made the easy decision of having the surgery and we were scheduled for the next morning at 7:00 am. They explained that they would make an incision less than half an inch on my side and insert a long tool that had a laser and go into my placenta and clot the blood vessels that were connecting the babies. We went to a hotel for the night and came back at 5:30 on Friday morning to be admitted and get prepped for surgery. After a few attempts and blood all over the bed sheets later, they started an IV, and wheeled me down to the operating room, where I received some meds that made me pretty tired, and an epidural. The surgery itself was a blur and relatively painless. I was taken up to a recovery room where I would spend the rest of the day and night and be discharged to a hotel in the morning.
While I was in the recovery room, everything seemed to be going well. They were monitoring my vitals and keeping track of my contractions (which is normal, as they go through the uterus in the procedure). I felt pretty good all day. It was around 8:00 when a few nurses came in and told me that they were seriously concerned and explained that my contractions were 4 minutes apart. This came as a surprise to me because the contractions were not painful. They had tried a few shots to stop the contractions, but when they did not help, I was put on a heavy dose of magnesium sulfate (a muscle relaxer) through my IV and I was taken by ambulance to another hospital. Magnesium sulfate, by the way, is the worst thing I have ever been put on. I instantly felt like my entire body was on fire and that I had the worst flu of my life. I was taken to a labor and delivery room, still on the magnesium, and unable to eat or drink anything in case they needed to deliver the babies. At this point I was only 20 weeks, and delivering the babies would have resulted in death for them both. We were really scared.
With the magnesium, another drug, many prayers, and God's grace, my contractions lessened and I was in a more stable condition by the next day. The problems weren't over, however. I went to sleep that night and woke up in the middle of the night with itching in my hands that I cannot explain. It was the worst itching I've ever felt. As time went on, my feet and the rest of my body began to itch as well. It took them about a day to figure out what was causing the itching, but they eventually diagnosed me with cholestasis, a condition where the liver and gall bladder cannot process the fats in my body because of the pregnancy hormones. One of the major symptoms of this condition is itching. I am now on a medication that helps my liver and gall bladder function properly.
I was then moved to a special care unit in the maternity wing where I spent four more days. After another ultrasound, echo cardiogram, and a meeting with the doctors, I was discharged. This was when I learned that I would be on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy. I will write soon about what it has been like to be on bed rest for the past month, but for now, I will include some pictures of our sweet little girls. :)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Our Story
As many of you know, Brett and I found out that we were pregnant with twins (monozygotic or identical twins) at the end of June. Twins do not run in either of our families, and we were shocked, to say the least, that there were two babies growing in my belly! As we searched the internet and books for any information we could find about twins, we learned that identical twins are the kind of twins that do not run in families. Identical twins come from the same zygote that splits. To our understanding there is no real scientific explanation of why this happens, and it only occurs in about 1 in 300 pregnancies.
After the shock wore off and we were no longer looking at each other every few minutes saying, "We are having twins... TWO.." we were excited, nervous, scared, and many other feelings that we couldn't put into words. The first few months of my pregnancy were easy. I am blessed that I was not nauseous or sick, just a little tired and since it was summer and I am a teacher, I had the time to nap and rest when I needed to. In the beginning of August we were even able to take a trip out to San Francisco and Yosemite with Brett's brother Michael and his wife Gina. We had a great time.
We were scheduled for our 20 week ultrasound on August 30th, the first week of school. We were so excited to find out what we were having and also to have the opportunity to see the babies again! This was only our second ultrasound, so we didn't know what exactly what to look for, but as the ultrasound tech was looking at the babies, I could just tell something was wrong. She was very quiet and didn't say much when I asked questions. This made me very nervous. Toward the end, she was typing some results into computer and I saw that she had noted that one of the babies' hearts was "abnormal". She left the room and we waited for the doctor.
