31 Weeks!

Today we hit the 31 week mark! Not much has changed over the past week. Both babies look great on their monitoring everyday and my contractions have stayed pretty normal. One more week before we hit our next big goal of 32 weeks so we are hoping that everything stays the same. 

Dillon has been here with me since Tuesday so we were able to spend Christmas together. We didn't do anything too special, we are just thankful that we are still here with the babies still inside me! 

Also, thank you to everyone who sent us down some Christmas goodies. We have definitely been enjoying them!

Six Weeks Down!

Once again I have been asked to post more baby bump pictures. Here I am today at 30 weeks and 2 days. I feel like I have gotten huge and a lot more uncomfortable just over the last couple of weeks. All of the extra belly weight has put a lot of strain on my back too so physical therapy was in today to go over some stretches I can do to help that so hopefully they work.  

We also had a formal ultrasound today to see how the babies are growing.  We were definitely surprised with how big they have gotten.  Last growth ultrasound was three weeks ago and Baby A was 2lbs 4oz and Baby B was 2 lbs 10 oz.  Today, Baby A is up to 3lbs 9oz and Baby B is 4lbs 2oz! Baby A is considered in the 50th percentile while Baby B is in the 70th percentile.  Although these are only estimated measurements, we are very encouraged with how big they are.  The doctors had not seen the ultrasound report yet, but they had looked at the pictures and by the pictures they thought everything looked just fine.  They will be back in the morning to go over the full ultrasound with us.

Today also marks 6 weeks since I have been here.  Over the weekend, Dillon and I were able to talk to the doctor about the rest of our stay here.  As long as I stay stable, I should be able to go home on bedrest at 34 weeks.  At that point Bellingham would be able to deliver the twins safely if I were to go into labor.  We still have 4 weeks to get to that point so we are not getting our hopes up, but it is another good goal for me to shoot for.  It would be really nice to go home for a little bit before they are born.

Although 34 weeks would be huge, we still ask for prayers that we can atleast get to that 32 week mark!

30 Weeks!

Today we hit 30 weeks!  Things have been going really good since our last little scare.  I have still been contracting all day everyday, but they don't seem to be as consistent and strong as they were.  Both babies have also looked really good on the monitoring the last couple days.  I am very anxious to see them again on the ultrasound on Monday!

Dillon was able to come down this weekend.  He wasn't able to because of work last weekend so it had been almost two weeks since I had seen him.  He was very surprised with how big I had gotten over those two weeks.  I guess that is a good thing, it means the babies are growing!

Other than that not much new to report.  Each day is a goal met, but our next big goal is to get to 32 weeks. Please pray that these next two weeks are very uneventful for us and that we can meet our goal of 32 weeks.

Eventful Night

Last night was a little more exciting than it has been down here in awhile.  I went off my ibuprofen Sunday at midnight and have noticed that i was contracting a little more often, but the contractions were not getting painful and they weren't consistent so I was not too concerned.  Last night my contractions started coming every ten minutes apart which was not normal for me.  The nurse decided to hook me up to the monitor to make sure the babies looked fine through the contractions.  Both babies looked great, but I was still contracting every ten minutes.  The nurse was going to talk to the doctors and see what she thought and before I knew it, the doctor was in here with an ultrasound machine to make sure both babies were still head down just in case I was in labor.  Both babies were head down, which is what we want when I do go into labor.  She then decided to check for dilation.  My last check I believe was two weeks ago and I was at 3 cm.  Last night, even after all the contractions, I was still at 3cm!  The contractions I was having were not changing my cervix in any way.  It was about 11:30 pm after they were done checking and since the babies looked great and I was feeling the contractions the monitor was picking up, I was able to come off the monitors and was told just to keep track of contractions. They were not too concerned about me going into labor last night, but wanted to know if anything changed and if so, they wanted to check me again.  The contractions started to space out a little more and although I didn't sleep very well, I was able to fall asleep. Today has been a little more quiet. I am still contracting more than I was last week, but the doctors have said that this is probably my new normal without having the ibuprofen in me all day long.

We also had a fluid check yesterday. They typically do not do another fluid check after going off ibuprofen, but they could tell that I was a little nervous about the fluid so they offered to do one.  Both fluid levels were in the normal range.  The doctor who did the ultrasound was very encouraged by how both babies looked on the ultrasound and just by looking could tell that they have definitely grown since she did the last ultrasound!  Our next formal growth ultrasound is on Monday and I am very anxious to see how much they weigh now!

29 Weeks!

Not much new to report today except we have made it to 29 weeks! One more week closer to our next goal of 32 weeks.  Both babies continue to look great on the monitors. They are continuing to show their heart rate increases that the doctors and nurses like to see and are moving around a lot.   I am also doing pretty good.  The last few days I have been nauseous and tired, but that has seemed to pass and I am feeling much better. Other than that, nothing new which is a great thing!

