Today I am fairly awake and had better chronicle the past few days before they completely blur in my memory. Monday evening i began contracting again, like I'd been when I was admitted to the hospital. When she arrived for rounds Tuesday morning. Dr. Straughn checked my cervix and I was 75% effaced and dilated to 3 cm. That was not what I wanted to hear! I was again connected to an IV, this time to receive an infusion of magnesium sulfate (or mag as the nurses call it). Mag used to be used to stop preterm labor. More recent research has shown that while it can slow labor it has the added benefit of protecting the neurological development of the babies in utero.
I'd been warned about magnesium sulfate. Many moms-to-be on my Success with IUI support group on Facebook have bemoaned the side effects of the treatment, so I thought I was prepared....HA HA! As Vanessa, my nurse, connected the first mag bag she cautioned that the bolus during the first 30 minutes was the worst. She would stay with me for that bolus. That should have set off alarm bells. As the mag began working its way through my veins, I started to feel it, the heat. It began in my chest, building and spreading outward. Soon I began to feel that if I took a deep breathe and blew I could blow fire like a dragon. The heat continued to creep outward, saturating my torso, engulfing my arms, and rising up my neck to my face.
At that point it was all I could do to just lay there and breathe. Mom sat at my feet rubbing my legs. "You may just need to close your eyes and ride it out," Vanessa suggested, so I did. I though the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose, out through the mouth. A fan was clipped to the bed rail blowing on my face, but I barely noticed. You know on sci-fy movies how a character is hit by a heat weapon and begins to glow? Then you can see is intensify from the core, glowing white, their skin splits open, spontaneous combustion consumes them and all that's left is a little ash pile. I felt like I was heading the way of that poor soul.
Then it came, the straw that broke the camel's back. Another nurse arrive announcing, "I have your steroid shot. Did they tell you we were going to do anther round of steroids?" Now, up to this point I had not cried. At all. no tears in front of the nurses the past two weeks. Wellllll, that announcement did it. I didn't go completely to pieces, but tears did fall. I've gotten better about shots, but between the new IV port that morning, burning up from mag, anxiety, and now the prospect of another uncomfortable shot while still under the mag I cracked. also, Mom was there. You know that feeling. You've choked back your tears and then you see her, Mom, and the dam breaks.
When the bolus bag drained a second on was hung on a much slower drip. the heat began to subside - all but that heat in my chest that made me feel like Smaug the dragon. I stayed on the mag drip, blood pressure monitor, oxygen monitor, and contraction monitor until late that night. The mag made me groggy the whole time, not able to sleep, but not really there. The steriod shot kept me awake all night and my contractions became more intense and distinct. I prayed through the night and was blessed with a feeling of peace. God had this planned None of it was a surprise and he could handle it.
Dr. Straughn checked me again Wednesday morning and I was still holding at 3 cm dilated. She told Donny he would be safe to go to work that day (he'd stayed with me all day Tuesday) and I promised to update him continually. I continued to contract until I got my shower. NEVER take a shower for granted. My every-other-day shower makes me feel human again. it also makes me take a long nap afterward! The contractions pretty much stopped. How nice to have a break! I still was not sure we were out of danger yet, but I felt better. The second steriod shot was administered that afternoon and that one was BAD! There were teeth to that medicine. It burned for several minutes after the nurse left. The rest of the day was uneventful. I was tired, but not contracting.
Early this morning (yep we are caught up now) I asked the nurse to reattach the contraction monitor because I was contracting and cramping, but when she went over the data at 6 there was nothing too cause alarm. I think I'm just going to be jumpy from here on out. Dr. Straughn was pleased with how things are going and even said that when she ran into Dr. Gonzales he told her that he was confident I could carry these babies to 28 weeks. So now I continue to take things a day at a time. The babies are super stars. Every ultrasound shows them growing, active, and with fantastic heart rates. Please pray that my body can hold out for these four precious babies to grow and develop!
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Thursday, April 23, 2015
So I'm Too Sweet?
Now that I am beginning my fourth week of bed rest (two at home and one full week at the hospital) I have more time to write. Two blog entries in one week! On Tuesday I had my one hour glucose resistance test. They drew blood early in the morning, had me chug a clear sickly-sweet 10 ounces of liquid than contained a grand total of 50 grams of glucose, then an hour later drew blood again. I wasn't really worried about this test. So far I've tracked like my Mom's pregnancies (other than carrying four of course) with no stretch marks, moderate nausea in the first trimester. Mom didn't have gestational diabetes with either Faith or me, so it came as a bit of a shock when I was informed that I failed the one hour test.
When you fail the one hour test, they then do a three hour glucose tolerance test. This is a misnomer. It's more like the "how much can you tolerate test". You see, I inherited great things from my parents - my build, my stretch-mark-free skin, my creativity - but I also got high blood pressure and horrible acid reflux. Those issues predate the quad pregnancy, but as you can imagine they have intensified through the past months. Thankfully the BP issues aren't too bad, but the reflux...ooooh the reflux. At home I was on prilosec and still woke up multiple times at night to pop tums once my babies began taking up belly space. At the hospital they have me on protonics (they reduce acid like prilosec) morning and evening as well as pepcid with meals. I still wake up tasting bile and feeling like my esophagus is burning off of my stomach so I pop some more tums. If it was a really bad night of reflux, during the day my esophagus will spasm making my chest ache all the way through to my back. That's the background you need to understand why the three hour test became a all night and all morning ordeal.
To complete the three hour test, you are not allowed anything by mouth from midnight until 6:00. PROBLEM! No tums or water at night. Meaning sleep deprivation and suffering the bonfire in my chest all night.
You take a fasting blood draw at 6:00, chug two of those nasty sugary drinks, and wait an hour. PROBLEM!!! I need to eat.
Draw blood again, wait another hour.
PROBLEM!!!!! now I'm starving and my esophagus will never be the same again.
Draw blood again, wait another hour.
HUGE PROBLEM!!!!! You realize I will have either starved by this point or spontaneously combusted from the raging inferno in my throat right?
Draw a last blood sample.
My survival strategy was to eat up until midnight and stay on tums up until midnight too. Then I would keep my bed at a 45 degree angle all night to help keep the reflux from working it's way up to my throat. Survive the blood draws and hunger, then eat like a wild animal afterward. It should work. Ha! First keep in mind that if I have a choice 9:00 pm is bed time. So once midnight hit I was exhausted. I'm not supposed to sleep on my back because it can limit blood flow to the babies. Have you tried to get your spine to adapt to a 45 degree angle sleeping position on your side? It was miserable. Add to that the reflux which kicked in around 1:00 and attempted to incinerate my insides. So pretty much no sleep. By morning I was just ready to get it finished. I could barely think straight, Donny had to leave for work and Mom wouldn't be here until after the traffic dies down. I turned on the TV and just survived by blankly staring at the screen for those wait times. Dr. Straughn had pity on me and said that if I failed the first two after drinking the glucose drink, she wouldn't have them do the last blood draw. If you fail two draws, you fail the test anyway. I still didn't think I was going to fail though.
I was wrong. When my nurse, Amanda arrived for what would have been the last draw she delivered the news... I FAILED! Gestational diabetes can now be added to the long list of things I never expected would happen once I was finally able to get pregnant. I was really bummed. Thankfully, even though I keep having issues, the babies once again received an A+ from their ultrasound. They really are troopers.
So now I'm on a nutritionist controlled diabetic diet. We are trying to see how just the meal changes effect my blood sugar readings first. Then they may add insulin. I have my blood sugar checked first thing in the morning and two hours after every meal. This is the first day of the change in my diet, so we'll just see what happens! Please keep lifting up the babies, Donny, our families, and me. I am thankful for each and every one of you.
