The Girls are Home!

I am so excited to let everyone know that we got to bring both Aubrey and Whitney home today! They said it is unusual that both babies are ready to go home the same day. Today was Day 15 for the girls in the NICU. Mallory was so excited to meet her sisters. She has been a big helper today. She has even "held" the girls (with our help of course!). The girls did have to come home with monitors to watch for sleep apnea issues but we don't care since we are so excited to have them home. The monitors are actually very reassuring because we now they will start making very loud noises if there is a problem. I don't have to run in their nursery every 10 minutes to make sure they are breathing like I did when we brought Mallory home. (Yes I was an obsessive first time mom!) I am so glad the girls got to come home while Jason is still home for Christmas break. I think mom is going to try to come to help on Monday when Jason has to go back to school. I will try to post pictures of all 3 girls together later. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers during all the pregnancy and the NICU time that followed. I know the prayers are a big reason why we had such a happy ending considering the girls were 2 months early.

Day 13 in the NICU

The girls will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. That means they have been in the NICU for 13 days now. Today they did great with their feedings. The nurse encouraged me to actually breast feed the girls today instead of just pump and bottle feed them the breast milk because she thought Aubrey was looking to actually nurse. It seemed to really work for both the girls. Aubrey nursed better than Whitney did but they both did a great job. In fact they both did so well that the nurse we had today said if the girls do well on their feedings through the night she is going to recommend that they have their feeding tubes removed. That would be great!!! I can't imagine seeing them right now without the tubes coming out of their little noses. It would be great!! Hopefully tonight goes well and maybe they will be home in the next couple of days.

I saw my doctor today for my 2 week follow-up for the c-section. She said things seem to be healing ok but she can tell that I have been pushing myself too hard because it is taking longer to heal at the muscle level. She said normally at this point she would tell people they can go back to somewhat normal activities but for me she thinks I am already pushing it too much so I am still not supposed to lift anything over 10 pounds or do anything that would be considered strenuous. I am sure it has to do with how worn out my body was before I delivered the girls because of laying in bed for nearly 2 months! I am sure the emotional toll my body is under right now isn't helping either! Hopefully things will be better soon when the girls get home.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers! Right now we need prayers that the girls continue to eat well so they can come home.

Still Hanging in There!

We had a good Christmas. Mallory must have fooled everyone into believing she was a really good girl this year because she got way too many presents. You know it is bad when you have to stop to take a breather when you are opening gifts because you have too many! The only thing that would have made the day better would have of course been if all 3 of our girls would have been home for the big day. I just kept reminding myself how badly I wanted to be home for Christmas when I was in the hospital so I could spend the day with Mallory. At least I didn't have to miss her having a great time! The girls are doing well and will hopefully be home soon. They are doing so well that the nurses encouraged us to take the NICU Discharge class today because they only offer it on Wednesday and Friday. Hopefully the girls will be home before next Wednesday. It would be wonderful to have them home for New Year's Day! The only problem with doing the NICU Discharge class today was that it made us miss their 2:00 feeding/hands on time. I only got to hold them 2 times today. Jason didn't even get to go to the hospital today because Mallory threw up in the night so he stayed home with her today while I went to the hospital. I know he missed seeing the girls! Hopefully tomorrow will be a great day for the girls! Hopefully by my next post I will know when their discharge date will be!

The girls are a week old!

