A Very Busy Day for The Girls

Today, the girls are 1 week old. And today was a very busy day with lots of visitors!


Jeni went to the hospital this morning to see the girls along with Grandma Sharon and Aunt Carolyn. Aunt Carolyn was VERY eager to see the girls for the first time.


Later in the morning, Grandpa Gale and Grandma Vicki arrived at Children's to visit the girls. This was the first time that Gale & Vicki had seen the girls since their birth at MoBap a week ago.


After Sharon and Carolyn left, Jeni hung out at the hospital with Gale and Vicki for a few more hours. She was very tired and fell asleep on the car ride home (No big surprise to me since she sleeps on virtually every car ride more than 10 minutes long when I'm driving...)


After getting back home, Jeni napped to get some energy back before I came home.


I got home, changed clothes, and we headed over to Keith & Amy's for dinner. On the highway, we saw Mike and Nozomi and Jeni called them on their cell. Turns out they were headed down to the hospital to see the girls as well!


At their house, Keith and Amy had picked up some food from Pasta House and we chatted over dinner. After that, we all headed down to Children's for 'Uncle' Keith and 'Aunt' Amy to see the girls for the first time. Up until this point, they had only seen pictures. It seems to be a common reaction, but Keith & Amy were amazed at how small they really are. Pictures really don't do them justice... (showing their size or how damn cute they are either!)


As for their conditions: Olivia had a bit of an issue last night. The IV in her hand ruptured and is being monitored by the doctors. This could potentially cause some scarring in her hand, but it is being evaluated by plastic surgeons and looks o.k. for now. Since she is doing well, the IV came out and won't have to go back in. (Did I mention that Jeni cried for 45 minutes last night when the pediatrician called about Olivia's hand? She was upset because they 'messed up' her perfect baby)! While I was upset as well, apparently Mama was having a harder time dealing with her babies having 'issues' or concerns.


Today was also a busy day for little Miss Sydney as well. Today, Sydney had an ultrasound of her heart to check out the murmur that she has, we are still waiting to hear from her neonatologist about it. However, he didn't seem too concerned when he and Jeni were watching the ultrasound. The nurse also commented that if it was serious we would have already known about it. Just a reminder something like 85% of all babies are born with heart murmurs that correct by their first birthday. Sydney is still on the IV for now until she puts on some more weight. Both girls gained 2 ounces today, which is great! Olivia is off of the humid air and Sydney should be as well in the next day or so.


Overall, another good day for the girls, even if it was a bit exhausting because of the number of visitors... In total, they had EIGHT visitors today, not counting Jeni and me! They must really be loved! :)


Now, what I know you all came for....


MORE PICTURES!


Olivia sound asleep on her belly.




Apparently someone is being too noisy for Olivia's taste.

Jeni says, just like her, Olivia likes to stick her foot out from under the covers when she's hot.

"Uncle" Keith and "Aunt" Amy checking out the girls.

Sydney is attempting to keep her eyes open. She was sound asleep until she heard her Dad's voice.

Sydney sleeping on her back with her foot in the air.

Until tomorrow...

M

6 Days Old!

So the girls are 6 days old today... And things are still going well for both of them.

As updated before, they are both off of oxygen and are breathing room air, like you and me. The small tubes you see in their noses helps keep their nasal passages moist with humid air. It's not really to help them breathe, but to keep them from drying out. Babies their age are usually still surrounded by amniotic fluid, so they have to adjust to the drier environment.

They are both being fed through tiny feeding tubes that run into their noses and down to their stomachs. Both girls are being fed Mom's milk in tiny doses. Sydney, since she is smaller, is getting a fortifier added to the milk for extra calories. This will help her grow and put on weight faster. As you may know, babies typically lose a few ounces after birth, and the girls have as well. Only tiny amounts but we want them to start putting on the weight so that they can go home sooner.

So today, Grandma Sharon & Grandpa Rick took Jeni to the hospital around mid-day. She hung out with the girls until I joined them this afternoon on the way home from work. This is beginning to be a routine and works well. I typically get there in time for the girls to have their diapers changed and to be fed. Jeni and I are both active in doing these things and I've become quite comfortable (and skilled) at changing their diapers inside the isolette.

