7 months- happy new year.

Well much to our delight, after a rough weekend, we made it to the seven month mark. A fantastic milestone considering we were given a 50/50 chance for survival before we even made it out the first trimester. At this point viability outside the womb has been achieved (well 90% viablity) and long term issues start to diminish rapidly from this point on. We are aiming for 30 weeks...scary that's only two weeks away. The drs. obviously want to go 32-34, but will be satisfied with 30. Who knows what tomorrow holds...hopefully nothing.

I hope everyone has a happy and more importantly safe new year!! I will be here with my sparkeling grape juice, funny party hats, and hopefully a clear view to the east so I can see Kemah's fireworks display :)

P.S. I had to delete the last post...Waaaay to depressing. We will call that a hormonal moment...i am allowed to have those, right?

Eye Opener..

Today I have felt so sick since breakfast. I was finally able to fall back asleep at 11:15ish...about 11:45a.m. I hear alarms going off and the nurses frantic and shouting orders. Equipment is being wheeled around, doors slamming, Drs. rushing down the hall, the lady in the room next to me screaming...She was sent up from the ER earlier today because of preterm labor. She was 28 weeks along. You could hear the fear in her voice more than pain. The drs. finally got her sedated and sent her down to the OR for an emergency C-Section. I haven't heard from my nurse how things are going. I just can't help but to feel her panic. No one told her that this was going to happen. I already know that my twins are going to be delivered very premature. I have had time to prepare, I thought. But my reaction to her plight has made me realize that I am not. How do you mentally get ready for what is going to be an emergency...I know the delivery is going to be an emergency just like the lady next door. Lots of chaos, no time for family to show up. It's safe to say I am at just not ready. I hope the lady next door and baby are doing very well. When all settles down I'm going downstairs to the NICU and hopefully her baby will be there, thriving.


*UPDATE-
Apparently the lady was a very very large lady 320+lbs...I only say that because when she came in for labor pains the nurses couldn't find a fetal heartrate and didn't think anything of it because of her size. So they ordered and ultrasound...before the u/s machine got here, she went to the bathroom and felt the baby's head. Here is when the chaos started. By the time everyone got here she had delivered. Right in the room next to me....The baby was dead. Had been dead for 2 or more weeks. She said she had NEVER felt him move. This just raises more questions...Did it not occur to her to something was wrong if she never had any fetal movement...Why did it take her more than 24 hours to go to the hospital when she was in labor...UGH!

*YET ANOTHER UPDATE-
I just got done with my ultrasound...the girls are growing just like they should be. Baby A is 2 lbs Baby B is 2.2 lbs. They both are long armed, legged, and have big feet. LoL The Dr. was very happy with their progress. If he is happy then I am happy.

Almost 3 weeks...

Well with my third week coming to an end soon. My mind has officially turned to mush. I have to read my books with a dictionary at hand. Embarrassing, but whatever!

The girls have found a new source of enjoyment....bladder hockey. Before they would just push on it. Now they have quite a bit of strength and kick, punch, or headbutt it. Fun for them, not so much for me. Occasionally they put their foot directly behind my belly button and push. It's creepy. They can invert it with every kick.

Ok, I am waiting on Dustin to get here...We are supposed to take a tour of NICU...sigh.

Baby Names

Ok after much deliberation Dustin and I finally came up with baby names---
Iris Marie
and
Allyson Elaine.

It only took 6 months to narrow it down!!

Let me know what you think :)

2 weeks

My reasons I think my hospital stay is preparing me to be a parent-
1. I have not slept more than one consecutive hour since being here...no exaggeration.
2. I have to wait until it's convenient for everyone else before I take a shower.
3. My best attempts to set up a daily schedule are often thwarted before 8a.m.
4. I have to go make my potty breaks super quick...Never know when a nurse, food services, doctor, technician, cleaning lady, students, etc. are going to come in. I have a door to my bathroom, but they insist on talking to me while I am trying to go.
5. I spend my days making empty threats to the girls. "You need to behave while on the monitor....or else"
6. I went downstairs and got chick-fil-a for lunch...and it's still sitting here two hours later. Something keeps coming up. Thank god for microwaves. Of course this "something" could have waited....
7. I have to keep repeating myself...so freaking annoying.