When you fail the one hour test, they then do a three hour glucose tolerance test. This is a misnomer. It's more like the "how much can you tolerate test". You see, I inherited great things from my parents - my build, my stretch-mark-free skin, my creativity - but I also got high blood pressure and horrible acid reflux. Those issues predate the quad pregnancy, but as you can imagine they have intensified through the past months. Thankfully the BP issues aren't too bad, but the reflux...ooooh the reflux. At home I was on prilosec and still woke up multiple times at night to pop tums once my babies began taking up belly space. At the hospital they have me on protonics (they reduce acid like prilosec) morning and evening as well as pepcid with meals. I still wake up tasting bile and feeling like my esophagus is burning off of my stomach so I pop some more tums. If it was a really bad night of reflux, during the day my esophagus will spasm making my chest ache all the way through to my back. That's the background you need to understand why the three hour test became a all night and all morning ordeal.
To complete the three hour test, you are not allowed anything by mouth from midnight until 6:00. PROBLEM! No tums or water at night. Meaning sleep deprivation and suffering the bonfire in my chest all night.
You take a fasting blood draw at 6:00, chug two of those nasty sugary drinks, and wait an hour. PROBLEM!!! I need to eat.
Draw blood again, wait another hour.
PROBLEM!!!!! now I'm starving and my esophagus will never be the same again.
Draw blood again, wait another hour.
HUGE PROBLEM!!!!! You realize I will have either starved by this point or spontaneously combusted from the raging inferno in my throat right?
Draw a last blood sample.
My survival strategy was to eat up until midnight and stay on tums up until midnight too. Then I would keep my bed at a 45 degree angle all night to help keep the reflux from working it's way up to my throat. Survive the blood draws and hunger, then eat like a wild animal afterward. It should work. Ha! First keep in mind that if I have a choice 9:00 pm is bed time. So once midnight hit I was exhausted. I'm not supposed to sleep on my back because it can limit blood flow to the babies. Have you tried to get your spine to adapt to a 45 degree angle sleeping position on your side? It was miserable. Add to that the reflux which kicked in around 1:00 and attempted to incinerate my insides. So pretty much no sleep. By morning I was just ready to get it finished. I could barely think straight, Donny had to leave for work and Mom wouldn't be here until after the traffic dies down. I turned on the TV and just survived by blankly staring at the screen for those wait times. Dr. Straughn had pity on me and said that if I failed the first two after drinking the glucose drink, she wouldn't have them do the last blood draw. If you fail two draws, you fail the test anyway. I still didn't think I was going to fail though.
I was wrong. When my nurse, Amanda arrived for what would have been the last draw she delivered the news... I FAILED! Gestational diabetes can now be added to the long list of things I never expected would happen once I was finally able to get pregnant. I was really bummed. Thankfully, even though I keep having issues, the babies once again received an A+ from their ultrasound. They really are troopers.
So now I'm on a nutritionist controlled diabetic diet. We are trying to see how just the meal changes effect my blood sugar readings first. Then they may add insulin. I have my blood sugar checked first thing in the morning and two hours after every meal. This is the first day of the change in my diet, so we'll just see what happens! Please keep lifting up the babies, Donny, our families, and me. I am thankful for each and every one of you.
Monday, April 20, 2015
What a week!
Oh my! I don't even know where to begin. This week has been one of the most intense in my pregnancy. It has been full of firsts, set backs, and scary situations. On Wednesday we had our follow up appointment with Dr. Gonzales. We began, a usual, with an ultrasound to check the little ones heart rates and fluid levels. They got high praise and we were feeling pretty good until they checked my cervix. I'd gone down again, to a scary .43 cm cervical length. Less than half a centimeter! Dr. Gonzales came in and informed me that we would go ahead and do the first steroid shot to help develop the babies' lungs then I would return the following day for the second shot and a fetal fibronectin test.
That night I slept maybe two hours. I could not shut down and sleep! I did a lot of praying and thinking. I mulled over the news we'd gotten. My back started aching and my Braxton hicks contractions escalated. By morning I was a nervous wreck. Donny left for work and I tried to rest, but I couldn't shake the feeling that those backache pains and that frequent tightness in my belly were not good. I even thought I felt a tiny fluid trickle. I called my OB nurse several times until right at 8:30 (when the office actually opens- I told you I was a nervous wreck) I was able to leave a message. I called Mom and ended up bawling on the phone to her. I called Donny and asked
to come home. The OB nurse returned my call at that point. She had worked it out for me to come straight in to Dr. Gonzales' office.
When Donny got home, I threw on a dress and shoes, grabbed my purse, and waddled to the car. We rode in tense, mostly silence to the hospital. I imagine all the scary scenarios that were whirling around my mind were tormenting Donny too. We pulled into the valet parking and an attendant helped wheel me to the doctor's office. They found me an empty exam room to lie down in until an ultrasound room became available. Ginger, Dr. Gonzales' nurse practitioner came in and listed to my symptoms, she said that we would go ahead with the fetal fibronectin test and give the second steroid shot, then I would be admitted to the hospital.
A fetal fibronectin test is a swab test of the cervical fluid looking for a substance that can be found before labor. That substance, fetal fibronectin, is like a glue that connects the amniotic sack to the uterus. It is present in cervical fluid early in pregnancy and then again late in pregnancy before delivery. If the test is negative then the pregnancy will last a while longer. If it is positive 2/3 deliver in the next couple of weeks, 1/3 deliver later. A negative test is actually more telling than a positive test.
We got into an ultrasound room and checked the babies -great as usual. Then I got in the stirrups and the did the swab (I HATE SPECULUMS). Finally, I got the second steroid shot. After that I was loaded into a wheelchair no wheeled to my new temporary home on the sixth floor in High Risk OB. In the room I donned a lovely hospital gown (read this dripping with sarcasm), had a contraction monitor strapped around my big belly, and added a pair of blue compression stockings. I was given pills(I don't remember what they were called) to relax my uterus and hooked up to IV fluids.
Every nurse we interacted with was wonderful. They did everything possible to make us feel at home and supported. The fluids made me balloon up, have trouble breathing, and made my heart work even harder to move the already high volume of blood around my body. My back and stomach muscles ached. Getting up to go to the bathroom was an ordeal of unplugging the IV pole, disconnecting the contractions monitor cord, and detaching the air hoses to the compression stockings. I had to have Donny steady me and manage the IV pole as I walked.
Needless to say we didn't sleep well that night. Every time I had to go to the bathroom I had to wake Donny. My monitors beeped for paper refills, the stockings alarmed if we didn't reconnect quickly enough, and when the IV bag ran low it dinged too. Dr. Routman, another OB from Dr. Straughn's practice, stopped by the next morning and informed us that our fetal fibronectin test had come back positive. Not exactly what we wanted to hear, especially since Dr. Dr. Straughn was out of town until Monday. Dr. Gonzales came to check on the babies with a portable ultrasound. They scored their usual A+ from him, then he turned his attention to me, asking questions about my treatment so far. He frowned at the fluid bag on the IV pole, "why is she getting fluids?" The nurse explained that it was to make sure I didn't dehydrate and I added that I'd had three bags of fluids. "No, no, no." He said as he shook his head, "she is already having to deal with extra blood volume from the babies. She is pumping extra blood. Take her off the fluids, they are making her heart work too hard!"
Well, over the next couple couple of days as my body got rid of the extra fluid in my started to feel much better. My contraction monitor came off. I was allowed to take a shower (with help). The IV port came out. I am still getting daily ultrasounds (Dr. Gonzales even made special trips in over the weekend to check the babies). I'm feeling pretty good, eating like a pig, and sleeping a lot. This room will be my new residence until the babies arrive, but I just feel blessed to be surrounded with such an amazing support team, all rooting for healthy babies. Thank you for your prayers, messages, meals, and support! Let's help these Mottlets grow and stay put for several more weeks!
Monday, April 13, 2015
Viability!!!!
Today we reached a huge benchmark, I am 24 weeks along now. This has been a much anticipated day because 24 weeks is considered viability. That means if the Mottlets decided to make their grand entrance they would have a chance of survival. It's not the best odds, 50-70%, but it is better than before. They would not have survived if they were delivered earlier. Now I am able to start letting myself get excited about these babies.