Here are some pictures from today.

First up, our Miss Olivia.

And now, Little Miss Sydney.

We tucked the girls in and told them we would see them tomorrow. It's really really tough leaving 2 things as cute as these behind at the hospital!

After getting home, I whipped up some pasta and salad and Jeni attempted to clean and organize the kitchen. Apparently in her absense, I had let it spiral downward into chaos that she couldn't take...

That's all for now. Tomorrow the girls are a week old!

M

Intimidating....

I am happy to report that I am moving MUCH better today...I'm still REALLY tired and my stomach still really hurts (getting in and out of bed is a treat let me tell you), but all in all I can tell I'm making strides to the return of me!


I spent a couple hours this morning organizing some things in the nursery, pumping (of course), and returning some calls/making ones that needed to be made...like to get our air conditioner fixed, I called our potential babysitter to discuss when we could meet again (Sept. it is), and to my insurance company (that was a great use of 1 hour of my time), and to the NICU, of course to check on the girls. :)



Today, when I arrived at the NICU at Children's Hospital (courtsey of my personal chauffer Grandma Sharon), my nurse announced that I would be changing the girls diapers today AND repositioning them in their isolettes (the babies are moved from different positions every 3-6 hours)... Wow, I never thought I'd say that I was so excited to change a diaper in my life and I'm sure in a couple months I won't be so excited about it! :) (Remember, yesterday Matt and I changed our first diapers)....HOWEVER, the repositioning, well that was pretty intimidating. What if I hurt them? They are so tiny I am sooooo afraid that I will hurt them in some weird way...

Each of the girls were laying on their sides BEFORE their diaper change and would need to be moved to their stomaches and curled up inside their 'snoogle'. Much easier said than done. 15 minutes later, Sydney was repositioned and changed and then another 15 minutes later Olivia was changed and repositioned. WOW, I did it... I was so proud of myself.

Olivia BEFORE I changed her diaper and repositioned her...with her eyes open at the sound of mommy's voice... It is very exciting that they both open their eyes and try to respond to the sound of my voice. :) Makes me feel loved.

One 'coping' strategy that all counseling books talk about, in terms of helping parents who have babies in the NICU adjust to being parents, is to involve them in their babies care (like we were doing today). Since I am a counselor, I did know this and I, of course, was working my way into doing this, but I some how thought it would be a couple more days before this happened. Not the case today. It was good, though. I also learned how to feed them (through their feeding tube unfortunately), take their temperatures and record them, weigh their diapers and record them in their charts, and we reviewed all the different machines they are on, codes, etc. It was great. After learning how to do an assessment with our NICU nurse, I asked her when their next assessment would be, and she told me around 5pm... Great! Just in time for Daddy to change diapers and reposition, etc.

Some people probably wonder, what do I do all day at the NICU... Well, I don't do much, not that I've really had tons of days to hang out in the NICU all day... Today was only my 2nd day there. After assessments, Sharon and I hung out... I would put my hands in the girls' isolettes ocassionally and talk to them... Sharon just looked and sighed over how cute they are (typical Grandma I am sure). I of course pumped every 2-3 hours, had a counsultation with the lactation consultant (who gave me more free stuff for breastfeeding), and then came the exciting part... I got to hold the babies again. I'm not sure if Matt commented yesterday, but the girls are only allowed out of their isolettes for 1 hour each day, so as to not over-stimulate them. So, it is the HIGHLIGHT of my afternoons when I get to hold them. Until then I am content to talk to them and soothe them by placing a hand on them (you aren't supposed to rub b/c it over-stimulates them as well), which makes them miserable and cry, which is so pathetic. Their cries vary from sounding like a kitten to a baby bird.

The following pictures are courtesy of our fabulous NICU nurse Melanie......

Olivia and I

Sydney and I.......

