6/28/2012

Yesterday afternoon I was started on the Magnesium Sulfate drip and it seems to be working. The contractions slowed way down and I was able to sleep last night. The girls continue to look great on the monitor, happy and active with great heart rates. If everything continues to go well, they plan on decreasing the Magnesium Sulfate drip and see what my body does. If the contractions don't return, there is a possibility I may get to go home.

UW Update

Yesterday I finally received the amnio-reduction around 2:00pm. It was a rather painful procedure, but they were able to take off about 1 liter of extra fluid from Isla's amniotic sack. Afterwords I experience a lot of pain and cramping, which is usual as your body readjusts. Immediately afterwards you could see a huge change in my belly. After a few hours things calmed down and my pain and contractions decreased just as my doctor was hoping. I received the second steroid shot before bed, so in case of an early delivery Ava will receive the full benifits of the steroids by tonight. This will help increase her lung developement and hopefully decrease her need for intensive breathing assistance if she is born in the next 2-3 weeks. Last night I experienced some painful contractions and unfortunatly when my doctor checked this morning I was dilated 1.5cm and 70% effaced. My doctor is planning to re-check this afternoon. If things have progressed I will be put on a Magnesium Sulfate drip to try and stop any labor progression. The magnesium Sulfate also helps protect babies brain in case of an early delivery. Jeff just left to take my favorite little man Cam back to Pops and Gigi's house. It was so good to see him, especially since we are always together. We are hoping to know more soon. Thank you all for your love, prayers and support. We would love to see these babies stay put!

29 Weeks, First Hospital Stay

Sunday marked 29 weeks for the girls. Up until this weekend things have been relatively uneventful. Friday morning I woke up extremely dizzy. Jeff stayed home to take care of Cam and I had to lay low. When I called in with my symptoms, the consensus was that the dizziness was likely caused by the cold I had. I took it easy on Sunday and by Monday when I was having lower back pain and a general uneasy feeling my doctor recommended coming in. On the ultasound my doctor noticed right away that Isla had a lot of extra fluid in her sack. Likely because she is unable to swallow and process the fluid normally due to the abnormalities from Trisomy 13. Ava's fluid levels are normal so the aren't worried about it being from twin-to-twin-transfusion. My doctor believes that all of the excess fluid is causing my uterus to contract because it is so strained it thinks it's time for labor. Later this morning I am planning on getting an amnioreduction, where they remove the extra fluid in hopes of stopping the contractions and keeping labor from starting. There is a small risk that the procedure could break the amniotic sack/start labor. At this point I am not considered to been in labor, which is exactly how we want it to stay. Last night they gave me the first of two steroid injections to help develope Ava's lungs in case of an early delivery. I will get the second injection tonight, 24 hours afterwards Ava will have the full benefits. I expect to stay here on the monitors through tonight and if everything goes well, there is a possibility I could go home tomorrow.

28 Weeks

28 weeks pregnant with Ava & Isla

Wednesdays appointment went really well. Both girls continued their great growth, Isla at an estimated 2lbs 8oz, and Ava 3lbs. I was so happy to hear that they are both growing well and that I am still not showing any sign of pre-term labor! During the ultrasound, both girls finally showed their faces, it was great getting to see them. We were also able to get a better look at Ava's cleft lip. Again the Ultrasound Tech noted how small it was (2mm), and after taking a good look said that Ava doesn't appear to have a cleft pallet, but that is difficult to detect 100% by ultrasound. Our doctor even said that if Ava just has the small cleft lip, I will most likely be able to nurse. After talking in depth with my Doctor we decided that the best form of delivery would be by c-section, due to the risks associated with twins sharing a placenta and the fact that Isla is twin A (in position to deliver first) and the possible complications if something were to happen to Isla before Ava could be delivered naturally. It is so funny how different it all is from my experience with Camden (working with the midwives and no need for any intervention), and I am totally fine with that.