I am still on bed rest, but thankfully my last appointment with Dr. Gonzales showed that my cervix had thickened back up. You could see some funneling still and it even shifted back and forth some as we watched on the ultrasound monitor. Even with those shifts, Dr. Gonzales said what I was doing was working and to keep it up. In other words, NO HOSPITAL ADMISSION! I got to go back home on bed rest. That was a huge relief. After spending an entire morning at Brookwood between my two appointments, I developed a new appreciation for bed rest. I was exhausted and hurting! My poor hips, back, and giant belly were begging to just lie down.
My day now look something like this:
-wake up with Donny and eat first breakfast (usually oatmeal Donny heats up for me), check email and Facebook
-go back to sleep
-wake back up and eat second breakfast (stuff from the mini fridge parked by my bed), do my quiet time, then read/watch tv/listen to podcasts/crochet until lunch
-My AMAZING in laws arrive and either deliver lunch from a restaurant or reheat yummy leftovers, eat until I'm stuffed
-let food settle and start getting sleepy again,
-sleep again
-wake up and eat a snack while waiting for Donny to come home
-Hang out with Donny until supper is delivered by a friend on our TakeThemAMeal.com sign up around 5
-visit with the wonderful friend who delivered supper
-eat until I'm stuffed again
- watch tv with Donny
- settle in for bed
It's a lot like a newborn's schedule! Eat, sleep, eat, sleep. But honestly it's not bad. Lying down gives me more time to enjoy the babies movements. They are getting strong! No more flutters, just hard thumps. This past weekend my sister, Faith came and hung out in bed with me. It was so wonderful to have that time with her. She lay beside me and kept her hand on my belly as we talked. Her patience was rewarded with some nice strong kicks from Dorothy and Georgie. In fact, Georgie is moving more than ever now that her brother and sisters are not always piled on top of her.
The babies' favorite time to have a dance party is when I'm setting in for a serious nap or bedtime at the end of the day. As soon as I really relax and start breathing deeply (or as deeply as possible when four babies are displacing all my organs) they all start moving. It starts with one, but quickly escalates to and all out disco with four little dancers "moving and grooving" (as our ultrasound tech likes to say). Donny felt some of that little dance party last night.
So now our new goal is 28 weeks. That is another month in bed, which seems pretty daunting, but the odds of survival jump to 92%! That's a huge improvement from 50-70%.
I am still on bed rest, but thankfully my last appointment with Dr. Gonzales showed that my cervix had thickened back up. You could see some funneling still and it even shifted back and forth some as we watched on the ultrasound monitor. Even with those shifts, Dr. Gonzales said what I was doing was working and to keep it up. In other words, NO HOSPITAL ADMISSION! I got to go back home on bed rest. That was a huge relief. After spending an entire morning at Brookwood between my two appointments, I developed a new appreciation for bed rest. I was exhausted and hurting! My poor hips, back, and giant belly were begging to just lie down.
My day now look something like this:
-wake up with Donny and eat first breakfast (usually oatmeal Donny heats up for me), check email and Facebook
-go back to sleep
-wake back up and eat second breakfast (stuff from the mini fridge parked by my bed), do my quiet time, then read/watch tv/listen to podcasts/crochet until lunch
-My AMAZING in laws arrive and either deliver lunch from a restaurant or reheat yummy leftovers, eat until I'm stuffed
-let food settle and start getting sleepy again,
-sleep again
-wake up and eat a snack while waiting for Donny to come home
-Hang out with Donny until supper is delivered by a friend on our TakeThemAMeal.com sign up around 5
-visit with the wonderful friend who delivered supper
-eat until I'm stuffed again
- watch tv with Donny
- settle in for bed
It's a lot like a newborn's schedule! Eat, sleep, eat, sleep. But honestly it's not bad. Lying down gives me more time to enjoy the babies movements. They are getting strong! No more flutters, just hard thumps. This past weekend my sister, Faith came and hung out in bed with me. It was so wonderful to have that time with her. She lay beside me and kept her hand on my belly as we talked. Her patience was rewarded with some nice strong kicks from Dorothy and Georgie. In fact, Georgie is moving more than ever now that her brother and sisters are not always piled on top of her.
The babies' favorite time to have a dance party is when I'm setting in for a serious nap or bedtime at the end of the day. As soon as I really relax and start breathing deeply (or as deeply as possible when four babies are displacing all my organs) they all start moving. It starts with one, but quickly escalates to and all out disco with four little dancers "moving and grooving" (as our ultrasound tech likes to say). Donny felt some of that little dance party last night.
So now our new goal is 28 weeks. That is another month in bed, which seems pretty daunting, but the odds of survival jump to 92%! That's a huge improvement from 50-70%.
Friday, April 3, 2015
The good and the bad news
Good morning! It's Good Friday, a day to focus on our blessings and the amazing gift Jesus gave us by dying on the cross for our sins. When I think of that it begins a much needed attitude adjustment. Huge changes hace happened this week that I'm only just beginning to process. A week ago I reached a huge milestone in my life, after ten years of teaching I spent my last day in the classroom. Wow! I'm not sure that has even sunk in yet. This week is spring break and I had a long list of things I wanted to get accomplished before I started really resting. Monday I prepared for our H&R Block appointment and paid bills - I did manage to do all that in bed. Tuesday and Wednesday my incredible Mom helped me go through my classroom, sorting books and pulling my personal supplies out of the classroom closet. We for most of it home and piled high in my dining room. I say "we", all mom would let me do was sit and sort books. I lifted nothing. The plan was for Donny and I to go back Saturday and get the rest. Plans, ha, how things change.
Thursday was booked too. 1:00 anatomy scan appointment (four hour long appointment) and 6:00 breast feeding class. Mom was so excited to see her grand babies for the first time! They began with Georgie. She is WAY down at the bottom of the pile. That made it hard to get clear images because her sisters and brother were casting shadows on her. How interesting is that? I had no idea that you could get shadows on an ultrasound, but just like light waves are blocked by objects sound waves can also be blocked by a dense enough object. Georgie was a bit difficult to scan because of that, but eventually the tech was able to get in all the parts. There was quite a list of anatomy parts to scan: tibia and fibula on both legs, femur on both legs, both feet, spine (both as a long shot and in slice sections), skull circumference, belly circumference, fall bladder, kidneys, bladder, stomach, brain (all sections), heart (multiple parts like the aortic arch, all four chambers, all four valves), palette.
We listened to her heart beat and each of the valves in her heart. I learned that every valve sounds different and creates a different wave pattern. The computer composites the femur length, belly circumference, and head circumference to then make a prediction of the baby's weight. Georgie was one pound two ounces! That put her in the 75th percentile! What a tough little girl! The pregnancy app on my phone says at 23 weeks they are almost a pound. The scan was at 22 weeks and 3 days. We are ahead of the curve!
The scan continued with Dorothy, who was very cooperative and much easier because she is up on my right with no one to block her. The tech said scanning her was textbook. Once the computer did its magic we had a prediction on one pound for Dorothy. Yay! I took a quick bathroom break at that point just to walk a little since I'd been flat on my back for just over an hour. We quickly learned that we'd done the two easier babies. Merril and Molly are on my left side, Molly above and Merril below. They are the little jumping beans. It is really hard to focus the ultrasound on a tiny heart valve to listen in when your subject keeps wiggling away. The tiniest move turns the steady whoosh, whoosh sound into a garble then nothing. Merril weighed in at a pound and little mover Molly was the smallest at 15 ounces. She's burning it off squirming and kicking!
So, that was the fun part. The babies were scanned by 3:40. All that remained was the cervix measurement. I took another bathroom break and assumed the position in the stirrups. I knew as soon as the image appeared that there was some change. Georgie's head was smack up against my cervix, but that wasn't my concern. What had one just looked like a tight line now had a "v" shaped space facing toward the uterus. The tech got quiet as she wrapped up making the measurement and went to get the nurse practitioner. We waited a while, then when Ginger, the nurse practitioner arrived, she told us that my cervix should be measuring 2-3 centimeters, but had narrowed to 1.3 centimeters. That meant bed rest. Not just "house arrest" but stay-in-in-bed-except-to-go-to-the-bathroom bed rest. That was a bomb shell. I had not expected bed rest so soon.it was one of the nebulous, one day I may....ideas. I asked about the breast feeding class and Ginger said there would be plenty of people to help me when it was time for that, to go home.