Olivia waving or saying "STOP, no more pictures, I'm tired." She was super active today, sticking her tongue out at me, pursing her lips in response to mommy kisses, and she kept her eyes open the ENTIRE time I held her, which was pretty amazing.

Sydney, was not as happy as her sister today. She had her blood drawn to test her levels for jaundice to see if she has to go back on her billi-light and was terribly upset the rest of the afternoon. BUT she did keep opening her eyes for her mommy during kangaroo care time and her daddy when he got there. Poor baby. She's had a rough go of it lately. :(

Matt was able to spend about two hours with the girls before we decided to leave. I was tired and boy did my back hurt, plus we needed to run a couple errands before we made it home to save the Boxers... Topic of discussion on the way home: do we think the girls are identical or fraternal? We think fraternal, BUT the Dr seems to think that they are identical (you would think he would know and he does claim to have medical proof (they shared a placenta), BUT it could have fused, etc.)... Guess we'll have to wait for the pathologists report to come back at Mo Bap; either way, I don't care. :) Matt seems to think that Olivia looks like me and that Sydney looks like him...we'll see. :) They are beautiful and perfect, that is all I really care about.

Have a great night!

J

P.S. If you called me today and I haven't called you back, I'm sorry....I can't use my cell phone in the NICU, and we didn't get home until very late, so in the interest of having a personality again and feeding my daughters, I decided that I'll start making return calls tomorrow. :)

Free at Last, Free at Last!

So today Jeni was finally emancipated from the hospital. She was counting down the hours before I arrived to pick her up. I got to the hospital around noon and she was dressed and ready to go.

As I was coming into the hospital, I ran into the OB who we met the day that we nearly lost our little girls almost 7 weeks ago. Dr. Kim was on duty at MoBap the day Jeni felt her first contractions and started into pre-term labor back in week 23. Dr. Kim walked us through a very scary moment in our lives and made us feel comfortable, yet very aware of how serious the situation was back then. It was great to see her again and even better to be able to share a happy ending with her and show her pictures of our beautiful little girls. After she hugged us both, Jeni and I headed for the car, with the help of a nurse and a large cart for all of Jeni's belongings...

We headed home to unload the car and to drop off some prescriptions at Walgreens before making our way to Children's for Jeni to see the girls for the first time since Thursday.

Jeni is still very sore and her speed is 'slow' at best, so I could tell it was frustrating her how long it was taking to get up to see the girls. That was probably one of the longest walks and elevator rides of her life. It was all worth it though when she got into the room and saw the girls. She gushed with joy and emotion as she saw them again.

Jeni and I both helped change their tiny little diapers, which are about the size of a maxi pad. Naturally, Jeni was like I was and afraid we could break the tiny little things just by picking them up.

After their diaper change, we took some quick pictures before settling into our chairs to hold them. Again, Jeni was beaming with joy to hold her babies.

Olivia is still getting treatment for jaundice under the bili-lights. That's why she's wearing the little mask.

Jeni holding Olivia for the first time.

Here's Sydney sleeping. It's one of her favorite hobbies.



I'm holding Sydney. Kinda proud. :)



Jeni's turn with Sydney.




Here's a tiny foot!



And a cute face!


We took a quick break to go to the cafeteria for a snack and then back up to hold the babies again.

We left the hospital around 7:00 and got home where Mike met us. He brought us over some homemade lasagna. YUM.

Great day, all around!

M

It's Christmas, RIGHT!???????????????

That's what I feel like...an 8 year old who just KNOWS that they've been good enough that Santa is going to leave them presents.....


I GET TO SEE MY BABIES TODAY....and I cannot wait!

:)

Now if only time would pass by a little faster so it's noon and Matt's here to pick me up.

A Busy Sunday!

I attempted to catch up on some much needed sleep, but the Boxers have needs apparently. They both like to wake me up around 6:30 no matter what day of the week it is... Luckily, they are fine with going back to bed afterwards. I was able to get some additional rest until Jeni called a little after 10 to check on me.

