Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Day 9 in the NICU

We were on our way to the hospital yesterday when we received a call from Dr. B at the NICU. He said that Nurse A noticed some red jelly like substance in Lily Cate's stool and that she had spit up rather bad during her last feeding. They tested her stool at her bedside and it tested negative but then after he saw the red in the stool he sent it down to be cultured to see exactly what it was. They immediately sent for an x-ray and it came back with two spots in her intestines that were slightly bubbly but not to bad. If it was a serious infection it would have shown lots of bubbles in her intestines. They would do another x-ray at 6pm and see if the spots had moved. If they had then it would be stool that was in her intestines and not infection. If it didn't move then they would insert a repogal tube through her mouth into her stomach. This would suction any bile out and help clear her tummy and let her belly rest. Thank the Lord she did not show any signs of being sick. Her belly was still soft and was not hard which would have been a clear sign of a life-threatening infection called NEC (sp?). They went ahead and stopped ALL feedings, started another iv and put her on sugar water and a wide ray of antibiotics. They also downgraded her back to a warmer from her isolette.

When we went back to the hospital for the 8-10:30pm visitation we found her with the repogal tube inserted and it was suctioning clear liquids from her belly. This is when I lost it. I sat at her beside and LC and I cried together. Her because she was hungry and she had yet another tube in her and me because you never want to see your children sick. Especially with something that could be life-threatening in a 4 lb 10oz baby. Phillip remained strong and held it together for all of us.

She was given another x-ray this morning. Luckily Dr. B was still on duty and a Pediatric GI Dr. took a look at her x-rays and was un-impressed with what he saw. This was wonderful news! They all think it's stool and not infection and he said her x-ray was viewed as 'normal.' They will still continue the antibiotics and the no feedings for a total of 7 days starting today and then switch her to a pre-digestive formula. Tomorrow she will have another x-ray and if it shows similar to today's x-ray then they will take the repogal tube out. This is a big praise in itself. LC loves her paci but had a hard time keeping it in her mouth with the larger tube in place. Once this tube was out then she could get a good suction and maybe help her with the hunger. Both times we were up at the hospital today she was resting very peacefully. We pray that she will continue resting peacefully for the next seven days and heal 100%. We can't wait to get our hands on our babies and bring them home. God has a wonderful plan for these babies and we can't wait to see what it is!

Thank you all who have prayed my children into this world and who have continued to pray! Words can't tell you how much we appreciate everything. God is good!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Birth of Lily Cate and Wills Phillip

Little did we know but I would be going into labor Friday October 9, 2009. I had just been to the Dr. on Monday when I was given a great report and told that I would probably go 37 to 38 weeks carrying the twins. Wednesday we started clearing out our dining room from being Emma's play room and I carried out her dollhouse. About an hour later I felt like I had either pulled a muscle or stretched my side. I muddled through it and kept the heating pad on and taking Tylenol. Thursday I had called the nurse and asked about seeing a chiropractor to try and crack my back. She advised against it and hold out until the following Monday to talk to the Dr. Friday I decided not to go to Bible study and stay home and really rest because I had become so uncomfortable. I felt like the kids were pushing down really hard and it was very uncomfortable and with my side hurting I just needed to stay on the couch. Later that night I had also noticed that when I would wipe I would get a lot of mucus. This started on Thursday so I decided to get on the internet (which I was told not to do) and researched leaking and mucus in third trimester. Most of the info said that you could be leaking urine more in your third trimester but that on occasion it could be amniotic fluid. The Dr's office could do a quick swab test to see if it was truely amniotic fluid or not. I had this gut feeling that I needed to call the nurse and check with them. At 8pm I called and the nurse said I needed to head to the hospital and they would do the swab test to rule it out. We loaded up the van and headed up to the hospital for a quick trip. All the way there I was thinking to myself, "Self, just turn around and go home. You can go back tomorrow morning. Emma needs to be at home in bed. Phillip's going to kill me if this turns out to be nothing and we could have been home in bed."

