We had another great 24 hours. These little kiddos are really being some champs!
Both babies have started to gain back a little weight. Maggie measured at 2 lbs 6 oz last night vs 2 lbs 4 oz from the night before. Fin measured at 2 lbs 11 oz last night vs 2 lbs 10 oz from the night before. Hopefully they will both keep gaining now that they are getting 6mL and 6.5mL in every feeding. They seem to be tolerating the extra milk very well. It would be awesome to get them back to birth weight in the next couple of days.
We have been trying to get the babes to suck on a pacifier at the start of their feedings. Maggie definitely likes hers better than Fin, but both will try it out for a little bit. Maggie kept hers for the entire last feeding! I think this means she will be more eager to try the bottle than her brother, but maybe he will start trying in the next couple of days.
Overnight (7p-7a) Maggie had 6 Brady episodes. Fin only had 2. They continue to be champs and come out of them on their own. Yay for getting better at that even with very little assistance from the bi-pap!
The night shift nurse was concerned about Maggie's belly button IV line placement. They check this every shift and it looked like it may have come out slightly. The doctor asked for an x-ray to be done to verify that the placement was still good. They did the x-ray this morning and it still looked like it was where it should be. This means she should get to keep the line for a few more days. Typically those lines only last for 7-10 days before they have to change IV styles. We are still hoping to get feedings to 10mL before that IV comes out so they don't have to get another. We are also ready for them to come out so we can hold the littles, but I would rather them not have an IV at all if we can hold off for that!
Finley is a little champ in the poo department. He had some more meconium pass yesterday. This should help his bilirubin levels, but this morning they were still high for him at 8.4. He may get a stronger bank of lights today or a second spotlight. Maggie came up some to 6.7. This may or may not mean she needs a light today. We will have to wait to see what the doc says.
I stayed at the hospital last night and John took his turn in a real bed. I was able to do pretty well on sleep except for when Maggie was unhappy and wanted to be re-positioned. I have my follow up appointment this morning downstairs, so I will sneak down for that before taking a break this afternoon. Tonight, John and I are hoping to get a Ronald McDonald room so we can both stay here. If we can't get one, we will both go home for the night and sleep there.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
4 days old!
It is crazy to me that these babies are already 4 days old! Sometimes it feels like we have only been in here for hours and other times it feels like we have been in here for weeks.
The babies had their first head ultrasounds yesterday. They ended up having them later in the day than we expected because the ultrasound techs were very busy yesterday. Magnolia thoroughly enjoyed her ultrasound. She seemed to like the little head massage that she got with the tiny ultrasound probe. Finley didn't like the cold gel at first, but settled in to enjoy his massage after a couple minutes.
Magnolia's ultrasound came back normal. Finley's ultrasound showed a stage 1 spot. This is fairly common for small babies and they generally resolve on their own. Both babes will have another ultrasound at 7 days to check for changes. They will look at Fin's to ensure nothing has changed. If it remains the same, they won't have another look until right before he leaves. Yay for such good news!
Yesterday was a really good day from a Brady standpoint. Both babies had less than what they have been doing previously. Last night was a bit more rough. Both babies had more than before. They are still coming out of them on their own almost all the time. Maggie sometimes likes to be a little more dramatic and take more time to come out, but usually she doesn't need stimulation. She just wants to be sure she is getting enough attention!
They tested bilirubin again this morning. Maggie has dropped below 6, which means that she gets to come out from under her light for the day. Fin continues to drop to lower levels, but his is still too high for him to come out of the spotlight. Hopefully his will drop more today and he can get a break from wearing those tiny sunglasses!
Fin had his first baby bowel movement, which is great because that means his digestive tract is starting to function like it should. I'm hopeful that Magnolia's will start to kick in as well. They said to really not be concerned until it has been 7-10 days without a bowel movement. With feeding them breast milk, it just takes longer to build up enough to need a bowel movement.
