The Small Things

The staff at the hospital has just been phenominial.  I'm the only long term patient right now so everyone pops in to say hi figuring they will be assigned to me at some point.

I got a fridge in my room.  YAY!!  I can keep all sorts of goodies in there so that's very cool.  Also the family came by to visit today.  No nap for the preschooler 2 days in a row make it difficult for a visit, so tonight was the first night since I've been here that they've been able to come visit.  I was also able to talk to the nutritionist who was able to make some arrangements for me to receive supplements to my meals.  I have been very diligent about keeping up my caloric and protein intake and was not sure how much the hospital would be able to help me meet the same goals.  The nutritionist added snacks and made a few other suggestions to the meal plan.  Very excited.

I've said it before, but I think all the mental prep I did to prior to being admitted has been really helpful.  Mind you, its only Day 2, but I'm feeling pretty good about my stay.  I want the twins to stay in as long as possible and every day I am here is 1 more day.

Setting a Schedule

Because I want to try to stay busy and make the best use of my time I'm pretty set on setting a schedule.  I know it's silly of me, but I feel like it will bring order to the day/week.

Here's what I've got so far - 

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday  - ultrasounds

Shower after breakfast

Work after lunch including job hunting for friends and non-profit work

Catch up on podcasts during work time

Evening with the family

That's it for now.  

Inpatient at the Hospital

Today is my first official day in the hospital.  It doesn't feel real yet.  Kind of surreal actually.  So I'm 27 1/2 weeks and am hoping to deliver at 36 weeks.  That means a little over 2 months in the hospital.  

The twins are doing great.  While we have our moments, they are pretty much staying on the monitors great.  I had a good 4 hour stretch this afternoon in which they were on the entire time. 

I'm feeling ok right now.  I've had time to prepare and my brief stay a few weeks ago was a bit of a reality check.  Got my Netflix, got my library books, and I've got some work to do.  Going to think about a routine and try to get fully settled in.  

26 weeks

I swear I won't countdown every week, but I am doing mini-celebrations.  Every day, every week that passes means that twins are that much more developed and have gained that much more weight  So while I might not countdown every week, each week is significant in its on right.

As I am hoping to make it to 36 weeks, as of today, I have 10 weeks left!  Of course, this is not guarantee.  Most momos are born between 32-34 weeks, so I essentially have between 6-10 weeks.  Since by then I will be on 24/7 monitoring I am hoping to push that envelope to 36, but it all depends on how they are doing.  I want them to stay inside as long as possible while it is safe.

So...if I get to 36 weeks...the twins will be in great company with other early March birthdays.  

Home From the Hospital

I ended up only staying in for a little over 24 hours.  Both babies are doing good and have been perfect on the monitors.  YAY, for an uneventful and quick jaunt to the hospital.

Turns out while both babies had been head down for the last 3 weeks, one decided to flip and turn breach.  We'll never know if that is what caused the decel or if the decel was the reason for the flip or if it is completely unrelated, but I would like to think it was related.  

While I would have liked to not have a trial run at the hospital it was great for a lot of reasons.  I found out that all my "mental prep" has been working and I was actually more relaxed than I thought I would be.  After my tour the night before I was feeling pretty anxious about staying there, but actually being there wasn't bad.  

It was also good for my family too see what it would be like to not have me around.  My 3 year old, while he missed me, seemed to be unphased, but my husband was not prepared.  We are all feeling a bit more prepared for the eventuality than we did.

With that said, I've ordered my library books and am starting my Netflix list.  Going to have lots of time on my hands.

My Exciting Hospital Visit

Yesterday as apart of my routine home monitoring one of the babies had a decel.  A decel is when the heart rate drops below their normal range.  Decels are not abnormal, in fact they are very normal, but depending on the length, severity, and frequency, it can be serious. 

So we had 2 decels within 20 minutes.  He recovered quickly, but a I immediately contacted my perinatologist who wanted me to go into the hospital.  She notified by OB who said she wanted in the hospital for 24 hours.  SO that's where I am, as of noon yesterday.

After the decels at home we have had no other incidences, so they are doing fine.  Assuming that was the case my OB would allow me to return home, after conferring with the perinatologist.

I had a chance to talk to the neonatolgist which was nice.  We talked about "what ifs" (they came now, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, etc.) and she was very open to answering questions which was nice.

Oddly I just had the opportunity to tour the hospital and NICU the night before my admittance. Based on the specialist availability I had to transfer hospitals. 

Now I've had my trial run at the hospital.

Home Monitoring Day 1

YAY!  Today was the first day of home monitoring.  Because the equipment is older it is very sensitive and because the babies move a lot, I needed to hold both monitors to make sure we got good reads. It took me maybe 15 minutes to get a good position for both, but we got a good 20 minute reading which is what I needed to get.  I found Baby B on my right very easily.  Baby A on my left was a whole nother story.  They are both head down and low in my pelvis, but A is lower so it took a little while to in a  good position with him.

Check out my home monitoring set-up.  In my own bed!!!  Very cozy!

And here is my first monitoring strip that I sent to the doctor.