Welcome to the World Girls!

They've arrived at 35.2 weeks Their names are Gabriella Catherine and Vanessa Lynn. Born on May 18th. Gabriella arrived at 8:47pm weighing 2370g (5lbs 4oz) and Vanessa arrived at 8:51 weighing 2440g (5lbs 7oz).

Gabriella Catherine

Vanessa Lynn

The labor went fantastic no c-section and fast compared to Ian. I will give you all the whole story when I have the time. Twins keep me pretty busy, when one is not eating its the other ones turn or it is time for me to pump. Haha. Andy, Big Brother Ian, and I are so overjoyed that they are so healthy after me being on bedrest for 2 months to keep them in. Thank you Lord for the medication, because as soon I was off of it they were ready to make their arrival.

I put pictures up on my flickr account for you all to see Http://www.flickr.com/photos/wowamom/

Until next time...

Week 34 and a Bright Outlook

Am I really almost 35 weeks? The safe period for the babies to be born in this hospital is right around the corner. I was told yesterday that on Monday May 14th they will be pulling out my IV and letting my body go ala natural! They also say I can go home but I seriously have a feeling that will not be happening. Last week my IV needed a refill and it took the nurses about 45 minutes to get it (never happened before) and I started getting pretty regular contractions. So it is really an all play it by ear thing. But seriously, only 4 more days for me to endure in this hospital bed! Can I do it, yes I can!!

Ian and Daddy spending time playing under the stairs

The past couple weeks have been a little rough. I started getting some major generalized itching..talk about ANNOYING! It got to the point where I couldn’t sleep at night and was tearing my skin up. They have given me about 4 liver tests and have concluded that I have Obstetric Colestatsis. It is getting better now that I have the correct pills to take and some creams to put on. For once, about two nights ago, I slept pretty well! That for sure is one thing I miss, since at about 9 30 in the morning I am almost falling back asleep again. I was watching CNN the other morning and fell asleep; woke up 30 minutes later sitting up and my mouth hanging open, haha!

Ian having an afternoon tea

Not only have I had to endure that, but now they have been finding light protein in my urine so I have to give the lovely pee sample every day and get my blood pressure checked 3x a day and yesterday the dreaded catheter (2x!!). So far everything is remaining stable.

This momma is so ready to be finished. I have at least 10lbs or more of baby in me now and they are getting stronger and more cramped everyday. Although I will miss being able to see and feel feet and hands trying to poke out of my belly and looking like a Beluga Whale, I feel it is soon time for them to come into this world. They need a good stretch after being cramped up for 9 months!

Thank you to everyone that has helped me get through almost two months of hospital bedrest. Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, Lonnie, and Linda for your cards. There is nothing like getting words of encouragement. Thank you to my parents for providing me with some more stretchy lounge pants for my ever growing belly. Lastly, thank you to my Husband and his family for all the care you have given me and Ian. Each one of you has helped me pass these days without completely going crazy. Thank you!

Clothes by Ian, Accessories by Uncle Mike

For those that want to keep an eye on the babies arrival, my hospital has a baby photo gallery where the babies photos are placed when they are born.. Click Here …otherwise keep an eye out here on my blog.

Good Golly 32 is Kicking My Butt!

I am a little on the “I’m a big cry baby” side today. As of last Monday (March 27) I hit 32 weeks and it was nice to know I arrived at the doctors’ first big goal for me. I had a pretty unemotional week and was looking forward to this weekend. They had to get my off the IV first to allow me some weekend time at home so Wednesday evening they changed my dosage, which brought on a few more contractions but didn’t change my cervix at all. Then at around 4pm Thursday they changed it again and then monitored me and I was having contractions about every 8 minutes. So the doctors thought my body needed to get used to it first so they waited 4 hours but it wasn’t getting any better. I was sent downstairs for another cervix check and it had gone from a 1.8 to a 1.5, not too bad. They wanted to monitor me for contractions again so I was on the monitor for 2 hours. For about the first hour I was having contractions every 6 minutes but actually wasn’t even feeling them; amazing! Sadly they decided this is just too much and changed my dosage back to its original. I am now stuck on the IV for awhile and not going to visit home this weekend.

Hearing this news didn’t get me down too much because I knew something was going to go wrong, but this morning I asked if I could go out in the wheelchair to the garden today and was told no, can we say WATERWORKS show! I just need to get outside and enjoy my family for a little..so she said if I can’t mentally handle staying in here I can go out for 10 minutes or so. You better believe I am hitting that one up! It really doesn’t help, though, that the nurse just told me most people on this floor are going home today. Oh the agony… (okay maybe not that bad). Just please no more pokes in my arm to get blood and no more catheters! Speaking of blood taking, the results came back abnormal so they took a swab of my down south; it takes 3 to 4 days to receive results. I hope I don’t have an infection.

Me looking horrible but happily enjoying my "32 weeks cake" from my dear Hubby

The good thing about it all is the babies are still cooking and that is what matters the most. I actually got them to move around to some George Michael songs yesterday, not that I enjoyed them tap dancing on my door or doing some jumps on my ribs, but it was good to see them interacting with the outside world.

Happy May 1st!

Had to insert this funny story: I woke up this morning and thought someone was in my room so I roll over to see who. They were not quite in my room but a big crow was on my window sill stealing from me. My Husband put some juice boxes out there to cool my drinks and Mr. Crow had his gargantuan beak in it sipping his morning juice. He could have cared less that I was only 10 inches aways from him.