The appointment ended with Donny being instructed to go get the car and me being loaded into a wheelchair to ride down to be picked up. I'll go back next Wednesday to check my cervix and see if I can continue resting at home or will need to be admitted to the hospital. I will start taking progesterone tonight to try and keep my cervix tight and at 24 weeks will get steroids shots to help the babies lungs mature more quickly.
So today I am in bed. Donny set me up with everything I need in arms length reach and now I wait. That's where the need for the attitude adjustment comes in. It is so weird to HAVE to stay reclined in bed. No wiggle room for clearing out the dishwasher or folding clothes. No going to the grocery store. Just laying, waiting, resting. But I am blessed beyond measure! The babies are growing, I have family and friends rallying around to help out. My doctors are amazing. Please just join me in praying that the babies will keep growing and stay put for a long time yet!
Thursday was booked too. 1:00 anatomy scan appointment (four hour long appointment) and 6:00 breast feeding class. Mom was so excited to see her grand babies for the first time! They began with Georgie. She is WAY down at the bottom of the pile. That made it hard to get clear images because her sisters and brother were casting shadows on her. How interesting is that? I had no idea that you could get shadows on an ultrasound, but just like light waves are blocked by objects sound waves can also be blocked by a dense enough object. Georgie was a bit difficult to scan because of that, but eventually the tech was able to get in all the parts. There was quite a list of anatomy parts to scan: tibia and fibula on both legs, femur on both legs, both feet, spine (both as a long shot and in slice sections), skull circumference, belly circumference, fall bladder, kidneys, bladder, stomach, brain (all sections), heart (multiple parts like the aortic arch, all four chambers, all four valves), palette.
We listened to her heart beat and each of the valves in her heart. I learned that every valve sounds different and creates a different wave pattern. The computer composites the femur length, belly circumference, and head circumference to then make a prediction of the baby's weight. Georgie was one pound two ounces! That put her in the 75th percentile! What a tough little girl! The pregnancy app on my phone says at 23 weeks they are almost a pound. The scan was at 22 weeks and 3 days. We are ahead of the curve!
The scan continued with Dorothy, who was very cooperative and much easier because she is up on my right with no one to block her. The tech said scanning her was textbook. Once the computer did its magic we had a prediction on one pound for Dorothy. Yay! I took a quick bathroom break at that point just to walk a little since I'd been flat on my back for just over an hour. We quickly learned that we'd done the two easier babies. Merril and Molly are on my left side, Molly above and Merril below. They are the little jumping beans. It is really hard to focus the ultrasound on a tiny heart valve to listen in when your subject keeps wiggling away. The tiniest move turns the steady whoosh, whoosh sound into a garble then nothing. Merril weighed in at a pound and little mover Molly was the smallest at 15 ounces. She's burning it off squirming and kicking!
So, that was the fun part. The babies were scanned by 3:40. All that remained was the cervix measurement. I took another bathroom break and assumed the position in the stirrups. I knew as soon as the image appeared that there was some change. Georgie's head was smack up against my cervix, but that wasn't my concern. What had one just looked like a tight line now had a "v" shaped space facing toward the uterus. The tech got quiet as she wrapped up making the measurement and went to get the nurse practitioner. We waited a while, then when Ginger, the nurse practitioner arrived, she told us that my cervix should be measuring 2-3 centimeters, but had narrowed to 1.3 centimeters. That meant bed rest. Not just "house arrest" but stay-in-in-bed-except-to-go-to-the-bathroom bed rest. That was a bomb shell. I had not expected bed rest so soon.it was one of the nebulous, one day I may....ideas. I asked about the breast feeding class and Ginger said there would be plenty of people to help me when it was time for that, to go home.
The appointment ended with Donny being instructed to go get the car and me being loaded into a wheelchair to ride down to be picked up. I'll go back next Wednesday to check my cervix and see if I can continue resting at home or will need to be admitted to the hospital. I will start taking progesterone tonight to try and keep my cervix tight and at 24 weeks will get steroids shots to help the babies lungs mature more quickly.
So today I am in bed. Donny set me up with everything I need in arms length reach and now I wait. That's where the need for the attitude adjustment comes in. It is so weird to HAVE to stay reclined in bed. No wiggle room for clearing out the dishwasher or folding clothes. No going to the grocery store. Just laying, waiting, resting. But I am blessed beyond measure! The babies are growing, I have family and friends rallying around to help out. My doctors are amazing. Please just join me in praying that the babies will keep growing and stay put for a long time yet!
Friday, March 20, 2015
A Quick Update
Hi everyone! Sorry I didn't post on Tuesday after my doctors' appointments. This week has been busy. Monday I had my very first baby shower. It was hosted by my fellow third grade teachers at CPES for the rest of the faculty and staff. It was so much fun to celebrate with my co-workers. I have been at Chelsea Park for six years now and the faculty and staff feel like family. They have been through this infertility journey with me. I was showered with gift cards, adorable baby gear, and even money to use on needs as they arise.
Tuesday morning w had our two doctors' appointments. At Dr. Gonzales' office they did ultrasounds to check the babies' heartbeats and measure my cervix. The heartbeats were all in normal range and my cervix is holding strong. While the babies were being scanned we saw a funny little sibling interaction. One baby struck out with a tiny fist and the neighboring little one punched back! All that was separating them was the walls of their sacks. I hope this is not an indication of things to come!
After Dr. Gonzales we saw Dr. Straughn. My biggest concern was my newest symptom, ITCHING! I have been itching for almost two weeks. I itch from the base of my scalp to the soles of my feet. At night I wake up three to four times because my feet itch so badly. I tried Aveno baths, Claratin . Benedryl cream, lotions, and finally ice. I now sleep with ice packs so that I can stick my feet under them when they begin to itch. I was concerned that I might be having liver issues because I'd read that could cause extreme itching in pregnancy. Dr. Straughn had blood work drawn to check and thankfully I heard back yesterday that everything came back normal.
Tuesday afternoon I went back to school for a shower thrown by my class and moms. That was fun. The kids loved the shower games, especially the candy bars diaper game. The students had to open a diaper to reveal a melted candy bar, then guess what kind of candy was in the diaper. The expressions and exclamations of disgust were hilarious! I came home with LOTS of diapers and wipers as well as some adorable onesies. By the times I got in my car at 5:00, the whole cab smelled like baby from the diapers and wipes sitting in the warm interior.
Wednesday was a rest day. I took the day to stay home in bed. The morning was slept away and the afternoon consisted of grading papers and writing thank you notes in bed. Ahhhh! So nice. I'm looking forward to more rest soon. I now have only one week of teaching left and that will only be four days because I'm taking next Wednesday as a mid-week break. I can hardly believe the end is in sight!
Tuesday morning w had our two doctors' appointments. At Dr. Gonzales' office they did ultrasounds to check the babies' heartbeats and measure my cervix. The heartbeats were all in normal range and my cervix is holding strong. While the babies were being scanned we saw a funny little sibling interaction. One baby struck out with a tiny fist and the neighboring little one punched back! All that was separating them was the walls of their sacks. I hope this is not an indication of things to come!
After Dr. Gonzales we saw Dr. Straughn. My biggest concern was my newest symptom, ITCHING! I have been itching for almost two weeks. I itch from the base of my scalp to the soles of my feet. At night I wake up three to four times because my feet itch so badly. I tried Aveno baths, Claratin . Benedryl cream, lotions, and finally ice. I now sleep with ice packs so that I can stick my feet under them when they begin to itch. I was concerned that I might be having liver issues because I'd read that could cause extreme itching in pregnancy. Dr. Straughn had blood work drawn to check and thankfully I heard back yesterday that everything came back normal.
