Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Joy's Committed/Admitted

Well it was a long weekend of wrapping things up at home and Joy getting her bags packed.  We also had a lot of last minute errands that we had to run for her.   Joy also prepared stacks of things lined up on the guest bed and showed me where her next stash of clothes are for the BIG days of pregnancy.

This morning Joy had a really hard time leaving the house.  She was tearing up when saying goodbye to the pets.  She managed to make it though.  When we got to Duke we had a long wait for our room.  At least it was long considering they knew we were coming.  I think we sat in the lobby for almost 2 hours.

Joy's nurse has been nice.  I can't even count how many doctors and nurses have come in.  I think we will need to start a log of who and when everyone comes in.

Lunch was blah and looked the part.  She just got sort of a standard meal for today, but was able to put in an order for tomorrow.  I don't think anything sounded too appealing and things seem to be on par with an airline meal.

She does have a window with a wonderful view of concrete.  According to the nurse it was suppose to be a court yard, but the engineers who built it don't account for the weight so it is just an ugly useless patio.  Perhaps the engineers were the same idiots who built Harrison over on NCSU's campus (the sinking cylindrical building).  We do get some close up views of the helicopters that land every now and then.

I guess some more positive things about today is that Joy is allowed to roam the hospital grounds.  This should help a bit with the cabin fever.  There was a nice fountain and court yard in the lobby so perhaps she will go there during the day when she isn't being monitored.

The NST we had at lunch went well.  Their little hearts were fluttering away at about 140-160.  Baby A was very active and spent a bit of time around 170+ but settled down.

Showering

Wow!  We are truly blessed by so many friends, family, and co-workers.  I'm not sure I can properly express how appreciative we are to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.  We can't wait to introduce our little girls to everyone.  Joy and I were so excited to have not one, but two wonderful showers.  This was an experience we were so scared and disappointed about not having.  Fortunately several more positive thinkers out there helped sway us on to a more confident and positive out look.  It also helped that we have made it so far along.

I know many of you are concerned about how things are going.  We have been very busy this past week or so.  Joy's parents and Nana were in town this past week helping with many tasks.  Joy's Mom and Nana sorted through and washed baby clothes.  Joy's dad worked on the nursery and helped with yard work.  The nursery is getting close.  We painted the walls, trim, closet shelves, added a shelf and changed out the trim.  We also put the cribs and 2 changing tables together.

The little girls are doing well.  One odd thing though.  We had the three week growth scan on Monday the 23rd and Baby B passed Baby A in size.  They did not see any signs of TTTS so they think this is just a growth spirit, but it scares Joy and I.  Baby A was 10% bigger. Now she is 20% smaller!  Baby A put on 5oz. and Baby B 12oz.  They are pretty sure we are looking at the same babies because B is still in the same location and has the same pronounced fluid in the kidneys.  They still aren't worried about the fluid because it still falls in the normal range.

So that is 1 lb 5oz plus 1 lb 11oz. which puts us at 3lbs of baby !  A singleton wouldn't be this size until 29 weeks.  Also, Joy's BP was fine 111/75 and swelling was low.





Thursday, May 19, 2011

Get out your Mirror....



Joy and I were watching a National Geographic documentary about multiple births last night.  In that program they talked about mirror twins which I had read about.  25% of Identical Twins are mirror twins.  Mirror twins can only happen when the zygote splits around 9-12 days after conception.  From what I can tell monoamniotic twins only happen when the zygote splits between days 8 and 12.  Any mirror twins can only occur as monoamniotic twins because it requires a late split. 

My conclusion would be that it is highly likely that these little girls will be mirror twins.  I cannot find any statistic stating the percent of momo twins that are mirror twins.  However, it seems that mirror twins are common according to the monoamniotic twin forums.