Maggie and Fin have both lost weight since they were born. Maggie is now at 2 lbs 4 oz (from 2-11) and Fin is now at 2 lbs 10 oz (from 2-14). Fin has started to gain some weight back or at least maintain. Maggie continues to lose weight. They gave her more IV fluids yesterday to try to help the girl out, but we haven't seen her put weight back on yet. Today the doctors upped their feedings to 6 mL (about a teaspoon and a quarter) every 3 hours for Maggie and 6.5 mL for Fin. This should help them start to get some ounces back on them!
The babies had their first head ultrasounds yesterday. They ended up having them later in the day than we expected because the ultrasound techs were very busy yesterday. Magnolia thoroughly enjoyed her ultrasound. She seemed to like the little head massage that she got with the tiny ultrasound probe. Finley didn't like the cold gel at first, but settled in to enjoy his massage after a couple minutes.
Magnolia's ultrasound came back normal. Finley's ultrasound showed a stage 1 spot. This is fairly common for small babies and they generally resolve on their own. Both babes will have another ultrasound at 7 days to check for changes. They will look at Fin's to ensure nothing has changed. If it remains the same, they won't have another look until right before he leaves. Yay for such good news!
Yesterday was a really good day from a Brady standpoint. Both babies had less than what they have been doing previously. Last night was a bit more rough. Both babies had more than before. They are still coming out of them on their own almost all the time. Maggie sometimes likes to be a little more dramatic and take more time to come out, but usually she doesn't need stimulation. She just wants to be sure she is getting enough attention!
They tested bilirubin again this morning. Maggie has dropped below 6, which means that she gets to come out from under her light for the day. Fin continues to drop to lower levels, but his is still too high for him to come out of the spotlight. Hopefully his will drop more today and he can get a break from wearing those tiny sunglasses!
Fin had his first baby bowel movement, which is great because that means his digestive tract is starting to function like it should. I'm hopeful that Magnolia's will start to kick in as well. They said to really not be concerned until it has been 7-10 days without a bowel movement. With feeding them breast milk, it just takes longer to build up enough to need a bowel movement.
Maggie and Fin have both lost weight since they were born. Maggie is now at 2 lbs 4 oz (from 2-11) and Fin is now at 2 lbs 10 oz (from 2-14). Fin has started to gain some weight back or at least maintain. Maggie continues to lose weight. They gave her more IV fluids yesterday to try to help the girl out, but we haven't seen her put weight back on yet. Today the doctors upped their feedings to 6 mL (about a teaspoon and a quarter) every 3 hours for Maggie and 6.5 mL for Fin. This should help them start to get some ounces back on them!
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Another great night!
The babies have had another solid 24 hours. They each continue to have less apnea episodes and seem to be settling in. Last night, they started to introduce a pacifier with their feedings. They put a little milk on the pacifier to help the babies start to develop the sucking reflex. This is great since it should help with the last stage of getting them out when they are big enough :)
Sometime today, each baby will have a head ultrasound to check for blood on their brain. They do this at day 3 and day 7. We are hoping there is nothing there, but it is common to have at least a little something.
Each baby had a blood draw already this morning to test for bilirubin again. They are each doing better, but will stay under the lights for today. Last night, they swapped to a more intense light that should help them get rid of bilirubin faster.
Fin had another chest x-ray last night. His CO2 has been high and his breathing rate has been faster than they like to see. There was nothing new on the chest x-ray, so they won't intubate yet. He has a lot of oxygen in belly, so that can also make breathing more difficult for him. They pulled some oxygen out last night and that has helped for now. The doctor is hoping he will just settle in. This usually happens around day 4-5. Hopefully we make it there without another intubation.
Maggie continues to be a little bit sassy. They typically only do hands on care every 6 hours. However, she doesn't like to stay in one position for that long. She starts to get really frustrated and let's the nurse know that it is time to switch to another sleeping position! We may have our hands full with this little diva :)
Last night, John and I both stayed at the hospital. We were able to get a Ronald McDonald sleep room. They have 3 on this floor. The room is like a hotel room without a bathroom. It was great to be able to both be here still and both get some sleep. We will keep putting in our names for these, but with how many babies they have up here right now, I would guess we will only get them sporadically.
Sometime today, each baby will have a head ultrasound to check for blood on their brain. They do this at day 3 and day 7. We are hoping there is nothing there, but it is common to have at least a little something.