Tuesday afternoon I went back to school for a shower thrown by my class and moms. That was fun. The kids loved the shower games, especially the candy bars diaper game. The students had to open a diaper to reveal a melted candy bar, then guess what kind of candy was in the diaper. The expressions and exclamations of disgust were hilarious! I came home with LOTS of diapers and wipers as well as some adorable onesies. By the times I got in my car at 5:00, the whole cab smelled like baby from the diapers and wipes sitting in the warm interior.
Wednesday was a rest day. I took the day to stay home in bed. The morning was slept away and the afternoon consisted of grading papers and writing thank you notes in bed. Ahhhh! So nice. I'm looking forward to more rest soon. I now have only one week of teaching left and that will only be four days because I'm taking next Wednesday as a mid-week break. I can hardly believe the end is in sight!
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Prayer and Praise
The past couple of weeks have really made me feel so much more like a mommy! One reason is my guest room. It is bursting with baby gear! Thanks to the BAMOM Twice As Nice Sale I am now the proud owner of nearly all my big baby items. My mom came up on Friday and I took a half day off so that we could go shopping. The pregnant BAMOM members get to shop early so we were let in at 2:00. The strollers were all lined up inside the doors. I knew that I needed two snap-n-go stroller bases for our infant car seats. It was like a feeding frenzy arounds the strollers. If Mom had not put her hand on two snap-n-goes we wouldn't have gotten them. That was the first three minutes. My second must have was a Chicco Keyfit 30 infant car seat. I had arranged to buy three of the same model from a triplet mom in our group. When I was sure we'd secured our strollers, I left them with Mom, walked around to the car seats, and BINGO! There was the car seat! It was not exactly the same color cover, but it coordinates. The other three are light grey, dark grey, and sage. The one I found was green and black. It also came with two bases. At that point Mom had to go and check out with those big items and I kept shopping. That led to four bouncy seats, a portable swing, and two over-the-door bouncers. Mom made another trip through the checkout. Next came a big baby gate/room divider for the space between our living and dining room, a whale-shaped baby tub, two bath seats, a few fitted crib sheets, and three mesh bumpers ( I already had one). By the time we left, the back of Mom's van was packed. She said it looked like we were setting up a daycare, and it did!
On Saturday some items went on half-price so we went back again, this time with my mom, my sweet mother-in-law, and Donny. This time we dove into baby girl clothes. Merril is pretty much covered with clothes because one of the moms from my class at school gave me seven big diaper boxes of boy clothes. I'd washed them, but Friday evening Mom folded and sorted the into huge ziplock bags by size. That made pink and frills the order of the day on Saturday. Oh my, I love pink and frills! We walked out with 109 pieces of baby girl clothes (mostly onesies and PJs) for $140! Wow. I feel like a Mommy.
Another reason I feel like a Mommy is the mommy concerns and boost to my prayer life. I'd gotten so used to feeling the babies, but the past week and a half I felt nothing. First I tried to push it away. I'd tell myself that they were growing and sleeping. Then I'd pray and go on. That sort of worked, but then I started waking up and thinking about it. Those wake times turned into hour-to-two-hour intense prayer sessions. I kept going to Jeremiah 29:11, God has plans for my babies, and Psalm 139, God knows what is going on inside me and is knitting them together. I was on pins and needles before our Wednesday appointments. Thankfully, at Dr. Gonzales office, when I told the ultrasound tech my concerns she immediately checked for heartbeats. They were all there! I will admit, a few tears slid down my cheek.
I was able to then soak in the images of my sweet, Merril, Molly, Dorothy, and Georgie. They are so close together. They can't move without bumping into each other. There is still growing room, but is amazing to see them little head by little head or head to little rump. Out of curiosity I asked show large my uterus is now. I was shocked as she pulled the ultrasound wand up to below my solar plexus and said "well, there's one up here." Then she pulled it down to just below my pelvis, "and one's down here". My entire belly is babies! I had no idea. It is amazing what that little muscular organ can do! She also checked my cervix and it is still strong and has shown no change. Oh, what a relief!
Next was Dr. Straughn. It was a quick in and out. My weight gain is good. My blood pressure was excellent. She talked with us a few minutes, smiling and nodding the whole time. We left feeling so encouraged and at peace.
Since our appointments were so early, we took the opportunity to visit the staff at Alabama Fertility Specialists. We hadn't seen them since we were released at the beginning of January. A quad pregnancy makes pretty huge changes in two months. They were all thrilled to see us and kept saying how great I looked, every pregnant girl needs to hear that. Karen gave us huge hugs and a smile that warmed me from head to toe. All the nurses circled up and cooed over the newest ultrasound pictures, exclaiming over "such big babies!" That made me giggle. They are used to tiny little peanut babies. After that point they have to hand over the care of those tiny lives to another physician. They help begin fulfilling dreams, but then have to unselfishly allow another to finish the work. That takes a unique, humble, wonderful person. I will be eternally grateful to all of them, and our babies will know the amazing people who helped them become part of the world.
I feel like a Mommy. I humbled, grateful, and blessed Mommy.
On Saturday some items went on half-price so we went back again, this time with my mom, my sweet mother-in-law, and Donny. This time we dove into baby girl clothes. Merril is pretty much covered with clothes because one of the moms from my class at school gave me seven big diaper boxes of boy clothes. I'd washed them, but Friday evening Mom folded and sorted the into huge ziplock bags by size. That made pink and frills the order of the day on Saturday. Oh my, I love pink and frills! We walked out with 109 pieces of baby girl clothes (mostly onesies and PJs) for $140! Wow. I feel like a Mommy.
Another reason I feel like a Mommy is the mommy concerns and boost to my prayer life. I'd gotten so used to feeling the babies, but the past week and a half I felt nothing. First I tried to push it away. I'd tell myself that they were growing and sleeping. Then I'd pray and go on. That sort of worked, but then I started waking up and thinking about it. Those wake times turned into hour-to-two-hour intense prayer sessions. I kept going to Jeremiah 29:11, God has plans for my babies, and Psalm 139, God knows what is going on inside me and is knitting them together. I was on pins and needles before our Wednesday appointments. Thankfully, at Dr. Gonzales office, when I told the ultrasound tech my concerns she immediately checked for heartbeats. They were all there! I will admit, a few tears slid down my cheek.
I was able to then soak in the images of my sweet, Merril, Molly, Dorothy, and Georgie. They are so close together. They can't move without bumping into each other. There is still growing room, but is amazing to see them little head by little head or head to little rump. Out of curiosity I asked show large my uterus is now. I was shocked as she pulled the ultrasound wand up to below my solar plexus and said "well, there's one up here." Then she pulled it down to just below my pelvis, "and one's down here". My entire belly is babies! I had no idea. It is amazing what that little muscular organ can do! She also checked my cervix and it is still strong and has shown no change. Oh, what a relief!
Next was Dr. Straughn. It was a quick in and out. My weight gain is good. My blood pressure was excellent. She talked with us a few minutes, smiling and nodding the whole time. We left feeling so encouraged and at peace.
Since our appointments were so early, we took the opportunity to visit the staff at Alabama Fertility Specialists. We hadn't seen them since we were released at the beginning of January. A quad pregnancy makes pretty huge changes in two months. They were all thrilled to see us and kept saying how great I looked, every pregnant girl needs to hear that. Karen gave us huge hugs and a smile that warmed me from head to toe. All the nurses circled up and cooed over the newest ultrasound pictures, exclaiming over "such big babies!" That made me giggle. They are used to tiny little peanut babies. After that point they have to hand over the care of those tiny lives to another physician. They help begin fulfilling dreams, but then have to unselfishly allow another to finish the work. That takes a unique, humble, wonderful person. I will be eternally grateful to all of them, and our babies will know the amazing people who helped them become part of the world.
I feel like a Mommy. I humbled, grateful, and blessed Mommy.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
And the babies are...