So, one may have curls that swirl to the left and the other the right.  One may be a righty and the other a lefty.  They may suck opposite thumbs.  Sleep exactly the same but on different sides.  They may have the same mole or birth mark, but on opposite limbs.  Sometimes even their finger prints are very very similar and hard to tell apart.  In extreme cases, even some or all of their organs are reversed with the heart on the right instead of the left etc.  If they are mirror twins let’s hope the organs are in the correct places.

How cool though?  It may be a while before we figure out if they are mirror twins.  I guess if you knew you could name them an L name and an R name to keep them straight J.  You just don't know if they are the righty or the lefty.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

NST - #2



























So today was the second NST (Non Stress Test). This is the first time Jim did not come along as we decided someone in the family should probably get some work done. The test should take 20 minutes (monitoring their heart beats, my heart beat and looking for contractions). However if the twins do not cooperate it can take a lot longer. Today was a lot longer! It was a little stressful at one point when Baby B (the smaller one on top) kept falling off the monitor. They increased the monitoring to 30 minutes and then they did an additional 10 minutes because they just did not have good readings on Baby B. Baby A stayed on the monitor most of the time but did have one quick abnormal reading. They said that she was being so active she probably hit her own cord. Baby B still did not have good readings so that meant either there was a problem or she was just being very active. So off to an unscheduled ultrasound so that they could watch the babies movements. To make a long story short everything turned out great and all of the problems were because the two girls were wild and moving around like crazy! It was so much fun to watch I hate that Jim missed it. Baby A even had the hiccups - it was exciting and cute. Even the technician was excited to watch the hiccups. We also had some great profile pictures. Normally they are not facing us but today they were. Enjoy the pictures! Next NST on Friday.














Tuesday, May 17, 2011

NST (Non Stress Test)

We had our first NST yesterday and it went very well. Usually they start NST's at week 28 (for normal twin couples) but because of our high risk situation they started ours at week 24. The NST's are usually very difficult before week 28 but the perfect angles (must be my DNA) cooperated and the 20 minutes went by with both of them staying on the monitors. Their heart beats both stayed in the normal range so the NST was a success. We then went to have a quick ultrasound to make sure we did not see any twin to twin transfer and that looked great as well. Our next big growth ultrasound will be on Monday of next week and that is where they will make sure they are both growing at the normal rate and to check on Baby B's kidney situation that has hopefully corrected itself. After the ultrasound yesterday we then had a quick doctor's appointment where I checked out great except some swelling in the ankles and my blood pressure was a little high. The high blood pressure was a surprise as I always have very low numbers. I told Jim I thought it was ok as I was stressed that the NST would not go well and they would pull me out of work early - and I have not finished everyone's bonus reviews yet!! When we were chatting with the doctor he stated that I should have my blood pressure checked after I had my first steroid shot in the butt! When he left I said - "Jim he said a shot in the butt?" Jim laughed and said the doctor was just messing with us because we had already been told it would be in the arm. To make a long story short the nurse came in and it was in the butt!! Jim thought the whole thing was hysterical. Me - not so much (it hurt!!). Even after that fun shot my blood pressure had returned to its normal low level so that seems to be fine as well.

I went for my second shot today and then back for an NST tomorrow morning and another one on Friday. The same for next week: NST on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As long as the NST's keep going well I will continue to work this week and next and then into the hospital I go the Tuesday after Memorial Day.

On a side note Jim was able to feel the babies moving this weekend for the first time. His face was priceless and he kept saying how odd it felt. He was so happy to feel them move though and he felt them (or at least one of them) again last night.

But so far so good - Jim and I remain very positive even though we know something could happen at any moment.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Time flies

So I was sitting here at my desk and realized I had not crossed off any days on my baby calender this week. So I quickly caught up and saw that we are cruising. We are almost into our 7th month. Just 3 more days and we start month 7 and will be at 24 weeks. This is a huge mile stone.