We checked in at 8:45 and they took the swab test. They said it looked like there could be some fluid but they weren't sure. The Dr. took the sample to look at it under the microscope. They thought that my water had either broken or had been leaking. The concensus was that I would stay in the hospital until... If I wasn't leaking then I would be sent home and put on strict bedrest until the babies came. I prayed and prayed to be able to go home. I did not want to stay in the hospital until... Dr. P ordered an ultrasound be done to check the fluid in each sack. This took over an hour to complete the entire ultrasound. The fluid looked good but she wanted to keep me overnight and recheck in the morning. We were wheeled into room 315 and settled in for the night. Nurse Allison came in and hooked my IV's up for antibiotics just in case I in deed had been leaking fluid. She then said that she was going to check and see if I had dialated. You should have seen Nurse A's face when she checked me. She looked up and said, "Oh my! Your 8cm dialted and fully effaced! Let me go get another nurse to recheck you." I was in fact 8cm dialated and fully effaced. She said, "We are having babies tonight!" Poor little Emma was asleep on the couch and Phillip and I looked at each other in disbelief. We called Mrs. Carol at 12:30am and asked her if she would come and get Emma and run by our house and pick up our camera. (We had no idea that we would be having babies that night. We literally left the house with the clothes on our backs and nothing else.) Nurse A ordered my epidural and I looked at Phillip and said, "I guess we need to settle up on the babies names!" We have been talking and mulling the names over and over again. I looked at Phillip and said "I would love to name our baby boy "Wills Phillip" after you. I want our boy to have your qualities and be just like you." And it was done. Lily Cate's name had pretty much already been decided.

Carol came just in time to get Emma and take her back to the house. They stayed up until 4am watching tunes and hanging out! What a great time Emma had with her! Thanks Carol for making the midnight run!!! Shortly after Emma left we took a picture of the clock on the wall at 1:40am. (We did this with Emma.) Ten minutes later I was wheeled into the C-Section room. There was lots of buzz going on around us getting ready for the arrival of two 33 week old babies. Both babies were head down so we were going to try and deliver them vaginally. Sometimes when baby A is delivered then baby B likes to turn around and then requires a C-Section to deliver it. I pushed three times and Lily Cate was born at 2:06am weighing in at 4lbs. 12 oz. Baby B moved right into position, we waited for his cord to drop, then I pushed four times and Wills Phillip was born at 2:14am.

Both babies were healthy and did not require any oxygen. They will spend the next 4 weeks in the NICU until they reach their 37 week full term due date or until they reach all their milestones that are required.

We are so blessed to have such two wonderful and healthy blessings added to our family. We definitely are looking forward to bringing two of God's miracles home to add to our very first miracle from God, Emma. Big sister can hardly wait to meet her new brother and sister. Unfortunately, the NICU will not allow any visitors other than the parents back due to the swine flu outbreaks and other illnesses.

Thank you to everyone who has loved, prayed, supported and donated to these babies and our family. We are so thankful to you and cannot have gotten through the last 8 months without you and most importantly God. We look forward to you meeting the babies soon!

This was taken ten minutes before I was wheeled back to the operating room.
Right before I was taken back.

Heading back to delivery.
Excited Daddy ready to meet the new babies!
Relaxing before the big moment!
Wills Phillip
Lily Cate

Wills Phillip
Proud Parents!
Holding both babies at the same time with Dr. Bruce (NICU Dr.) assisting me!
R: Lily Cate L: Wills Phillip



Kissing Lily Cate
Kissing Wills
Babies being wheeled down to the NICU in the same isolette.



Monday, October 5, 2009

32 Weeks

Today we went for my 32 week appointment. Another milestone checked off! I'm so thankful to have made it this far without any major complications. This was a big appointment where lots of things were checked. We started with an ultrasound. The babies are so big now that you can really see anything. They were mainly checking the fluid levels and doing a couple of measurements. With twins they make sure that one isn't out growing the other. Baby A weighed in at 4.6lbs with a heartbeat of 136. Baby B weighed in at 4.5lbs with a heartbeat in the 150's. Fluid level looked great. Blood pressure was good. Not sure how much weight gain there was. Forgot to ask. I try not to look at the scale because it weighs in much more than I care to weigh. (Not just because I have two babies in me but that I started out before I was pregnant already overweight and carrying around the baby weight that I gained with Emma. I'm grateful though that this time I seem to really be ALL babies with only a few extra pounds for cushioning that hopefully won't be hard to get off afterwards. We'll think about that when the time comes.

We then met with Dr. D. He had nothing but good things to say. My fingertips have been going numb right underneath the nail. He said it's from my wrist getting smaller (wrists do not swell) cutting off the blood circulation causing numbness in the fingers. This is just another pregnancy symptom that is nothing to worry about. Phillip asked Docs opinion on how much longer I could carry these babies. Without blinking Dr. D said that he had no doubts that I would be carrying them to term. 5 more weeks. Wowzers! I can't imagine how big they'll be in 5 more weeks. At least a pound more a piece!

Next we were off to labor & delivery to have my NST (non-stress test) done. We were ushered into a regular delivery/recovery room just like I had Emma in. I laid on the bed and they strapped all of the monitors on me and I got lay there and have peace and quiet for a few minutes. The twins performed on que and tested out in 6 minutes. :) I'm a proud Mama!

Until next week (or sooner)!