Major Milestone and a Little Bit of Normal

We were going to quit doing a day-by-day account of things, but so much has happened in the last week that we think it’s worth it for this week.

July 1st (23 wks 4 days)
Wow, it’s already July!!!! We’re getting closer to our first big milestone. No changes on the baby front today and nothing really exciting happened today.

July 2nd (23 wks 5 days)
Today was a great day. Kenny got to feel the babies move for the first time. We’ve been trying for a long time, but all he could ever feel was Crystal's pulse.

July 3rd (23 wks 6 days)
Ultrasound day with good and not so great news. The fluid around the babies has increased again. This is expected since the doctors had taken Crystal off the medicine. Because of the increase in fluid, that also increases the pressure on her cervix. The increased pressure has caused the cervix to open internally (still only dilated about 1 cm). Externally, the cervix is still closed. The doctors do not seem concerned.

The babies are also doing well. The bio-physical scan done by the ultrasound technician shows that one baby is practice breathing. This is ahead of schedule based on their gestation and is good news.

Kenny’s mom and step-dad came up for the afternoon. Their visit was great. It was nice to just sit around and chat.

July 4th (24 wks)
Happy 4th of July and happy 24 weeks!!! That means we have hit the first major milestone. This gives the babies a 60% chance of survival if they were born this week. This improves exponentially as we go each week. Crystal got another steroid shot today. This is the one that is to help prevent pre-term labor.

We did get a little bit of normalcy today. Dr. Hendricks arranged for all the moms on the floor to be wheeled out to a hallway so we could see some fireworks. She also had popcorn and caramel corn and the nurses brought some pop to enjoy while we watched. It’s nice to know that people think about the fact that life isn’t really “normal” for those of us here who are confined to a small room most days.

July 5th (24 wks 1 day)
Today was a restful day. After watching the Wimbledon Men’s championship match, we took naps and rested. No changes today on the baby front.

July 6th (24 wks 2 days)
Today we hit 3 weeks in the hospital. The 3rd week started off with a flurry of activity. Crystal had a blood draw first thing to look at iron levels and other standard tests. Then one of the two weekly ultrasounds was completed. Both babies were “practice breathing” and Crystal was still slightly dilated. When Crystal got back up to her room, her nurse offered to get her a new bed. Apparently the crater where her rear had been for the last 3 weeks isn’t normal. After getting the new bed in the room and the old bed out, it was time for the standard glucose test for gestational diabetes. Then Crystal had to wait for and hour for a 2nd blood draw. Thankfully, she passed this test. In the afternoon, we attempted to monitor the babies. That was quite the fiasco. The nurse ended up requesting that a doctor come up and do an ultrasound to try to pinpoint where to put the monitors. Unfortunately, this still didn’t help, so the doctor had an ultrasound tech come up. Still no real luck, so we got permission to pass on the daytime monitoring and only do nighttime monitoring.

Kenny spent some time after work at home and was able to finish painting the nursery. I’ll get him to take some pictures and will attach them when we can.

July 7th (24 wks 3 days)
Dr. Austin is finally back from his vacation. When he came in today he said he was very glad to see us still here. He told me that during his vacation he’d been praying for us and praying for the babies to make it to a point of viability. What was interesting is that he said God was telling him to pray for what he really wants – 34 weeks, not just viability. How often do you get a doctor telling you not only that he is praying for you, but that God is telling him to pray for what he really wants for us. He also said that the improvements we’ve made have only been through intervention, not through any of the doctors’ doing. Crazy, huh? Good news is that he told Crystal that if we make it to 28 weeks, he will probably send us home!!! That is a little bit scary, but also a bit of a relief. We like the fact that the doctors and nurses are always just a call away and if we have any concerns, we can ask questions and get answers immediately. It would be nice, though to be in a more comfortable environment. We’ll just have to see how it all works out in the next few weeks and play it by ear.

Kenny got some great news today too. We’ve been waiting for a long time to get a transfer date for him from Coldwater to Portage. Apparently, August 15th is the date!!! This will make a lot of things easier for both of us. We’ll be able to, hopefully, nail down a day care as well as a pediatrician soon, since it will now make sense for them to both be in Kalamazoo/Portage or somewhere between Battle Creek and there.