I started my day preparing for the events later that day. I had to get Amy's shower gift together and make it look nice. We got her a baby tub and Jeni's mom made some adorable blankets to go in it along with a bunch of outfits, rattles, and toys- all revolving around a bunny theme! After arranging that, I wrapped it up. I also did a small load of baby laundry (some of the new premie clothes I bought yesterday). Unfortunately, these things took longer than I thought and I was quickly running behind. In addition, I had to stop and get a shower card at Walgreens.

It never fails that when I'm running late, I get behind the slowest people on earth in the checkout lane. One women was buying groceries for what seemed to be a month and another guy was purchasing 6 quarts of motor oil... and then inquired on how he could get his rebate, which totally stumped the awkward young man behind the counter... What should have been a 3 minute stop for a card turned into nearly 10... By the way, who changes their own oil these days? Haven't you heard of Jiffy Lube, dude?

I stopped by Lion's Choice and picked up lunch for Jeni AND myself. Again, I'm in line behind super slow people. A young couple with a little girl proceded to order enough food to feed 6 people...

Finally I made it to the hospital with our lunch and we chatted while we ate. Her doctor then came in to do his rounds for the day. We talked about how Jeni was progressing along with the finer points in raising girls, dining out in St. Louis, and how he goes through 10 pairs of shoes a year thanks to random fluids from deliveries...

I headed out to Amy's shower and dropped off our gift for her and Keith. Then I went to a bar and had some beers with Keith, his dad, 2 brothers, and his nephew. Afterwards we went back to his mom's where I helped them load up the car with the bounty from the shower.

I made it back to the hospital where Nancy was visiting with Jeni. We hung out for a bit longer before I collected the milk that Jeni has been able to pump and headed home.

I grabbed a bite to eat and fed the Boxers before heading up to Children's to see the girls again.

As for a status update: Sydney is off of her Bili-light, but Olivia is not. Sydney has a new main-line IV in her arm because she kept wiggling too much and knocking out the others. Olivia has now caught up to her sister in her volume levels... she's just as noisy, the nurses report. Both girls are now feeding on mommy's milk. They are also off of their CPAPs and are just getting some humid air in through their nasal tubes. They both opened their eyes quite a bit tonight as well...

The girls were a little more active tonight and I got some good pictures! I also got to hold them both (one-at-a-time) for the first time really. Wow, what an amazing feeling. They are sooo beautiful. Yeah, I know I'm biased, but you can see for yourself how adorable they are...


Here's Olivia looking into the camera.






Here's Sydney trying to be awake.



And here's some more random shots of them in their isolettes.






Jeni gets discharged tomorrow and will get to spend some much needed (and much overdue) time with the girls. I know she is looking forward to this a TON. It'll be great to see her with them finally.

M

Lessons from Pregnancy, Labor & Delivery, & Recovery....

In my absence from the Blog, I thought I'd return with some thoughts....Here are a few of the fabulous lessons that I have learned in the last 7 months.....
1. Pregnancy does WEIRD things to your body...enough said....Labor and Delivery...well that does weird things too...no elaboration required, I am sure! :)
2. Babies have their own schedule and be darned with what their parents want/think.
3. My body HATES anesthesia.....
4. There are few pain meds I can take without throwing up. :( Sucks to be me.
5. C-Sections ARE NOT the EASY way out...a pox on those of you whom have/had suggested that.
6. Recovery from a C-Section is HARD, it hurts, but not as bad as other post pregnancy joys.
7. ALL women who are recovering from a C-Section should have a sign on their door that says NO LAUGHTER ALLOWED.
8. I USED to be lactose intolerant...until I got pg...well, now apparently I am AGAIN..sucks to be me.
9. I rarely ate fast food before I was pg b/c it made me sick, then I got pg and the twins LOVED fast food....now apparently my body hates fast food again.
10. I used to have IBS....then I got PG...now I have it again.
11. Pregnancy brain does NOT go away once you give birth, if anything it's worse afterwards.
12. Things never really go as planned. :(
13. Bedrest does a number on your body, hopefully by the time the girls come home I'll regain my energy! :)
14. I have never loved my husband more than I do now.
15. NOTHING else in life matters but my precious darling little girls and my husband, well, my dogs too. :)
16. I can't wait to BUST OUT OF THIS JOINT and go see my babies. It seems like everyone else has seen/touched them but me, and that STINKS. :(

More Visitors for the Girls

Not a lot has changed for the girls today, really. Olivia is off of the CPAP and Sydney should be soon as well.