Pictures and Other Fun Things

Today marks one month since I have been here.  Although it seems like it has been a long time since I checked in, time has gone by somewhat fast. If I can make it to 34 weeks, they have said I could possibly go home so only 5 1/2 more weeks to go!

I have been asked to post some pictures so here is one of me at 23 weeks. This was right before my last appointment in Bellingham before being admitted to UW.

Here I am today at 28 1/2 Weeks.  

Since I have been here, I have also learned how to crochet.  I have been making mostly baby hats and baby headbands and my mom has made a baby blanket and has been working on earwarmers and scarfs.  Here are a few hats I have made.  Since no one else knows the genders of the babies besides us, I have been making gender neutral hats, some with flowers and some without, just to keep everyone guessing!

 

I also had a fluid check again today just to make sure everything looked fine.  Both fluid levels were great so the plan for ibuprofen stays.  My last dose of ibuprofen will be Sunday at midnight. Today again, they assured me that if the babies are going to come early, they are going to come with or without the ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen Update

Not much new to report today except that we did come up with a plan for ibuprofen.  As of now, they have decided to leave me on it until this coming Monday.  They did not do a fluid check today, but will do one tomorrow and assuming nothing changes, Monday will be the cut off date.  The doctors feel that at this point, it is better to keep the babies inside me and if ibuprofen is helping with that, they do not want to take me off. Other than that, today has been an uneventful day which is a very good thing!

Monday, December 9th

Today we had an ultrasound to check the fluid levels of both babies.  Since I am on ibuprofen, one of the risks is that the fluid levels go down.  Both fluid levels were still in the normal range but have gone down quite a bit since last week. For tonight, they have kept me on the ibuprofen, but we will re-evaluate again tomorrow and determine a plan.  If I do not go off the ibuprofen tomorrow, I will for sure be off of it by next week. After a certain point, the ibuprofen can start to affect the babies kidneys and urine output so they want me off by 30 weeks.  Also, the doctors do not feel that by going off the ibuprofen I will go into labor so that is a good thing.

On my monitoring this morning, Baby B had two drops in heart rate.  Rather than my normal 20 minute monitoring, I was kept on for an hour and a half just to make sure everything was fine.  My monitoring has always been really good so the doctors were not too concerned about the drops.  They figure the babies umbilical cord had maybe got kicked or slightly pinched, which the doctors assured me was completely normal.   For a little peace of mind, I asked to go back on the monitors tonight and everything looked great. No more drops in heart rate!

As we decide on a plan for ibuprofen tomorrow, we ask for prayers that we make the right decision as to when to quit taking it. Both Dillon and I are nervous that by going off of it, these babies might decide to make their appearance, but we also do not want to harm them in any way.

28 Weeks!

Our first goal was to make it to the 24 week mark and our second goal was to make it to the 28 week mark. Today we have hit 28 weeks! Dillon is down here for the weekend so we decided to tour the NICU.  Hopefully we do not need to be there, but just in case we wanted to be prepared.  The NICU moved just over a year ago to a different floor of the hospital and got all new equipment. It seemed to be staffed with plenty of nurses and the equipment looked top notch which calmed some of my nerves if our babies have to spend some time there. We also had a NICU doctor come chat with us a little bit and talk us through what a 28 weaker's stay in the NICU would look like.  Both Dillon and I were very encouraged with what he had to say and now knowing the difference between being born at 24 weeks or 28 weeks, has made these past four weeks in the hospital well worth it!

We have made it to 28 weeks, but we know that the babies still need many more weeks to develop fully. We ask for prayers that my body cooperates, the contractions slow down and that these babies stay put for a little longer.

Weeks Two through Four

Weeks two and three have been pretty boring (which is a very good thing).  I go on monitors daily to check on how the babies are doing.  They have both looked great everyday.  The nurses and doctors like to see variability in their heart rates, meaning their heart rates have increases for ten seconds at a time. The nurses have been very impressed with the increases they have shown between the 25 and 27 week mark.  The nurses have also mentioned how hard it usually is to find both babies on the monitors and also how hard it is to keep them on the monitors, but the babies have been doing great in both aspects and have really surprised the nurses!

I have also been on ibuprofen every six hours to help calm down my uterus and to help prevent contractions. Ibuprofen can mess with the fluid levels for the babies, so I have been getting weekly ultrasounds to monitor this.  If they were to notice the fluid levels decreasing, they would take me off the ibuprofen, but so far the fluid levels have been great!  At each ultrasound they were also doing a cervix check.  The 25 week cervix check showed no change from the week before, but during the 26 week check they saw a slight difference so they wanted to check to see if I had dilated.  To my surprise, I had dilated to a 3cm.  They weren't too concerned about me going into labor, so they just wanted me to keep track of contractions and let them know if they got more intense or more frequent. I was checked for dilation two more times over the next two weeks and there was no change!  At this point, I just have to let them know if I feel any different or if my contractions change otherwise they are going to assume nothing has changed.

