Admission to the hospital

So this morning I got a phone call from my OB office saying my lab work had come in from over the weekend and that I needed to come to the office today not tomorrow as scheduled. They wanted to check my blood pressure and urine especially. So I called Bob, who was at work, and told him we needed to go to the office and we did. When we got there we went through the usual routine. My weight had actually come down by 3lbs- wahoo some water has left my body. Then I provided a urine sample this came back 3+ protein, not good. Lastly they checked my blood pressure, it was horrible, 189/106- I was shocked. Honestly I was feeling relatively good, one of my better days. Even my constant headache was not that bad, so I was really surprised. So the nurse took me to the exam room and laid me on my left side so they could recheck my blood pressure. Dr. R came in and looked very somber. She rechecked my blood pressure 170/98- not a good improvement. She then checked my tummy and listened to the boys heart rates. After that she sat down with us and told us about our labs. The second urine test had come back 10x higher than the previous one not only was this concerning but more so that the change had happened in only one week. I was very surprised, she said the protein had gone from 297mg to over 3000mg. This put us in the delicate in between stage of  preeclampsia (PIH) stage and meant my kidneys were not functioning well. The danger is when you get to severe preeclampsia this can lead to seizures, stroke, maternal and/ or death of the babies. She said if it was up to her she would probable deliver me today but she said it was up to Dr. H who was on call at the hospital. So she sent us over for more blood work, tests, and to see Dr. H. We were shocked and feeling overwhelmed. Each of us called our parents to give them a heads up on what was going on and told them to wait by the phone. We got to the hospital they immediately took us back to a room started a NST and lab came to draw blood. We had the same sweet nurse from Friday- just a side note the nurses are wonderful at Rex! Dr. H came in very concerned and said she just was not sure what she wanted to do yet. We are in that delicate balance where we have to weigh the options of delivery vs waiting for the health of the babies. This is based on whether if I have not developed severe PIH- we would know more after the blood work- and if the babies are not in distress they would be better off holding off delivery. So she sent us down to the UNC specialists for a consult and detailed ultrasound to check the boys. We had the ultrasound done and the boys showed no signs of distress, in fact they are as content as can be to hang out in my tummy. The blood flow in the placenta- which can become compromised in PIH- looked great. The boys got a perfect score on their biophysical profile. It was a huge relief to see they are doing so well.  Their growth was even good-James weighs 4lbs 8ozs and Jackson weighs 4lbs 4ozs. We spoke with the specialist who recommended we just watch and wait until something changes to severe with me, the boys show signs of distress or we reach 36 weeks. By this time my blood work came back and nothing came back alarming so Dr. H decided no delivery today- we were again relieved. While they look wonderful in my tummy they could be very sick if we took them out now. Now we have a new set of plans and change of scenery. I was admitted to the hospital for bed rest and observation.

We are here for till the end.

 We will have twice daily NSTs, lab work, ultrasounds, and very frequent blood pressure checks. I was also changed over from my Lovenox to Heparin- which is a shorter acting blood thinner. Now we just wait, basically we can have a baby any day just depends on me and the boys- that is so mind boggling to me! Hopefully we can get to 36 weeks because every day they can stay in my tummy  and grow the better. 

My Wonderful Husband...

I just want to take a second to brag on my wonderful husband. He is going to be such an AMAZING father. He goes above and beyond and I know it is not fun carting me around to multiple doctor's visits, going to seminary full time, working 40+hours a week, and keeping up the house. He has been wonderful throughout the pregnancy and especially during bed rest. He caters to my every need and most all of my wants, like cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory just because! He cooks meals for us when he is off and makes me plates for when he is at work. He always makes sure I am well taken care of. He is also so sweet to our little boys he talks to them and plays with them- they love to kick back when you press on my stomach and then if you stop they kick repeatedly acting like "Hey where did you go?" it is so funny. He reads them books, they are so responsive to his voice it amazes me. He is so ready for them to get here, I think a little more than me. I feel a lot less prepared. My favorite thing is when he prays over me and our children at night, it melts my heart and reminds me how blessed I am. Today was a relaxing Sunday we were able to spend together since he was off and tonight he made a wonderful steak dinner- it tasted as good as it looks!

I cherish these moments before the boys arrive. I am so thankful for him throughout this pregnancy and could not ask for a more wonderful husband and father to our children.

Another Urine Test...

