Here we are spending our last day as a childless couple in Marisa's room in labor and delivery. As of tomorrow she will have been in here for 2 weeks, and as of tomorrow this whole journey will have been worth the wait as we will be welcoming our babies into the world. Marisa's C-section is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:30, and so the next time we update this blog we will be moms!
I can't even begin to describe how amazing Marisa has been this entire pregnancy. She's been so strong through all of the ups and downs and she just manages to hold it all together for those 2 babies growing inside of her. I am so appreciative of her for going through all of this so that we can start a family. I am the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call her my wife, and these babies may or may not know it yet, but they are so lucky to have her as their mother. I love you Ris!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
36 week update!
Today is 36 weeks, and it looks like the doctors finally had a pow-wow and have agreed that if she can make it (that the preeclampsia doesn't get worse) to 37 weeks (February 4th) then that's when the babies will be born. So we are back to the c-section that we had originally scheduled.
A lot has actually happened since my post yesterday. Once we got the news that everyone was in agreement the one doctor asked "can't we get her out of this room if she's going to be in here another week? It's depressing" which was very true as it was dark and her window just faced other windows a so it didn't really matter that she even had one. And so they moved us to another room which is slightly smaller, but has a view of the emergency room entrance and the helicopter landing pad so at least it's something to look at- another bonus is that this room has a pullout couch so I no longer have to sleep in a recliner I actually had a bed last night! It's the little things ;)
The doctors say that Marisa is doing really well and that her body seems to be responding to the bedrest in that things aren't getting worse, yet they do continue to monitor her. And let's talk about those babies... They measured them this morning and Edyn is 6 lbs. 12 oz. and Harrison is 7 lbs. 1 oz.!!! You can only imagine how tiny little Marisa is carrying all that weight around! We never expected them to be that big already, but it's great that they are!
So that's your Monday morning update. Everything could change again by Monday evening but we will just have to wait and see!
A lot has actually happened since my post yesterday. Once we got the news that everyone was in agreement the one doctor asked "can't we get her out of this room if she's going to be in here another week? It's depressing" which was very true as it was dark and her window just faced other windows a so it didn't really matter that she even had one. And so they moved us to another room which is slightly smaller, but has a view of the emergency room entrance and the helicopter landing pad so at least it's something to look at- another bonus is that this room has a pullout couch so I no longer have to sleep in a recliner I actually had a bed last night! It's the little things ;)
The doctors say that Marisa is doing really well and that her body seems to be responding to the bedrest in that things aren't getting worse, yet they do continue to monitor her. And let's talk about those babies... They measured them this morning and Edyn is 6 lbs. 12 oz. and Harrison is 7 lbs. 1 oz.!!! You can only imagine how tiny little Marisa is carrying all that weight around! We never expected them to be that big already, but it's great that they are!
So that's your Monday morning update. Everything could change again by Monday evening but we will just have to wait and see!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Cholestasis and Gestational Diabetes and Preeclampsia, oh my!
It's no lions, tigers or bears- but nonetheless it's a lot of scary stuff. The last we left off Marisa had Cholestasis and was on her new feeding frenzy with the Gestational Diabetes diet. Well, after a week of being on her new diet she went in to meet with the doctor and she had gained 9 lbs.... In a WEEK! They also learned at her appointment that not only were her feet and ankles swollen, but so were her entire legs. As if all of that wasn't enough, she also had high blood pressure. They sent her to labor and delivery at the hospital immediately where they started to monitor her. What we thought was going to be 3 hours of monitoring turned into her being admitted and an overnight in the hospital. The next 24 hours involved her urine being monitored as well as her vitals, her blood and the babies. They also had her doubled up in a room because labor and delivery was so crowded - there were actually 8 women in here pregnant with twins! Anyway, while in the doubled up room she experienced several things- extremely cramped quarters, a roommate with the flu, a second roommate who was a pain in the ass and last but not least the diagnosis of having preeclampsia and that she would be in the hospital until she delivered. They also wanted to push up her c-section from 37 weeks (Feb 4th) to 36 weeks.
2 days later they moved her into a private room which is where we've been hanging out for the rest of the week and where she will be until she delivers. So when is 36 weeks? Tomorrow is 36 weeks. Are we delivering tomorrow? No freakin' clue! There are conflicting reports- every day we get a visit from a Dr. from the OBs office and they tell us we are delivering at 36 weeks- then maybe an hour later we will get a visit from a Dr. from the high risk place and they will tell us that we will see what happens at 36 weeks and maybe we can stick with the delivery at 37 weeks. You can imagine how confusing this all is for us and we wish that the Drs. would talk to each other and then tell us what they decide.