31 Weeks and Continuing!

31 weeks and doing well here! Thursday I had a little sharp pain in my pelvic area so they checked the babies and me early and everything looks great. My cervix is stable at 1cm they say and just a little dilated, which is completely normal for a woman who has had children before and I just have very mininum Braxton Hicks contractions. The babies were rolling all around during their ultrasounds, so the measurements were hard to get. Due to that fact, they didn’t really tell me the size, but that they did grow some but nothing major. I am just praising the Lord that they are continuing to thrive and I am able to keep them in. I do have this strange feeling that I will last much much longer than expected.

Other good news is they gave me a “get out of here” date: 35 weeks! Three weeks to go..which seems like forever, but if I have made it a month here already I can do this! They did give me permission for a wheelchair ride outside once or twice a week so yesterday Andy’s Brother brought Ian over and we all went out in the hospital garden for 30 mintues. It was Heaven and really brightened my mood (Ian picked dandelions and rocks and gave them to me as gifts). They also were going to let me go home for the weekend this week but the Chief said it was too early and that he wants me at least 32 weeks. Which most likely means if all is stable at my check this week I can go home for a couple days! If I could do this every weekend I have left, I think I can make it to 35 weeks and stay sane.

Thank you to all my Family and Friends helping me get through this.

I made it to 30 Weeks!

I am glad to have made it 30 weeks. It feels like a great milestone to be out of the twenties. I would have updated you sooner but there is not too much to talk about when you are laying in a bed all day.
Monday I had my big check and the girls are growing beautifully. Baby A now weighs 1500g/3.3lbs or 3lbs 4oz, and Baby B weighs 1600g/3.5lbs or 3lbs 9oz. This is the first time I have carried over 6lbs in my belly since Ian was born at 5lbs 5oz..and I certainly feel it all! (I have a new picture but it isn't on cd so I can't get it to from the hospital) They also did my cervical check and saw that it had improved to a 1.9cm so they are now calling it stable. The IV is still in my arm and they do not plan to take me off the medication. I was given some privileges, a shower everyday, 15 minutes on the balcony on my floor, and 10 minutes using a pedaling machine in bed (don’t want to lose that muscle.)

It is wonderful to get to those things and the showers feel fantastic! Somehow, it just is never enough. Two days ago I started feeling pretty sad. I guess the reality of being in here a long time is really setting in and the boredom of staying in this bed is getting to me. Today I really let out the waterworks and the assistant OB could see how sad I was so she brought my OB to see me (never thought he would visit me here). He talked with me a little, well more like talked to me since it was hard to understand me through the sobs. He gave the doctors orders that my Husband can sleep over here any and every night. I am so excited!!! We really wanted to do this before but they told us he would have to pay 70chf a night! Now it is free..yippie. Although he can’t do it tonight since he has to work, their will be plenty of other nights he can just stay over. I just can’t wait!

My Husband has still been coming every evening without fail, even since he has been super tired from work. I wish theirs some way for him to know how much it means to me but I feel words just can’t express it.

Ian has been doing great this week. I told my Mother-in-Law she could give him a haircut since I was unable and he just looks so grown up. For the first time I hear him say new words and saw him draw a circle. I am so glad he is doing this well away from me since I know it is hard for me when I go from being there for him 24/7 to seeing him only a couple hours a week. He is a very resilient kid!

Laying In My Electric Bed

I wish I had great news to give but I will start from last Friday. I was checked again and they said I had improved a lot and allowed me to go home. My weekend was great, I got to spend time at home with Ian and enjoy some quality time with my Husband.

I scheduled my next OB appointment for Wednesday because the doctors wanted a follow up. At the appointment, right away he told me that he wished he could say I could stay home but my cervix was just too short (1.07cm) and funneling. I was so surprised to hear this since I had been following strict bedrest at home and been feeling pretty good.

28w 4d Baby B- Nose, Lips, and Chin

Once I got here last night, they did the usual admittance check. I was hooked up to the contraction monitor and to my surprise I was having contractions but couldn’t even feel them. They put me on Gynipral through IV to keep the contractions away. I am supposed to stay on this for three days. It is noon here and I haven’t felt any contractions, so I guess all is good. The doctor came in earlier and said they might transfer me to another hospital this weekend that can handle preemie births, but she said she will have to talk to the chief about that first. So I am here to stay in the hospital till the girls make their arrival. It is going to be a rough ride.

28w 4d Baby A- Facing down looking at my back

I cannot believe how fast things can change without you even knowing it and even more how different pregnancies can be. With Ian I pretty much had a picture perfect pregnancy and now this is the complete opposite. I hope I can keep the Twins in, to at least 32 weeks. My emotions are really all over the place. Please continue praying for us.

7 Days and Good News

Finally a good update. Today they gave me a full over check and the girls are still growing great. During the ultrasound Baby B was trying to look up to see what we were doing while we were checking her head size, it was so cute! I was also given a fasting blood sugar test, it was pretty low which is good in terms of not having gestational diabetes.

In other good news my cervix has gone from 1.8cm to 2.3cm while I have been on a full week of bedrest. I was hoping this meant that I could go home today but they say they want to monitor me more. I am now able to take a shower everyday and walk the halls some. On Friday they will check again to see how this activity has affected me then determine if I can go home this weekend. I am praying and praying that things will continue to get better because I am starting to go all kookoo preggo in here. This morning I have been crying at every little thing, so embarrassing when the nurse walks in!

Ian visiting me in the hospital on his birthday

I don’t know what I would do without my Husband. He has been devotedly coming to see me every evening. Just those few hours of laying with him has helped me to get through this just a bit easier.

In other news, Ian had his two year check-up earlier this week and my boy is right on track! It is so nice to have that worry off my chest. I thought his speaking skills were a bit behind but everything is great, and he understands so much in 3 languages. Can I brag?

Happy Wednesday Everyone.