I can't believe the girls are already a week old! They were a week old yesterday. That means that today was day 8 in the NICU. The past week has been such a whirlwind of activity. We call the NICU every night to check on the girls before we go to bed. The nurses are great about telling us how they are doing whenever we call. They have been doing so well that the main purpose of the nightly call is to see how the weight check went since they weigh the girls in the evening. Last night was kind of a set back because Whitney actually lost 0.4 oz and Aubrey didn't gain any weight. They are still not back to their birth weights. One of the criteria for them to go home is that they have to have gained weight for 3 consecutive days. So yesterday made us start all over again. Of course they haven't met the other requirements yet so we can't be too upset. One of the other requirements they have to meet is to be maintaining their own body temperature. Whitney has been maintaining hers for several days now but the good news is that Aubrey is now maintaining hers as well. She got to come out of the isolette today and is now in bed with Whitney. Today was the first time we got to take pictures of both girls together. Up until now they were too far apart because of all of the wires and iv's and the isolette. Now they don't have any iv's or heat source to keep them apart! I will try to post some pictures of the girls together in the next couple of days. One of the best things about today is that I got to hold both of our baby girls at the same time. Yes it made me cry! When I called the NICU tonight they said both girls gained weight again. Aubrey is almost back to her birth weight! Hopefully we will have the girls home before the end of the year. I would love to start the new year with our family all under one roof!!

Merry Christmas!! Sorry that we didn't get any Christmas cards out this year!! We will definitely be getting out some birth announcements as soon as we can! As always....thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers!

Getting Stronger Every Day!

It is amazing how far the girls have come in just 5 days. They are getting stronger every day (so is their Mommy!!). They have now increased each of their feedings to 20 ml each feeding and they are doing a great job of both taking the bottle and attempting to nurse. They have both now been able to discontinue their lipid iv fluids. The nurse said after they get their feedings bumped a couple of more times they should be able to discontinue the iv all together. That will be so great not seeing them with so many tubes attached. They both were able to discontinue the bililights today because their jaundice levels were better. They will check the levels tomorrow morning again. Hopefully they will continue to maintain healthy levels and not need the lights again. Since they are not under the lights they get to wear clothes. It is so cute seeing them dressed. The look like such big kids dressed! (Except for the fact that even the preemie size clothing is way too big!) Now we just need them to continue to grow so we can take them home. We are so ready to have our entire family home!! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. I have no idea where we would be without all of the support from everyone! I will try to post more pictures in the next couple of days.

This is so hard!

I don't know if it is hormones catching up with me or what but today has not been a great day. Don't get me wrong....the girls are doing well and continue to get stronger every day. I just got upset every time it was time to leave the NICU today. It was all I could do to keep the tears from streaming down my face. Then after I get out of the NICU I start feeling so bad because poor Mallory has been at the hospital all day waiting with her Grandma and Papa Esau while we are back with the twins. I know I can't be everywhere at once and we can't all be together and it is so hard!!!! The tears are streaming down my face now just thinking about it!

The girls are doing very well. They are both taking 15 ml of milk during each feeding (every 3 hours). During one of our visits today both girls actually took their entire feeding by bottle and didn't have to have any of it put into their tubes. They are both under the bili-lights right now because they are jaundice but their color is starting to get a lot better!

Hopefully we will have the girls home with us soon. Please continue to keep them in your prayers!

Whitney & Aubrey are now 2 days old!

I just wanted to check in and tell everyone how great Whitney and Aubrey are doing. We made it to the NICU for 2 different "Hands On" sessions today. During the first session the neonatologist was there when we arrived. He gave us the updates by saying that both girls are doing great. He said they did the routine scans on them and Whitney has a heart murmur that should close up on its own. I was not shocked since both Derek and I were born with them as well as Mallory and they all healed on their own. Whitney also has a small hole between 2 of the 4 chambers of her heart but they don't think it is anything to really worry about and will probably take care of itself but just in case they want her to see a pediatric cardiologist in a couple of months. Aubrey's scans all came back great and they were really checking her out to see if she had any problems due to the Single Umbilical Artery. We got to bottle feed both girls this morning and take their temperatures and change their diapers. By the time we got back to see the girls for our second visit of the day Whitney was able to keep her body temperature where it needed to be so she is no longer in the little incubator....she is in a regular crib like box! They say that Aubrey is not too far away from doing the same. During the second visit of the day Jason and I switched babies from our morning session and I actually nursed Whitney for a little bit. She did pretty well sucking until she decided to fall asleep and then they had to put the rest of her feeding in her tube. Both of the girls just wanted to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy! Both girls now have their IVs in their scalps because they keep going through so many of them due to pulling them out and the veins simply giving in. They had us sign a consent form to do pic lines which are more stable iv sites where they basically thread the iv further into the vein. When I called for my nightly update they said they tried to start the pic lines on both girls but weren't able to tonight. They will try again tomorrow. Both girls have lost a little weight. Aubrey now weighs 3 lb 7 oz and Whitney weighs 4 lb 8 oz. Nothing unexpected since all babies lose a little at first.
I am so excited because I get to go home tomorrow!! Yeah!!! I haven't been home in nearly 6 weeks! Mallory is still in Claremore with her Grandma and Papa Esau. She will be home on Saturday which gives me a day to get adjusted to being back at home before she gets home. Now if we can just get Whitney and Aubrey home too!