Grandma Pat and Aunt Judy went to Children's and visited the girls. The NICU nurse informed Grandma Pat that Sydney and Olivia are both quite vocal and can be heard in the hallways on occasion crying. That's impressive for how tiny they are! Pat says that Olivia is obviously part of her family as she quickly went from crying to sound asleep on her side after getting some food...

Also visiting the girls today were Mike and Nozomi. After seeing the girls, Mike and Nozomi met me for dinner in Olivette. Afterwards I headed down to spend a few hours with the girls before heading home.

I'm putting lots of miles in making the round trips and I'm sure Cassius and Sugar are not liking the amount of time they are spending in their crates. I think they got spoiled while their mom was at home on bedrest...

Lucky for us, it was another good day for Olivia & Sydney. I was even able to drop off some milk that Jeni was able to provide!

M

The Girls Are Sharing Already!

So, today they moved the girls into a room together. They had only been around the corner from each other in the NICU, but now they are sharing a room. Their little isolettes are now right next to one another. Sydney is on the left and Olivia is on the right.



The girls were also a little jaundiced, so they are getting photo-therapy with bili-lights. It looks kinda like a mini tanning bed... :)

As for their status, things are going well. Olivia, who initially needed some extra help breathing, has made huge improvements. Her breathing tube was removed late last night and is now on a CPAP like Sydney. Sydney, was given the same meds that Olivia received, but a few hours later and is still getting some extra oxygen. They will soon be on room air (the same thing you and I breathe).


In addition to me, the girls got their first visitors today at Children's. Grandma Sharon & Grandpa Rick got to see them up close for the first time.

The girls aren't really eating yet (getting any feedings) but hopefully soon Jeni will be providing them some milk. I plan on being a modern day milk shuttle service with what the folks in the NICU call "Liquid Gold".

M

The Girls at Children's

I stayed with Jeni for a few more hours at MOBAP before heading down to Children's to see the girls. I had never been to Children's Hospital before and didn't know what to expect. I knew all of the great things that had been said about the level of care and how it ranks as top 10 in the country, but I hadn't seen it first-hand.

One word for Children's Hospital: WOW.

That place is just amazing. First Class all the way.

Even the parking garage is nice! I parked in the garage and made my way to the 2nd level bridge that connects to the hospital. Immediately entering there, a check-in desk attendant greeted me and asked to help me. I informed him that I was there to see the Wideman Twins in the NICU. (Just saying that for the first time gave me a funny feeling...) The attended printed out two stickers for me to place on my chest, labeling me as the parent... Again, more funny feelings.

I made my way to the NICU and checked in there. They started a sign-in sheet for the girls, so that we could keep track of who visits. Finally, I made my way back to their rooms. Yes, I said ROOMS. They each had their own room! And, those rooms were each BIGGER than the room Jeni was in back at the other hospital! AND, they each had their own nurse...

Here's Olivia's room.

And here she is... wearing a hat. She must've been cold. She's still got the breathing tube in for now.

And here's Miss Sydney's Room.

Here she is sleeping. She's wearing a CPAP to give her some extra forced air and a tiny bit of extra oxygen.

I spent about 2 hours going back and forth between rooms, just putting my hands in on the girls to comfort them.

I left late in the evening and exhausted from a HUGE day of excitement. It was a total blur, but a day I will never, ever forget.

M

After Delivery

Following their arrival, the babies were bundled up and taken down to the Special Care Nursery. I headed out into the hallway and attempted to find anyone I could share the news with.

Jeni's mom had to leave for a work meeting while we were in the delivery room and I couldn't immediately locate Dad and Vicki. I finally got ahold of Vicki on her cell phone and found out that they had been waiting in the family waiting room for a while. However, Dad got anxious and couldn't sit still so they had to head down to the cafeteria.


