A Year ago Today...

Bekka wound up at the WakeMed Cary in the middle of the night while I was delayed getting back home from a business trip.

A few days later I put this up as we were in the 3 week odyssey leading up to birth of the twins.

http://olliestale.blogspot.com/2010/04/twins-hospitals-and-amniotic-sacs.html

It is unbelievable that a year has passed. We have two (mostly) healthy babies and no spare time in our lives, but one year ago we were terrified of losing them.

April 9, 2011 is a much better day than April 9, 2010.

Thanks for the love and support!

Memorial Day Update

Yes, we know it's been 5 days since we last updated on our little guys. Let me tell you that overall that's been a good thing. Auntie Amanda was down last week helping us not go crazy and getting some things done in preparation for that so far away yet not too distant homecoming day (We already miss her. It was like old times). That left mommy and me to visit our babies and hold them and watch them grow. They have had a pretty good few days.

Health-wise, both are doing well. Isaak's recovery from surgery has been termed remarkable and they ended up cutting short his antibiotics and starting oral feeds on Friday (5/28), 3 days earlier than expected. He is up to 1041g (2lb 4oz) while Penelope might be up to 990g (they are a little suspicious of that number tonight so they will be weighing her again). Penny is getting 18ml of milk+HMF+Protein. Isaak seems to be tolerating his light feeds pretty well and is getting 1ml per hour on a continuous feed as they try to get his system restarted and monitor his outputs. He has to get up to 4+ lbs before they will attempt the repair surgery to reconnect his upper and lower intestines. The quicker this happens the better as it allows him to get less IV nutrition and reduces the chance for liver or kidney damage.

From a respiratory standpoint, Isaak may finally be outdoing his older (but smaller) sister. They are mixing and matching bubble CPAP and vapotherm with him. When he's on vapotherm, it's at 2 liter of flow with a room air mix. Penny is only on 1.5l of flow on vapotherm, but they can't seem to get her O2 mix down much below 28%. This happens sometimes with these little guys. Even at higher flow rates, she was wanting a similar level of oxygen.

I've put up new pictures. We have more than this on the other camera and I'm going to try to get some new pics of Penny tomorrow as the only ones I had available were a couple of weeks old. She looks so different now! You can see that Isaak is really a cutie and is growing in a head of soft, blond hair. It looks more than a little bit like his older brothers to be honest. That's a very bittersweet thing.

Many Thanks and an Update on our Little Troopers

So obviously this has been a crazy couple of weeks. I mean, it wasn't like it was normal before but Isaak's whirlwind transfer to UNC and sudden surgery have added a whole new element of insanity. Tomorrow marks one week since he was moved over there. Maintaining a presence at two hospitals, home and work has been...challenging. Bekka spent a couple of nights at the Ronald McDonald House and a couple with our friend Scott. I suspect both of us will be crashing his pad more than once as we try to split our time between our two beautiful babies. I spent the week working, visiting Penny and somehow squeezing trips to Chapel Hill into the equation.

So yeah. It's been nuts. We have some serious decisions to make as to where our babies should be and how we are going to manage all this. I'm sure it will become clear in due time.

After Ollie, we really had hoped to be the folks helping others rather than being helped. Never did we anticipate we'd be receiving kindness from so many, so soon. To everyone that has been helping out and checking in and just generally being useful: Thank You. From the bottoms of our hearts. Thanks Amanda M. for coordinating so many people and being the usual kind and caring person that you are. Thanks Amanda H. for coming down and helping us during this wacky week (love ya sis!). Many thanks for everyone trying to bring or provide meals - we have been here with such randomness that we've had to postpone many of them but I know we are going to need them and will enjoy them in the future. Finally, a big (40 gallon?) bag of gratitude for Lisa and Jenny for taming the lawn monster. Being away from home and getting 3 inches of rain had sorta turned the yard into a small pasture. Hopefully I can keep it under control now!

And now what you really tuned in for:

Penny continues to be a little rock star. She is doing well on Vapotherm and the nurses bump her oxygen up and down depending on how she is doing sat wise (and whether she is on her back or tummy - she really loves her tummy). She is tolerating feeds with no residuals and is now up to 17ml every 3 hours. Thanks to this eating regimen, she has managed to get up to 860g (1lb 14oz). She had been experiencing a bit of tachycardia this week so they decided to take her off caffeine to see how she responded. She responded by not only lowering her heart rate but by having almost no bradycardia episodes. It's pretty amazing for a 29 weeker to be off the juice, but she is.