Each baby had a blood draw already this morning to test for bilirubin again. They are each doing better, but will stay under the lights for today. Last night, they swapped to a more intense light that should help them get rid of bilirubin faster.
Fin had another chest x-ray last night. His CO2 has been high and his breathing rate has been faster than they like to see. There was nothing new on the chest x-ray, so they won't intubate yet. He has a lot of oxygen in belly, so that can also make breathing more difficult for him. They pulled some oxygen out last night and that has helped for now. The doctor is hoping he will just settle in. This usually happens around day 4-5. Hopefully we make it there without another intubation.
Maggie continues to be a little bit sassy. They typically only do hands on care every 6 hours. However, she doesn't like to stay in one position for that long. She starts to get really frustrated and let's the nurse know that it is time to switch to another sleeping position! We may have our hands full with this little diva :)
Last night, John and I both stayed at the hospital. We were able to get a Ronald McDonald sleep room. They have 3 on this floor. The room is like a hotel room without a bathroom. It was great to be able to both be here still and both get some sleep. We will keep putting in our names for these, but with how many babies they have up here right now, I would guess we will only get them sporadically.
Saturday, July 9, 2016
7/9 morning update
John and I had another night with minimal interruptions. We are both still feeling pretty tired, but we are happy to get a few hours of rest. I am doing better every day and will get discharged today. I hope to head home for a bit and get a shower at home. One of us will likely stay here with them tonight, but I think we will start to alternate unless we can get one of the three sleep rooms they have here.
The babies have been doing well. Maggie continues to have apnea episodes, but she is doing great coming out of them on her own. Otherwise, they have been fairly stable except at their diaper changes and blood draws. Neither one of them likes to be jostled around that much, so it takes them a little while to calm back down.
Both kiddos got tested for jaundice overnight and both have high levels of bilirubin. This is normal as well and means they go under lights that make them look like they are in a tanning bed. They even have stylish eye covers similar to a tanning bed :)
Tomorrow they will do the first head ultrasound on both kiddos to check for bleeding. These are standard to do at 3 days and at 7 days. They said a lot of preemies will at least have some level of bleeding, but if it is small, it should reabsorb.
They took footprints for us overnight. Here is their sets of footprints next to John's hand. Maggie's are on the right side and Fin's are on the left.
The babies have been doing well. Maggie continues to have apnea episodes, but she is doing great coming out of them on her own. Otherwise, they have been fairly stable except at their diaper changes and blood draws. Neither one of them likes to be jostled around that much, so it takes them a little while to calm back down.
Both kiddos got tested for jaundice overnight and both have high levels of bilirubin. This is normal as well and means they go under lights that make them look like they are in a tanning bed. They even have stylish eye covers similar to a tanning bed :)
Tomorrow they will do the first head ultrasound on both kiddos to check for bleeding. These are standard to do at 3 days and at 7 days. They said a lot of preemies will at least have some level of bleeding, but if it is small, it should reabsorb.
They took footprints for us overnight. Here is their sets of footprints next to John's hand. Maggie's are on the right side and Fin's are on the left.
Friday, July 8, 2016
Update through the night and 24 hours
It was much more quiet of an evening last night than the night before! We got all the lights off, after some quick checks by my nurses, around 11 pm and only had one interruption until 6 am this morning. I think I slept a bit better than John, but we were both able to catch at least a little bit of sleep. I am continuing to do well. My stitches are sore more than they have been this morning, but I've gotten a few things from the nurse to help with that. I will continue to work on resting in between trips up to see the little kiddos.
Finley is doing well this morning. We have been up in their rooms since right after we had breakfast and his monitors have been pretty quiet. Last night, they intubated him to give him some surfactant into his lungs. Basically what that does is lubricate his lungs so they stick together less. It has made his breathing a lot less labored this morning.
They did some labs on both of the kiddos this morning and everything is looking good. Neither were happy about getting poked and had a little time to level back out after being so mad! Magnolia had to have her labs drawn a few times because her blood was starting to sort of clot as they took the sample from her tiny feet. They said that is pretty common, but she was not happy about it!