Dad and Vicki made it back up to the third floor and Jeni was wheeled back into her room so she could recover and rest. Unfortunately, the meds they gave her for her spinal made her extremely nauseous. As she rested, Dad, Vicki and I talked in the hallway and waited for the rest of the family to arrive. Soon Jeni was feeling up for visitors, so Dad and Vicki sat and talked with Jeni while I checked on the babies.


I made my way to the Special Care Nursery and got my first peek at the girls there.

Olivia was on a breathing tube to help her little lungs work better. She received some medications immediately to help them work as well.

Sydney was a crier and breathing on her own immediately, so she was not given the same meds.

I spoke with the Neonatologists and they told me that they had decided to transport the girls down to Children's Hospital. This wasn't being done for any emergency reasons, just because of their small size and that the NICU at MOBAP was fairly full at the time. They said that the Transport Team would come and bundle the girls and bring them by Jeni's room before they left.

When I got back to Jeni's room, the nurses were preparing to move her to a regular room and out of the Antepartum area of the OB floor. So we packed up all of Jeni's stuff and followed her down the hall. Mom arrived around then and we all settled in to Jeni's new room to visit. Rick soon arrived after that and we anxiously awaited the babies' visit before their trip to Children's.

At about 3:30 the Transport Team arrived. They came in dressed in uniforms fit for a NASCAR driver. They wheeled the babies in inside their isolettes and strapped in looking ready to blast off to space!

Olivia still on her breathing tube.

Sydney (The Diva) in the spotlight, ready for her limo ride to the fancy hospital.

The new grandparents, Jeni and I all said goodbye to the girls and they were off.

Even though it was really tough to see them being taken away, I knew they were headed somewhere where they would get the best care possible.

M

The Big Day, Vol 2: The Arrivals

Jeni was wheeled into the delivery/operating room and prepped for the c-section. After prepping her, they came and got me about 10 minutes later. As I arrived in the room, Jeni was on the table and her head was behind a sheet that rose above her starting at her chest. I stood next to her where an anestesiaologist was stationed. Luckily they provided me a stool to sit on. Turns out I wouldn't need it, but it was nice to have that option.

I was only in the room maybe 5 minutes it seemed before someone said, "Dad, get your camera ready!" Oh man...

I was holding Jeni's hand and trying to comfort her as she could feel the doctors jiggling and jerking around on her but we could not see what was going on (thank goodness). Then suddenly, someone said "Ok, here's the first one. Breech at 10:49. Breech at 10:49." I looked up and that's when I saw one of the people working on Jeni with a tiny baby in their hands quickly walk over to the table surrounded by about 4 other folks. Quickly they started working on her. This was Olivia Kay!

Olivia needed a little help breathing at the beginning and I couldn't get too many good shots of her as I wanted to stay out of the experts' way as they helped her.

Back to my stool next to Jeni, and immediately I heard "Ok, here's B. Vertex at 10:51. 10:51." Upon that I looked up an the second little girl was in someone's hands being taken to another table. Welcome to the world, Sydney Ann!

Olivia Kay weighed in at 2 lbs, 8.1 oz and Sydney Ann weighed in at 2 lbs, 7.7 oz.

Sydney was breathing on her own quite well and crying. Jeni and I were very excited to hear her first little cries. I spent lots of time with her and snapped some pictures as well as handing my camera to the nurse as I cut her cord.

After the girls were cleaned up, they were bundled and taken down to the Special Care Nursery to be monitored and for tests to be conducted on them.

I know some of these pictures look scary, but they are doing well. The bundling is to keep them warm and confortable and the tubes are to help them breathe better since they are early. Both girls were doing well right away and needed only a little assistance.

Following their arrival and transport down the hall, I headed out to see if any of the parents had arrived while we were in the delivery room. Jeni was taken back to her room to recover.

