Tuesday's Recap -

Medically, nothing new to report. Good, great, wonderful. I am hanging in there. Friday we'll get our ultrasound and they'll check to see if my cervix has changed any further.

I am still enjoying looking at my pretty flowers that Eric gave me as well as the beautiful ones that Daniel & Abby sent me. So nice! Its the only thing I have that's remotely close to actually being outside. The view outside of my window is the heli-pad where emergencies are being transferred in and out. Nice.

My mom brought me a picture of Meurice to my room and I can't stop looking at it. I miss him so much. Its so hard to be away from him! I can't imagine how women remain in the hospital on bedrest when they have other children at home - - let alone a dog! I just hope whenever I get home he hasn't forgot about me :(

Today I had some visitors - - Dana and Sherry, who are both Physicial Therapists here at Wake Med, stopped by this afternoon. It was so nice to see friends and just chit chat. Thanks for the cookies and magazines!! Leah brought me lunch - - tacos! One thing's for sure, when I leave here, whether or not I am pregnant, I will be ONE BIG GIRL. Then my neighbors Meg & Josh came by. They've been taking care of Meurice when Eric's with me, so that has been helpful. He really enjoys going over to their house and playing with their dog. To finish the night off, my father in law and cousin in law Jason stopped by. Means alot to have all of these people help me pass the time. Oh - and of course Eric was here. He comes everyday after work.

Now me - - nothing, which is good to report. Every day is a victory. I am trying to remain patient and positive. Tomorrow I will have been here 1 week. That's good news in itself, I've been able to keep them in one additional week. I received some amazing emails today from other mothers of multiples who had similar / worse situations. These women also went on bed rest for various reasons or had pre-term labor and delivered preemies. Some even went on bed rest around week 20 and remained in the hospital for months. Then some of these women went on bed rest at 20weeks and were able to hold out until 36+ weeks. These were horrible situations for these women, their stories give me the motivation that this will work out no matter what.

Last - American Idol was on and I like that Danny guy.

Monday, Monday

Day 6 -

Eric's at work today, which is exactly where he needs to be, but its still weird being at the hospital by myself. I officially hate that "Kardashian" show on E (why are they famous?) and think that the Today show past 9:00 am is not that exciting. Not to mention, TLC Baby Story is exactly what I shouldn't be watching! Other than that, I've found some other good shows on, reading lots of magazines, and books and catching up with people on the phone.

Today I had a 30 minute scan - which means they had 2 fetal monitors on me, one for each baby, for 30 minutes. They also had another monitor on me that tracks any contractions that I may have. Like always, little girl was super easy to find. She is SO low now, especially since last weeks episode she dropped alot, so she's pretty much stuck where she's at. Little guy is so active it takes them a while to find his heartbeat. But today went well. For 30 minutes they tracked their heartbeats, which are good, healthy, and strong. Again, a great thing, shows they are happy, content, and in no stress. I had no contractions either. They will repeat this again on Thursday. Afterward the DR came in and we discussed what we can expect this week. If I can make it to this Saturday ( 30 weeks ) without any issues / complications / events then there's a chance that I will go home. As much as I don't want to be here, I am scared to go home. But I am just going to trust the physicians and take it one day at a time. We will also receive an ultrasound on Friday, which will tell us how much the babies weigh now. Almost 3 weeks ago he was 2.6lbs and she was 2.4lbs - - so I am hoping that these miracle babies are right up at 3lbs a piece, which would be terrific.

Gotta go, Oprah's on . . .

My blog is my outlet

Well, I guess I am using my blog as a way to document what's going on. So, the latest....its Saturday around noon. I received the last of my meds yesterday at 3pm and things are still stable and steady. The meds were to suppress the contractions and they worked, which was wonderful. The next step is to see how my body responds, on its own, without the meds. So far, day 1, a success. I haven't had any contractions, pains, issues etc. Each additional day is a victory, I'll take it.

Last night Eric and I got to tour the NICU. I really didn't want to, but after some persuassion and thought I knew it was the right thing to do. We saw the facility, which is fully equipped and well established. It made me feel slightly better, knowing that if these babies too early, we are at the right place. All babies born before 35 weeks gestation would go there. We saw babies who had just arrived and strong babies who were close to be released. Their progress was obvious. I know they would take tremendous care of our twins if they come too early.

Everyone keeps wondering if I am going home, and the answer is no. Official hospital bedrest and as hard and miserable as it sounds, it would be all worth it to buy some more time and keep these babies inside a little while longer.

That's the story for now . . . .

We are in the hospital, we've hit a bump in the road

Yesterday, March 25th, was officially the scariest day of my life. Eric left for a work trip early in the a.m. and my mom was set to come in today (Thursday) so I had only ONE day by myself. Well, that's all it took. Eric's flight left at 7:00 am and I noticed something "off" by 8:00 am. I called my ob/gyn and went into their office at 2:00 pm. (mind you I was there the day before for a routine check up and everything looked great). Well, I was dialated 2 cm and rushed right over to the hospital. I was hooked up to all kinds of IVs and medication to slow down the pre-term labor that I was and still currently in. I quickly progressed to 3 cm and was rushed by ambulance to a near by hospital that has a Level 3 Labor & Delivery unit. I am only 28.4 weeks along, too early for any baby to be born. I was terrified. Eric was lucky to land in Las Vegas for his meeting, hear from me what was going on, and get on a flight back to Raleigh. For a while I was progressing so rapidly I was afraid I was going to need an emergency c-section and Eric wasn't going to be here. They got me to Wake Med where I have been since yesterday at 5pm. Throughout the remainder of the evening and into the night my contractions weakened and really spaced out and slowed down. I am still at 3 cm, no further progression. So, for now, we are status quo. I have been given steroids to help the babies lungs and will be given another dose at 5pm today. Our short term goal right now is to make it to 5pm tomorrow (Friday). At that point, the babies would have received the maximum benefit from the steroids. From there, we will take it minute, by minute, day by day, week by week. If I can stay at this state, without furthering progression, that would be WONDERFUL. I will more than likely be here throughout the remainder of the pregnancy - - whether that be 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month. On a good note, the babies are fine. They are not in any stress and their heartbeats are wonderful. Their rate of survival is 99.9%, they would need some assistance breathing, eating etc. Bottom line, its just too early and I am praying that we can round past Friday and just remain on bedrest for a few more weeks and get them as big as we can.