Marisa is hanging in there, staying strong, and making the best of being in the hospital this past week and possibly another full week before delivery. She's bored- which is to be expected, and she's in pain- but that's more from the twins growing and pushing on her ribs making her more uncomfortable than anything else.
So that's the update. We don't know anything more than we did when she was admitted a week ago. Neither the babies or Marisa are in any danger at this point though, and that's what is important. Hopefully we will have something more to report on soon! Stay tuned!
2 days later they moved her into a private room which is where we've been hanging out for the rest of the week and where she will be until she delivers. So when is 36 weeks? Tomorrow is 36 weeks. Are we delivering tomorrow? No freakin' clue! There are conflicting reports- every day we get a visit from a Dr. from the OBs office and they tell us we are delivering at 36 weeks- then maybe an hour later we will get a visit from a Dr. from the high risk place and they will tell us that we will see what happens at 36 weeks and maybe we can stick with the delivery at 37 weeks. You can imagine how confusing this all is for us and we wish that the Drs. would talk to each other and then tell us what they decide.
Marisa is hanging in there, staying strong, and making the best of being in the hospital this past week and possibly another full week before delivery. She's bored- which is to be expected, and she's in pain- but that's more from the twins growing and pushing on her ribs making her more uncomfortable than anything else.
So that's the update. We don't know anything more than we did when she was admitted a week ago. Neither the babies or Marisa are in any danger at this point though, and that's what is important. Hopefully we will have something more to report on soon! Stay tuned!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
weekend update! =P
Well tomorrow is 35 weeks! Hard to believe that we made it to this point considering everything we've been through. We're extremely grateful! :)
So here's the short version of the update...
- I went to the gestational diabetes people last monday and now they have me eating all these carbs and proteins that I feel like I have no time to eat veggies. My blood glucose level has been well below the cut off every time I test. I'm still trying to eat as healthy as possible - lean meats, fruit, yogurt, etc. But with the volume of food they want me to eat, I've gained 6 pounds in one week. That's just ridiculous. I'm meeting with them one more time tomorrow, and I'm going to bring that up and see what they say. I feel like, with the diet that they put me on, I'm constantly eating. Several times I would just cry cause I couldn't eat anymore and once I actually threw up. SO we'll see what they say tomorrow.
- While all my liver tests came back within normal ranges, the doctors said that I most likely have a mild case of cholestasis since I still have all the symptoms. I'm still on meds for that and they told me to take it with benadryl at night. If that doesn't help, they will up the amount next week.
- This is my last week of work!! yay!! By the time my leave begins on January 28th, I will be 36 weeks. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for lasting this long teaching kindergarten AND carrying twins. With that said, I definitely could NOT last another week! :)
AND now the biggest news of all......
- The doctors were going to schedule a c-section at 38 weeks because of Edyn (baby A) being breech. HOWEVER, they bumped it up to 37 weeks because of the cholestasis. SO we have officially scheduled a c-section for Monday, February 4th at 8:30 am. That's when we will finally get to see our two little loves! unless of course i go into labor before then. =P
that's only 2 weeks away!! praying for a healthy delivery of our two happy, healthy, beautiful little babies! and here's hoping we have a productive, stress and drama free, well-rested next couple of weeks. cause we're definitely going to need it! :)
So here's the short version of the update...
- I went to the gestational diabetes people last monday and now they have me eating all these carbs and proteins that I feel like I have no time to eat veggies. My blood glucose level has been well below the cut off every time I test. I'm still trying to eat as healthy as possible - lean meats, fruit, yogurt, etc. But with the volume of food they want me to eat, I've gained 6 pounds in one week. That's just ridiculous. I'm meeting with them one more time tomorrow, and I'm going to bring that up and see what they say. I feel like, with the diet that they put me on, I'm constantly eating. Several times I would just cry cause I couldn't eat anymore and once I actually threw up. SO we'll see what they say tomorrow.
- While all my liver tests came back within normal ranges, the doctors said that I most likely have a mild case of cholestasis since I still have all the symptoms. I'm still on meds for that and they told me to take it with benadryl at night. If that doesn't help, they will up the amount next week.
- This is my last week of work!! yay!! By the time my leave begins on January 28th, I will be 36 weeks. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself for lasting this long teaching kindergarten AND carrying twins. With that said, I definitely could NOT last another week! :)
AND now the biggest news of all......
