Happy Halloween to everyone! Well, we are on day 10 today and I am looking forward to spending the evening out on the town with the kiddos (and Mike of course!). We are all well and the ultrasound this morning looked better than it has all week! That is really good news for us!
Yesterday, we got weights on the girls and they continue to grow like crazy! Baby A weighed in at 2 pounds even and measured at 26 weeks gestation. Baby B weighed in at 1 pound 14 ounces and measured at 25 weeks 3 days gestation. They of course were moving like crazy and uncoorperative so we had to return to the ultrasound room for a second look in the afternoon to get the rest of the measurements. I hope that everyone has a wonderful day and thanks for the thoughts and prayers!
The Boersmas
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Day 8 - Inpatient Stay
Hello Everyone! Well, I have been in the hospital now for one week. Today I am at 25 weeks gestation and still feeling pretty good. That leaves me with 7 weeks or 49 days to go.
The girls are going to give my blood pressure a work out! Today baby B, the one who constantly seems to be causing trouble, had a spell with her heart rate soaring and not coming down for quite some time. I was immediately taken to get an ultrasound to see if we could see any problems with the cords and everything looked good. I am not sure what the heart rate increase was all about, but it could just be that she had pinched her cord and then when she released it had a higher heart rate to compensate for the restricted flow. Which is probably a result of the entanglement of the cords. During the ultrasounds the entangled cords lite up like a red and blue braid when they are getting doppler readings from the area.
Mike and the kids came to see me today, which was really nice! This morning Mike's dad came and watched the kids so that Mike and I could go and tour the NICU. The tour gave us alot of information and it was great to see what is coming next. I know that the stay in the NICU will be even more of a roller coaster ride than this pregnancy so the more prepared we are for what is coming the better.
Tomorrow we will get updated weights on the babies. We are hoping for them to be getting close to 2 pounds each. The bigger they are the better! Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers! I will update again tomorrow after my ultrasound. Have a good evening.
The girls are going to give my blood pressure a work out! Today baby B, the one who constantly seems to be causing trouble, had a spell with her heart rate soaring and not coming down for quite some time. I was immediately taken to get an ultrasound to see if we could see any problems with the cords and everything looked good. I am not sure what the heart rate increase was all about, but it could just be that she had pinched her cord and then when she released it had a higher heart rate to compensate for the restricted flow. Which is probably a result of the entanglement of the cords. During the ultrasounds the entangled cords lite up like a red and blue braid when they are getting doppler readings from the area.
Mike and the kids came to see me today, which was really nice! This morning Mike's dad came and watched the kids so that Mike and I could go and tour the NICU. The tour gave us alot of information and it was great to see what is coming next. I know that the stay in the NICU will be even more of a roller coaster ride than this pregnancy so the more prepared we are for what is coming the better.
Tomorrow we will get updated weights on the babies. We are hoping for them to be getting close to 2 pounds each. The bigger they are the better! Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers! I will update again tomorrow after my ultrasound. Have a good evening.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Day 5 - Inpatient Stay
Well, we are on day five already! Everything is going good so far. I am adjusting to not chasing kids all day and spending some time off of my feet. The babies are moving like crazy and still giving the nurses and ultrasound techs a hard time during monitoring. But, I am reassured that this is typical with 24 week babies due to the amount of room they have to move around. Their heart rates are been really good and this morning during the ultrasound were exactly the same at 144. We are still currently monitoring 3 times a day with one ultrasound per day. We will be taking the weights of the babies again on Friday to see how much they have grown.
Last Saturday we met with the neonatalogist to give us an idea of what we could expect if the babies were born this week. In the end though, he can only tell us what common problems and concerns are and not exactly what we would face if the girls were born today. We did ask about how long a NICU stay would be once they are born and he told us to just plan on them being in the hospital until 40 weeks no matter when they are born. So, that gives us a little bit of a time line to look at. Thank you to everyone for their prayers, concern, visits, emails, food and phone calls. We really appreciate the kindness and generosity of everyone. Thanks again and have a good week!