Whitney and Aubrey are here!

The girls finally decided to join us yesterday (32 weeks 3 days). Here is the whole story....things started Monday night. I kept having contractions and had to get several Brethine shots. The shots did nothing for the contractions but did calm the uterine irritability. My acid reflux was killing me. Everytime I would get a big contraction (the contractions never were painful) the acid in my chest would cause me to throw up. So I threw up all night Monday night. They hooked me up to an iv for dehydration. When my doctor came in to do her rounds yesterday morning she said she had to go do a c-section but in the mean time she wanted the nurse to give me another shot and if the contractions weren't getting any better she would check my cervix after the c-section she had to go do. When she got back the contractions weren't any better so she checked me and I was dilated to a 5. She told me to call Jason because we were going to have some babies. Because the roads were so icy (and I was dilated to a 5) they weren't comfortable transporting me to Baptist. So I had my c-section at Lakeside. We just hoped that they would not need NICU and would get to stay here with me. We did the c-section and the girls were smaller than the ultrasounds had shown. They were both born at 12:59 pm so we don't have to worry about them fighting about who is older! Aubrey was 3 lb 12 oz and 16 3/4 " long and Whitney was 4 lb 14 oz and 17 1/4" long. They were both doing pretty well but since they are so small they didn't want them using any extra energy than necessary breathing. So they went to Baptist. I got to see them before they went and Jason went with the girls to the NICU. It broke my heart that they couldn't be with me but I knew they were in the best place possible. I was also feeling so bad from throwing up all night that I didn't want to get too close to them just in case I had been sick and not just throwing up from laboring.

When they got to the NICU they were both put on C-Paps and then Aubrey started struggling a little bit so they put her on the ventilator. By last night she was actually back on the C-Pap. I get to have a pass to go to Baptist to see the girls. Basically Jason has to wheel me around in the wheelchair and drive me from place to place. We went to visit the girls today and they were doing great!! They were TOTALLY breathing on their own...no c-pap or anything! The best part is that we got to hold them!!!!!!!!!! They are really small but they are little fighters. The nurses kept telling us how great they are doing. I will probably go over there a couple of times tomorrow. One thing that makes me sad is that you can't go in the NICU if you are under 5 years old so Mallory hasn't seen her sisters yet. We sent her home with Jason's Mom and Dad until Saturday since she can't go to the NICU with us. She will get a nice surprise when she gets home because I will be home by then!!

As far as how I am feeling....the c-section wasn't bad at all. Granted I am sore and was last night too! I think the best thing for me was that I had to get up and move around or they wouldn't let me go to the Baptist to visit the babies. I am sure by getting up and moving around I am healing better. I just keep taking my pain meds so I don't get behind on the pain and not able to get caught back up. It was amazing how a good night's sleep helped me. It was the first night in over 5 weeks that I didn't have someone waking me up every 2 hours. I really feel pretty good considering everything. Now I just keep chugging water and pumping while I wait for my milk to come in. The NICU told me to bring in anything I can...even if it is only 2 drops of colostrum.