M

The Big Day

I awoke on Thursday July 10 to a phone call from Jeni. She was very upset and in pain. Overnight, she hadn't slept much due to worries about what would happen next as well as increasing contractions. Starting at around 5 AM the contractions had not only increased in frequency, but they had gotten a lot stronger and more painful.

I quickly hopped in the car and headed to the hospital. When I got into the room, Jeni was very concerned. She was worried that we had made the wrong decision in not transferring to the other hospital. I reassured her that we did what we thought was right at the time and things had obviously changed quickly with what was happening with her stage of labor.

One of her doctor's partners arrived in Jeni's room and we discussed with him what had changed overnight. He checked her monitors and decided to do an ultrasound to see if the babies had changed in their positioning. Up until now Baby A had been breech and Baby B had been head-down. A quick ultrasound confirmed that this had not changed.

We told the doctor that we agreed that we would be open to moving to the other hospital if he thought that it was the right thing to do. He then informed us that he thought Jeni was not a candidate to move because she was too far along in her labor at this point and that he would like to do a c-section some time in the next couple of hours! HOLY CRAP!

SO, the babies are coming! An immediate flooding of emotion came over Jeni and I of fear and excitement at the same time. Obviously we were worried about how early it was for the babies since she is only 30 weeks along. At the same time we were excited to meet these 2 little people who would double the size of our family immediately!'

The doctor headed out to prep his team. Jeni and I sat together and talked and then I headed out into the hallway to make some phone calls. Obviously the news came to quite a surprise to all of our parents. They made adjustments in their schedules and told me when they'd be coming up to see us. I went back to Jeni's room and waited with her.

The nurse came in shortly afterward and presented me with my "uniform" for the c-section.

I felt like I was preparing for a spacewalk...

Jeni and I waited together and then her mom arrived. We sat and talked until the team came to get Jeni to take her in to administer her 'spinal' and prep her for the c-section. They would come and get me about 10 minutes later.

To be continued...

"Um, I think we might have an issue."

Tuesday, July 8 was a good visit at Jeni's doctor. All of the exam seemed to show that things were improving with her and labor was not coming anytime soon. The ultrasound showed the babies were progressing right on track and were still laying head to toe. Her physical examination showed that she had actually improved from last weeks exam. Her doctor even said talked about not removing her cerclage 'til week 34 and discussed what sorts of changes to her physical activity could be added such as walks, etc. He suggested doing some light swimming if possible to keep her active over the next few weeks. Needless to say, what came less than 24 hours would make all this talk seem silly.

I got up on July 9 and finished getting ready to head out to work. As I kissed Jeni goodbye, she turned over and repositioned herself in bed. As I turned to head out of the house, she said to me, "Um, wait. Don't leave yet. I think we might have an issue." Of course that's not anything you want to hear when your wife is pregnant and with the roller coaster ride we've had so far in the pregnancy.

Jeni continued talking to me from the bathroom and told me that she thought her water had broken. She immediately asked for the phone and called her doctor as I frantically started taking her bags toward the garage. After speaking to her doctor, we jumped in the car and headed to the hospital. Unfortunately, the trip was not the usual 15 minute drive because we were in the middle of rush hour.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Jeni was admitted into one of the Antepartum rooms and her doctor arrived shortly afterward. He did a physical exam and confirmed that one of the babies' membranes had ruptured. He discussed what would happen next and as since Jeni wasn't contracting that she would be monitored and given antibiotics to prevent any infections. Over the next few hours, we got visits from her doctor, one of his partners, and the neonatologist on-staff at the hospital to discuss our options. They discussed moving Jeni down to Barnes hospital closer to Children's hospital that could better care for the twins when they arrived. However, due to our experience at Barnes the previous weekend, we were resistant at first especially since she showed no signs of active labor.

Over the next few hours, things were fairly quiet. Jeni had no pain and only a few smaller contractions. The doctors decided to stop the tocolytics (anti-contraction meds) because they were afraid that any infection would trigger contractions and did not want to mask those with the drugs. After further discussion about what would be best for the babies, Jeni and I agreed that if things changed over night that we would have her transfered to the other hospital. I left to go home on Wednesday feeling confident that things were quiet and that we might have several days or even weeks of Jeni being on bedrest at the hospital before anything changed. I guess that was wishful thinking...