So we went back to the OB for our biweekly appointment. This was actually the first time in 4 weeks that I did not gain any weight between appointments. The swelling stayed the same, which is fine with me as long as it didn't worsen. I have been gaining 4-5 lbs every 3-4 days due to swelling. Anyways so then by now you know the drill (even if you didn't want to know you know what every pregnant woman must endure each doctor's visit) I had to provide a urine sample. I was hoping it was going to be ok. Well it came back with 3+ protein- not good at all! Then we took the dreaded blood pressure. It was 175/96- again NOT GOOD. So Dr. C was not happy at all. Even when I laid on my side it only came down to 150/ 89. So Dr. C sent back to the hospital to get our usual NST but she also added blood work and another lovely 24 hour urine. Thankfully the blood work came back ok. The boys also both cooperated for the NST, and I was not having contractions. So we got to go home- yay!! Unfortunately the brown jug went home with us again! I really do hate that dumb jug! Since Bob had to work our sweet friend Gene took the jug to the outpatient lab at the hospital Saturday- yeah it was really inconvenient to do the test over the weekend but that is ok whatever needs to be done for the babies. We have another appointment Tuesday so will see how that goes.

33 Weeks...

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: We are 33 weeks, YAY!

Size of our babies: Our twins are the sizes of honeydews this month. 

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Maternity Clothes: Maternity clothes are all that I can wear and only a few pieces now due to the swelling and my growing belly

Gender: Boys!!! James Sidney and Jackson Esker

Movement: They are all over the place all the time. They are most active during our biweekly NSTs, they know we are trying to monitor them and they kick the monitor and move all over the place.

Sleep: I sleep about 2 hours at a time and that is it then I HAVE to go run to the restroom. I am very uncomfortable not so much from the pregnancy but the large amount of swelling and extra water I am carrying around on top of the babies.

What I miss: A good night's sleep, being able to bend over, not being on bed rest, and not be exhausted since being on bed rest our twice weekly outing to the doctor are exhausting just walking is exhausting.

Cravings: Macaroni and Cheese, Cheesecake (my sweet hubby brought me some from the cheesecake factory- it was delish!)

Symptoms: Mainly swelling- it is everywhere I actually started to hold pockets of fluid and it is painful, restless, braxton hicks and real contractions,frequent bathroom breaks, and a constant headache. I am thankful the shortness of breath is not as bad turns out the boys and moved down some and are both head down.

Best Moment this week: Making it on week 3 of bed rest, every week counts! Also my sweet husband bought me a Vera Bradley Diaper bag- it is actually the weekender style which is a little bigger perfect for the twin's stuff. 

It is so cute I love it! 

He also got his dad bag in the mail, it is pretty neat!

He is happy to have a manly diaper bag!

24 Hour Urine...

So you may remember me mentioning having to do a 24 hour urine on the 8th. I like to call this the dreaded brown jug test. It is where for 24 hours I have to get a urine sample every time I go to the bathroom. Each sample has to be placed in a brown 3000 ml jug. They run labs to check my kidney function and protein levels on it because of my high blood pressure. If you miss one sample you have to start all over. Did I mention you have to keep the brown jug in your fridge, which is kinda gross. I just told Bob be sure you don't drink out of the brown jug because it looks like a half gallon chocolate milk jug.

 Anyways so we did this test all day Thursday and took it in Friday at our appointment.  At our next appointment we got the results, there was only .297g of protein which meets the criteria for mild preeclampsia. This meant if our NST at the hospital looked good we could basically stay on at home bed rest.  

Jackson did not want to cooperate with the NST so we had an ultrasound at the hospital and he passed his biophysical profile. This is a test which basically looks at his organs, fluid, breathing motions, and blood flow; he got a perfect score. The  other thing that threw us for a loop today while doing our NST was I was having regular contractions. I thought they were just slightly painful Braxton Hicks but no they were the real thing. So they gave me and IV and loaded me with fluids and they eventually stopped. Thankfully it all worked so we could go home and now we are hanging in there till our next appointment on Friday.

32 Weeks...

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: We are 32 weeks

Size of our babies: Our twins are still the sizes of squashes this month. 

photocredit

Maternity Clothes: Maternity clothes are all that I can wear

Gender: Boys!!! James Sidney and Jackson Esker

Movement: They are all over the place kicking all the time especially at night time

Sleep: I wake up all the time there is no longer a full nights sleep and the pillow count in are bed has grown exponentially, poor Bob

What I miss: A good night's sleep, being able to bend over, not being on bedrest

Cravings: Mexican, milkshakes, and Asparagus (I know weird)

Symptoms: swelling, headaches, fatigue, heartburn, frequent bathroom trips, shortness of breath, round ligament pain, and nausea.

Best Moment this week: Another reassuring ultrasound this week the boys look great and so did the non stress test (NST) this Tuesday and Wednesday.

Maternity Photos

A few weeks ago I was asked to model for my friend Lisa whose is a photographer. She was working on a project for school and I had thought about taking maternity photos but just had not really made it a priority. In fact if it was not for one of my best friends, Victoria, I would not have made a big deal about trying to take weekly belly pictures but I am so glad I have. Turns out it the shoot was perfect timing since it was the last week before I was placed on bed rest. She did a wonderful job and it was so much fun I am really glad I did it! Here are some of the photos she took and feature on her blog- www.lisapotterphotography.wordpress.com

 The book I am holding contains all their ultrasound photos

Thanks so much Lisa, I love what you were able to capture!