Today was an important day, our first day of stacked doctors' appointments. We saw Dr. Gonzales at 1:30 and glory be, it was so much more pleasant. We had our ultrasound with the most adorably perky nurse. As she conducted the ultrasound, she cooed over and talked to the babies on the screen. She confirmed the three gender guesses and was able to also get Baby A to cooperate. Are you ready to know? Drum roll please!
The Mottlets are three girls and one boy!
After making fetal measurements, the nurse did my first cervical measurement. Then Dr. Gonzales came in, looked over the pictures, and spoke with us. The babies are measuring 5- 6 ounces, Baby A is the big 6 ounce girl. She is in the 92nd percentile! Their heartbeats ranged from 140-150 bpm. Dr. Gonzales was much more personable this time. He smiled as he spoke with us and confirmed that my cervix is doing well, holding strong.
Donny and I headed down to the second floor with smiles on our faces! In our appointment with Dr. Straughn I was able to run down my symptoms. All of them were expected pregnancy symptoms. Well, all but the rib muscle that I pulled today. I'm moving like an old lady. Man a pulled muscle hurts! Every move and cough hurts! I think it was a combination of coughing, throwing up the other night, and the pressure on my ribs as I grow bigger and bigger.
On a more positive note, our babies are movers! I feel them nearly every day now. This morning from 4 -7 they were practicing their ninja skills. It's hard to sleep when four babies are flipping and kicking around inside you! It's sleep I'd gladly miss, just to know our Mottlets are happy and healthy. Please continue praying that the babies grow, my cervix stays strong and tightly closed, an my BP stays regulated. All of your prayers and support are so incredibly appreciated!
The Mottlets are three girls and one boy!
After making fetal measurements, the nurse did my first cervical measurement. Then Dr. Gonzales came in, looked over the pictures, and spoke with us. The babies are measuring 5- 6 ounces, Baby A is the big 6 ounce girl. She is in the 92nd percentile! Their heartbeats ranged from 140-150 bpm. Dr. Gonzales was much more personable this time. He smiled as he spoke with us and confirmed that my cervix is doing well, holding strong.
Donny and I headed down to the second floor with smiles on our faces! In our appointment with Dr. Straughn I was able to run down my symptoms. All of them were expected pregnancy symptoms. Well, all but the rib muscle that I pulled today. I'm moving like an old lady. Man a pulled muscle hurts! Every move and cough hurts! I think it was a combination of coughing, throwing up the other night, and the pressure on my ribs as I grow bigger and bigger.
On a more positive note, our babies are movers! I feel them nearly every day now. This morning from 4 -7 they were practicing their ninja skills. It's hard to sleep when four babies are flipping and kicking around inside you! It's sleep I'd gladly miss, just to know our Mottlets are happy and healthy. Please continue praying that the babies grow, my cervix stays strong and tightly closed, an my BP stays regulated. All of your prayers and support are so incredibly appreciated!
Monday, February 9, 2015
Don't Rain On My Parade
So what does it mean when I'm updating my blog on a school day, during school hours? That's right, I'm sick! The little germ factories have struck again. I could tell on Thursday that my lingering cough - you know the one that likes to make me lose my meals- was getting worse. A bunch of the kids in my class had been hacking too. I knew I was getting a cold. So, ever after resting in bed or on the couch all weekend, I still had to take a sick day. That does mean I have to time to update you on the two most recent doctor visits as I sit hear cocooned in pillows.
We saw Dr. Gonzales for the first time on January 28th. He is the perinatologist at Brookwood. First they took us back to the nicest ultrasound room I've ever been in, huge! It had a nice long bed beside the screen, a row of chairs along the wall, and plenty of space for the equipment, a desk, and a few other pieces of furniture. The overhead lights were out, but a pretty table lamp shed a warm glow in the corner. The tech who called us back then set to work doing the most through ultrasound I've ever had. She'd checked organs - heart, diaphragm, stomach, and brain. She located key developing bones- growth plates in the skull, tibia and fibula, radius and ulna, and the little nasal bone. She measured them all from head to rump to confirm due date. Thankfully they all were measuring one to two days ahead of schedule and no one was lagging or small. She located and measured all the heartbeats. A few babies gave her a hard time and kept wiggling away as soon as she found the heartbeat. You'd hear the woosh-woosh-woosh of a heart for a second then it would turn to garbled white noise as the tiny patient squirmed away. We watched them practice swallowing, squirming, waving arms and legs. The imaging equipment was incredibly clear! Their tiny profiles were easy to see. It is amazing what bonding can take place just by watching your unborn children. We even got gender guesses for three babies. Baby A was not cooperating. I'm going to wait to share genders here on the blog until we have them confirmed sat my next appointment with Dr. Gonzales.
So, we were on cloud nine! Our babies were growing! They were moving! Then the tech said, "ok, I'm going to show these to Dr. Gonzales and then he will come in ands tell you everything that can go wrong." Thunderclouds overhead, he was going to rain on my parade. We knew it was coming. Of course he'd have to share all the possible nasty scenarios. I had to make a run for the bathroom before he came in - too much pushing on the bladder- and when I returned he was already in the room. The tech flipped through the images pretty quickly as he watched. I guess he found nothing to cause alarm, because he didn't refer back to the images during the rest of the consultation. Basically the biggest scary concerns he had were these: preterm delivery before viability, blood pressure issues, and distribution of nutrition as the babies grow. There were more, but these struck home.
Basically, he said preterm labor, once it begins, can only be delayed a few hours at best. 40% of quadruplet sets are born before 24 week, before they can survive outside the womb. There is no good information on why it happens. When the babies decide they are coming then they are coming. The hospital will take steps to medically intervene from 24 weeks on, but not before that.
I already have high blood pressure that is controlled on medication. He said that the blood volume increase needed to support four babies may be more than my circulatory system can handle. My blood vessels can on stretch so far and my heart can only pump so much. He said with my preexisting blood pressure issues, this could cause us to have problems. If my blood pressure goes too high they might have to deliver the babies early, possibly even too early.
Then final concern will show up more later as the babies grow. If one baby has a greater surface area attachment between the placenta ands uterine wall, it will get more nutrition than the others. This would cause uneven growth, crowding out the ones receiving less nutrition. Finally the smallest baby may just decide they are all coming early.
See, rain, a downpour really. Selective reduction also reared it's ugly head once again, and once again we said a kind, but firm "no".
As you can imagine we left that appointment with mixed emotions. Our babies were growing, beautiful, and strong but WHAT IF?
Donny and I talked and were reminded that God entrusted us with these babies and this journey. He hasn't just started all of it in motion and then washed his hands of us and our babies. He is knitting them, all four of them, together. His plan is perfect. Even if the plan is one of the "what ifs" it is perfect. My quad mom friend told me that all I can do it eat, rest, and leave it in God's hands. That's what I intend to do.
Our most recent appointment was this past Friday morning. This time with Dr. Straughn. It was so much less stress! The ultrasound showed four strong heartbeats, but the tech didn't try to tell us the sex if Baby A....darn! Dr. Straughn answered our questions about when I should try to stay home from work, how to handle my cold, and how Hawk would fit in the picture at the hospital when the babies arrive ( that one had really been bugging Donny). She said all my lab work from the last visit looked great. My blood pressure was even normal, I told her that was because I hadn't been to work yet that day ;) It was fantastic to leave an appointment feeling good instead of worried. There was rain on our parade, but the sun came shining through bringing a rainbow of hope.
So now you are all caught up on my life carrying four babies. In the course of the time it took me to type this I've had to make a bathroom run, a snack run, and a refill my water jug run. Just imagine what life will be like as they grow! For now, I'll cough, sniffle, eat, and sleep the rest of this sick day away.