On Monday, December 2nd we had a formal ultrasound to measure the babies growth.  Baby A is 2lbs 4oz and considered in the 45th percentile for that gestational age and Baby B is 2lbs 10oz and considered in the 67th percentile.  This is great news as twins tend to be a little smaller.  From the measurements they could determine that baby A has a bigger head than baby B and Baby B has a bigger abdomen than Baby A.  They told us that Baby B's abdomen is about a week ahead in growth than is what expected.  The doctors seemed very encouraged by these measurements which definitely helps with our worries as well.

I have had a lot of visitors which helps take up some of the time here so that is very helpful.  My mom has been staying here during the week and on the weeks Dillon is not on call he has come for the weekend.  It has been difficult being here so far from home, but we know that we are in the best place possible and it is just a short amount of time in our life.  Whatever is best for our babies is what we are going to do.  We want to thank everyone for their prayers, kind words and little gifts over the last few weeks, they have given me a lot of encouragement!

This should bring us up to where we are currently at the 28 week mark!

First Week in Hospital

We checked into the hospital (UW medical clinic) on November 11th. They immediately took us to a Labor and Delivery room for further ultrasounds and cervix checks.  The babies both looked good on their ultrasound and non stress test and my cervix had not changed from earlier that day so they felt that I was stable enough to move out of a delivery room to an antepartum room. We were very excited to hear this because at that point, they did not think I would go into labor right away.  They got me moved to an antepartum room,  Dillon got me all situated, and then he headed home so he could go back to work on Tuesday.

I was able to get some sleep that night and then my mom came down Tuesday morning to spend the rest of the week with me.  They took me for another ultrasound and cervix check that afternoon and determined that my cervix had now shortened to 0.4 cm.  Things got pretty scary after that.  Even though I was not having many contractions, they were concerned that I might go into labor within the next week or two so they wanted to get the first set of steroid shots in me to help develop the babies lungs should they come early.  I got back to my room and had a lot of nurses and doctors in there.  The nurses were busy getting my IV in to issue the magnesium sulfate.  The magnesium sulfate is used to help control contractions and also help prevent brain bleeds in the babies.  They got my IV in and started the magnesium and then gave me my first steroid shot.  I had been getting progesterone shots weekly so I was used to shots, but this one was definitely a lot more painful!  Once all that was taken care of, the doctors needed to go over a birth plan with me and needed me to sign C-section consent forms just in case I went in labor and they did not have time for me to sign.  The babies needed to be on monitors while I was getting the magnesium so the next day and a half  was very uncomfortable.  Wednesday afternoon the doctors came back to check on me and they felt that both the babies and myself were tolerating the magnesium very well so i was able to come off the monitoring. I was then given my second steroid shot and was able to get a good night sleep.  From there on things started to get a little quieter and I was able to get a little more settled in and into a routine.

From the Beginning

Here is a little background on how we got to where we are today. Dillon and I were married on June 24, 2011.  Shortly after we got married we found out we were pregnant with a boy!  Everything was going great up until 23 weeks and 2 days into our pregnancy when I woke up at 3:30 that morning in labor.  We got to the hospital and I was already dilated to 8 cm. At that point, we got the most devastating news that there was nothing they could do to stop the labor and we were going to have our baby boy that day. Traysen Tobias Lanksbury was born at 11:22 am weighing 1lb 9oz and 12 inches long. We got to hold him in our arms for just an hour until he was called to his forever home in heaven at 12:20.  Not a day goes by that we do not think about and miss Traysen.  He will forever be our first child.

Shortly after we lost Traysen, Dillon and I decided we wanted to try for another kid.  This time it was not as easy to get pregnant.  We struggled for about a year and a half with many many months of tears.  We were definitely losing hope and started to think about other options, but God answered our prayers on June 26th just two days after our 2nd anniversary with a positive pregnancy test!  A little scare in the beginning of our pregnancy led to an early ultrasound on July 10th when we found out we were having twins!  God is Good! Dillon and I were both shocked, but extremely excited when we saw on the ultrasound the two little blobs! We knew that my experience with preterm labor would consider us high risk, but adding twins to the equation made this an extremely high risk pregnancy.  We would soon find out that this pregnancy would be a long hard road. We had been seeing a specialist in Everett for a couple weeks and everything was looking really good until our September 19th (16 week mark) visit.  After doing a cervix check and finding that my cervix was shortening, they decided to put me on bedrest.  I had to quit my job and hang out on the couch at home. We had weekly follow up appointments in Everett and every time they would check my cervix.  Some weeks it had shortened more than others, but most of the time it held pretty stable which was very encouraging.  At my 21, 22, and 23 week appointments my cervix measured at 1.5 cm.  They told me as soon at it got below 1 cm, I would be admitted to UW.  We headed down to our 24 week appointment and as soon as they started the exam, I knew things weren't good.  The ultrasound tech and Dillon were watching the measurements and not saying anything.  I could tell that that was the day I was going to go to UW. My cervix had gone down to 0.8 cm.  The drive to UW was hard, but I knew that I was going to be in the best place possible if these babies decided to come early.  This brings us up to my stay in the hospital.