Back to the story, Eric got to me around 1:00 am and I have never in my life been more excited to see him. We got a few hours of sleep, but I have a fetal monitor for each baby, plus 2 IVs, a contraction monitor, and a blood pressure cuff that goes off every 30 minutes etc etc etc. So sleep was minimal. Like I mentioned, things stabilized throughout the night. I was moved from Labor & Delivery this morning to antipartym - - which is for women like me trying to prolong their pregnancy. I have not felt any contractions since this morning and emotionally feeling much better. It has been a rollercoaster. The staff is wonderful and we have met with the neonatologist and Eric will be touring the NICU later on today or tomorrow.

I am writing this as Eric is at the airport getting my mom - - whom I cannot wait to see.

Send your good vibes are way . . .

( we have Eric's laptop, so you can contact us via email or try our cells )

Monogramming Treat

Since Eric & I are the only ones who know the babies names - - I decided that I should go ahead and monogram something. Don't they need just 1 thing monogrammed for when they get home???? So, I decided to order them hooded bath towels that they can use from potterybarnkids.com. Mr boy's is blue and little missy's is pink - - I am sure you're surprised!

No, I didn't eat Eric . . . .

That's just a belly full of babies!! The crazy part (to me anyways) is wondering what I could possibly look like (and feel like) 10 weeks from now! While its a guarantee I will not make it to 40 weeks, I could make it to 38 weeks. We'll have to wait and see just how wild that might look!

Right on track . . .

27.2 weeks today - - our babies are the size of cauliflower.




Our appt at DUKE went beautifully! I mentioned to the DR that I was only feeling movement on my right side, thinking that only 1 baby was being very active. Well, that's not the case. Little missy is very, very low (contributing to all of my discomfort), head down facing up (like she's sunbathing) with her feet heading up my stomach. Little boy is stomach to stomach with her. He is still breech, with his boo-tay in the air and his face down, facing my back. So they are jammed together on the right side! Its always a blast to see them at these appts, because the equipment is so advanced. We got a 4D shot of her little face (below) -- it was CRAZY!! She looks just like a little baby. It was unbelievable to look at her and try to tell if she is looking like either of us. Since he is facing in all of the wrong directions, we only got pictures of feet, butt, legs etc. His little face remains a mystery. She weights 2.5 lbs and he weighs 2.6 lbs - exactly the same! They are actually "big" for twins at this stage. They are in the 60th percentile for single babies! I guess all of those bacon, egg, and cheeses are paying off!




Other notes, my legs are very sore. The DR prescribed these special stockings to help reduce swelling, I am desperate at this point I'll try anything! I take 2 baths a day to help relieve the pain. Also, I am STARVING, all of the time. I am doing well eating protein, even though my body craves carbs. I try to not cave too much, but really, at this point any and everything is fair game!

Next posting - - my belly, along with pictures of me and the belly at Meredith & Jon's wedding last weekend in Atlanta. The babies and I made our first pregnant bridesmaid debut!

Stay - At - Home Pregnant Mama

I am officially "HOME" - - today is day 3. Things are going well. I've been relaxing, talking to my best friend Meurice, and cooking Eric dinner. ( I hope he enjoys this, because its going to come to an end very shortly )!!!

I am 26.4 weeks and had a DRs appt yesterday, along with my glucose test. I am anxious to get the results back either today or tomorrow. For those of you who haven't had this, its not bad. Its a sugary orange drink in a small water bottle. The only "issue" is they handed it to me and said "you have 3 minutes, drink up". I haven't "chugged" in a long time, I am out of shape! The babies looked great. The DR said little missy had chubby cheeks and my future son has a big head! C Section please!!! We'll be heading to DUKE for our more in-depth appt Friday. Then we'll find out exactly how long and how much they weigh. My DR estimated around 2.5 lbs a piece. We'll see . . .

If anyone is interested in swinging by or coming into town - - I'M HERE and NOT TOO BUSY!!!!

Baby Shower

Here are the over-due BABY SHOWER photos. Thank you Leah for a fantastic party! It was such a great afternoon, I had so much fun. I was so happy that my family was able to fly into town to attend. My mom has gone above and beyond "showering" us. The babies have quite the wardrobe awaiting them when they get here! We received everything from whale bath tubs, to diapers, to boppies, sheets, stuffed animals, to all the necessary teething toys, bottles, first aid necessities, and pacifiers. All the moms knew exactly what was necessary! My parents even gave Eric a "mini daddy shower" the night before, so he wouldn't feel left out!

Look at the talent!

Baby Girl is sucking her thumb in the picture on the bottom, which was very neat to catch on the ultrasound. Now, Baby Boy's picture might be harder to distinguish. Its actually his foot above his little hand. See? His legs were over his head, like I said, as if he were doing yoga! They are moving and kicking alot and I love to feel them. Their bones are getting stronger so the "kicks" are now starting to feel like real limbs moving, as if they are "swimming" around.