They are continuing to do tiny feedings for each of them.They get 3 mL of donor milk every 3 hours. They are changing up their nutrition a bit and giving them more fat today, so that should help them continue to try to put on/keep some weight. They have taken to the feedings very well and are having good diapers from them, so their digestive tracts are working well thus far!
Both babies are also now bi-pap vs a c-pap. This basically gives them little puffs of oxygen regularly instead of a continuous stream. Since both have had a little apnea, the little puffs can just help remind them to breathe. Fin is doing better with this today than Maggie. She continues to have apnea episodes every once in a while.
Magnolia's respiratory rate has increased. They have had to increase her oxygen level to maintain good levels for everything. The neonatologist has talked about doing the same intubation and surfactant treatment, but wants to wait and see how she does this morning. If she continues to do well in the next 24 hours, then her body will start naturally producing surfactant and we can avoid intubation.
That is all for the morning! I will try to update this at least once a day. We are pretty busy here with doctors and nurses in and out for both me and the kiddos and trying to keep up on rest and food, but hopefully I can get some good updates out :)
Finley is doing well this morning. We have been up in their rooms since right after we had breakfast and his monitors have been pretty quiet. Last night, they intubated him to give him some surfactant into his lungs. Basically what that does is lubricate his lungs so they stick together less. It has made his breathing a lot less labored this morning.
They did some labs on both of the kiddos this morning and everything is looking good. Neither were happy about getting poked and had a little time to level back out after being so mad! Magnolia had to have her labs drawn a few times because her blood was starting to sort of clot as they took the sample from her tiny feet. They said that is pretty common, but she was not happy about it!
They are continuing to do tiny feedings for each of them.They get 3 mL of donor milk every 3 hours. They are changing up their nutrition a bit and giving them more fat today, so that should help them continue to try to put on/keep some weight. They have taken to the feedings very well and are having good diapers from them, so their digestive tracts are working well thus far!
Both babies are also now bi-pap vs a c-pap. This basically gives them little puffs of oxygen regularly instead of a continuous stream. Since both have had a little apnea, the little puffs can just help remind them to breathe. Fin is doing better with this today than Maggie. She continues to have apnea episodes every once in a while.
Magnolia's respiratory rate has increased. They have had to increase her oxygen level to maintain good levels for everything. The neonatologist has talked about doing the same intubation and surfactant treatment, but wants to wait and see how she does this morning. If she continues to do well in the next 24 hours, then her body will start naturally producing surfactant and we can avoid intubation.
That is all for the morning! I will try to update this at least once a day. We are pretty busy here with doctors and nurses in and out for both me and the kiddos and trying to keep up on rest and food, but hopefully I can get some good updates out :)
Thursday, July 7, 2016
What an eventful 24 hours!
Twin pregnancy hasn't been what I expected and the last 24 hours have been no different!
Yesterday at work (around 9:45), my water broke. I think I was the excitement of the plant for the day! Protocol for someone's water breaking at that plant is to travel by ambulance to the hospital. The ERT (trained like EMS folks) at the plant were so fantastic! they had my vitals taken and were quickly able to hand me off to the EMS. I don't think I have been in the back of an ambulance since I was little and they came to elementary school. Needless to say, I'm hoping to not have to do one of those again!
John beat me to the hospital and joined me as they brought me in. The goal for yesterday was to keep me pregnant and stop contractions. They put me on steroid shots to help the babies lungs, antibiotics to keep me from getting any infections and magnesium sulfate to slow the contractions as well as help with their brain development.
Ultimately, they weren't able to keep me pregnant or stop contractions. I headed back to the OR right around 3:30 and had both kiddos before 4:30. Luckily for me, we didn't have to do a C- section. My doctor was on board with letting me try normally and that worked for both kiddos. Hooray for not having to recover from a C- section or even both types of birth! Here are some quick baby stats and pictures:
Finley John- born at 4:16am, 2 lbs 16 oz, 15.25 inches
Magnolia Kay- born at 4:22am, 2 lbs 11 oz, 15.15 inches
Today has been a busy day for us! Both babies are on CPAP machines that are helping to regulate oxygen levels and helping remind them they have to breathe on their own now. Both have leveled out for the most part. They each have little episodes where they forget to breathe or have a lower oxygen level, but that is to be expected likely for the next couple of weeks.