We saw Dr. Gonzales for the first time on January 28th. He is the perinatologist at Brookwood. First they took us back to the nicest ultrasound room I've ever been in, huge! It had a nice long bed beside the screen, a row of chairs along the wall, and plenty of space for the equipment, a desk, and a few other pieces of furniture. The overhead lights were out, but a pretty table lamp shed a warm glow in the corner. The tech who called us back then set to work doing the most through ultrasound I've ever had. She'd checked organs - heart, diaphragm, stomach, and brain. She located key developing bones- growth plates in the skull, tibia and fibula, radius and ulna, and the little nasal bone. She measured them all from head to rump to confirm due date. Thankfully they all were measuring one to two days ahead of schedule and no one was lagging or small. She located and measured all the heartbeats. A few babies gave her a hard time and kept wiggling away as soon as she found the heartbeat. You'd hear the woosh-woosh-woosh of a heart for a second then it would turn to garbled white noise as the tiny patient squirmed away. We watched them practice swallowing, squirming, waving arms and legs. The imaging equipment was incredibly clear! Their tiny profiles were easy to see. It is amazing what bonding can take place just by watching your unborn children. We even got gender guesses for three babies. Baby A was not cooperating. I'm going to wait to share genders here on the blog until we have them confirmed sat my next appointment with Dr. Gonzales.
So, we were on cloud nine! Our babies were growing! They were moving! Then the tech said, "ok, I'm going to show these to Dr. Gonzales and then he will come in ands tell you everything that can go wrong." Thunderclouds overhead, he was going to rain on my parade. We knew it was coming. Of course he'd have to share all the possible nasty scenarios. I had to make a run for the bathroom before he came in - too much pushing on the bladder- and when I returned he was already in the room. The tech flipped through the images pretty quickly as he watched. I guess he found nothing to cause alarm, because he didn't refer back to the images during the rest of the consultation. Basically the biggest scary concerns he had were these: preterm delivery before viability, blood pressure issues, and distribution of nutrition as the babies grow. There were more, but these struck home.
Basically, he said preterm labor, once it begins, can only be delayed a few hours at best. 40% of quadruplet sets are born before 24 week, before they can survive outside the womb. There is no good information on why it happens. When the babies decide they are coming then they are coming. The hospital will take steps to medically intervene from 24 weeks on, but not before that.
I already have high blood pressure that is controlled on medication. He said that the blood volume increase needed to support four babies may be more than my circulatory system can handle. My blood vessels can on stretch so far and my heart can only pump so much. He said with my preexisting blood pressure issues, this could cause us to have problems. If my blood pressure goes too high they might have to deliver the babies early, possibly even too early.
Then final concern will show up more later as the babies grow. If one baby has a greater surface area attachment between the placenta ands uterine wall, it will get more nutrition than the others. This would cause uneven growth, crowding out the ones receiving less nutrition. Finally the smallest baby may just decide they are all coming early.
See, rain, a downpour really. Selective reduction also reared it's ugly head once again, and once again we said a kind, but firm "no".
As you can imagine we left that appointment with mixed emotions. Our babies were growing, beautiful, and strong but WHAT IF?
Donny and I talked and were reminded that God entrusted us with these babies and this journey. He hasn't just started all of it in motion and then washed his hands of us and our babies. He is knitting them, all four of them, together. His plan is perfect. Even if the plan is one of the "what ifs" it is perfect. My quad mom friend told me that all I can do it eat, rest, and leave it in God's hands. That's what I intend to do.
Our most recent appointment was this past Friday morning. This time with Dr. Straughn. It was so much less stress! The ultrasound showed four strong heartbeats, but the tech didn't try to tell us the sex if Baby A....darn! Dr. Straughn answered our questions about when I should try to stay home from work, how to handle my cold, and how Hawk would fit in the picture at the hospital when the babies arrive ( that one had really been bugging Donny). She said all my lab work from the last visit looked great. My blood pressure was even normal, I told her that was because I hadn't been to work yet that day ;) It was fantastic to leave an appointment feeling good instead of worried. There was rain on our parade, but the sun came shining through bringing a rainbow of hope.
So now you are all caught up on my life carrying four babies. In the course of the time it took me to type this I've had to make a bathroom run, a snack run, and a refill my water jug run. Just imagine what life will be like as they grow! For now, I'll cough, sniffle, eat, and sleep the rest of this sick day away.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Hello everyone! It is high time I filled all of you in on the latest news on the Mottlets! The week has been very busy and eventful. A soon as we found out we were expecting quads, friends and doctors began to mention a local support group for moms with multiple, Birminghan Area Mothers of Multiples (BAMOM). I reached out to them on facebook about a month ago and immediately heard back from several moms in the group, including a mom of quads. A couple weeks ago, I began texting with her and she encouraged me to join them for their Moms' Night Out to meet the other moms and get plugged in. So, this past Thursday night I pushed my bedtime back (I'm not a night owl and growing four babies has put me in bed even earlier lately) and joined them for dinner from 7:00-9:00 at Cantina Lorado. It is a little intimidating to insert yourself into a group where you don't know anyone, but nerves quickly vanished as I was quickly pulled into the middle of a trio of best-friend-moms and immediately included in the conversation.
I had a wonderful time that evening. The wealth of experience at that table and just knowing that they'd all been in the same place as me was fantastic. Thanks to that night, I already have arranged to buy a quad stroller second-hand from one of the moms for half the price I would have had to pay new and I have a group of ladies that I can call on for advice and support in this wonderful/terrifying journey as a quad-mom. They enthusiastically approved our choice to have the Mottlets at Brookwood. Several of them had their babies at Brookwood and raved about the NICU, the neonatologists, and Dr. Gonzales.
I definitely plan on attending as many BAMOM meetings and events as possible. One of their upcoming events I'm really excited about is their consignment sale on February 27 - 28. I'm hoping to grab some of our larger items like snap-n-go baby seat strollers and other essentials at the sale. I don't think we'll know baby genders yet so I'll most-likely wait on clothes. If you are interested in checking out the sale, there is more information at BAMOM.org
Friday morning was our first OB appointment with Dr. Straughn. Our appointment was at 7:45 and they wanted us there 30 minutes early- so much for extra sleep on my half-day off. I did quickly see the benefit of an early appointment though. When we walked out at 9:15 the waiting room was full!
We started with an ultrasound, and this one was finally external! Yay! I held my breathe as I waited to see the image come into focus, praying that there were still four healthy babies. One, two, three, four....whew! They were so much bigger and so much more defined. Two weeks ago they were little peanuts- head, body, and tiny arms and legs. This time they were head, clear neck, shoulders with longer thin arms, belly, hips and long slender legs. More amazingly, they were all very active. We watched them twist and turn, push with their legs against their sacks, stretch arms, and one even waved a little hand. Then, for the first time, we heard their heartbeats. One-by-one the tech focused in on each baby and found the heartbeat. What an incredible experience!
Then we were moved to a room and waited to speak with Dr. Straughn. We just kept grinning at each other, basking in the glow of our growing babies! She came in, sat down, and talked with us a long time. We were able to finally get filled in on the basic beginning-of-pregnancy info and ask questions. She did tell us up front that in 14 years of practice she has never delivered quads. She has delivered lots of twins ands a couple sets of triplets. She was willing to see us and would refer us to Dr. Gonzales, who would outline a plan for the pregnancy that they would follow together. She also said we were welcome to get another opinion at UAB if we wanted. Donny and I discussed it and decided that we were most comfortable staying at Brookwood. The NICU will be crucial for our Mottlets. I'm confident that together Dr. Straughn and Dr. Gonzales will be able to help me get the Mottlets here safely. Then it will be in the hands of the neonatologists and the NICU.
We wrapped up the appointment with blood work. Thankfully, the nurse got my vein on the first stick. She wasn't very chatty, but if she's good at finding a vein, I have no complaints! I will be going in every two weeks to see Dr. Straughn so we went ahead and scheduled our next appointment for February 6th. Some time this week I should also be hearing from Dr. Gonzales' office to set up an appointment to see him.
