Monday, August 30, 2010

Ethan and David (Days 2 and 3)

Day 2 was a great day for the boys!  Ethan was taken off of the ventiltor and put on the CPAP because he was doing better.  Then later that day he came off of the CPAP because his lungs looked great and he was doing a good job breathing on his own.  They gave him a little oxygen through a nasal cannula to help him out a little bit.  David came off of the CPAP also that day!  The highlight of the day was holding them both for the very first time.  They were precious moments and they really responded to me talking to them.  David opened his eyes and looked at me when I held him for the first time.  In the morning I held David since he was doing so well, and then when we came back in the evening I was able to do "kangaroo care" with both of them.  They also started phototherapy that day because both babies' bilirubin levels were high.  Here are some photos from Day 2:
The first time we saw David open his eyes

Holding David for the first time!

Ethan under the bili-lites
David under the bili-lites
This sweet girl stopped by that evening to see her baby brothers!  She was so precious!  When she saw me holding David, she said "aww, baby", and reached out her hand toward him.  She was so interested in them!
Day 3 went really well also.  They were still under the lights, and I got to hold them both.  They were both so alert; opening their eyes and looking up at me!  It just melts my heart.  Both of them had nasal cannulas that day to help their breathing just a little bit.
David looking up at Mommy!
David


Ethan looking up at Mommy
Ethan
Ethan
"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done.  The things you have planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak of them, they would be to many to declare! Psalm 40:5


Sunday, August 29, 2010

Ethan and David are here! (Day 1)

Our boys were born last Monday, August 23rd at 6:06 and 6:11 am!  They made it to 30 weeks and 1 day.  I believe it is truly a miracle that they stayed inside me for 4 weeks after my water broke (we found out after delivery that both sacs were ruptured).  I'm going to try to recap the last week before I forget everything!  I think it will take me several days, though.

Last Saturday night the contractions I had been having for a couple of weeks got much stronger.  They still weren't frequent or regular, but they were definitely painful.  I also began bleeding a lot more.  The nurse checked me that night since all of this was happening.  It was the first time they had checked my cervix, because they did not want to risk introducing any infection.  I was only 1 cm dilated, so she gave me a shot of brethine to help stop the contractions.  They got better for a couple of hours, but then they were back.  So, I was awake just about all night.  Sunday morning Dr. Huggins, the doctor on call, came to check me and I was still just 1 cm.  He wanted me to take brethine and procardia for the contractions.  Contractions continued all day and that night they started coming closer together.  Jared stayed with me overnight since we didn't know what was going to happen.  By the time it was 2:00am it felt like the contractions were almost back to back.  The monitor was not picking up all the contractions, though because I was lying on my side.  I told the nurse that they were extremely painful and asked if I could have more brethine.  Since the monitor hadn't picked up all of them she wanted to wait and watch them for the next 30 min or so before calling the doctor.  Finally she checked me when it was almost 4am and I was 5-6 cm dilated.  She started an IV and said that they were getting a room ready downstairs in labor and delivery.  Once I got downstairs I asked for an epidural, but they told me I would have to wait until the doctor arrived to approve it.  A few minutes later a nurse checked me again, and I was 10 cm- fully dilated.  Really not what I had planned on!  They gave me an epidural right before I started pushing.  I could still feel a lot, but I think it was better than having nothing at all.  I was able to deliver vaginally because both babies were head down.  Ethan (baby A) came out first, followed by David about 5 minutes later.  David did a flip at the last minute, though, and came out feet first.  We heard both of the boys cry and they said that they were both breathing on their own!  I got a glance at them before they took them to the NICU.

A few hours later they wheeled me down to the NICU to see the babies.  Ethan was on a ventilator because he was having trouble breathing.  David was on CPAP.  He was doing better than Ethan, but still needed a little help breathing.  We didn't get to hold them the first day, but we could touch them and hold their hands.  We talked to them and it was amazing to see that they responded to my voice.  They didn't open their eyes, but you could tell they were moving their eyes around and they held on to our fingers.  Once we finally saw them we gave them their names:  Ethan Calvin Wunderlich (A), and David Alan Wunderlich (B).  The day before we pretty much narrowed it down to those two, but we wanted to see them to decide who would get which name.  I'll have to do another post on why we chose the names we did :)  Here are some pictures from that first day.
 
Ethan on the ventilator
Jared with David.  The babies are in isolettes, which helps to regulate their body temperatures.
Jared holding Ethan's tiny hand
Ethan's tiny foot!
David on the CPAP

Seeing Ethan for the first time!

Hopefully I will post more from this week tomorrow!  I'm still trying to recover and catch up on sleep.  I am waking up every few hours to pump breastmilk for the babies.  But just to let everyone know- both babies are doing great now!  They are both breathing without any help, and handling the feedings really well.  I really don't think it could be going much better!  We are hoping that they will be home in 3-5 weeks from now.  All glory and honor goes to God for his hand in all of this!  He has been there every step of the way and is protecting these boys and making them stronger each day!  We are so grateful for all that He has done!