Just to give a little perspective on how tiny they are, here is a picture of the diapers they are using in my hand. Such tiny little munchkins!
As far as how I'm doing- I'm certainly hanging in there. John and I both had a good nap today, which was much needed. I'm definitely sore, but overall my recovery is well on it's way. I will likely get to hang out in my room until Saturday. That is great for both of us because there is a queen bed in there and it is quite in comparison to the kiddos room. We are heading down shortly to call it a night and will come back to see the kiddos in the morning. Hopefully we get a bit more rest tonight!
Yesterday at work (around 9:45), my water broke. I think I was the excitement of the plant for the day! Protocol for someone's water breaking at that plant is to travel by ambulance to the hospital. The ERT (trained like EMS folks) at the plant were so fantastic! they had my vitals taken and were quickly able to hand me off to the EMS. I don't think I have been in the back of an ambulance since I was little and they came to elementary school. Needless to say, I'm hoping to not have to do one of those again!
John beat me to the hospital and joined me as they brought me in. The goal for yesterday was to keep me pregnant and stop contractions. They put me on steroid shots to help the babies lungs, antibiotics to keep me from getting any infections and magnesium sulfate to slow the contractions as well as help with their brain development.
Ultimately, they weren't able to keep me pregnant or stop contractions. I headed back to the OR right around 3:30 and had both kiddos before 4:30. Luckily for me, we didn't have to do a C- section. My doctor was on board with letting me try normally and that worked for both kiddos. Hooray for not having to recover from a C- section or even both types of birth! Here are some quick baby stats and pictures:
Finley John- born at 4:16am, 2 lbs 16 oz, 15.25 inches
Magnolia Kay- born at 4:22am, 2 lbs 11 oz, 15.15 inches
Today has been a busy day for us! Both babies are on CPAP machines that are helping to regulate oxygen levels and helping remind them they have to breathe on their own now. Both have leveled out for the most part. They each have little episodes where they forget to breathe or have a lower oxygen level, but that is to be expected likely for the next couple of weeks.
Just to give a little perspective on how tiny they are, here is a picture of the diapers they are using in my hand. Such tiny little munchkins!
Sunday, July 3, 2016
So many projects, so little time, one exhausted pregnant lady!
It has been a busy past few weeks! Before I jump into the projects we are working on, here is a quick baby update :)
The babies are growing like weeds! Baby boy is 2 lbs 13 oz and baby girl is 2 lbs 8 oz. This puts them at expected delivery dates of 9/14 and 9/24. The doctor isn't concerned about the difference in dates, since boys are normally larger than girls. Both babies are still head down, which puts the boy kicking me in the right ribs and the girl kicking me in the stomach. They are particularly active when I eat ice cream. Apparently they don't like the cold on their feet and bums :)
As far as me, my blood pressure is still the high side of the normal range, but still normal. They continue to keep a close eye on it. I am measuring at 36 weeks (which is where Mel is at), so needless to say I'm starting to get a bit uncomfortable. It also doesn't help that people in the plant tend to not have filters. I think I hear 'you just get bigger every day' at least 5 times a day. Fun times... Here is an updated belly bump pic and a comparison of my belly bump with Mel's.
I will keep having 2 week appointments until 32 weeks where I will start to have 2 a week: one with my doctor and one stress test at the hospital. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but we are going to be delivering at St. Luke's. Both hospitals in town are fantastic, but St. Luke's has a neonatologist on staff 24 hours a day. This was key since we have a higher likelihood of delivering small babies.
Now, the projects. First off, I have a fantastic family. They have been sooo helpful! I'm not sure why I thought starting so many projects all at once was a good idea, but I'm in it now. Last weekend, John's family came down to help with tiling the floors of the half bath, the floor of the guest bath and the shower of the guest bath. We are still in the process of finishing, but we got a TON of work done while they were here. These aren't the most up to date pictures, but here are some progress shots after that weekend.