Anywho...someone should be in here shortly to ask me something that they could have just got off my chart.

So tomorrow will be two weeks here. It's starting to get to me that I am missing all the Christmas rushing around. Yesterday was probably the worst day here. Baby A had several decelerations in heartrate resulting in several 1 hour long monitoring. Very stressful. I was thankful that Tasha and her whole group came to see me. It was nice to be distracted for a while. She also brought me a Christmas tree with little girl ornaments...Too cute!

Today is another day. We shall see what it brings. I also figured out the food services plot. They burn your taste buds off with the amount of salt that is in the food. Then you can't taste anymore. Very sneaky.

On life's journey

Faith is nourishment,

Virtuous deeds are a shelter,

Wisdom is the light by day

and Right mindfulness is the protection by night.

If a man lives a pure life nothing can destroy him;

If he has conquered greed nothing can limit his freedom.

Day 9

I have to admit I feel pretty lucky today, for the most part. I haven't been put on strict bed rest, yet. So I got to go downstairs today several times and stare at the sleet and feel the cold. It was great!! I really honestly enjoy this weather! I don't know what tomorrow holds in regards to being stuck in bed, but it was nice not to be today. I try not to be too happy about this because the other 8 women on this floor have to ask permission to go to the bathroom! I feel so bad for them. They always look so miserable.

Anywho foods here and I have one more monitoring today...fingers crossed for one more uneventful day!

Well my first week of inpatient is behind me. It went by pretty fast. I just hope I am here for many more weeks. I have however experienced several annoyances.

1)I had to request that a particular nurse be removed my case. She screwed up my medication. Thankfully I have enough of a background in Rx's that I could correct her. She couldn't keep my monitoring on schedule. High risk means I am dependant on those scans...The list of trespasses go on. I was happy to know that I am not the only person that has problems with her.

2) And the cleaning lady, very sweet lady, keeps shang hai-ing my wash clothes and towels. Clean or dirty, doesn't matter. She takes them to be laundered. The nurses are supposed to refill them, I think. It's really distressing to look forward to your daily shower and realize that you are soaking wet with only your dirty clothes to dry off. Lesson learned finally-I had my own towels from home brought to me.

3) The bottom of the table that slides over your bed is booby-trapped. Very sharp edges. I need knee pads, it keeps cutting the crap out of me.

I shouldn't complain too much. I do get to see my dr. everyday. The rest of the nursing staff is fantastic. I look forward to them coming in and talking to me. There are nursing students that get to come in and ask questions. They are always eager to talk!

Day 1 complete!

I just finished my first day in inpatient. I am doing fetal heartrate monitoring 3x's daily. Today baby B had a short decel in heartrate. The nurse said it was normal because she was rolling around so much she probably sat her fat butt on her own cord for a moment. The nurse was not worried so I am not :) not yet anyways. She said that even singletons will sit on their cords.

It is kind of a dreary day today. I woke up from my nap to the sound of rain tapping on my fourth floor window. Most people would find it depressing, I love the rain. I just wish I could go downstairs. Tomorrow it's supposed to be cold. I will sneak outside if only for a moment or two.
Besides my ass is sore...I need to walk around.

Todays Menu:
Reconstituted Egg stuff, Sausage thing, Potatoes, and cream of wheat. Thankfully the nurses keep cereal and bread on hand.

Pasta primavera, Peas, Corn, soggy bread, and piece of cake

Beef Tips and Noodles, veggies, broccoli, and more soggy bread.

Hopefully tomorrows food will be better :)

Cold weather=frisky dogs

Today was my last day at work. I think I am going to miss being there. Kind of strange to say because most of my time I spent scratching my head asking myself what the heck the students were thinking!! They were definately amusing though.

So the count down begins...1 week until I go spend some serious time at the hospital. I just ask one favor-bring me food! Especially if it has chocolate or is pecan pie :)

Anywho this was a test post ...I am going outside to strangle the dogs. The cold weather makes them psycho. And Nova has treed a squirrel....