Donny and I celebrated the good visit with second breakfast at Over Easy. It really seemed like a crime to not be able to eat that entire yummy plate of food. Food is still my frienemy. I have to eat every couple of hours, but I can't eat a full meal in one sitting. The rest if the weekend was a flurry of friends and family. Saturday we had lunch with my sister, Faith, and went bargain shopping for diapers at Bargain Hunt. Yep, we have started diaper stocking. That evening we had a long overdue dinner with two families we love, the Lukers and the Sauniers. We haven't seen them since we got pregnant. There were lots of squeezy hugs, squeals, and tummy pats.
Today, my niece Piper was baptized at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, our former church. We were blessed to attend along with Donny's whole family. Afterwards, we were able to see several friends from our Sunday school class at Shades. We were covered up in hugs, congratulations, offers to help, and offers of baby clothes/gear.
So now you are up-to-date! This week has been a wonderful time of encouragement. We are humbled by the amazing generosity and support of friends, family, and even complete strangers. I have never felt so covered in prayer. Thank you all!
I had a wonderful time that evening. The wealth of experience at that table and just knowing that they'd all been in the same place as me was fantastic. Thanks to that night, I already have arranged to buy a quad stroller second-hand from one of the moms for half the price I would have had to pay new and I have a group of ladies that I can call on for advice and support in this wonderful/terrifying journey as a quad-mom. They enthusiastically approved our choice to have the Mottlets at Brookwood. Several of them had their babies at Brookwood and raved about the NICU, the neonatologists, and Dr. Gonzales.
I definitely plan on attending as many BAMOM meetings and events as possible. One of their upcoming events I'm really excited about is their consignment sale on February 27 - 28. I'm hoping to grab some of our larger items like snap-n-go baby seat strollers and other essentials at the sale. I don't think we'll know baby genders yet so I'll most-likely wait on clothes. If you are interested in checking out the sale, there is more information at BAMOM.org
Friday morning was our first OB appointment with Dr. Straughn. Our appointment was at 7:45 and they wanted us there 30 minutes early- so much for extra sleep on my half-day off. I did quickly see the benefit of an early appointment though. When we walked out at 9:15 the waiting room was full!
We started with an ultrasound, and this one was finally external! Yay! I held my breathe as I waited to see the image come into focus, praying that there were still four healthy babies. One, two, three, four....whew! They were so much bigger and so much more defined. Two weeks ago they were little peanuts- head, body, and tiny arms and legs. This time they were head, clear neck, shoulders with longer thin arms, belly, hips and long slender legs. More amazingly, they were all very active. We watched them twist and turn, push with their legs against their sacks, stretch arms, and one even waved a little hand. Then, for the first time, we heard their heartbeats. One-by-one the tech focused in on each baby and found the heartbeat. What an incredible experience!
Then we were moved to a room and waited to speak with Dr. Straughn. We just kept grinning at each other, basking in the glow of our growing babies! She came in, sat down, and talked with us a long time. We were able to finally get filled in on the basic beginning-of-pregnancy info and ask questions. She did tell us up front that in 14 years of practice she has never delivered quads. She has delivered lots of twins ands a couple sets of triplets. She was willing to see us and would refer us to Dr. Gonzales, who would outline a plan for the pregnancy that they would follow together. She also said we were welcome to get another opinion at UAB if we wanted. Donny and I discussed it and decided that we were most comfortable staying at Brookwood. The NICU will be crucial for our Mottlets. I'm confident that together Dr. Straughn and Dr. Gonzales will be able to help me get the Mottlets here safely. Then it will be in the hands of the neonatologists and the NICU.
We wrapped up the appointment with blood work. Thankfully, the nurse got my vein on the first stick. She wasn't very chatty, but if she's good at finding a vein, I have no complaints! I will be going in every two weeks to see Dr. Straughn so we went ahead and scheduled our next appointment for February 6th. Some time this week I should also be hearing from Dr. Gonzales' office to set up an appointment to see him.
Donny and I celebrated the good visit with second breakfast at Over Easy. It really seemed like a crime to not be able to eat that entire yummy plate of food. Food is still my frienemy. I have to eat every couple of hours, but I can't eat a full meal in one sitting. The rest if the weekend was a flurry of friends and family. Saturday we had lunch with my sister, Faith, and went bargain shopping for diapers at Bargain Hunt. Yep, we have started diaper stocking. That evening we had a long overdue dinner with two families we love, the Lukers and the Sauniers. We haven't seen them since we got pregnant. There were lots of squeezy hugs, squeals, and tummy pats.
Today, my niece Piper was baptized at Shades Mountain Baptist Church, our former church. We were blessed to attend along with Donny's whole family. Afterwards, we were able to see several friends from our Sunday school class at Shades. We were covered up in hugs, congratulations, offers to help, and offers of baby clothes/gear.
So now you are up-to-date! This week has been a wonderful time of encouragement. We are humbled by the amazing generosity and support of friends, family, and even complete strangers. I have never felt so covered in prayer. Thank you all!
Monday, January 5, 2015
The Mottlets
Receiving the news that you are going to carry four babies is pretty overwhelming. Of course I was happy. We've wanted a family so long. Still four is a daunting prospect! I had a month to mull over the news. The two week break from school turned into self-imposed modified bed rest. I had no energy at all! Food became a tricky two-faced friend. I had to eat every couple of hours or I'd feel sick, but heaven forbid I eat a bite more than my stomach wanted or it promptly made an unpleasant reappearance! I just told myself it must mean the babies were growing.
Today we had our 10 week ultrasound. Donny and I didn't know what to expect. Would all four still be there? Maybe the pregnancy had reduced? Maybe none of them were growing. We waited nervously for Karen to come in and perform the ultrasound. I had to eat crackers as we waited- it had been three hours since lunch after all. When the screen revealed 1, 2, 3, 4 babies we finally felt like we could breathe!
What an amazing sight it was to see each of those tiny little people! Their precious bobble heads, tiny arms, and little legs came in and out of focus as Karen skillfully maneuvered the probe around and snapped pictures of each baby. One of them was awake and wiggling, waving tiny arms and legs. As ultrasound continued another sweet pea woke up too and wiggled around. All four were measuring exactly as they should be and have been growing like little champs.
Afterward we met with Dr. Steinkampf for the final time. He had already called and spoken with my OB, Dr. Straughn, at Brookwood to inform her that here was releasing me to her care. I will call and make an appointment with her, then see Dr. Gonzales (a perinatal specialist) also. It was bitter sweet to tell the wonderful staff at Alabama Fertility Specialists goodbye. Hugs were exchanged. Promises made to keep in touch and send baby pictures. Dr. Steinkampf even gave me a hug! What a softie :)
So now the plan is rest whenever possible, eat and eat, and grow the biggest and healthiest quads the Brookwood Hospital has ever seen!
Today we had our 10 week ultrasound. Donny and I didn't know what to expect. Would all four still be there? Maybe the pregnancy had reduced? Maybe none of them were growing. We waited nervously for Karen to come in and perform the ultrasound. I had to eat crackers as we waited- it had been three hours since lunch after all. When the screen revealed 1, 2, 3, 4 babies we finally felt like we could breathe!
What an amazing sight it was to see each of those tiny little people! Their precious bobble heads, tiny arms, and little legs came in and out of focus as Karen skillfully maneuvered the probe around and snapped pictures of each baby. One of them was awake and wiggling, waving tiny arms and legs. As ultrasound continued another sweet pea woke up too and wiggled around. All four were measuring exactly as they should be and have been growing like little champs.
Afterward we met with Dr. Steinkampf for the final time. He had already called and spoken with my OB, Dr. Straughn, at Brookwood to inform her that here was releasing me to her care. I will call and make an appointment with her, then see Dr. Gonzales (a perinatal specialist) also. It was bitter sweet to tell the wonderful staff at Alabama Fertility Specialists goodbye. Hugs were exchanged. Promises made to keep in touch and send baby pictures. Dr. Steinkampf even gave me a hug! What a softie :)
So now the plan is rest whenever possible, eat and eat, and grow the biggest and healthiest quads the Brookwood Hospital has ever seen!
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