Twenty-four weeks is almost the holy grail of this Momo journey. It marks a point where if something sketchy starts to happen then the doctors have a fair chance of rescuing the girls. Although, according to Duke they're on the cusp of viability now, week 24 is far better and every 24 hours after that is better yet. I just can't believe we are almost to the 24 week mark.

It still baffles my mind that we are so excited to be just over half baked. Most couples wouldn't even consider the 24 week mark as anything special. They are still looking at the 40 week mark. I guess momos are more like brownies than buns. You can't half back a loaf of bread and expect it to be tasty, but you can bake brownies just far enough to be gooey and hold together. Resulting in the perfect treat. That gives me an idea for tonight...Maybe Joy needs some brownies and ice cream :).

Joy is doing well. Her toes are out of sight to her and have been for a little while. She's been having more problems sleeping. For whatever reason she ends up waking up from time to time and just stares up at the ceiling. At one point in the middle of the night one of the girls was pretty active. Joy thinks I might have been able to feel them move, but she didn't want to disturb my sleep. So maybe sometime soon I can feel them.

Joy starts her out patient monitoring on Monday. It will likely be a long day. A quick trip into the Ultra Sound room to check for TTTS and then off to attempt an NST (Non Stress Test). Apparently NSTs are very hard at this stage because they can move a lot and come off the monitor. The goal from what I gather is to see a nice steady 30-60 minute reading for all three heart beats. If they are as fidgety with this as they are during the Ultra Sound (thanks to my DNA of course) then this could be a long visit.

I'm just beside myself with excitement over these two little girls. Tonight we plan to make a big list of what we need for their room and head over to Lowes to pick up and order some items. I might even have some time to get some primer on the walls and some of the trim I don't have to replace. We shall see though....

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Mother's Day

Well, Joy is almost a mom. She is on the bubble at this point as the twins are almost viable. She is more then half way there. So I picked her up some cards one from the kids and one from me. I also got her some chocolates from a friend's chocolate shop. They have some of the best stuff around.

The kids are getting more and more squirrely, but I still can't feel them. It seems they are always moving now. It is either one baby or the other it seems. They are already on different schedules so wish us luck :).

We also started the babies' room. We have been throwing out junk and getting donation piles setup. It is amazing how much stuff you build up that you just don't need. I was also able to get a coat of paint on the ceiling which was looking a little dingy. Plus, I had to paint the closet ceiling anyway. The previous owner thought it was a good idea to paint the ceiling in there the same off white color as the walls. Ugh. Well, there are loads of things to do, but it is coming along.

We have also scored some wonderful items. One friend gave us a stroller for when they are a little older. Another is letting us borrow one that we can use right away to snap the car seats in. So, $800 dollar stroller purchase averted. We also have the car seats as an early shower gift. Woohoo, the twins have a way to get home now.

Now, I think we need to start collecting diapers. I still can't wrap my head around how many we will go through in a month. I've been told by several people to start stocking up on diapers. We figured we would stick to pampers at first (another friend suggested that) until we know how sensitive their bums are. Formula too, but we do not know what their little tummies will agree on so we don't want to load up on that.....

Things are still rolling along. We will be at 24 weeks in just 5 more days....wow! Joy has 4 appointments next week and then another 3 the week after that, then she goes into Club Duke for what we hope is about 6-7 fast weeks.

Thank you again, everyone has been so kind. We often talk about how we can't believe how many people are following this blog and how many people want to help. We really appreciate it and are glad to be surrounded by so many great people.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Someone has a bit of an Attitude...


This was sharper looking when we were there, but it appears Baby B is giving us the looser sign with her thumb and forefinger....Maybe she is just a Smash Mouth fan?



Baby A looks peaceful here.

Well things are moving right along. Joy feels the two of them moving more and more each day. Sometimes it can be really distracting for her at work. I guess they tend to fidget a lot like their dad.