Sunday, August 15, 2010

29 Weeks!

Today I am 29 weeks and still pregnant!  Yea!!!  It is such a relief to have made it one more week here.

It seems like things are starting to get better!  The fluid I have been leaking has been very bright red for the last 2 weeks.  My doctor told me that the bleeding probably meant that I was having some cervical changes.  In other words- dilating and getting ready for labor.  Plus it has been a LOT of fluid leaking out.  Well, over the last 3 days the fluid has turned from red to pink, and there has been significantly less leaking!  And the contractions have been much less frequent and less intense.  Amazing!  All glory and honor goes to God for that!  He has his hand in these babies' lives.  Thank you for all your prayers!  I know he is hearing and answering them!

Now for a bit of randomness.  I thought I would give you a peek at my hospital room!  Nothing very exciting, since it is a hospital room :)  But we had some sweet friends come visit about a week ago and decorate the room- with Dr. Seuss decorations, no less!  I decided  about a month ago to give the boys' nursery a fun, whimsical Dr. Seuss-inspired theme.  Nothing is done in the nursery, but I did get the bedding delivered right before I was admitted to the hospital.  Luckily I've been able to order everything else online from here.  Plus it really is not a big deal if the nursery is not done by the time they come home.  Anyways, our friends put some Dr. Seuss characters on the wall, and made a poster that has the babies' ultrasound picture and a sweet poem in the middle of it, with plenty of room for visitors to write little notes to us or the babies.  How thoughtful is that?!  They also put some characters on our room door (Thing 1 and Thing 2, of course!).  I added a calendar to the wall the other day so that I could put a big "X" through every day that the babies have stayed inside.  It is the highlight of my day!

My goofy husband is the one who wrote the huge "I love you", and then scribbled his name :)  I love him so much!
       

Friday, August 13, 2010

Day 19 and Learning from David

This is the the 19th day I've been at the hospital.  Sure it is boring, but I'm so glad to still be here with the babies doing well inside me.  At this point every day is such a big step in growth and development for the babies.  I realized that I needed to post an update on some of the changes that have happened over the last week.  Mainly for my own memory's sake.  So it may be kind of long and boring to anyone else reading it!

We got the report back from the ultrasound that was done last Friday.  The amniotic fluid for both babies was low- there was actually very little difference between the two fluid levels.  So that was very confusing for me to hear.  They couldn't tell for certain if both membranes had ruptured, but that is what it looks like.  Either way it doesn't change anything at this point.  I'm on bedrest, antibiotics, and have already had steroid shots, and that is about all that can be done at this point.  But, everything else looked good on the ultrasound!  The babies are growing- they were measuring 2 lbs 8 oz and 2 lbs 7 oz.  The blood flow all looked good too.  They are also still head down, which means I can probably attempt a vaginal delivery (as opposed to a c-section) if they stay that way.  At this point that is the least of my concerns, though!

I also started having real contractions last Friday.  They were very random and irregular, but my doctor put me on Procardia over the weekend to help my uterus relax and keep things from progressing.  When she came back on Monday she actually tried taking me off of it to see how I did.  I was still having contractions all weekend when I was on the medicine, so I'm not sure if it was really making much of a difference.  My doctor told me that if my body were to go into labor, there would be a point where they just would not be able to stop it.  No medicine would make a difference.  Once I stopped taking the procardia I didn't notice any change.  Except the side effects were gone!  It made my face so hot and flushed and gave me a bad headache every time I took it.

So here we are at day 19.   Two days away from 29 weeks!  We are rejoicing and praising God that we have made it this far.  I am still having some contractions and fluid/blood leak, but it has seemed to improve a little bit the last couple of days.  The next goal is 30 weeks.  According to the neonatologist we spoke to, babies born at 30 weeks have close to a 99.9% chance of survival.  They would still be in the NICU for a long time, but they supposedly have far fewer problems once they reach that point.  Come on 30 weeks!  Then we will work toward 34 weeks.  We are claiming and believing that "whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive".

I have been reading a Beth Moore book on the life of David: A Heart Like His.  I love that David was a man after God's own heart.  He was not perfect, but his heart was in the right place.  He truly loved God, and had such an intimate relationship with Him.  I thought it was interesting, though, to compare how David reacted when he fought Goliath and then when he was running from Saul.  When David faced Goliath, he did not rely on his own strength, but instead, he knew that his God was stronger and would help him defeat the giant.  However, when he was running from Saul, it seemed like David had forgotten to measure his obstacle against his God, and not against his own strength.  That has really spoken to me during this time.  It has helped to remind me that no problem is too big for God.  I certainly cannot handle it on my own, but nothing is impossible with God.  He works miracles and can overcome anything.  So we are not giving up.  I'm going to continue to ask God to work miracles and believe that he absolutely can do it, if he chooses to.

