Pheew!! Labor Stopped, but Bestrest Continues...

I got to get out of the house today to go to the Dr. It's only been 4 days, but my body is sore from laying still and I'm SO happy to get outside!

I cried the whole way to the Dr's office. I don't know if it's all these extra hormones or if I was just really worried about that the Dr was going tell us, but I couldn't stop! Poor Andrew didn't know what to do with me so he just drove.

The Dr gave us some very good news today. The drugs and bedrest were working! My contractions had stopped and my cervix was short, but holding! Back to bed I was sent! Dr said it was highly unlikely that I'd be taken off bedrest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I'm just starting my 22nd week so there's a chance I'll be in bed for up to 15 weeks! What am I ever going to do with myself?? :)

Dr. Hulme also suggested that we take a short tour of the ICU since it's looking like we'll end up spending a significant amount of time there. The nurses were so friendly and you can see that they care so much about those babies, but the babies were SO tiny. There was a 4 day old little girl in there who only weighed 600g. She could fit in the palm of my hand and was hooked up to a million machines. One of the nurses walked us through what everything was, how they handle the babies, what life's like for parents with babies in the ICU, how the babies go up and down, etc. I'm really glad we did it, but it was very emotional for me. I started crying again while we were there and am tearing up just writing this. I know they'll be in good hands, but the thought of them on all those tubes isn't nice.

21 wks & 5 days - Scan & Surprise Labor

We went for our routine scan today and got quite the surprise. In the middle of the scan our Dr stopped suddenly and asked "Are you in labor???" I promptly answered with "I dont think so, but it's not like I've done this before so I can say for sure!" She then proceeded to ask me about back pain, pressure in my lower abdomen, and any pain of which I said yes to all. I now feel a bit silly, but I really thought all of those things were just normal in pregnancy and apparently they can be. She did a more thorough exam on me and found that not only was I in labor, but my Cervix was funneling and spreading wide open when she gently pushed on my stomach. YIKES. The amniotic sack was pushing into the gap in my cervix and Baby Blessing's head was RIGHT there too!

I don't think I really realized the severity of it until she rushed off to call my OBGYN. I could then hear the panic in her voice and the discussing putting me into the hospital. She cam back into the room, told me to get dressed, and that I needed to go and see my OBGYN immediately being very clear to say that we mustn't stop anywhere or do anything else! She didn't even finish the scan or give me pictures of the babies because she just wanted me to get to the Dr asap.

Dr Hulme also got a very nervous look on his face as he looked at the scans. He discussed putting me in hospital, but said that I could go home as long as I promised to stay in bed. Of course, I had to get some clarification on this so I started asking him questions like can I shower, make tea, etc to which his answer to all was a big fat NO! I was allowed to stand up to use the bathroom and that's it! If we couldn't manage the he would admit me, but Andrew was fantastic and agreed to look after me! He put me on extra progesterone and another drug to relax my uterus too! As we were leaving he said that he didn't want to scare us, but that we needed to realize the seriousness of our situation and that basically any babies delivered before 26 weeks were considered a miscarriage. I have to say that this comment really hit home! I teared up immediately at the thought of possibly losing our babies and of course agreed to stay in bed with everything, especially my legs, crossed!

Just when we got little Angel growing again they now want to come out. Not easy, but bedrest will be a small price to pay for healthy babies!

Scan 19 Weeks & 5 Days

We considered ourselves the luckiest people alive this day! Baby A started to grow again!!! The Dr. couldn't believe her eyes and kept asking what we had done in the last 2 weeks because she'd never seen a little one turn around like this. We explained all about the energy work, improved supplements, bedrest, all the people routing for them and more! All she could say was that she was SO happy and that we must keep doing what we'd been doing because it was working!

While were we in Plet we started talking about names and gave the babies nicknames for now because Baby A and Baby B sound too generic. They are now referred to as Angel and Blessing! They started kicking up a storm in Plet and it's the best feeling ever! I know I probably shouldn't, but I would sometimes poke them to get them to kick just so I would know they were ok!

Angel was still smaller this week, but the bladder and head (therefore brain development) had caught up so nicely! The stomach was still very small, but the Dr said a baby can always gain weight later! We weren't in the clear, but felt so much better that our efforts were making a difference and that we could help our little one! This week they weighed 241 g and 280 g.