Our visit went well. There is a 9.7% discordance between the two of them. Meaning one is bigger than the other. This is a little bit of a concern for them, but not too much. The estimates from the U/S equipment put them and 431g and 389g and the 23rd percentile and 8th percentile for their age. The difference in percentile sounds huge, but really we are only talking about 1.4 oz or so. I'm not too concerned because Baby B has always been smaller when we get them measured. In fact back around 13wks 1d the software had them at about 10g difference or 8.8% off. So I guess the size difference has widened a tad, but I'm not worried about it.

The blood flow in the cords looked good. They did not see any problems there and their BPP scores were good. They both got 6 out 8. They both lost 2 point because they were not showing constant breathing motions. However, being that they are only 22 weeks this was not a surprise.

The slightly bigger cause for concern relates to Baby B's kidneys. I probably shouldn't even say concern. They just want to keep an eye on her kidneys. When they measured them there was a 3.5mm space with fluid. They prefer to see less than 4mm. So she is close to the limit. This could be that she simply needed to urinate or it could be that the valve near her bladder isn't quite right. If it is the valve when she urinates some of the urine travels back up to the kidney. If this does develop into an issue it could mean that she forms a bladder infection when she comes out and may need a few months of antibiotics. If this continues to be suspicious then she may have some follow up ultra sounds and maybe a dye test when she is born to see if urine is flowing back up to the kidney. In any case, it sounded like something that may be nothing or may turn into a minor issue when she is born. The doctor noted that she sees this maybe 4 times a week and that it often turns into nothing. They just noted it in the file so the U/S Tech and the next Dr. will remember to take an extra look.

Although, there is a size difference and the kidney "issue". The other measurements don't suggest any Twin-Twin Transfusion. However, they will move up our next growth scan. Instead of being in 4 weeks they will do it in 3 weeks. That means things are about to get really busy.

In 2 weeks Joy gets two steroid shots 24 hrs apart to stimulate lung growth.
In 2 weeks Joy starts 3x week NSTs (they monitor fetal heart beats this should be about 1 hr each time).
In 2 weeks there is another U/S to check on Twin-Twin Transfusion. They will be looking at the heart, kidneys, bladder etc.
In 3 weeks there will be another growth scan.
In 4 weeks if nothing pops up during the NSTs Joy will be admited to Duke.
Hopefully, the two little ones stay comfy and don't come out until 32 weeks (around the week of July 10th-17th).

Overall, we are still very positive. No big curve balls. I re-read some case studies and at this point in the game the odds for these little ones are very good. Granted the case studies are small with only about 30-40 babies in them, but it seems that "properly managed and monitored" the outcome should be very good. In one study the only losses were after birth and in both of those cases the child had heart deformations. So far they have not seen any heart deformations in our girls.

I have also started to research baby stuff. I found some cribs that were highly rated by consumer reports. So on the spur of the moment Joy and I headed to IKEA to pick up some cribs etc. We decided to go with more "disposable" cribs ($100 ea.) rather than getting the kind that turn into a full size bed ($500+ ea.). This is because we figured the little ones may chew on the rails and while being a toddler they may beat the furniture with toys and knick it up. So, these cribs turn into toddler beds and should last them until we need to get them "grown up" beds. At which time we hope they will be less destructive.

Also, Consumer Reports recommended to not reuse cribs from other people. This is because the heating or cooling during storage could effect the safety. You would need to determine if there had been any recalls etc. They also recommended not using drop side cribs and to buy very simple cribs.

I also picked out our car seats. I'm still having problems justifying the City Select double stroller. It is crazy expensive to carry two car seats. We are looking about about $850! Ouch!!!!! Not sure I can talk myself into that. The good thing is that you can convert it back to pushing toddlers and it looks pretty sturdy, but man...pricey!

We are both getting very excited and we are going to go ahead with a baby shower at the end of the month before Joy goes into the hospital. She really wants to let loose and enjoy things. She really doesn't want to miss out on a "normal" pregnancy event like a shower. So her and several helpers are trying to sort out how, when and where to throw a party.

Ok....back to the ol' grind.