Sorry for the book I just posted! I just had a lot of stuff to share! Once again thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. I know we wouldn't have made it this far without all of the support. I will post as often as I can giving updates on how the girls are doing.

5 Weeks in Hospital

Looking back it is hard to believe that I have been here in the hospital for 5 weeks now! All of the doctors and nurses keep saying they didn't think we would make it this long. Now that we have officially hit the 32 week milestone our next mileston is 34 weeks. There are a lot of twins who are born at 34 weeks who do not require any NICU time. That would be great!

The contractions have continued to come all day long. They are all pretty big ones but the good news is that they aren't really regular today. I think I had about 5-6 every hour. I have to have over 6 before I get a shot so the good news is I didn't have to get a shot during the day today. Hopefully we can make it through the night without having to get a shot! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!

Quick Update

Well we made it through the night. I had to get 2 shots for the contractions but things finally calmed down last night. The ultrasound this morning showed that the girls are really growing. Whitney's approximate weight is 5 pounds 6 ounces and Aubrey's approximate weight is 4 pounds 10 oz. Of course these are just estimates. I am still waiting to hear the results of the rest of the ultrasound. I will post more tonight.

Not feeling so well

I just wanted to post really quickly before I go to bed. The weather change has struck again and got the contractions fired up. I got a shot at 9:00 and they are trying to hold off on another one for a little bit if we can. (It is 10:15 now). I have been having about 10 major contractions an hour. We need to get them down to less than 6 an hour. For some reason both my reflux and a headache have decided to attack me at the same time. I am really not feeling well so the nurse gave me an Ambien to try to sleep to see if that makes everything better. If we make it through the night I have an ultrasound tomorrow morning to see what damage these contractions have done. I will try to post right after the ultrasound to let everyone know how the rest of the night goes and how the ultrasound looked.

Nothing New!

Luckily I don't have anything new to report today. I just wanted to check in before I went to bed to say that today was another good day. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Frosty the Snowman

Today has been another uneventful day as far as contractions go....YEAH!! The highlight of my day was tonight when Jason and Mallory came to see me. If you missed it, tonight was the night that CBS had Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, and The Flight Before Christmas on. The 3 of us watched these shows until 9:00 and then Jason and Mallory went home to get ready for bed. I have missed so much in the past 5 weeks with Mallory and Jason so I am so glad we got to spend this time together tonight as a family. It really makes me sad thinking about all of the little things I have been missing out on this year.

My doctor has said there is a chance I might get to go home soon. She said she had thought if I made it to 32 weeks she would think about it. (I'm 32 weeks tomorrow!!) Since I haven't had to get a shot since Monday she feels good about how things are going but she wants to see how the ultrasound looks on Monday. Then we also talked about not letting me go home until at least after the bad weather expected next week clears out so I don't have to worry about hurrying back here on icy roads. She said she was going to call the High Risk doctor at Mercy to get a second opinion about how to move forward with me. If I get to go home I will be put on a pump with the medication I am currently on which will ensure that I have a steady dose of medication on board and it will also give me the option of giving an extra dose if I am having too many contractions. This extra dose would be the equivalent of the shots I am getting at the hospital. My friend Karen and I were talking this morning and we think we figured out why Sunday nights have been bad for me the past couple of weeks. The past couple of weeks we have had a front move through on Sunday. These fronts have thrown so many ladies into labor that the hospital ends up full each time. It is no wonder that it has made my contractions go crazy too. Of course we are expecting a front again on Sunday! Hopefully this Sunday will be better than the last 2 Sunday nights!

Another uneventful day

Luckily today was yet another uneventful day. I have had a lot of uterine irritability the past couple of days. That is when the uterus kind of has spasms. The uterine irritability typically doesn't effect the cervix so it is really not as big of a deal. I am still having real contractions too but not enough to get another shot. I haven't had to have a shot since the early hours of Monday morning. It would be great to go a week between shots!! I like it on these days when I don't have much to report since that means nothing crazy is happening. The thoughts and prayers are really helping. Thanks!!

