It has been a long time since I last posted to this blog. That was due, in part, to my not really having anything new to say about my pregnancy, but also due in part to the pregnancy related numbness in my right hand. I honestly don't believe I've had feeling in the fingers of that hand since about mid-March. Fun stuff.
And the edema just got worse and worse with each passing week. I actually put on 14 pounds in 10 days and completely freaked out. My doctor said I shouldn't worry because the edema weight gain tends to be exponential with multiples. Awesome. So I tried to relax and not worry about it until my next prenatal appointment. That appointment was on Monday May 9th.
I wasn't feeling great when I arrived. I was crazy swollen with the edema and just plain worn out. They were also running late so I sat in the waiting room for a while after arrival. And as any pregnant woman knows, the first thing you do upon arrival is leave a urine sample so they can check for increased protein levels. I took one look at my sample and knew something was wrong.
My check up which showed the babies were fine, but my protei levels were high as was my blood pressure. My doctor was having me admitted to the hospital. This is when I started to cry. It was too early. I was only 31 weeks along. Eric was out of the country working on a film. I got the sense from my OB, however, that the hospitalization would be for 48 hours and, if I didn't deliver during that window, then I would be home on bed rest until the babies arrived.
I was wrong.
I drove home to pack a quick bag and Kristine drove me back to Cedars. I checked in and was brought to room 3005 in the Maternal Fetal Care Unit (MFCU) where I was promptly ushered into a gown, the bed and a hooked up to a whole bunch of monitors. Shortly thereafter a team came in and did a very detailed ultrasound of the babies. Then it was about making me comfortable despite the fetal monitors and BP cuff and IV and crappy magnesium sulfide (sulfate?).
The next morning I was still under the impression that I might go home after 48 hours. That was until Eric called me after speaking to my OB who said the next time I go home I would be a mom. The 48 hour window was critical to getting meds on board to help the babies, but after that, they would be monitoring my vitals and hoping to get any additional time possible before having to deliver. Eric arrived at the hospital at 11pm Tuesday evening and this began our waiting game.
During the next few days I was looked after by a team of doctors and nurses and residents. All were truly amazing and caring and did everything they could to keep me calm, comfortable and prepared for the road ahead - not just for me, but also for the girls since they would be delivered early. Meds were administered, blood was drawn and tests run. Things were okay for the most part until Friday evening. The anxiety of doing nothing finally won over by that evening. I had had enough. I was uncomfortable, the edema was ridiculous and I had actually put on 17 pounds since Monday. It was almost all water weight since they really hadn't been feeding me anything. I was damn close to walking out of the place (even though I could barely walk because of the swelling).
The next morning the head obstetrics came by to say that they were concerned about my BP levels from the previus night, but that they were going to watch and wait since the first reading that morning was acceptable, still high, but acceptable. Eric went to get a cup of coffee and I laid back and closed my eyes. A few minutes later another doctor came in to let me kinow that my lab work came back and, well, my liver enzymes had spiked massively and the various doctors at Cedars conferred amongst themselves and with my OB and they would be delivering the babies ASAP.
Then came the start of the activity flurry as the nurses came in to prep me for the c-section. The magnesium drip was started again and within moments I was on fire from the medication and just feeling awful. An anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and then the OR nurse was in talking to me and the MFCU nurses. Luckily Dr. Kilpatrick (head of OB) saw Eric by the Starbucks and made a beeline over to tell him to get upstairs for the babies's delivery since I hadn't had a chance to call him since the flurry began so quickly.
A few minutes later I was wheeled to the OR, a spinal was administered and my legs turned into numb, lead weights. Drapes were hung, my OB walked in and then Eric and within a few minutes the girls were born at 31 weeks and 5 days (a little over 8 weeks premature).
Morgen - 5/14/11 9:53am 3 lbs 11 oz.
Sonne - 5/14/11 9:54am 2 lbs 10 oz.
The girls and dad headed up to the NICU while I was stitched back together and brought to the PACU recovery room. My OR nurse Jeannie kept telling me that I did a great job keeping those girls in almost an additional week. Eric was back to see me and report on the girls fairly quickly. As I was resting and waiting for the spinal to wear off, he went back up to see the girls and his mom came into sit with me. As soon as I could move my feet and toes it was back to the MFCU for 24 hours since they needed to keep the magnesium drip going and monitor me.
I was finally able to go see them at 8:15pm on Sunday - nearly 35 hours after they were delivered. Those hours were amongst the longest in my life.
Over the course of the next several days the doctors kept adjusting my medications to try and get my BP under control. It finally balanced out on Wednesday and by Thursday I was discharged. Armed with BP medication and ibuprofen for painn we are finally home and have begun to figure out how the next six to eight weeks of our life will look as we start daily commutes to the hospital to see the girls.
Neither of us think it will be easy, but we will figure it out and strike some sort of balance between the hospital and regular life. All we know for sure is that we love each other and will support each other through this, we have an amazing network of family and friends to help us with anything we need, but most important, we are both falling more in love with these girls with every passing moment.
