4 year wedding anniversary

Looking back to a month ago….June 12th 


My husband Ed and I have been married 4 years.  If you would've asked us then, shoot even 9 months ago if I ever thought I'd spend an anniversary in the hospital I wouldn't have believe it.  It's been one crazy ride we have been on this past year.  
Thanks to the amazing staff--friends I made at Children's Memorial Hermann it was the most beautiful, romantic evening I could've ever hoped for.  The MFM coordinator Sandra did an amazing job putting this together for us, I'll always appreciate her kindness, creativity, and thoughtfulness to help her patients on the antepartum floor pass their time inpatient.

Ed and I at our wedding 4 years ago 

Us now at 29 weeks pregnant 

Thanks to Sandra and a few of the nurses and other staff members they decorated the 5th floor conference room so we could have a romantic dinner there.  

White table cloth, candelabra, rose petals, and yummy desserts

CD player playing with Mixed CD of classic love songs I made for Ed and had burned onto a CD, thanks to Hannah the music therapist intern

Balloons and other fun decor 

Biggest surprise of the evening---Marks carry-out lol.  

That's where we ate dinner the night we got engaged. 

Duck confit, wild rice and some yummy veggies

my favorite!

Absolutely wonderful!  I will never forget this evening.  

One Week Old

June 26th

Updates: 

- Katherine's feedings had a bit of residual (2 cc's) basically throw and feed fresh 

- Lauren's feedings she had 1 cc residual 

***The plan is to take out their central line by 9pm 

*** Last day on TPN fluids, will be on breast milk only 

Lauren and Daddy 

Katherine 

Lauren sleeping on Daddy 

Moving Day

Friday, June 27th 

Updates: 

-Feedings were increased to 21 cc's! 

-We graduated from the 7th floor to the 8th floor.  
8th floor is the "feeders and growers" floor. Babies that are moved up here are showing great signs of progress and are just working on feeding and growing.  The requirement to move up is that the babies weigh at least 1200 grams (2.6 lbs).  In the NICU they calculate weight in grams.  

New Doctor-- Dr. Christina Wong, Dr. Fatima Barricha 

Wide awake and ready for Mommy to carry me 

Katie passed out after the move, she was really tired

Leaving the 7th floor 

Our nurse Susan getting us settled into our new room 

Trying to get the monitors hooked up 

Our new room--includes pull out couch, 2 comfy chairs, 

private bathroom with sink and shower and tons of closet space 

Me and Lauren 

Katie still passed out 

Mommy cuddling with Abby after a long day 

First Snuggles & Mommy's Homecoming

Weekly Updates

Monday, June 23rd

Updates:
They increased their feedings to 11cc's--they are tolerating food very well
Off of Phototherapy
No more blood in their BM

Tuesday, June 24th 
Mommy and Daddy got to hold the girls for the first time since they were born!!!

Mommy holding Lauren 

Daddy holding Katie 

Wednesday, June 25th

Girls weight:

Katie--2 lbs, 11 oz
Lauren-- 2lbs, 11 oz

They increased the feedings to 18cc's. 


Happy Homecoming Mommy!

Finally after 38 days of being Inpatient I got to go home! I was so ready.  

My countdown--I would look forward to crossing off a day every night 

My beautiful nursery for my girls is almost finished 

We just need a few things here and there 

Our new mini van was waiting for me in the driveway!

Abby loves her new car 

#abbyapproved

Our first weekend

The girls started in Sheep Pod B

Mommy putting her hand on Lauren

Visit from Gigi and Papa

Someone is a bit upset

Lauren 

Katie 

Our Girls

Our girls Katherine Maria (Who we are calling Katie) and Lauren Elizabeth truly amaze me.  They have fought for their life this whole time and recovered that traumatic birth like little champs!

Here are there birth stats: 

Katherine Maria:  weighed 3lbs, 2 oz & 15.5 in long 

Lauren Elizabeth: weighed 3lbs, 1oz & 15.5 in long 


Katie was breathing on her own when she was born but they put her on CPAP for 24 hours just to make sure she was breathing ok.  CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure--it's a mask that is placed firmly on the baby's nose to constantly blow air.  The constant pressure encourages open airways and reminds babies to breathe.  By 48 hours Katie was already breathing on her own again without any assistance.  

Lauren was intubated with a ventilator because she was having a little more trouble breathing. By the second day she was put on CPAP.  By the third she was also breathing on her own.  I couldn't believe how advanced they were having been born at only 30 weeks, and 4 days.  We were so lucky to have done those 5 and 6 rounds of steroids only a few days before---they really helped!