Isaak continues to be a strong little fella. He has a long road ahead of him, but for now the doctors are astounded at how well he is doing recovering from the trauma of surgery. He really had been starting to turn a corner before the NEC set in and I think he just resumed that path afterwards. We won't have any idea on his long term prognosis for weeks yet, but in the short term he is a model patient. Of course, he is being fed exclusively intravenously right now, but has still managed to gain weight and is currently at 960g (2lb 2oz).

That's all for now. We'll have more updates this weekend and hopefully I'll have the time to get some new pictures up.

Penny's Moved and Isaak's Improved

Things are starting to look up for Isaak.  His respiratory status is improving hourly.  They keep weaning him slowly from the ventilator and hope to extubate him soon.  He'll go back to bubble CPAP.  His pain medication is also being weaned and that will likely help with extubation as many pain meds are respiratory depressants.  They put a new PICC line in so that he can get more dextrose to plump him up.  (Currently, he weighs in at 940g.)  And he's making lots of wet diapers - another good sign.  He's still receiving antibiotics and IV nutrition.

Neil visited Penelope on Sunday and her big news is that she's moved to an "intermediate" nursery since she is doing so well.  Her apnea and bradycardia episodes are minimal and largely all self-resolved.  She is still on Vapotherm and her rate was lowered from 3 liters to 2.5 liters.  Her weight is up to 780g (which is what Isaak weighed at birth).

That's all for now, but hopefully there will be more good news to come.  We still have a long road ahead of us.  There's a lot of uncertainty especially where Isaak is concerned.  So please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

(Hopefully) No Surgery for Isaak

So, Isaak's transfer to UNC was pretty painless.  That's not to say that it is easy having Isaak at UNC and Penny at WakeMed.  Or that it's easy to see Isaak so sick.  It is most definitely *not* easy.

Isaak's x-rays have not shown any changes.  Nothing has worsened, but nothing has improved either. His bloodwork and clinical symptoms point to NEC, or "neck" in medical parlance for Necrotizing Enterocolitis.  Sadly, Isaak certainly had a lot of the risk factors for NEC.  And this is not the diagnosis we wanted.  It is very serious and they will be closely monitoring him.  X-rays and bloodwork will be done every 6 hours (at 2am, 8am, 2pm and 8pm).

Right now, since he does not have a bowel perforation, he will not be having surgery.  However, he will be examined by the surgical staff in the event he does need surgery.  The plan, though, is to treat him with antibiotics and continue the "watchful waiting" that we have become so good at.  (Not that we ever wanted to be this good at it.  Sigh.)
 
The doctor placed an arterial line shortly after Isaak arrived so that they can monitor his blood pressure in "real-time" and so they don't have to stick him every 6 hours for blood.  And since he'll be having lots of blood drawn for bloodwork, we anticipate more blood transfusions.  Again, this is fairly normal and expected with sick preemies.


Neil and I both noted today that the poor little guy is more lethargic than he was yesterday.  We can tell that he's tired and just plain wiped out.  He's letting the vent do most of the work for him.  Only occasionally does he actually breathe "over" the vent - taking more than the 30 or 40 breaths per minute that the vent is giving him.

Isaak's little belly is taut and shiny and reddish.  It looks uncomfortable.  We both commented today that he reminds us of Ollie right now.  Because his tummy is so distended, his chest and abdomen have that bell shape that became so familiar.  And his hair has that same reddish-blonde hue as his big brother's.

Talking about those similarities today brought tears to my eyes.  I think this is the first time since I was admitted to the hospital in early April that I have let my emotions have the better of me.  It won't likely be the last.

I never would have expected that all three of my children - my two sons and my daughter - would have to fight so hard to live and breathe.

Please keep praying for Isaak and Penny.

Weight Gains, Head Ultrasounds and More

I'll go ahead and apologize now for this post in advance.  We're both pretty tired.  (It's amazing how traveling back and forth to the hospital wears on you.)  So tonight's update will be brief.