There is not set delivery date at this point since it is all dependent on how the girls continue to do, but we expect to meet the by the time they are 37 weeks if not before. So crazy knowing we will most likely be meeting them before August 19th. My original due date was September 9th.

Starting at my next appointment in 2 weeks (7/3) we will have increased monitoring with at least weekly appointments including NST (non-stress test) to make sure that there are no indications of a need for an earlier delivery.

Thank you all for your continues prayers and support, it has been amazing!

27 Weeks and Counting

27 weeks w/twins

27 weeks w/twins

Wow, I remember thinking 24 weeks was a long way off. So happy to make it to 27 weeks without any signs of additional complications. Here's to 28 and beyond!

26 Week Appointment: 6/6/2012

26 weeks

The day before my scheduled two week appointment I started getting a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions (practice contraction), so I was glad to already have an appointment set up with my doctor. At my appointment they checked for any physical signs of pre-term labor (shortened cervix ect.). My doctor said that everything looked great. She also said that since I am carrying twins, she wouldn't be surprised if the Braxton Hicks contractions continue until the girls are born. Both girls are still growing well. They are big enough now that they will be able to start giving us an idea of their weight at our ultrasound appointments. Isla measured at 1lb 12oz (41% for singleton babies, they don't have charts specifically for twins) and Ava measured at 2lbs 3oz (60% ). This is great news! Our doctor expects that Isla will lag in her growth because of the Trisomy 13, but was happy with both of their progress. My next appointment will be in two weeks and then after that we may be transitioning to weekly appointments.

The further along we get the more closely they will be monitoring the girls, especially Isla for signs of stress. At this point our doctor said that if Ava showed signs of distress she would not recommend delivering Ava this early, because the risks are still too great. The fear is that if something happens to Isla and she passes away before Ava is delivered there is around a 30% something catastrophic would occur in Ava at that moment (a stroke resulting in brain damage, death ect). As we get further along and pass the 30/32 week mark our doctor would strongly consider delivery if Isla appears to be doing poorly. For that reason in the next few weeks I will start going in more regularly for monitoring and non-stress test.

Yesterday's appointments were reassuring, seeing that both girls are still doing well. We are praying that they both continue on the same path and that we get to avoid having to make some of the hard decisions that would come with an early delivery.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and support. It has been really nice hearing from so many of you. Thank you! :)

*We did get the results a few weeks ago confirming that Ava and Isla are indeed identical twins.

Ava & Isla Updates

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support. We can't thank you all enough. I have tried to put together updates on what is happening with our girls. As you may or may not have known, we received some surprising and sad news at our 2nd trimester ultrasound. We were super surprised to find out that we are having identical twin girls, but some major complications/abnormalities were found at the same time. If you want to catch up, scroll to the very bottom and start with our first post dated 4/19/2012.

So This is 25 Weeks with Twins....

25 weeks w/ Camden

25 weeks w/ twins

So this is 25 weeks with twins. I feel a huge difference from when I was 25 weeks pregnant with Camden. I have a hard time even imagining what each new week will hold.

5/23/2012 Appointment Update

All of our appointments went well. On ultrasound both girls both girls appear to be growing on track and no signs of twin-to-twin transfer or other distress. We were so happy to see that they are doing well, since we want to them to stay put for the long haul. They also said that my body wasn't showing signs of pre-term labor so my next appointment will be in two weeks. We met with the Pediatrition who manages the neontal care unit at UW. He gave us an idea of what we could expect if our girls were born at different weeks. He talked about how even though Isla may not look like a typical newborn, if she makes it through birth he whole heartedly beleives she will know that I am her mom. That she will know my smell and my touch and that they will help to make sure that our time together is everything that it can be. Needless to say I had to blink back tears. He also let us know now that we have made it past the 24 week mark and Ava's outcome improves drastically with every week that she stays put. Things really start looking better after 28 weeks as far as survival and long term health. We are hoping to greatly surpass that, and would love it if Ava could skip the NICU all together. 

Again, thank you for all of your prayers and support!