Dr. Morris got some very cute pics of our babies this week! In the one photo they were even looking at each other! We are so in love with our babies and soooo relieved that surgery is off the table for now!

19 Week Belly Pics

I started showing at 9 weeks, but by 19 I was really starting to look pregnant! The babies had been kicking for 2 weeks at this point. I never thought I'd be so happy about getting bigger and so anxious about waiting for each kick, but I was because they both meant that the babies were ok! We spent a week in Plet that went from the end of my 18th week to the end of my 19th week! It was amazing how the new supplements and all the rest made such a difference.. you could see it in my belly after just a few days! It was so awesome!!

Scan 17 Weeks & 5 Days!

We get so excited before every scan and just can't wait to see our little babies! We go every 2 weeks and can't imagine having to wait any longer! I felt the first real kick today!!! Baby B kicked the scanner really hard! Today was the start of lots of kicking which I love!!!

We unfortunately didn't get a very good report from the Dr. today. In fact, the Dr. is very worried about Baby A. With identical twins there's a big risk of the twins starting to transfuse blood. It's called TTTS or Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. One baby becomes the donor and the other the receiver. I'll spare all the details, but it's very dangerous for both babies. One sign of TTTS is slowed growth and reduced bladder size. Today Baby A had both of those so the Dr became very worried. Because Baby A has a marginal cord insertion it's hard to tell whether any transfusion has started or if it's just that Baby A is struggling to get enough of what it needs from the placenta due to the poor insertion. Baby A weighed 167g and Baby B 184 g. The weight wasn't what worried her as much as the size of the head, tummy and bladder. The Dr determined that is was just the cord causing the problem and not TTTS, but started talking about the possibility of us having to go overseas for laser surgery. The surgery is very risky and it would mean losing one baby if not both. Scientifically there's nothing you can do if a baby has restricted growth due to a marginal insertion so we were told that there was nothing we could do to help our little one.

That left us feeling horribly helpless so out of desperation we started researching frantically and calling everyone we knew that might have any information about what we could do. What we learned is that diet and rest had worked in some cases not all, but we thought it was worth a shot. I started having SCIO energy work done to increase the amount of energy going to the babies. I also saw a homeopathic nutritionist to help me find some better prenatal vitamins & supplements. He also put me on some oxygen boost to help increase my circulation and therefore oxygen to the babies. I also put myself on partial bedrest because, although nothing is proven, it's been said that bedrest and particularly laying on your left side increases the amount of blood flow to your uterus. I tried hard to control my stress, but it was a very emotional and stressful time because we were faced with the real possibility of losing our babies. We spent a week in Plet and it was very good for all of us! Needless to say it was a very long 2 weeks until our next scan! Even though we were quite nervous, we considered ourselves so lucky because we had so much support! People around the globe were praying for our babies and sending lots of healthy thoughts! Deep down we knew they had to be ok because they were loves so much by us as well as all of our family and friends!

Scan 15 Weeks & 5 Days

We were amazed to see how much our little Bubbas had grown in just 4 weeks! Baby A now weighs 113g and Baby B 117g. Dr Morris was amazed at how evenly they are growing given that Baby A's umbilical cord is only marginally connected right on the edge of the placenta. Baby B has a solid connection right in the middle! She checked them again to be sure they are anatomically correct and they are perfect!! They are really starting to look like babies and are so adorable!!

Our 1st Specialist Scan - 11 Weeks & 5 Days

We went for our 1st scan with Dr. Morris today! She specializes in high risk pregnancies which identical twins are among the riskiest. She has super high-tech equipment that was able to count every finger & toe. She could also measure spaces as small as the bone in the babies' nose! We loved seeing our babies this close up and received some very good news today! Anatomically our babies are perfect and there's no risk of Downs or other mental problems. She confirmed that we are in fact carrying Monochorionic Twins which means they are identical and sharing the same placenta. She could tell which gender they were today, but we decided to keep it a surprise for when we meet them! We both have a feeling they're girls, but we'll see! They will definitely be either 2 boys or 2 girls and not one of each! We are still getting over the shock of learning that we'll be having 2 babies and not 1, but are SUPER excited too! We feel so lucky to have been given this special gift! Today Baby A weighed 46 grams and Baby B 52 grams. Baby A is lying on my left hand side and Baby B on my right!