When the doctor and two other people came into the room, we knew it was something bad. He informed us that the babies had what is called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (ttts). TTTS occurs when the babies share a placenta and therefore have blood vessels that connect them, allowing blood to flow from one to the other. The problem occurs when the placenta is defective and one twin receives too much blood (the recipient) and the other (the donor) does not receive enough. This causes the donor baby to have too little blood and therefore many times is anemic and smaller. Our donor baby was measuring about 2 weeks smaller that the other baby. The recipient baby then has to try to accommodate and pump the extra blood, but most often and the farther along they are in TTTS, the baby's heart is not able to pump out all of the extra blood. This causes great stress and major heart problems for the recipient baby. Our recipient had serious heart problems, including a leaky valve, an enlarged heart, and hydrops, or fluid in her body.
After receiving the news, we were taken into a conference room where they told us that they would be contacting the Fetal Care Center in Cincinnati to see if they would take our case. There are only a few centers in the country that do the procedure that we needed. They told us they would call and let us know. We left the hospital just crushed and upset. We had gone in to get good news, and left not knowing if either of our babies would survive. It was probably the lowest point in both of our lives. We prayed and prayed that the people in Cincinnati would take our case and that they would take it soon, as each day that passed without doing something would only make it harder on our babies.
We found out the next day around 4:00 that we had appointments in Cincinnati the following morning and potentially go into surgery that night. They told us to plan on being there for a week. We both left work, unsure what the next few weeks would hold, packed up our things, and left around 6:00 pm. We were both very scared and knew that we had to trust God!
After the shock wore off and we were no longer looking at each other every few minutes saying, "We are having twins... TWO.." we were excited, nervous, scared, and many other feelings that we couldn't put into words. The first few months of my pregnancy were easy. I am blessed that I was not nauseous or sick, just a little tired and since it was summer and I am a teacher, I had the time to nap and rest when I needed to. In the beginning of August we were even able to take a trip out to San Francisco and Yosemite with Brett's brother Michael and his wife Gina. We had a great time.
We were scheduled for our 20 week ultrasound on August 30th, the first week of school. We were so excited to find out what we were having and also to have the opportunity to see the babies again! This was only our second ultrasound, so we didn't know what exactly what to look for, but as the ultrasound tech was looking at the babies, I could just tell something was wrong. She was very quiet and didn't say much when I asked questions. This made me very nervous. Toward the end, she was typing some results into computer and I saw that she had noted that one of the babies' hearts was "abnormal". She left the room and we waited for the doctor.
When the doctor and two other people came into the room, we knew it was something bad. He informed us that the babies had what is called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (ttts). TTTS occurs when the babies share a placenta and therefore have blood vessels that connect them, allowing blood to flow from one to the other. The problem occurs when the placenta is defective and one twin receives too much blood (the recipient) and the other (the donor) does not receive enough. This causes the donor baby to have too little blood and therefore many times is anemic and smaller. Our donor baby was measuring about 2 weeks smaller that the other baby. The recipient baby then has to try to accommodate and pump the extra blood, but most often and the farther along they are in TTTS, the baby's heart is not able to pump out all of the extra blood. This causes great stress and major heart problems for the recipient baby. Our recipient had serious heart problems, including a leaky valve, an enlarged heart, and hydrops, or fluid in her body.
After receiving the news, we were taken into a conference room where they told us that they would be contacting the Fetal Care Center in Cincinnati to see if they would take our case. There are only a few centers in the country that do the procedure that we needed. They told us they would call and let us know. We left the hospital just crushed and upset. We had gone in to get good news, and left not knowing if either of our babies would survive. It was probably the lowest point in both of our lives. We prayed and prayed that the people in Cincinnati would take our case and that they would take it soon, as each day that passed without doing something would only make it harder on our babies.
We found out the next day around 4:00 that we had appointments in Cincinnati the following morning and potentially go into surgery that night. They told us to plan on being there for a week. We both left work, unsure what the next few weeks would hold, packed up our things, and left around 6:00 pm. We were both very scared and knew that we had to trust God!
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