Cold outside-Warm in here!

It may be cold outside but I keep sweating in my room. All of the medication they are giving me to stop the contractions really makes me hot. I keep thinking it would be nice to get to go outside for a few minutes and cool off! I know you all probably think I am crazy since it has been so cold out but I would love to be able to get some fresh air.

As far as contractions go today has been pretty calm. Last night was so calm that I got nervous that I rolled over and knocked the monitor thing loose! Hopefully that was just the first of many calm nights to come.

Day 29

Things stayed pretty calm today. I didn't have to get any shots and actually I don't think we ever got close to having to get one today. It is so hard to believe that I have been here for over 4 weeks! I can't wait to go home. Yesterday Mallory started asking me when I am coming home. She told me she wanted me to come home with her and Daddy. I sure wish I could! I asked my doctor this morning at what point we would deliver the babies here and not go to Baptist. She said if we have to deliver before 34 weeks then we will do it at Baptist since that is where the NICU is.

I kept hearing all day about how cold and nasty it was outside. I guess I was in a good place today....curled up under the covers with a good book! Well I better try to get to sleep before they wake me up for my next dose of pills.

Things FINALLY calmed down!

Well last night got worse before it got better. I got several shots in the night for the contractions and even got put back on IV fluids but luckily not the magnesium. Today has been a lot calmer thank goodness!

The girls looked great on the ultrasound today. Whitney was up to 4 lb 11 oz and Aubrey was up to 3 lb 12 oz. The bad news is that all of the contractions during the past week took a toll on my cervix. Due to this we are just hoping to make it to at least 32 weeks at this point. Saturday will be 32 weeks. Of course, anything beyond 32 weeks would be great!!! Now I can only get out of bed to take a shower every other day. They don't want me on my feet or even sitting up very much at all. I pretty much get to go to the bathroom and sit up to eat. Other than that I have to be laying flat in my bed. Well I better get to sleep. Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers!

Here we go again!

Here we go again with the contractions. I had to get a shot today around 6:15 for the contractions. Then I got another one at about 7:30. Then at about 9:15 I got started on iv fluids. They wanted to be able to give me a 3rd shot but my pulse was too high. If your pulse is over 120 then you aren't supposed to get another shot. Mine was around 135 so shot number 3 wasn't an option. The on-call doctor (who is one I totally trust!!) said to start me on iv fluids to see if that would help. She also had the nurse give me an Ambien with my 10:00 meds so that it will hopefully help my uterus relax. At this point the next step is to start the magnesium if the contractions don't stop. I am afraid at the rate I am going tonight I will be back on the mag by morning. We have my weekly ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow morning so we will be able to see what damage this contraction episode has caused. Please say a prayer that we have a little more time for these girls to grow and develop before we have to deliver them. Thank you for your prayers!

Another good day

I am posting this while watching the Big 12 football championship so it will be pretty short tonight. I just wanted to let everyone know that I am feeling much better today. I even felt well enough to take a shower today. The contractions haven't been too bad today. I haven't had to have a shot today! My nurses came in today carrying a Christmas tree. Yesterday they brought in lights and today they brought me a tree!!! They are so sweet!!! Well I just wanted to check in so everyone would know things are good today.

Feeling Better

When I woke up this morning I was not feeling well at all. I didn't get much sleep last night because the contractions were back at it again so I had to get another shot. When my doctor came in this morning she could tell I was not feeling well so she had the nurses start an iv with fluids and antibiotics. The fluids and iv antibiotic are really helping. I feel better already. However the contractions are still acting up today. I had to get another shot this afternoon and I keep getting closer to having to get another tonight. At least the shots still help when I do get them. The good news is that the babies' heartrates were good during both this morning and tonight's tests! Hopefully that scare last night was an isolated thing! The biggest problem about the iv is that I have to call for a nurse to help me get everything unplugged every time I need to go to the bathroom. So much for the little independence I had here!