• Daddy got to hold Isaak tonight!  We've got pictures, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow.  Isaak was so sweet though.  You could tell that he wasn't really able to focus, but he kept opening up his eyes to look up at his daddy.  Neil and I have now held both our son and daughter.  =)
• Penny now weighs 710 grams.  Isaak weighs in at 810 grams.  Both are now above their birth weights of 650 grams and 780 grams, respectively.  A couple days ago they both hit their exact birth weight on the same day.  Could they already be showing us signs of their twin connection?
• The amount of breast milk each is receiving is steadily increasing.  Isaak is getting about 8ml every 3 hours and Penny gets 7ml.  Assuming they continue to tolerate their feeds well, they will get a slight bump in the amount every 24 hours.  If all goes well, they'll be on solely breast milk by the end of next week.  (No more IV nutrition!)
• Respiratory wise, Isaak is still the trouble maker.  He continues to have several apnea and bradycardia spells each day.  Most of the time he self-resolves or needs only mild stimulation to recover.  He has been taken off of the SiPAP and placed back on CPAP.  The nurses are trying to suction him more frequently since he seems to have more gunk in his nose and throat than his sister does.  Penelope has occasional "A's and B's" - as they say in medical parlance - but nearly all of hers are self-resolved.  Neil and I have tried to get her to talk with her brother about these things.  So far, though, she has refused to set him straight.
• Despite several attempts, there is still no PICC line for Penny.  They may have to do just a plain ol' IV for her.  Her UVC in her umbilical cord is still in and still working well, but it will need to be taken out soon.  After 10 or so days, the risk of infection outweighs the benefits it provides.
  
• One of the many things that preemies often experience is a bleed in the brain known as an intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH).  So last night both Penny and Isaak had a head ultrasound. Penny's showed a mild Grade 1, possibly Grade 2, IVH that was isolated to the right side of her brain.  Isaak had a Grade 1 IVH on both the left and right.  Short-term and long-term outcomes with Grade 1 or 2 are very good.  In fact, most doctors and nurse practitioners that we've spoken with say that there is nothing to be worried about.  To be on the safe side, a second head ultrasound will be done in about a week.  This is done just to monitor and track the size of the bleed.  (Who knows...full-term babies may also have mild IVH's, but they aren't screened for them.)
  
  Thank you all again for the many prayers said on our family's behalf.  We sincerely appreciate every one of them.

Isaak and his Not so Great but Not so Bad Day + Holding Penny

Today was a tough one for little Isaak. Last night they had discussed the possibility of switching him from bubble CPAP to SiPAP due to his recurring bradycardia and occasional apnea. This morning they made the switch. SiPAP differs from CPAP in that it actually provides "breaths" if they don't breathe themselves. If they are breathing OK, it acts like CPAP but if they need the assistance, it will pulse a set number of times per minute. CPAP simply provides constant pressure to keep their airways open and lungs inflated.

One positive: it appears that some of his issues might be caused by secretions. Twice, they suctioned out some pretty nasty stuff and he immediately began breathing and behaving better. We are well familiar with the impact of secretions thanks to our time with Ollie. We really hope that more frequent suctioning will help Isaak out. He had a fantastic late evening while we were visiting - let's hope it continues through the night.

In other news, Penny has been rock steady and I was even able to hold her this evening! Pictures will be forthcoming but let it suffice to say that it was incredible! She is just a little snuggle-bunny, so warm and soft. Feeling her little heart beat away in her chest is one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced.

Bekka's mom went home today. She was a big help during the week and we are so glad that she was able to meet her new grandchildren. We'll miss her.

Of Seven Days, Kangaroos, Poops, Pics and PICCs

Wow.

A week old. It is really hard to believe seven days have gone by since being woken up in the early morning by doctors talking about c-sections. It's been a crazy few weeks but we have two beautiful children fighting their way forward each and every day.

We are now moving into a critical time. Penny seems to be doing best, but this isn't uncommon as little girls are often at an advantage when born this early. Isaak is still experiencing quite a few bradycardia events but is keeping his O2 sats up. Both babies are pooping regularly; this is a huge step and means they are tolerating their food. The docs  hope to go up to 4ml per feeding on Sunday if all continues well. For reference, 13ml would be a full feed so they are getting there slowly but surely. Their best chance is for the doctors and nurses to follow the protocols gradually and carefully.

Isaak received a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter, or PICC, today. His umbilical venous catheter had shifted and they needed a way to continue feeding and medicating him. They prefer not to use regular IVs as they don't last long in the tiny little veins. The PICC can stay in place for months and offers higher volume flow and a lower risk of infection. The placement was not picture perfect, but will be OK for now. Penny will probably receive one of her own in the next couple of days as her UVC will need to come out soon. If feeds continue to increase, they may only need it for a week or two. Let's hope that's the case!

Grandma Karla was able to hold Penny yesterday while they did a bed change and Bekka was able to perform a little Kangaroo Care with her today. Dad hasn't gotten to hold either of them yet but hopefully that comes soon. It's pretty tough not having had that chance. If Isaak is doing well tomorrow, I'm hoping to hold him during his bed change.