Last Saturday we met with the neonatalogist to give us an idea of what we could expect if the babies were born this week. In the end though, he can only tell us what common problems and concerns are and not exactly what we would face if the girls were born today. We did ask about how long a NICU stay would be once they are born and he told us to just plan on them being in the hospital until 40 weeks no matter when they are born. So, that gives us a little bit of a time line to look at. Thank you to everyone for their prayers, concern, visits, emails, food and phone calls. We really appreciate the kindness and generosity of everyone. Thanks again and have a good week!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Day 1 - Inpatient Stay
Well, we made it to 24 weeks! All is well here. I got admitted to the hospital at 10am and everything looks good so far. I was monitored once earlier today and will be again this evening. It is kind of hard to get a good read out because the babies move around so much. But, we got a read out good enough to get the information needed. Monitoring will take place 3 times a day and I will also have one ultrasound a day. I got the first shot from the first round of steriods for the babies lungs this afternoon and will get the second tomorrow. I will update every couple of days as new things develop. One day down and 55 more to go! Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Perinatalogist Appointment #4 - 23 weeks
Today has been a day of mixed emotions. I had a doctors appointment this morning which included an ultrasound and consult with the perinatalogist. The ultrasound went well. The babies were very active again and grew quite a bit both measuring at 23 weeks and 5 days. Baby A weighed in at 1 pound 6 ounces and had a heart rate of 148. Baby B weighed in at 1 pound 5 ounces and had a heart rate of 142. On the previous ultrasound we were told that one of the babies had only one kidney. But, today they may have seen the other kidney. So, at this point we are not sure if the baby has one or two kidneys. Hopefully as the baby gets a little bigger we will be able to see more and confirm if the child will have one or two kidneys.
The big question to be answered today was at what point I would be going inpatient. After one look at the babies cords we knew the answer. The cords are very tangled, even we could see that and we're not doctors or ultrasound techs. The good thing is that the tangles are not pulled tight at this point and the blood flow remains good. The doctor did not sugar coat anything. He reminded us of the 50% survival rate of monoamniotic twins and the harsh reality that we are facing. We also asked about a delivery date. The doctor's answer was "IF you make it to 32 weeks we will deliver them on that date."
Due to the cord entanglement, I will be admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks which is Thursday, October 22. I know that this is what is best for the babies and that they will get the best care possible there giving them the best chance at life. At this point I believe that the reality of this situation is hitting home. Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers.
The big question to be answered today was at what point I would be going inpatient. After one look at the babies cords we knew the answer. The cords are very tangled, even we could see that and we're not doctors or ultrasound techs. The good thing is that the tangles are not pulled tight at this point and the blood flow remains good. The doctor did not sugar coat anything. He reminded us of the 50% survival rate of monoamniotic twins and the harsh reality that we are facing. We also asked about a delivery date. The doctor's answer was "IF you make it to 32 weeks we will deliver them on that date."
Due to the cord entanglement, I will be admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks which is Thursday, October 22. I know that this is what is best for the babies and that they will get the best care possible there giving them the best chance at life. At this point I believe that the reality of this situation is hitting home. Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Perinatalogist Appointment #3 - 21 weeks
This whole time I have been hoping that time would pass quickly to be closer to the end of this unpredictable journey. Now, I find that time is passing very quickly and I am NOT ready to be hospitalized yet! We are currently 3 weeks away from 24 weeks which I am sure will pass just as quickly as the last three!
The twins were doing well today. Today's twin A measured at 21 weeks and 0 days weighing 14 ounces and had a heart rate of 144. Today's twin B measured at 21 weeks and 2 days weighing 15 ounces and had a heart rate of 145. They are very close in size still which is wonderful. No twin to twin transfusion yet! Hopefully, that is one syndrome we can bypass.