Both girls had good apgars scores.  They were both started on IV fluids to increase their blood glucose.  They were also put on antibiotics as precautionary measures--given ampicillin and gentamicin (same ones Mommy had to take after she got her fever.  Their blood count looked good.  The doctors did notice that their was some blood in the girls BM but it was to be expected because they swallowed blood in utero.  For Lauren there was also some bleeding in the lungs but that is something that the doctors are monitoring closely.  FYI the girls are A+ blood type just like their Mama =).      

On Saturday, June 23rd they started feeding the babies my breast milk.  They started with 4 cc's (there's about 29.5 cc in 1 oz)every 3 hours.  Their tummy's are very small and they are taking in very little to start off with.  When they started the feedings they were having about 6 cc residuals for every 4 cc feeding.  

By Sunday June 22nd their weight had dropped to 2 lb, 11 oz.  They were receiving in addition to breast milk something called TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) this contains nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fats, electrolytes, and many other essential components via the bloodstream bypassing the gastrointestinal tract.  This is very common in premature infants, as their stomachs and intestines are not quite developed enough to handle breast milk and can't adequately absorb nutrients.  

The girls were also put on phototherapy.  Preemies are more likely to have problems from jaundice.  Phototherapy lights (also called bill lights)are special lights that help the baby's body break down bill rubin, the chemical that causes jaundice.  

Holding Mama's hand 

Here are the girls sporting stylish sunglasses in the phototherapy 

Meet our miracle babies

This is the story of my delivery: The birth of our miracle babies

On the evening of Wednesday June 18th I started to not feel well.   I felt as if something wasn't right.  I told my night nurse Kami that I wasn't feeling well, I felt like I couldn't breathe and like something was wrong.  Kami assured me that my babies looked great on the fetal heart monitor and that I was having some uterine irritability but these were not your typical textbook contractions.  After being in the hospital at this point over a month, nurses know their patients really well and she knew that I never complained about pain so that something was definitely up.  
I told her to call my doctor,  he told Kami to start me on an IV I was barely able to sleep that night because I was so worried something was wrong.  In the morning I was in a lot of pain and was no doubt having full blown contractions.  They started me on magnesium to stop
the contractions (and for brain protection).  I kept thinking the whole time the magnesium was
going to work and this was going to be another scare (one of many I had while inpatient).

My doctor came in to check on me and I was a few cm dilated.  The magnesium clearly wasn't working. "It's time, we are having some babies today." he said.
I had never expected that Thursday, June 19th we would be having
babies.  I was only 30 weeks, 4 days.  But I reminded myself I'm 30,
weeks, 4 days!! When we got diagnosed with TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome), I was only 23 weeks and reminded myself that we are a special case and have been
preparing for this all along.  I had strong faith that everything would be great!

Well they prepped me for surgery and since I had had a C-section with Abby this was not my first rodeo and I pretty much knew what to expect (spinal tap, anesthesia).  Before I knew it they had started the surgery.  Katherine (Baby A) came out first and I let out a huge cry of relief just to hear her crying  (or screaming rather), phew I thought there is
nothing wrong with her lungs thats for sure.  Seconds later Lauren (Baby B) came out, both
babies whisked away by the NICU team of nurses and doctors.  It was so difficult and painful not to be able to see and hold my babies right away.


It was after the babies were born that the OR vibe changed drastically.  
There was something wrong again I could sense it.  Ed was asked to
leave because I was bleeding out a lot.  I heard them say "We need to
clear this area out for blood transfusion."  WHAT was going on??  With Ed
out of the room no one was by my side or telling me what was happening.  
I felt tugging and pulling and all sorts of bizarre sensations.  It
wasn't until it was all over that they told me what had happened.
My placenta had abrupted.  What did that mean exactly?  Well my OB Dr. C*ok
would come to explain to me and Ed that my placenta had literally deteriorated, completely detaching itself from the uterine wall.  This is also something that is rare - it only happens in about 1% of pregnancies after 20 weeks gestation.  It is one of the more common causes of maternal mortality or event resulting in a hysterectomy.  The thought of that was absolutely terrifying.  And of course throughout this whole journey I never ever thought my life would be in danger.  I was always so worried about my babies' lives.


We had the Lord protecting us that day, as well as people praying for us all over the world and an amazing team of nurses and doctors that worked tirelessly that day to save me and my babies' lives.  It was a slow recovery--both physically and emotionally---trying to go back to my "normal" self would take weeks.  I was supposed to go home that following Monday but I got really sick Sunday night with a fever so my doctor wanted to keep me a few extra days for strict observation and IV antibiotics. 

The hardest part for me in of all of this was not being able to see my girls.  I went straight into the recovery room where I got sick (I'll spare you the details) and then finally back to my room good ol #582.  I was upset because I wanted to see my girls, I had only seen them very briefly in the OR then they were taken up to the NICU.  


These were some of the pictures Dad got--

Katherine was born breathing on her own but they put her on CPAP for precautions

Our precious little miracle babies