M

Long Restful Weekend... almost.

Jeni and I were both very happy for the long holiday weekend to arrive.

Because of Jeni's Thursday doctor's appointment, I took the day off even though my office was scheduled to close early for the July 4th weekend. We got up early on Thursday and loaded Sugar into the car and dropped her off at the vet's for her tumor removal. Things went smoothly there even though I know Sugar wasn't happy to be left there alone.

Jeni and I met my mom at the doctor's office and waited for our turn in the ultrasound room. The ultrasound was pretty uneventful. It took a while longer than usual because there was a student doing some of the procedure along with the technician. They spent a long time watching for the babies to do some "practice breathing" on the monitor. Baby B complied, but Baby A was being stubborn. Jeni says Baby A is just like me. I have no idea what she's referring to.

Following the ultrasound, we went back out to the waiting room where my poor mother was waiting patiently. Unfortunately, she had a while longer to wait as Jeni and I went back to see the doctor. Again nothing new really. He was a bit concerned that while it hadn't changed much, her cervix had shortened slightly. Her schedule of meds are approaching its maximum and he is committed to "keeping her pregnant" as long as possible. So, on this visit, he decided it was time to administer a pessery.

If you, like me, don't know what a pessery is, I'll explain it. Let's see... Imagine an inflatable baseball-sized balloon that is shaped a bit like a dreidel when it's deflated... Well, the pessery is designed to provide the cervix with additional support as the pressure builds from the growing babies. I'll let you use your imagination on how it's "administered". Jeni can share her thoughts on it in another post...

So after that wonderful experience, we left the doctor's office with unfortunately not enough time for all of us to go to lunch. We had originally planned to grab a bite to eat before I hit the road to Columbia. But since it was after 1:00 when we were finished at the doctor, I decided to skip lunch. Unfortunately, my plans to get to Columbia early quickly evaporated when I encountered a highway shutdown on 40 just before the Boone Bridge. I had to backtrack all the way to 270 and up to I-70 which added nearly an hour onto my drive...

The rest of the day went as planned as I picked up Cassius from Mizzou and got him checked out of the clinic for the last time. We stopped by the vet in Creve Coeur and picked up Sugar and the 3 of us made our way home. Since it was so late already, I stopped by Culvers for some quick dinner for Jeni and I. Needless to say, after dinner I was exhausted and ready for bed... I believe I fell asleep on the couch.

We celebrated the 4th of July with Keith and Amy by grilling and having some drinks on the patio. It was unseasonably cool for the 4th and quite comfortable... no heat or humidity which was nice! Keith and I even got in a game of washers without breaking a sweat. Well, nearly.

Saturday was a lazy day around the house. Jeni relaxed on the sofa and I decided it was time to clean up my filthy car. From multiple trips back and forth to the vets and Mizzou, my backseat was covered in dog hair and slobber. Since I'll be taking my car to the firehouse soon to get some carseat bases installed, I need to do LOTS of cleaning. After I was finished, I was amazed at how clean the car looked!

Unfortunately, my relaxing evening on Saturday was not to be. As I put some water on to boil to make some corn on the cob, Jeni made a call to her doctor about some developments with the pessery that concerned her. The doctor who returned her call was not her regular doctor (booo!) and he directed us to come to Barnes Hospital (oh crap!).

Our trip to Barnes that night lasted nearly 3 hours and ended with us coming back home with really no resolution and a "talk to your doctor on Tuesday" instruction... Needless to say, I wasn't happy, but was relieved that Jeni could come home and nothing serious was happening.

So, that brings us to today, Sunday. Finally a nice relaxing day at home for us. The boxers slept most of the day. Jeni did some reading and web browsing (as usual). I was fairly productive as I did about 5 loads of laundry and mowed the front lawn...

If only all of our weekend days could be this slow...
I'm a realist though and understand that these quiet weekends of sleeping in and doing nothing are numbered...

I wonder if this is one of my last.

M