More pics are up of all this so pop over to the gallery and check them out.

Quick Update on the Twins

Just wanted to let everyone know that everything is going fine. We finally have some pics of Penny (with her eyes closed, sadly). I'll get those up tomorrow in the evening. Between trying to get some sleep, going back to work and visiting the little ones, it's been a busy day. The last few weeks seem like such a blur and it's so hard to believe they will be 6 days old tomorrow morning.

The little guys are still experiencing periodic bradycardia and apnea episodes but these have continued to be short and almost completely self-correcting. Periodically the nurses do have to jiggle them or tickle them a bit to speed up recovery. The nurses tell us they'll likely experience these episodes right up until they go home but they will get better with time. So often in the last month, hurrying up and waiting seems to be on the agenda every day. Overall, they truly are doing well and have exhibited no other issues except for the elevated bilirubin levels. Both are under bili lights again, but are expected to be off tomorrow. Again, this will be a common occurrence.

In exciting and very positive news, their feeds get upped tomorrow to 2ml every 3 hours. This is double what they are getting now and is a great sign they are tolerating mommy's delicious homemade milk (really, you should see them smack their lips when they get a little in their cheeks). Stomach residuals have gotten a little better every day indicating that processing is occurring. Now we just need a couple of tiny poopie diapers to make the nurses, docs and proud parents happy.

Something I forgot to mention yesterday: They are both in the same cubicle now so we can visit them together! If all goes well, they will eventually wind up in the same crib, but this is so much nicer for us to not have to "choose" which baby to visit.

Remember, pics tomorrow with any luck!

Mommy's been Discharged and Other News

Today, they let Mommy out of the hospital. We will miss all of the wonderful doctors and nurses at WakeMed that have been taking care of Bekka but it will be nice to have her home and I know she is so looking forward to sleeping in her own bed for the first time in almost a month. It's so very bittersweet leaving our babies there.

The twins are doing great today. They both had a couple of short apnea episodes but recovered on their own. This is very expected - they told us they will get a little worse before they get better. Self correcting is a good sign in any case. Did you know they give them caffeine via IV to keep them stimulated and breathing? How many times have you heard someone joke about needing a coffee IV, and these little guys actually get it. I think there are some espresso junkies that would be very jealous!

New pics have been uploaded to the Picasa album. Enjoy.

No other big news to report today.

Penelope and Isaak - Day 4

We hope updates decrease in frequency pretty soon but I know we have an anxious audience refreshing their browsers like mad waiting for the next update. At this early stage in their little lives each day is a big deal and everyone wants to know what is going on - we understand.

As of now, things look pretty good. Both babies seem to be tolerating mommy's milk well and it's really cute when they're fed. You put just a drop in their mouths so they can taste it and you can see their little lips smacking on the yumminess. Next they get a 1ml bolus feed through their tube. This allows them to associate the taste and sensation of the breast milk with having a full belly.

For those mommy's out there, Bekka is producing 2-3oz of milk every 3-4 hours. This is fantastic given the preterm delivery - it takes a lot of effort to get milk volume ramped up that early. She's a champ! We now have our own basket in the ICN freezer so we can put plenty away to feed them as they begin to eat more.

Bilirubin counts are just about in the normal range today and there is a good chance they will remove the lights tomorrow. We'll be able to see their little eyeballs! The twins will be on and off the "bili lights" over the next few weeks, but coming off the first time is a good step. Weights are still looking good. Penny remains at 620g while Isaak has dropped a bit more to 690g. That is still a good number and he had a bit more to give up. They'll be upping fluids and calories to keep both of them no more than 15% below their birth weight. The goal is to get both babies back to that weight by two weeks of age. 

We happened to visit earlier this evening just as they were starting Isaak's evening assessment. The result is that we have a few great pictures of him, some with his eyes open and without CPAP! Mysteriously, I can't pull them off the SD card using the laptop so you'll have to wait and see those after I get back to house and get them down/uploaded. Penny was on her belly under the lights so no great pics of her. We hope we can get a good shot of her little face very soon.

During the assessment, Bekka was able to hold Isaak in two hands (inside the incubator) while they changed his bedding. That was a very sweet moment. When I get the pics up, it will give you a better idea of his size. We really hope to be able to do "Kangaroo Care" in few more days and really get to hold the little guys. That will be a special moment.

Bekka should be discharged tomorrow. She's recovering very well from her c-section. Today, she has managed to walked all the way down to the ICN several times, getting a little faster and more confident with each trip. Not only is she recovering from surgery, but also from being in bed for 3 weeks.