The doctors also confirmed today that the "baby B" has only one kidney. In this type of pregnancy birth defects are very common mainly because the pregnancy it self is a defect. The development of a Monoamniotic pregnancy is the result of the egg splitting in two later than "normal" identical twins. "Normal" identical twins split between days 3-8 and Monoamniotic twins split between days 8-12. Any egg that splits after 12 days will be conjoined twins. So, as far as birth defects go, this one is something that we can live with. Lots of people live a normal life with one kidney. Last weekend a set of monoamniotic twins was delievered at the hospital and each of them have only one kidney. They are currently doing very well.
As far as my inpatient stay goes, we are going to try to make it to 26 weeks before going inpatient. As long as the cords are not too tangled and the blood flow in the babies looks good I may be able to stay home for a couple more weeks with periodic outpatient monitoring. This is something that we will not know until the time comes. The babies can be tangled up in a short period of time so we will go from here and take it one appointment at a time. My next appointment will be October 16 which is just over two weeks away. I hope that everyone is well and thanks again for all of your support! (oh yeah, I added a couple new pics!)
The twins were doing well today. Today's twin A measured at 21 weeks and 0 days weighing 14 ounces and had a heart rate of 144. Today's twin B measured at 21 weeks and 2 days weighing 15 ounces and had a heart rate of 145. They are very close in size still which is wonderful. No twin to twin transfusion yet! Hopefully, that is one syndrome we can bypass.
The doctors also confirmed today that the "baby B" has only one kidney. In this type of pregnancy birth defects are very common mainly because the pregnancy it self is a defect. The development of a Monoamniotic pregnancy is the result of the egg splitting in two later than "normal" identical twins. "Normal" identical twins split between days 3-8 and Monoamniotic twins split between days 8-12. Any egg that splits after 12 days will be conjoined twins. So, as far as birth defects go, this one is something that we can live with. Lots of people live a normal life with one kidney. Last weekend a set of monoamniotic twins was delievered at the hospital and each of them have only one kidney. They are currently doing very well.
As far as my inpatient stay goes, we are going to try to make it to 26 weeks before going inpatient. As long as the cords are not too tangled and the blood flow in the babies looks good I may be able to stay home for a couple more weeks with periodic outpatient monitoring. This is something that we will not know until the time comes. The babies can be tangled up in a short period of time so we will go from here and take it one appointment at a time. My next appointment will be October 16 which is just over two weeks away. I hope that everyone is well and thanks again for all of your support! (oh yeah, I added a couple new pics!)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Perinatalogist Appointment # 2 - 18 weeks
Well, the little ladies were very active today and kinda camera shy! But, we did manage to get some essential photos to check up on their progress. They have doubled in size since our last appointment. Today the "baby A" weighed in at 8 ounces had a heart rate of 151 and measured at 18 weeks and 2 days. The "baby B" today weighed in at 9 ounces had a heart rate of 145 and measured at 18 weeks and 3 days. Three weeks ago they only weighed 4 ounces each.
The appointment lasted 3 hours again with about one and a half hours of that being the ultrasounds. The cords are twisted once but, not knotted yet. Everything looks pretty good so far. They measured lots of organs and tried to get some good shots of the heart but, it is still to early to get good enough pictures so we will be getting those next time. It is amazing what they look for in the ultrasounds. They even took pictures of the bottoms of their feet and they actually looked like little foot prints! We will be returning for another visit and more ultrasounds on September 30th. We are also planning to tour the hospital that day to see where I will be staying and the different things that go on there. Hope that all is well with everyone and enjoy the pictures!
The appointment lasted 3 hours again with about one and a half hours of that being the ultrasounds. The cords are twisted once but, not knotted yet. Everything looks pretty good so far. They measured lots of organs and tried to get some good shots of the heart but, it is still to early to get good enough pictures so we will be getting those next time. It is amazing what they look for in the ultrasounds. They even took pictures of the bottoms of their feet and they actually looked like little foot prints! We will be returning for another visit and more ultrasounds on September 30th. We are also planning to tour the hospital that day to see where I will be staying and the different things that go on there. Hope that all is well with everyone and enjoy the pictures!
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