A Bit of an Update

This is Grandma Dawn again. I really hope Kristen can get to a computer one of these days to do a post. I know she has lots fo share!! But in the meantime, I thought I'd share the pictures I took today. Feel free to come on over to my place if you've missed the last set of pictures.



The girls are each gaining well - Kate is an especially voracious eater and is at 4 pounds. Emma is not keeping up quite as much, but she's going to get there. I was privileged to feed both of them today, because I was the only one there at the right time. What a blessing.

These two pictures were before and after Kate's lunch.

Sweet little Emma makes the same face that her big sister, Care Bear used to make when she was a tiny baby.

Thanks for stopping by! - Grandma Dawn for ......

Prayer Request

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE:

Kristen is on her way home from the hospital with a new diagnosis of muscular inflammation. This is what the doc at the Urgent Care said yesterday afternoon - thanks for your prayers. Keep praying that soon the pain will be gone, nobody what is causing it!

Once again, I have come to give you a little update.

Kristen has been doing well, and lately has had to be at the hospital 12 miles north of us, twice a day, six hours apart. Kate has been doing quite well learning to nurse, Emma is a bit behind. They have both regained the birth weight they lost, and had made a bit of a gain as of Friday. You can check out my site for the latest pictures.

About the prayer request - Kristen ended up back in the hospital late last night with chest pains. She's been diagnosed with pericarditis (inflammation of the sack around the heart). I read up on it by googling it, but it didn't help much in understanding how she acquired this latest bump in the road. She will probably be released today and be on antiinflammatories. Please pray that she will not only get over this quickly, but that she'll be able to continue nursing.

Thank you!

Dawn, her mom

Update!

Just a few words from Grandma Dawn.

Kristen was able to come home from the hospital on Friday afternoon. I stopped and rented the industrial sized pump that she has to use at home. She is very successfully storing up milk for the little darlings. She is very busy with Care Bear, Feisty, and Anakin. Her MIL has stayed much longer than we expected, for which we are extremely grateful. They spend a lot of time traveling to and from the hospital, and loving on Emma and Kate in the NICU. They spent the night (all 4 of them - Anakin was with his mother) in one of the family rooms they have at the hospital for people who have babies in the hospital.

So I've been keeping a blog journal for both of us over at Call Me Grandma Dawn. Come on over for a visit and the latest pictures taken today. (She's going to definitely have to change her profile picture!)

I hope Kristen can get to a computer soon and update you in her own inimitable style. Thanks so much for your prayers and so much caring!

They're Here!!

This is Grandma Dawn doing a little update for Kristen. She has had a rough afternoon, after a very uneventful surgery, which produced two beautiful, tiny, little girls. Please pray for all of them. The girls are great - Emma's on oxygen - she weighs 2 lbs. 15.5 ounces and is 15 inches long. She's FEISTY!! But she's tiny and needs some extra help.

Kate is 3 lbs. 5 ounces and is 15 3/4 inches long. She's feisty too! One of the nurses said to her, "You don't know you're a preemie, do you??

Kristen has had some blood pressure and temperature and bleeding issues since we left her there alone. (I think the hospital personnel were glad to see the crowd leave - see my site for pictures of the "clan.")

I'm just going to post two introductory pictures here, and you can go to my post for more. I'm TIRED! I need to get the kids to bed - school tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayer and caring!

Emma Faith (who was not supposed to survive because she was too small!)

Katherine Hope (who was supposed to have a chromosomal abnormality)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EMMA AND KATIE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUHAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA AND KATIEHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!

T-minus two hours and my girls will be here. I'm nervous. See y'all on the flip side!

Yikes!

I can't sleep. It's 6 a.m. and despite being given two Ambien last night by the nurse and not turning off the lights until midnight, I am wide awake. I can't figure out why. Hmmmm. Maybe it's because in 18 hours I am going to be delivering twins?! I don't know. Maybe that could have something to do with it.

I can't even pin point any particular emotion I am having right now because I think there's a little bit of every emotion you could ever have floating around in me.

All kinds of fun and cool things are happening to me right now. My doctor has decided (at the 11th hour) that I am not gaining enough weight. I about wanted to throw my hands up in there air and release a primal scream when she said that to me. Let me just say that since I have been sequestered in the hospital bed, I have done NOTHING but eat. Not only three meals a day (which I rarely ever, ever do), but every time my meals are over, within 20 minutes they are bringing me a protein shake that I'm somehow supposed to choke down. That being said, I told my doctor that "perhaps my body just really doesn't want to gain any more weight; maybe it's at capacity." My stomach has been in a constant state of discomfort since I got here; so much so that night before last, the majority of the night I spent not daring to move or even breathe because if I did I was going to puke.

So, now they are drawing blood to find out if I have some sort of gastro-intestinal problem going on, or exactly why I can not gain weight. You'd think I have gained only 2 lbs this whole time or something. I've gained 27 lbs. Probably not as much as is considered "ideal gain weight" for twins, but it's not horrible. THEN, she is adding another medication to my cocktail of drugs I take every day that is supposed to help me digest my food quicker so I don't feel so full all the time. THEN, they are going to hook me up to an IV to supplement what I am eating. (My thought is, what good is this all going to do 24 hours before I have these babies? If this was going to happen, shouldn't it have happened long ago?!?!) And then the COOLEST, FUNNEST most AWESOME thing I get to do?!?! I get to collect my pee and put it in a bottle everytime I go so they can test how much protein I have in my pee! Is that awesome or what?!