The nurses came in today and hung Christmas lights in my room. It was so sweet of them! It helps things appear more festive in here now!

I hope everyone had a great Friday. Hopefully this weekend will be less eventful for me than the past couple of days!

Another day...another issue!

If it isn't one thing it is another! I woke up this morning thinking I might have a urinary tract infection and sure enough I did. So now they have me on antibiotic for that. Urinary tract infections can cause a ton of problems during a pregnancy and this is the 3rd one I have had during this pregnancy alone. It is no wonder I am in the hospital!! Urinary tract infections are one of the leading causes of pre-term labor. This would explain why I have been contracting so bad today. So far I haven't had to get a shot today but if I keep going at the pace I am tonight with contractions I will be getting one before I go to bed! I will have to let you know how that turns out tomorrow! I have had so much abdominal pressure today that it has been VERY uncomfortable at times. I didn't even get to take a shower today because we figured I shouldn't have been out of bed for that long. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

They hook me up to monitors to check the babies' heartrates two times a day. Each and every time we have done it both babies looked great!!! Well I guess that holds true until the test we did tonight. Whitney (the bigger of the 2) had her heart really racing. Her heartrate ran between 175 and 190 during most of the test. Then Aubrey decided to get hers up there a little higher than normal too. Luckily after about an hour both babies' heartrates settled down. The nurse paged my doctor to see what she thought about it and she said it could just be from the infection. They want to make sure I am not running a fever so they are going to take my temperature every 2 hours during the night. I guess a fever can cause the babies' heartrates to race like they were. I guess we just need prayers that this infection doesn't cause the babies any problems. So far we haven't had to really worry about how the babies are doing because they have always been doing so well. We have just had to focus on keeping them cooking for a few more weeks. Now all of sudden we have to watch them to make sure they aren't in distress. All prayers are appreciated!! Hopefully I will have a good report tomorrow!

Day 23 in Hospital

Well today is day 23 for me in the hospital. Luckily I haven't had too many contractions today. I hope it stays that way tonight. They just finished my 2nd non-stress test for the day (they do 2 every day just to make sure the babies are doing great and they were). It is 11:15 pm and I am really tired so I will try to post more tomorrow. I just wanted to let everyone know that I didn't have to have anymore shots last night or today for contractions. YEAH!!! Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers!

We have so much support!

I have known all along that we have so many people in our corner cheering us on and praying every day that our little girls get here as healthy as can be. Today I was once again reminded of how many people are in our corner. Felicia, the owner of Mallory's daycare, came by to visit me today. She has twin boys and had to spend time in the hospital when she had them so she can really relate. When she came in today she said she wanted to paint my toe nails. She said someone did that for her in the hospital and she appreciated it so much that she wanted to do the same for me. I lay here in bed every day looking at those toes and keep thinking that my nails really need some attention but I can't reach them. Her doing that for me was such a treat!! She also said the ladies at the daycare want to provide meals 3 nights a week for Jason and Mallory since they know how Jason is spread so thin trying to take care of everything himself during basketball season. How awesome are those ladies!!!!

We have had so many people offer to help us out in different ways and we appreciate everything! The visits, prayers, phone calls, cards, emails, and everything else mean so much! Thanks to everyone!

As far as how today has gone....it hasn't been too bad today. I did have to get 1 shot today for the contractions. 1 shot is better than the 2 I have been having to get some days. Hopefully tonight will be uneventful!

3 Weeks!

Today makes 3 weeks for me in the hospital. The contractions finally calmed down last night and today has been pretty calm. I had my weekly ultrasound today and my cervix appeared to be the same as last week. Thank goodness it didn't get any worse! Both girls are still growing too. Whitney grew almost a pound. They have her weight estimated at 4 lb 5 oz! Aubrey is still the smaller of the two girls but she is holding her own considering her cord issue. She now is estimated to be 3 lb even. I am so glad she broke the 3 lb mark!! Hopefully tonight will remain uneventful!