What an amazing wife I have.

The Twins - Day 3

Today has been pretty much the same story as yesterday. Bekka continues to recover well from her surgery. She actually sent me to sleep at home last night because as she reasons it "Someone needs get some rest and I'm in the hospital".  After spending 3 weeks in here myself, I really didn't argue too much. She is having good luck steadily increasing her milk supply - something that will be so important for the babies nutritionally and to help them build immune systems from scratch.

Both babies are continuing to do well. Their bilirubin counts are decreasing. The nurses tell us they will likely be under the lights most of this week and then off and on for a couple of weeks while their livers get up to speed. Their skin already looks remarkably less red and purple than it did on their birthday.

The 48hr blood cultures for both came back negative! That's very exciting and meant they were both able to come off the more powerful antibiotics. Penelope will be on ampicillin for a another day or two as a precaution against lung infections since she had the ruptured sac.

Isaak weighed in at 730g this evening, about 50g lighter than this birth weight and Penelope weighed in at 620 which was 30g less than birth. This is considered very reasonable as they are both under the lights and only today started receiving food in their stomachs.

As of now, they are getting about a milliliter of mommy's colostrum/milk every 3 hours.The report from the first couple of feedings is good, as each had minimal amounts left in their tummies. Hopefully this means they can process milk without a problem. At this development age, preemies digestive systems are not "primed" and ready to go like a full term newborn. They have to ramp up their intake through their stomach slowly.

We forgot to relate one really neat thing in earlier posts. Nowadays, the nurseries take advantage of the umbilical cord and actually place lines into both a vein and an artery. This allows them to give fluids and take blood samples and instantaneous blood pressure readings without having to poke the little guys repeatedly. This is less painful AND greatly decreases the infection risk. Typically they can use this connection for about a week and a half. How cool is that?

That's all to report for now. I'm sure we'll have more as the week progresses.

Penelope's and Isaak's Second Day

Today has been a pretty good day. We went back to see the babies around 12:30 (boy did we both need sleep after being up 24 hours - and Bekka had a little thing called a c-section during that time!).

Both babies are still doing very well. They are under sun lamps to take care of the elevated bilirubin levels. Most impressively, both babies have already had a BM! That's a great sign that the plumbing is working well. We also found out that since being on CPAP, Isaak has had only 1 (one) instance of apnea and Penny none! Apnea is very common with these babies as they aren't used to having to do so many things at one time and their autonomous nervous system doesn't quite do everything smoothly sometimes.

The nurses in the ICN have take 3 photos for us. They are scans of so-so prints, but at least you can see the little guys. Just a warning that they are very very "real". Remember that they aren't quite done baking! In one of the photos, Isaak really looks like a little ET doll. You will also notice that their skins are red. This is due to the last two layers not yet having developed. That should happen in the next couple of weeks and they'll have more normal skin tones.

So many things stand in their way; from infection (their little immune systems are barely there) to high risks of cerebral hemorrhage and an increased risk of cerebral palsy. That being said, they have gotten off to a running start in their very young lives. Thanks for following their story!

Babies are in the ICN and Bekka in Recovery

We are waiting for an update from the ICN (Intensive Care Nursery) staff but both looked pretty good when they took them back. Good heart rates and very wiggly. Both opened their eyes a crack when I talked to them. That was a tear inducing moment!

Bekka is doing well in recovery. They were able to do a modern c-section (across the belly) which is very good for her recovery.

More once I get to see the little guys...please continue praying!

Bekka back for c-section

More later. Little girl was just Too unstable.

Quick Update.....from Bekka!!

Howdy!  I finally managed to wrangle the laptop away from my devoted hubby.  (Love ya, Neil!)  So tonight's quick update will be from the incubator herself!    =)

I'm happy to report that there's not much to report.  The bleeding increased a little bit this morning but then subsided quickly.  Of course, with an increase in bleeding came an order not to eat or drink anything from the doctor.  Oh, how I hate the letters "NPO."  I was promptly hooked up to the fetal monitors which showed that both Isaak and Penny were doing just fine.  After an hour of monitoring the babies, the doctor looked at the print out and gave me permission to eat and drink again.  So today's breakfast was more of a brunch.  I'm not complaining, mind you, as I am thrilled I didn't have to stay NPO for very long.

