Bed Rest

Well it has been a little bit since I have updated the blog. We have been very busy lately. Since the last update a lot of things have happened. On my birthday Nov. 3rd, we went to our normal Sonogram appointment and then about 1 1/2 weeks later we meet with Vals doctor and she told us that there was a size discrepency with the twins. We knew about this earlier but they don't get concerned until it hits the 20% mark. Well the doctor suggested that we go to see their High Risk doctor to get them looked at more carefully. That was 2 weeks ago tomorrow when we went to the high risk doctor. There they did all new measurments and measured some things in different ways with a sonogram. What they found is that both babies were healthy but 1 was about 22% smaller than the other. So the doctor started monitoring the blood flow in the umbilical chord to each baby. He found there is a difference in that flow which is most likely causing the one baby to be smaller than the other one. When this happens they start to look at things like Twin to Twin Transfusion.
There are varying levels of transfusion that can happen the doctor said but he was clear that either way these babies will most likely be delivered early. He told Val to go on bed rest and to come back weekly to monitor how the little guys are doing. Each week they will do a checkup on how they are doing and every two weeks they will do new measurments to make sure they are growing and measure how much they are growing. Needless to say, at this point we were pretty freaked out. The High Risk doctor told us of all the possibilities and let me tell you our hearts sank. There is a chance that one or both of them if not monitored closely could possibly not make it or have serious complications. So at this point we tried to calm down a bit and went home and prayed and talked a bit about things. Next we spoke with Vals actual doctor and she helped us put things in perspective a bit more.
The process from here forward is that they will monitor the little guys and look for certain signs of anything going wrong or the babies being in distress. Some of those signs are that one of the babies starts to lose the amnionic fluid around itself and becomes what they call a stuck baby. Simply means that the baby has less room to move around. They also have to monitor if the other babies has too much fluid around it because that can put that baby at risk as well. They also look for bladder functioning properly. If they are functioning properly that means the baby is getting enough nutrients to survive and they are producing more fluid in their sack. They also look to make sure that both babies are growing. They also look for any heart issues in the larger baby because it is getting too much fluid that it has to work too hard to pump. If any of these things come up and look like they could effect the babies life the doctors will talk about delivering early. At this point Val is in her 27th week. With the NICU nowadays they can survive at this stage. But it isn't ideal and the risks are there for compications and other stuff. Vals doctor says that if they can make it past 28 weeks it greatly increases their chances of survival without as many issues. They would like them to go well into the 30 something weeks mark though.
Last Tuesday we went to the doctor again for the 1 week check up the little guys were still doing just fine. The little one still has a chord flow issue compared to the other one so this week on Tuesday they will get measured and re-checked to make sure they are growing fine. If this goes ok, they will go another 1 week period to see how it looks we think. So it will be a week by week thing for a while. The other thing the doctor did was have Val get 2 steroid shots just in case of premature delivery. This helps the babies grow surfactant in the lungs which helps them not stick together when the breath for the first times. This is usually one of the most complicated things not yet developed fully when the come out premature. The shot is supposed to help get that stuff going earlier. It is a smart precaution just in case we go in this week and the news isn't so good for prolonging the pregnancy much longer.
So.... That is the nuts and bolts of what is going on. Val is doing fine. She is on bed rest now which means she can only get up and shower and get herself to the place where she will stay all day and try to stay horizontal. The idea is that if she rests as much as possible and doesnt expend alot of energy it might help the babies grow faster and get bigger faster just in case and might actually reverse some of the transfusion issue. So I am trying to keep up with things around the house and such. Luckily we have good friends and familly helping with some things. With this help I am managing just fine. Val and I are in good spirits. We know that God has a plan and that we have limited control into what is going on.

Like I said we go back tomorrow for an update. Ill update as soon as I can get to it and let you know how things are going. Thanks for your prayers.

Baby Update

Hi All,

Sorry it's been a while since we have updated the blog. We have had lots to do lately it seems. We have some updated photos of the Sonogram that Val had last Thursday on my Birthday. It was a great Birthday gift to see the boys on that day. You can see the pictures below.
Nothing new to report from our visit other than they are growing as expected apparently. Last time we went to the doctor they couldn't get good measurements on twin Bs heart so this time they were able to get it because he was cooperating a little better. Baby B is a little smaller than BabyA but nothing to worry about doctors say. Babies grow at different rates and hit growth spurts at different times. So far all looks good.
Val and I have been working on getting the baby room up and running still. I still have another coats of trim paint to do and then we can clean the wood floor up and then we can look for a rug for the room. Meanwhile we are still trying to figure out how we are going to fit everything into the room. :) We are trying to hold off and buying too much of the furniture etc. until last minute so we can pay for as much with cash as possible and we can finish the room up.
Val has been feeling well for the most part. Everyone asks how she is doing and she always says she is doing fine. She is a champ and is doing well with all the adverse bodily issues you deal with as a pregnant woman. I still find it funny to look at her belly and see it so big. Its amazing. Oh, I almost forgot, we had something cool happen this week. We were sitting down relaxing and Val could feel something hard being pushed on here belly. We figured out it was a knee or foot. It was pretty cool to feel it. We usually just feel the kicks and such. This time we could feel the bone setting there right next to her belly. Was pretty neat.
The boys continue to be active inside her belly. They are jumping beans when Val eats things like Strawberries and apparently the first couple hours while she is at work. The sparkle in Vals eye when she feels them play around is priceless. She loves it.
My Birthday was quiet and nice. Got to spend it with Val alone and I almost had her eating a Steak. It's coming sometime I can tell. Val got me a super fun gift for my B-day. She got me a Playstation 2 with FIFA 2006 and SOCOMII (a soccer game and a navy seals game). Really cool gift huh!
Anyway, I hope this finds you well. Check back for more.

Eric

BabyA Stretching: He looks deformed but it is just the image.

Baby B was in a little more of a tight place so the pictures werent as clear.

Shots of both of their heads.

Baby A was cooperating to get a good profile

This is one of Baby B straight on of his face.

These are shots from the heart rate monitoring. The dotted line going through the baby is going throught the heart of the baby and monitoring. You can see the 4 chambers if you look close enough. You are basiclly looking at a cross section of the babies chest through the heart.