25 Weeks!

It’s hard to believe, but today is our 4 week mark. We have officially been in the hospital for 4 whole weeks. Believe it or not, it has flown by and we are amazed that it has been this long already. Good books and movies can make an afternoon fly by, so Crystal has taken advantages of these times. We can’t say enough how much we treasure our family, friends, doctors, and nurses for all they have done for use through this time. Here’s a brief recap of the last week. We didn’t cover all the days because some are pretty uneventful. We did try to cover all the good points

7/8 – 7/9
Crystal’s sister, Jill, and niece, Maddie came up to visit. There were no plans for anything too exciting, but sitting and visiting was really nice. On 7/9, we were scheduled for another ultrasound. This time it was a full anatomy ultrasound to determine the approximate weights of the babies and make sure they are growing well. Since Jill and Maddie were here, they got to see everything too.

Baby A is currently measuring 1 lb 12 oz and Baby B is 1 lb 8 oz. The fluid around the babies has increased back to a normal level; however, Crystal’s cervix continues to be slightly open. According to the doctors, this is what they expected and all it means is that Crystal will have to go back on the Indocin. They don’t like to keep people on it chronically, but it looks like that is our only real option. They definitely won’t keep Crystal on it once she reaches 30-32 weeks because then it could have adverse effects on the babies. Basically, the doctors just need to figure out the correct dosage and frequency to keep the cervix closed, but keep the fluid levels around the babies at an appropriate level.

There was a little concern at the ultrasound that the babies’ heart rates were really low, compared to what we’ve seen during monitoring. Crystal asked the doctor about this and was told that everything is fine. The babies’ autonomic nervous system (the part that makes your heart beat on its own or keeps you breathing without consciously thinking about it) is developing. The babies were resting, so their heart rates were lower, as would be expected.

Jill and Maddie, unfortunately had to take off – something about a camping trip the next week that had to be prepared for (we were supposed to be going with them, so we’re a little sad that we can’t). We were so glad to have them here for a visit and enjoyed their company.

A neonatologist came after everyone left to talk about survival rates of the babies based on their gender (girls fight more than boys apparently), weight, weeks of gestation, etc. Since we had the ultrasound and got weights today, they brought us information on the survival rates of the boys. We are at about a 60-70% survival rate at this time (24 weeks). This will continue to grow quite rapidly as we add weeks to the total. He also discussed what would happen if we went into labor today and how they would handle the babies, etc. He seemed very positive and added, any time we can keep getting where these babies stay put, the better.

The 9th was also Crystal’s mom’s birthday. So, Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!

7/11
This is the 25 week mark! Hard to believe we got into the hospital at 21 weeks!!! Today is the first day Crystal has really started noticing how quickly she can get out of breath and how uncomfortable she is on her back. She’s also experiencing some slight indigestion (standing on her head doesn’t help this).

Crystal’s mom, Grandma Hardesty, and Aunt Connie came up to visit for the day today. While they were here, the doctor stopped in and he is still confident that we can go home at 28 weeks if we stay on course like we have been. He filled Kenny in on all the details today since Kenny had been at work earlier in the week. We were a little leery because of the results of the last ultrasound.

While Crystal spent time visiting with all the women, Kenny headed home for the afternoon to try to cut down a tree at the house. Things didn’t go too well, though. He got quite a bit done, but couldn’t get the top of the tree to come off. Thankfully, a friend of a friend is willing to come out during the week to try to get it felled.

Crystal’s visit with her family was great and very enjoyable. Unfortunately, they had to head home that same day. Kenny got back to the hospital to say goodbye to everyone and then they headed out. We were so exhausted by the time the day was over, that we were in bed by 9:30.

7/13
Wow! It’s already been 4 weeks here! They boys have been stinkers all week when it comes to monitoring. We have a list of nurses who are lining up to hand out spankings once they are here. Today was much better, though. One baby had hiccups during monitoring which makes it hard to keep them on. The best part about this, though, was that today was the first time that Crystal could tell he had the hiccups. We’d seen them on ultrasound before, but feeling them is completely different.

Today is another ultrasound day. The babies are still doing great and getting 8/8 on their biophysical scans. Crystal’s cervix is short, but mostly closed, so the medicine is working. Her doctors said that the dosage is going to be changed to twice a day at a lower dosage instead of 4 times a day at the higher dose. Hopefully, this change will ensure that we can go home at a time that is appropriate and best for the babies. Only time will tell.