The biggest excitement of the day was the arrival of a large-ish dorm fridge!  One of our friends had offered to bring a small fridge from her home.  (Thanks again for the offer, Leslie!)  When I asked the nurse if that would be alright, the nurse said that she'd have to check with engineering.  Later, she informed us that engineering said they had one they could bring to my room.  And it arrived early this afternoon.  Now I can hoard yogurt and milk with abandon!  Well, that and Neil can stock it with tasty beverages and pudding cups.

On the whole, I can't complain too much about bed rest.  (Or bed unrest, depending on the number of interruptions during the night.)  It's not the most exciting thing I've ever done, but I fully realize how important it is for Penny and Isaak.  I have four calendar pages taped to my wall - one for each month from April until July.  Every Tuesday is marked with a number to designate how many weeks along I am.  Tomorrow, by the way, is 25 weeks.  And every night we cross off the day we just finished.  It's a great visual reminder of the progress we're making.  Plus, I got to use my crayons to decorate each page.

I can't thank everyone enough for their thoughts, kind words, and prayers.  This has been a bumpy ride with plenty of scary moments.  But knowing how many people are rooting for us has helped make it that much easier. 

Quick Update for Friday 4-23-2010

Bekka is doing great. She had a little light bleeding today but nothing on the scale of events earlier in the week. In fact, it's already cleared up which is quite remarkable. The twins' heartbeats were fantastic today so they seem to be enjoying their extra baking time.


On an important note (especially if you are visiting or sending something):
 
We are now in a different room: 4B22 (B as in Boy)

This makes number six (though 2 of those were for only 15 minutes at a time when we first arrived here at big WakeMed). Still no fridge ala Cary, alas.

I'd also like to take a moment to profusely thank all those that have provided a little sanity in this madness. You mowed lawns, fetched clothes and pillows, brought food, cleaned house and dropped by to say Hi. Thanks so much! This is going to be a long slog, but it could have been even crazier without all the help.

We love you guys!

Everything is Quiet

The news is simply no news. Bekka did get a shower today and was very excited about that. They gave her five minutes and used a shower chair. I would imagine it feels pretty good after 2 weeks of intermittent sponge baths!

Baby heartbeats were good at last check. So for now you can rest the itchy refresh button fingers...

Much Better Night and (so far) Uneventful Day

Last night was a pretty good night. Bekka had an uneventful afternoon so the docs decided she could A) Have real food again and B) Get up to go to the bathroom. Apparently, that's a pretty big deal if you've been confined to bed for 2 weeks and Bekka is ecstatic.

Bleeding is at a very slow level. Still there, but very gradual. We hope it stays that way and isn't just biding it's time for another big event, because let me tell you that's a scary experience.

Since everything looked good last night, they have moved to 12 hour fetal monitoring. This means that the nurse does not have to come in and wake Bekka every 4 hours (and therefore myself). Bekka is probably her own best monitor by reporting any contractions or bleeding. She'll be right back on the monitors if something goes haywire, but for now, it's a much lower key existence. The result was more than 8 hours of sleep for both of us last night. We almost feel human again.

We've been very happy with the nurses and doctors at both hospitals. They're very engaged in what's going on and friendly to a fault. It's reassuring that good people with a real interest in the patients are involved. Even the food service person has taken a special interest in Bekka and making sure she gets something she likes.

That's it for now. We hope everything stays boring and I'm only writing these every couple of days. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers and comments on the blog. It means a lot.

Scary Night, OK Day

For now, things are OK in waiting for babies land. Bekka's bleeding stopped late this morning and hasn't reappeared yet. We don't know if she is still bleeding (the large clots suggest that she had built up some blood before it all just came gushing out). We hope not, because otherwise she's doing pretty well. Over the past few days the pattern has been for it to stop for about 18 to 24 hours and then resume. Let us hope that changes and she has smooth sailing for a while.

It was a long day as both of us had very little sleep and Bekka struggled with nausea and heartburn through much of it. This is largely due to being taken off all oral intake last night in anticipation of a possible cesarean. After they allowed her to eat a bit, she began feeling better. Overall, it was a very nervous touch and go day. In the early evening they switched her nurses from Labor and Delivery to Ante-partem. This indicates some semblance of improvement. Of course, as we know well, a 2:30am event like last night gets her switched right back to L&D

In the plus column, the babies seemed to do fine throughout the day with consistent heart rates and Bekka did not experience contractions. She was ecstatic when the doctor allowed her to go to the bathroom on her own (well, with nurse escort). She is still confined to bed, but as long as she is not contracting or bleeding, it looks like she'll be able to get up occasionally for potty breaks. When you have been in bed for almost two weeks, that's a big morale boost.