- The doctors were going to schedule a c-section at 38 weeks because of Edyn (baby A) being breech. HOWEVER, they bumped it up to 37 weeks because of the cholestasis. SO we have officially scheduled a c-section for Monday, February 4th at 8:30 am. That's when we will finally get to see our two little loves! unless of course i go into labor before then. =P
that's only 2 weeks away!! praying for a healthy delivery of our two happy, healthy, beautiful little babies! and here's hoping we have a productive, stress and drama free, well-rested next couple of weeks. cause we're definitely going to need it! :)
Sunday, January 6, 2013
32 week ultraound and all my ailments!
So I call this week "my week of ailments"... although it's actually been more like 2 weeks. It all started on December 22nd, the first day of my 11 day winter break at school. I wasn't feeling so great, so I took my temperature and it was 99 degrees, I figured it was no big deal and took some tylenol. On Sunday, my fever was a bit higher 100.5, so i called the OB and they said to just drink lots of fluids and keep taking tylenol. The doc said that if my temp hits above 102, then I should go to see my family doctor. Well don't ya know that on Monday the 24th, Christmas Eve, my temperature is 102.3. So off i go to my family doctor. By the time i get there, my fever is over 103 degrees. Long story short, he decided to do an influenza test and I officially had the flu for the first time in my life. I even got a flu shot this year!! Anyway, he said I couldn't go to Christmas celebrations because I was highly contagious and so i was stuck at home and missed all the fun. I felt like crap anyway, so even if i wasn't contagious, i probably would not have had fun. But now here we are 14 days later and i'm still insanely congested and i barely have a voice. And this is only the beginning of my many ailments.....
I was supposed to go to do the glucose test (for the third time) on December 29th, but they told me to stay home because I was still recovering and to go the following saturday, which would be this saturday, January 5th. So I went yesterday and did the test. By the time I left there I wasn't feeling quite right, but i wanted to stop at the wawa to get lunch. Walking around the wawa, I started to get light-headed and very shaky and very warm. I decided that I should eat something asap and not wait until i got home. so i picked up an extra cheese stick and some grapes. I ate them in my car on the way home, but i was still shaking when i got there. The shaking really didn't go away until I finished eating my lunch and chilled out on the couch for a while. I kinda figured at this point that the test result was not going to be good because i felt so awful. Well, I got a phone call a few hours later from one of the OB docs asking if I was okay. she said that when she looked at my bloodwork, my last blood draw was so low that I was hypoglycemic for a little bit. I asked her about the other blood draws and she said that I had 2 abnormal results and then the last one which dropped significantly at the end. So the doctor said that she was just checking on me but that someone would call me on Monday to set up an appointment to talk to a nutritionist. She said that I should NOT have to take any medication to control it, which makes me think that my abnormal numbers are actually only slightly high just like they were on the last 2 tests. So ailment number 2 is... gestational diabetes. :(
On to ailment number 3! for the past few weeks i've been itchy. i know, this sounds like a pretty minor problem and you're probably thinking, "really marisa? you're itchy? get over it!" it started with just my belly being itchy which is pretty normal and then I started to get itchy all over. but i kinda figured it was just dry skin from the cold weather. for the past 2-3 days, my hands and feet (mostly my palms and the soles of my feet) have been unusually itchy. Then last night, my hands and feet were really really itchy. it was almost unbearable! So I took a shower, put lotion everywhere including slathering it all over my hands and feet, and went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I was slightly itchy again. so i decided to google it and what i found is that itchy hands and feet along with all-over itching with no rash could be a sign of a liver problem called cholestasis. from what i was reading, it doesn't really affect the mother (other than the itching) but it does affect the babies if it is left untreated. of course, by this point I was freaking out and crying. so i called the on-call nurse and she had the doctor call me. luckily it was one of the doctors that we like. i explained everything to her and she told me everything that i had just read online. she didn't want to send me out in the cold to find a place to take my blood on a sunday or send me into the hospital where i would be re-exposed to the flu. so she said that she would have the nurse call me tomorrow so that i could set up an appointment to go in to be monitored and then they would give me the paper for the bloodwork. she said to pay attention to the babies' movements today and if they were not moving then i should call back. luckily, they have been moving just fine today, no more or less than usual. in the meantime, she has already put me on the meds for the cholestasis.
so basically, i'm still getting over the flu after two weeks, i have officially been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and it looks like i now have a liver problem. just a side note, gestational diabetes and cholestasis are both more common if you are having multiples. AND cholestasis only occurs in 1 percent of pregnant women... of course, i would be in that 1 percent!