During this week, the painter came to redo our kitchen cabinets. We had him use polyshade to darken them. He hadn't used it before and he really didn't like this product. He was here yesterday to reinstall the doors. All that is left is to clean up the dust and install a few handles. I think it turned out great!
Sometime mid-week, I asked my family for some help. I think I had hit the incredibly overwhelmed point of having the house a mess and feeling like I just couldn't keep up. Mom, Dad, Derek, Becky and the kiddos came down yesterday. Jantzen said 'she is just telling us what to do and we are doing all the work!'. Yep kiddo, that's how it works when your belly is too big to bend over and pick green beans!
We got a TON done! Our garage was a hot mess with construction stuff, garbage from construction, toilets from the bathrooms, etc. The kids helped load all the cardboard into my car and helped sweep the floor while mom and Becky moved things around so we could sweep under things (and so we could get vehicles in). Derek and Dad reinstalled the vanity upstairs and installed the vanity downstairs. They got the faucet in as well except for actually hooking up the water and the drain because we didn't have the connections. Derek finished some grouting in the shower and then Becky did some serious cleaning in that bathroom. Mom and I also spent some time just cleaning up the main floor. Needless to say, I was exhausted when they left. I do feel like I actually live in my house now and not a construction zone. Hooray for so much help and awesome family!
The babies are growing like weeds! Baby boy is 2 lbs 13 oz and baby girl is 2 lbs 8 oz. This puts them at expected delivery dates of 9/14 and 9/24. The doctor isn't concerned about the difference in dates, since boys are normally larger than girls. Both babies are still head down, which puts the boy kicking me in the right ribs and the girl kicking me in the stomach. They are particularly active when I eat ice cream. Apparently they don't like the cold on their feet and bums :)
As far as me, my blood pressure is still the high side of the normal range, but still normal. They continue to keep a close eye on it. I am measuring at 36 weeks (which is where Mel is at), so needless to say I'm starting to get a bit uncomfortable. It also doesn't help that people in the plant tend to not have filters. I think I hear 'you just get bigger every day' at least 5 times a day. Fun times... Here is an updated belly bump pic and a comparison of my belly bump with Mel's.
I will keep having 2 week appointments until 32 weeks where I will start to have 2 a week: one with my doctor and one stress test at the hospital. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but we are going to be delivering at St. Luke's. Both hospitals in town are fantastic, but St. Luke's has a neonatologist on staff 24 hours a day. This was key since we have a higher likelihood of delivering small babies.
Now, the projects. First off, I have a fantastic family. They have been sooo helpful! I'm not sure why I thought starting so many projects all at once was a good idea, but I'm in it now. Last weekend, John's family came down to help with tiling the floors of the half bath, the floor of the guest bath and the shower of the guest bath. We are still in the process of finishing, but we got a TON of work done while they were here. These aren't the most up to date pictures, but here are some progress shots after that weekend.
During this week, the painter came to redo our kitchen cabinets. We had him use polyshade to darken them. He hadn't used it before and he really didn't like this product. He was here yesterday to reinstall the doors. All that is left is to clean up the dust and install a few handles. I think it turned out great!
Sometime mid-week, I asked my family for some help. I think I had hit the incredibly overwhelmed point of having the house a mess and feeling like I just couldn't keep up. Mom, Dad, Derek, Becky and the kiddos came down yesterday. Jantzen said 'she is just telling us what to do and we are doing all the work!'. Yep kiddo, that's how it works when your belly is too big to bend over and pick green beans!
We got a TON done! Our garage was a hot mess with construction stuff, garbage from construction, toilets from the bathrooms, etc. The kids helped load all the cardboard into my car and helped sweep the floor while mom and Becky moved things around so we could sweep under things (and so we could get vehicles in). Derek and Dad reinstalled the vanity upstairs and installed the vanity downstairs. They got the faucet in as well except for actually hooking up the water and the drain because we didn't have the connections. Derek finished some grouting in the shower and then Becky did some serious cleaning in that bathroom. Mom and I also spent some time just cleaning up the main floor. Needless to say, I was exhausted when they left. I do feel like I actually live in my house now and not a construction zone. Hooray for so much help and awesome family!
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