Please keep praying for the babies' protection, and that God would continue to give us strength, peace and patience during this time.  He has been the one that holds me up every moment.  Pray that the amniotic sacs would reseal (it would be a miracle at this point from what I'm told, but God is our Healer!), and that these babies would be healthy and perfectly formed from the top of their heads to the tips of their toes.  Pray that we make it to at least 34 weeks.  That would be amazing!  Thank you all so much.                   

Sunday, August 8, 2010

blessings

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things"  Philippians 4:8

I love this verse and we have been thinking a lot about it lately.  It would be easy to dwell on what has gone wrong recently, or what could happen in the future... but that is not what God wants us to do.  And honestly it wouldn't help anything anyways.  Not that I haven't been struggling with this.  There have been several days where it looks like things are getting worse and I am consumed by my worry.  So then I have to claim this verse:  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:6-7.  So very true.  What happens is out of my hands, so I shouldn't stress myself out more by worrying about it.  Like Jesus said:  "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:27.  It makes me feel so much better to know that I have a heavenly Father who I can give my worries to, and that He is in control of it all.

So instead of worrying, we are trying to focus on our blessings.  Jared thought it would be a good idea to write down some of the ways that God has blessed us lately.  And once we started that, we realized how incredibly blessed we are.  I know that this is only a small fraction of all of it too.  I am posting the list that Jared came up with so that it can be a reminder of the lovely, excellent and praiseworthy things in our life.

*A special note to all of my incredible friends that are reading this right now:  You are each a gift and blessing from God!  I have been so very overwhelmed by all of your sweet notes, messages, visits, gifts of food, flowers, books, entertaining Emma, and most importantly all of your faithful prayers for these babies.  You mean so much to our family, and have made this time much easier than it could have been!

Blessings


1. Monday night was slow at work, so I could quickly and easily leave work.
2. Amanda got to the hospital safely with Emma on Monday night.
3. Amanda passes her parents exit on the highway to the hospital and her parents actually got on the interstate right behind her for the entire ride to the hospital.
4. I was able to make it up to the hospital before Amanda and meet her at the front door or the emergency labor and deliver wing of the hospital.
5. The doctor on call for the night was the same one that delivered Emma.
6. There have been no contractions for the first 11 daysof being at the hospital.
7. No infections that could harm the babies
8. Baby A still has some amniotic fluid to stay in.
9. Baby B’s water did not break
10. My partner at the hospital cover my shifts for the first 2 days, so that I could be with Amanda.
11. My partner at the hospital has offered additional help covering my shifts as events take place with the twins.
12. My schedule gives me a lot of time to spend with Amanda.
13. I have been able to see Amanda everyday before work and after work for a few hours.
14. Amanda’s parents have been watching Emma and Daisy dog for the entire week.
15. Emma has been sleeping well and being good for Amanda’s parents.
16. Amanda’s parents have been able to bring Emma to the hospital everyday and that she can see her mommy.
17. We went to the beach without Emma for 2 nights. We got back from the beach 2 days before Amanda’s water broke. This would be a very difficult situation if this had happened in Florida.
18. We have a webcam set up now so Amanda can see and say good night to Emma as much as she wants.
19. Day 12 and the babies are still in the womb growing and have great blood flow!
20. Friends and family have brought food, books, etc. to the hospital and visiting with Amanda.
21. All of our Christian friends and family are praying like crazy for the twins' safety.

 

Thursday, August 5, 2010

uterine irritability

Just a quick update tonight- I'm hoping to get more sleep tonight since they wake me up frequently to give meds or take vital signs.  Yesterday and today have been a little more complicated.  I caught a cold from Emma, which usually would not be a big deal, but this uncontrollable, forceful coughing has made the leaking worse.  Yesterday I noticed a big increase in the flow of amniotic fluid and it got really red.  Scary...  Then today I started having cramps in my lower back and abdomen- very similar to menstrual cramps.  They would get worse every few minutes.  Every time they monitored my contractions they would say that I was having some uterine irritability.  Which basically means I was experiencing very mild, irregular contractions.  The nurse gave me a shot of brethine and the cramping went away.  My doctor thinks that my cervix is probably dilating some since I'm seeing blood in the amniotic fluid, but we don't know how much, or for sure because she doesn't want to risk introducing any infection by checking my cervix.  Thankfully an OB doctor specializing in high-risk pregnancies is coming tomorrow to do an ultrasound on both babies.  I am praying that we receive good news and that Baby A still has some fluid in there.  I just really want to know what is going on in there now.  They do monitor the heartbeats several times a day and they always look good.

One of my very favorite Psalms in Psalm 91.  These are a few verses from it that I love and that give me comfort.  I think that it is such a beautiful picture of God protecting us when we run to him, like a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wing.  He is my safe resting place, and I know there is no one or thing stronger or bigger than Him.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and fortress, my God, in whom I trust'." (vs 1-2)

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge" (vs 4)

"If you make the Most High your dwelling-even the LORD, who is my refuge-then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone" (vs9-12)

"'Because he loves me', says the LORD, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver and honor him'."