In other news, we went for the 32 week ultrasound on december 31st, and the babies were looking great. Edyn was 4lbs 4 oz and Harrison was 4 lbs 8 oz! That's just about 9 lbs of baby!! :) Then on this past friday, we went in for our first monitoring appointment. Again we were told that they are looking good, so that makes me feel a lot better even with all these ailments!!
at the friday appointment the doc was also talking about delivery. he said that the next time we come in, he would schedule a c-section for 38 weeks, just in case we need it. unfortunately, Edyn (baby A) is breech. Harrison in head down and ready to go, but it doesn't matter because she's in the way and in the wrong position. so unless she flips or i go into labor, it looks like it will be a c-section sometime around february 11th. only time will tell! tomorrow marks 33 weeks!!! :)
btw, now that you've read all this, can you believe i'm still working???? lol!
I was supposed to go to do the glucose test (for the third time) on December 29th, but they told me to stay home because I was still recovering and to go the following saturday, which would be this saturday, January 5th. So I went yesterday and did the test. By the time I left there I wasn't feeling quite right, but i wanted to stop at the wawa to get lunch. Walking around the wawa, I started to get light-headed and very shaky and very warm. I decided that I should eat something asap and not wait until i got home. so i picked up an extra cheese stick and some grapes. I ate them in my car on the way home, but i was still shaking when i got there. The shaking really didn't go away until I finished eating my lunch and chilled out on the couch for a while. I kinda figured at this point that the test result was not going to be good because i felt so awful. Well, I got a phone call a few hours later from one of the OB docs asking if I was okay. she said that when she looked at my bloodwork, my last blood draw was so low that I was hypoglycemic for a little bit. I asked her about the other blood draws and she said that I had 2 abnormal results and then the last one which dropped significantly at the end. So the doctor said that she was just checking on me but that someone would call me on Monday to set up an appointment to talk to a nutritionist. She said that I should NOT have to take any medication to control it, which makes me think that my abnormal numbers are actually only slightly high just like they were on the last 2 tests. So ailment number 2 is... gestational diabetes. :(
On to ailment number 3! for the past few weeks i've been itchy. i know, this sounds like a pretty minor problem and you're probably thinking, "really marisa? you're itchy? get over it!" it started with just my belly being itchy which is pretty normal and then I started to get itchy all over. but i kinda figured it was just dry skin from the cold weather. for the past 2-3 days, my hands and feet (mostly my palms and the soles of my feet) have been unusually itchy. Then last night, my hands and feet were really really itchy. it was almost unbearable! So I took a shower, put lotion everywhere including slathering it all over my hands and feet, and went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I was slightly itchy again. so i decided to google it and what i found is that itchy hands and feet along with all-over itching with no rash could be a sign of a liver problem called cholestasis. from what i was reading, it doesn't really affect the mother (other than the itching) but it does affect the babies if it is left untreated. of course, by this point I was freaking out and crying. so i called the on-call nurse and she had the doctor call me. luckily it was one of the doctors that we like. i explained everything to her and she told me everything that i had just read online. she didn't want to send me out in the cold to find a place to take my blood on a sunday or send me into the hospital where i would be re-exposed to the flu. so she said that she would have the nurse call me tomorrow so that i could set up an appointment to go in to be monitored and then they would give me the paper for the bloodwork. she said to pay attention to the babies' movements today and if they were not moving then i should call back. luckily, they have been moving just fine today, no more or less than usual. in the meantime, she has already put me on the meds for the cholestasis.
so basically, i'm still getting over the flu after two weeks, i have officially been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and it looks like i now have a liver problem. just a side note, gestational diabetes and cholestasis are both more common if you are having multiples. AND cholestasis only occurs in 1 percent of pregnant women... of course, i would be in that 1 percent!
In other news, we went for the 32 week ultrasound on december 31st, and the babies were looking great. Edyn was 4lbs 4 oz and Harrison was 4 lbs 8 oz! That's just about 9 lbs of baby!! :) Then on this past friday, we went in for our first monitoring appointment. Again we were told that they are looking good, so that makes me feel a lot better even with all these ailments!!
at the friday appointment the doc was also talking about delivery. he said that the next time we come in, he would schedule a c-section for 38 weeks, just in case we need it. unfortunately, Edyn (baby A) is breech. Harrison in head down and ready to go, but it doesn't matter because she's in the way and in the wrong position. so unless she flips or i go into labor, it looks like it will be a c-section sometime around february 11th. only time will tell! tomorrow marks 33 weeks!!! :)
btw, now that you've read all this, can you believe i'm still working???? lol!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
28-week ultrasound and glucose tolerance test
Let's start with today! Today we went in for the 28-week ultrasound and the babes are looking good! Harrison weighs 2 lbs, 15 oz and his heart rate was 145 bmp... and Edyn is 2 lbs, 11 oz and her heart rate was 143 bpm. They were not in the best positions but Harrison was definitely in a slightly better position than Edyn. We didn't get any pictures of Edyn and we only got a few of Harrison. But that's okay as long as they are healthy!!