I'm complaining, I know; which I shouldn't be doing because "doctor knows best", however, like I said, wouldn't this have made more sense a week or two ago when I had some time to actually gain some significant weight? Oh, well.

Doctors, nurses, neo-natal specialists, NICU nurses, nutritionists, OTs, therapists.....you name the hospital employee and I have probably seen them during my stay here. I even know the housekeepers by name. Everyone here has been so wonderful to me and they have made a long, long stay here much more tolerable.

I will probably be here for three days post-surgery; so most likely until Thursday. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course the dynamic of my stay is going to change drastically mid-day tomorrow.

I have a request for everyone out there. I know you have been fervently praying for me and the twins; and your prayers and thoughts and caring are appreciated more than you will ever know. I am awed over the amount of caring I have received from people all over the globe. But if you could please add little Care Bear and Feisty to your prayers as well, I would really appreciate it. Their lives are about to dramatically change. Especially Feisty. She will be de-throned as the "baby". I just don't want to be so overwhelmed with the twins and everything else that the others end up feeling neglected. It is a real big concern for me. I felt the same way when I had Feisty and worried a lot about Care Bear. My fears were not in vain; Care Bear had a real difficult period of adjustment and the three or four months after Feisty was born were extremely difficult. So, prayers for my other two little girls are appreciated as well.

This could very well be my last post before the twins arrive. However, you could see a last minute panic stricken one at around noon tomorrow. :) We'll see. I'm sure my mom will be posting regular updates until I am able to do so again!

The countdown has begun!

Slight Change of Plans

I had my ultra sound today. It took over two hours. In the end, I found out that the bigger baby is 3 lbs 15 oz and the little baby is 2 lbs. 15 oz. (Care Bear says that the "big" baby is hers since she's bigger, therefore according to her, big baby is Kate and the littler baby is Feisty's...or Emma).

Kate is actually right on target. Totally normal size for her gestation. Emma is pretty little, but according to all her tests, just as healthy as can be. I'm tempted to call her "Feisty: The Sequel" because I'm thoroughly convinced that the reason she is smaller than Kate is solely because of how much aerobics she does in there. That child never sits still!! In fact, she's in breech position--again! Good grief.

My doctor called me within a few hour of the ultra sound and since Emma didn't quite hit the target weight for normal delivery, I will be having a C-section. But now that she's breech again, that may have happened anyway.

I took a tour of the NICU just a little bit ago. They gave me two little handkerchiefs to put on so that when I'm not with the babies, they will have my scent with them and have me near them. *s0b*. This is the poem that's on the bag that the hankerchiefs are in:

I Love You Mommy

We have a bond

That began months ago

I love you so much

This I know

When we are together

Wear this close to your heart

So when you're away

We are never apart

When you have to go

Leave this with me

I'll feel safe with you near

You will see

Until we're together again

You will always be close

You are the Mommy

That I love the most

The NICU is as homey as it can possibly be with very comfy looking chairs and roomy areas for visitors.

I had a visit tonight from a nurse practitioner from the NICU who gave me an overview of what to expect throughout delivery and beyond. Tonight a neo-natal pediatrician is supposed to be coming by to talk to me. I feel confident that my babies are in good hands. And of course the great physician will be present through it all.

The C-section will be taking place Monday, the 7th at 12:30 p.m. I'm not completely sure why they changed the date, but I just do what they tell me to do. So, not Sunday.....Monday. At 12:30.

Thank you so much for all your kind comments, thoughts and prayers. I feel covered from all corners of the country and even other parts of the world! I couldn't ask for better friends!

BREAKING NEWS

I received word just a little while ago that the babies are going to be delivered on Sunday; I'll be exactly 33 weeks.

I have an ultra sound tomorrow to find out how much they weigh and whether or not I will be able to deliver the "regular" way or if I will have to have a C-section. It all depends on how much they weigh.

I have had the Beta-Methazone shots already to help strengthen the babies' lungs so I'm really hoping they'll be strong enough to breathe on their own.

I'm not ready; I'm completely unprepared; I thought I had almost 2 months left. Life on the outside is a chaotic mess and I'm more stressed out right now then I have been in my entire existence. I feel like a brick wall is falling down all over me. I need a Valium or something.

Emma Faith and Katherine Hope: Date of Birth: January 6, 2008

I didn't make it here to ring in the New Year and wish everybody a happy one. Not that I wasn't up to ring it in. Far beyond, as a matter of fact. My MIL was here in my room until almost 4 a.m. However, I am not exactly sure what I was doing at the exact moment Father Time handed the reins over to baby New Year. I think I was knitting a hat or something like that.

Speaking of, I have completed hats now for Care Bear, Feisty, Emma and Kate. All the same color. My four girls are going to look so cute all wearing their hats together. I've got several "orders" for other people. I'm trying to figure out how to do the scarves, too.

Here's Emma and Kate's Hats

(How about that container of disposed of hypodermics behind me? They aren't mine. Wish they'd get rid of them. One of them is labeled "Hep B". Cool!)

Here's A Belly Shot--Probably the Last

Still bored, but coping. My girls have made themselves at home here; they know where everything is and love to take people on "tours". Their visits are the highlight of my day. I wish they could move in with me.

I've gotten to go twice now on 30 minute "walks" around in the wheelchair. It's nice to get out of this bed and this room. I wish I could go outside. I probably could if I wanted to but it's pretty cold out there right now.

Must get back to my busy, busy life now. Happy January 2nd!