Is December 11th a good birthday?

Friday was a nice day, I stayed inside because it was too cold for me to go outside and finally worked some on putting my wedding pics in photo albums. I still didn't finish, but will try to finish today. I had a nice visit with Shelly from work, it's always a nice surprise to see a face from work. Thanks Shelly for coming to see me. Of course my mom, dad, grandma came in the evening. My mom had to go get Chelsie and her boyfriend Eric and brought them by, too.

I had a nice surprise this morning from the doctor. Every morning when the doctors come in they usually ask me how I am doing and tell me that the girls tests have been good. This morning the doctor came in and told me they are planning to go ahead and schedule me for my c-section at 32 weeks, which will be Dec. 11th( this is a tentative date). I was a little surprised and caught off guard. It seemed so out of the blue, especially since they have been saying 32-34 weeks all this time. I didn't ask much questions, I guess I was happy just to hear they had made a decision. They are still going to discuss whether or not they will give me another round of steroids to help develop the girls lungs prior to the date. I already had one round at 24 weeks and a second round is controversial so the MFMs (specialists) are going to discuss it and let me know what they think is best. I couldn't go back to sleep after that I had so many thoughts racing through my head. That date is less than 3 weeks and there are still some things left to do. When I called Randall he asked me "Why 32 weeks, when they have been saying 32-34 all this time." I told him I didn't really ask because I was caught off guard, but there will be time to ask more questions since they come see me at least once daily.

Now I know to most people it seems logical to wait until 34 weeks so they can develop more, but with twins it's different, especially mono amniotic twins. All twins have increased risk for still birth starting at 32 weeks and then we also have to worry about our girls tangling their cords for 2 more weeks. At that point the girls still won't be fully developed, but most doctors agree that the risks of them being born (at 32weeks) outweigh the risks of them staying in longer. On the mo mo website it seems that most deliver at 32 weeks and they are fine. So it seems reasonable to me to have them delivered then. I have had so many months of worries, to wait 2 more weeks seems like forever. Of course there is still the possibility that an emergency could develop and we could deliver sooner, but hopefully that is not the case. If we can make it to 32 weeks and deliver both girls safely I will be happy.

Now regardless of when they are born, it is going to be a definite c-section and they will have two teams of nurses, pediatricians and neonatoligists in the operating room waiting for the girls to assess them immediately. I am not even sure if I will get to see them right away, maybe a quick glimpse if we're lucky. They will go to the NICU and depending on how they look will stay there as long as necessary. All babies are different so it just depends on how they look when they come out. They may or may not need breathing tubes or they might just need regular oxygen. Only time will tell all these little details, there is no way anyone can tell us what we will face on what other mo mo moms call the" NICU Roller coaster". Just like our pregnancy we will hope and pray for the best. There have been babes born at 32 that have only had to stay one week, while others have had to stay months. They will definitely have to be breathing on their own, feeding and growing well to go home.

I am going to place a NICU video on here that you can click on if you would like to know more about the NICU. There are two, about 5 minutes each. #1 A visual tour and #2 How parents can help. I know a lot of people want to be here for us and we really appreciate all the support, but please keep in mind that as long as the girls are in the NICU they are limited on visitors. I think only the parents and grandparents. We are going to go visit our NICU some time today for a tour and I will clarify with them. I hope to be able to add as many posts and pics to this website for all to keep up with their progress. When the girls finally do make it home, it was mentioned that we may want to keep their visitors and outings limited. Since the girls will be born premature that puts them at high risk to pick up all the bugs that are floating around out there right now, especially during the winter months. So although my journey here at the hospital is coming close to an end, we still have a long road to follow.

I will most likely be discharged after a couple of days after delivery and will be glad to be home, but hear it is hard to leave your babies at the hospital. We all know I have issues about leaving family members at the hospital anyways (might have to do with the fact I am a nurse?). I know I am going to have a really hard time with it. I hope the NICU here is supportive of me being around as much as I can because they are going to have a hard time getting me to leave my girls. I hope to be as close by as possible, I hate the idea that we live an hour away. They only have 1 room for parents to stay in here and I think that's for parents of really sick children. I hope not to require that, but may find somewhere to stay closer. I guess only time will tell.

You can probably tell there are fifty-million thoughts being processed in my brain right now. I hope this blog made since and filled everyone in on all the changes that are to come. Let me know if you have any questions. I can not say thank you enough for all the thoughts, support and prayers we have received. We are so blessed to have such great family and friends!!