Last Monday, I did the one hour glucose test. I had to fast for an hour, then drink this sugary drink that has 50 grams of sugar, then have my blood taken an hour later. The nurse called on Tuesday and said that my number was 137 and they like it to be below 135, close but not close enough. SO I decide to do some research, and I find that most doctors like the number to be under 140. If that was the case I would have passed. If your number is over 200, then you have gestational diabetes.
But because I didn't pass, I had to do the 3-hour glucose tolerance test. Basically, they take your blood 4 times. You fast for 8 hours beforehand. Then you get there and they take your blood, then you drink 100 grams of sugar and wait an hour for them to take your blood again, then you wait another hour and there's another blood draw, then you wait one more hour and they do it one more time. So I hear from the nurse yesterday and she said that I had 1 abnormal number. If I had 2 or more abnormal results, I would have gestational diabetes... if I have 0 abnormal results, I'd be fine. But I only have 1 abnormal result... of course! My first number was 89, which was apparently fine. My second number was 150 and they like for it to be under 180, so I pass that one. The third number was 158 and they want your number under 155, so I fail by 3... dammit! The fourth number was 100 and they want it under 140, so I pass. But because I failed one test, I have to repeat the test at 32 weeks.
So I ask what I can or should be doing, and they say, "Well you could cut out some sugar but don't cut out too much sugar cause we want to know if you have gestational diabetes" or something like that... i don't know!! I guess we'll see what happens at 32 weeks. The good thing is that I have off for winter break during that time, so the next glucose test and our next big ultrasound are during break which means I don't have to use sick days!! :)
Gearing up for the baby shower on Sunday!!! :D
Monday, November 26, 2012
27 weeks - beginning of 3rd trimester! :)
Wow! We are officially in the 3rd trimester!!! It's hard to believe that in about 10 weeks (give or take a few), we are going to have 2 babies! :D
The nursery is looking pretty good and our baby shower is right around the corner. We are very busy getting ready for Christmas... our last Christmas with just the two of us. Even though we are obviously shopping for presents for friends and family, it's awfully hard to stay away from the baby section. We try, but often fail miserably. Lol! Let's see... we also had maternity photos taken at 24 weeks, which turned out fantastic! So all in all, it has been a busy time for us.
This past Friday, we went in to get a 3D/4D ultrasound. We already had one pretty good 3D shot of each baby. And even though they kinda look like monsters in there in some of the shots, it's always so nice to see them again. :) The ultrasound tech was even able to get both of them in one picture... however, Edyn's foot was in the middle! She was moving all over the place and at one point, she had her feet in her face. They were also kicking each other from time to time. Lol! It was pretty amusing to watch them in there. I kept thinking, "so this is what they must be doing when I feel them moving about!" Harrison was kind of hidden in there, but there are still some cute ones of him too!
Our next step is the 28 week ultrasound on December 4th. Maybe we'll get even more 3D shots then. Regardless, it'll be great to see them again... I love them. <3 Soon enough, they will be here!!!!
The nursery is looking pretty good and our baby shower is right around the corner. We are very busy getting ready for Christmas... our last Christmas with just the two of us. Even though we are obviously shopping for presents for friends and family, it's awfully hard to stay away from the baby section. We try, but often fail miserably. Lol! Let's see... we also had maternity photos taken at 24 weeks, which turned out fantastic! So all in all, it has been a busy time for us.
This past Friday, we went in to get a 3D/4D ultrasound. We already had one pretty good 3D shot of each baby. And even though they kinda look like monsters in there in some of the shots, it's always so nice to see them again. :) The ultrasound tech was even able to get both of them in one picture... however, Edyn's foot was in the middle! She was moving all over the place and at one point, she had her feet in her face. They were also kicking each other from time to time. Lol! It was pretty amusing to watch them in there. I kept thinking, "so this is what they must be doing when I feel them moving about!" Harrison was kind of hidden in there, but there are still some cute ones of him too!
Our next step is the 28 week ultrasound on December 4th. Maybe we'll get even more 3D shots then. Regardless, it'll be great to see them again... I love them. <3 Soon enough, they will be here!!!!
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| Both babies! - Edyn on the left, Harrison on the right With Edyn's foot in the middle!! =P |
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| Our little girl!! |
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| Edyn again with her arm and hand in her face. |
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| Our little boy!! |
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| Harrison again, curled up of course. |
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