January 30th, 2008 (27.4 weeks): Ultrasound and office visit with PPA
Well, I'm now in my third trimester with the quads. It's amazing to think we are here now!
My perinatologist appointment went well. All of the girls look great, with heart tones and amniotic fluid levels. We got one profile shot, of Baby B. Otherwise, it's all spines, abdomens, lots of heads ;) , feet, legs, arms, hands and tushes. I've been seeing the same sonographer for a while (she's assigned to me) and she always says "your kids drive me crazy! It takes me forever to tell who is who." Ha! She does a great job in figuring them out. Hopefully, she can help us figure them out when they are born ;)
My body is still going strong - Praise God!! My blood pressure was good, at 124/60. A physically check shows my cervix is not budging - Yay! It is short now but that's all that has changed. The doc said "you are doing an amazing job...not being in the hospital or on meds! you keep up doing whatever it is that you are doing." Me? Doing something? I think it's God doing everything!
I did have an increase of protein in my urine sample, which could indicate pre-eclampsia (oh no!!). Although, my blood pressure is great, no crazy weight gain from last week, no bloating or puffyness and I'm not seeing spots or anything. But just to be safe, the doc said to undergo a 24-hour test that should give them a better indication of things. She's hoping the little bit of protein was just a fluke. I pray it was too!!
February 5th, 2008 (28.3 weeks): Well, my days at home are over :( Some lab work of mine came back a little high for pre-eclampsia. Blech!! With that my docs said "get admitted to the hospital now." That's where I'll be for the remainder of this pregnancy until delivery.
My blood pressure has gone up a bit now too, around 142/60. Not too high, thanks to God, but still above the 140+ / or 90+ limits. No vision or headache problems, so that is good.
I had an ultrasound here in the hospital and the girls are still doing wonderful, thanks to God. They weighed between 2lbs 8oz and 2lbs 13oz, or 10lbs 9oz total. Last time their combined weight was 8lbs 10oz. So they’ve gained a combined 2lbs in the last three weeks!
My docs are watching me like a hawk, making sure they are keeping up with the pre-e. It's good to know that they are the best docs to be taking care of me and the girls. Ideally, we hope I can make it until 34 weeks, or mid-March, for delivery. But things can change and I trust God and his plan for us.
Please pray for us all - me and my health, the babies and their health, Paul and Jared!!
February 10th, 2008 (29.1 weeks): Last night was my fifth night here in the hospital. Unfortunately, the nurses and docs were not happy with my uterine contraction and irritability count. So, I got a shot of Terbutaline and some oral Motrin. Blech! Terb stinks!! This is now the third time I've had it and I'd rather not. It did quiet my uterus down but it leaves me feeling so anxious, shakey and with a racing heart beat. Yuck!
The other bad news is I am now considered a "severe pre-eclamptic" patient. I underwent another 24-hour urine test. My last test, a week ago, had results of 695mg of protein in my urine. Not too bad. This second test revealed levels of 5000+mg (or 5g+) of protein in my urine. Not good at all! So, at 3AM they put me on an IV pump of Magnesium Sulfate. They said "you might feel like crud - like on fire, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, etc." I was SO not looking forward to this! But I prayed and prayed and God gave my body the strength to endure it. I had to get a bolice dose, or "heavy dose," first and now I am on a consistent low dose. They say the Mag will help me not become eclamptic and have seizures, which is what pre-eclampsia can turn in to. The Mag helps calm the nervous system.
So now with this severe pre-e, we wait and see what the docs want to do. Wonder how long we can go with me on Mag until delivery?? I'm praying everything goes well and that my body and the babies will be able to endure this! Praying for God's strength in this!!
February 12th, 2008 (29.3 weeks):
Well, it's been one week in the hospital. So far, things have gone well.
Yes, there have been some sleepless nights (thanks to the continuous
contraction monitoring, the Terb, the unexpected news of severe preeclampsia
and having to put a Mag IV in at 4AM) but the nurses and PPA docs here are
taking great care of me. And thanks to the Lord and answers to prayers, I am
doing much better adjusting to being in the hospital. The Lord is my
strength and my refuge!
My docs check me daily. I have daily blood work, to check on my liver,
kidneys, platelets, etc. I have daily ultrasounds, to check on the babies'
heart tones. I have 2x/week biophysical ultrasounds on the babies. So for
now, we take it day by day. Yesterday, my labs came back great so that was
good. But I'm sure once something changes my docs will say "okay, time to
schedule your c-section for delivery." We've heard delivery could be "this
week," "in the next couple of days," etc. So we see what each day the Lord
brings.
We'll try to keep everyone posted on what's happening here!
February 15th, 2008 (29.6 weeks):
Tonight is my 10th night staying here in the hospital. So far, so good. My
daily blood work keeps coming back normal so that has been good. We've been
able to gain several days for the babies with everything looking normal. I
still have hyperreflexia and my blood pressure has been okay, sometimes in
the 130s/70 and others where it's 140s or 150s/70. I'm still on Magnesium
Sulfate, e.g. a low dose (2g/hr) for preeclamptic moms, and still no adverse
side effects from the drug. Yay! Still no visual spots or blurriness. No
severe headaches. No epigastric, or liver, pain. No pre-term labor. So
again, so far, so good!
The babies are still doing well, kicking and playing around with each other.
Ha! It's fun to see them on the ultrasounds. Although, I can't lie down on
my back for the ultrasounds for very long. My poor body is now carrying
~70lbs of pregnancy weight. Uff! Just getting up or rolling around in the
hospital bed hurts. Thank goodness the nurses were kind enough to generously
pad my bed and install a trapeze overhead. The trapeze helps me use my
arms/hands to pull myself up and out of bed. Otherwise, I'd probably roll
off the bed and right onto the floor. Oooo, that would hurt ;)
My PPA docs say their target for me is to make it to 32 weeks, or around
3/5/08. I don't know why they wouldn't let me go past that, even if the
daily bloodwork/etc. looks good. It's probably just because of the extreme
amounts of protein and the severity of the preeclampsia. And who knows, we
might not make it to 32 weeks anyways. Something could pop up tomorrow or
the next and we'd have to deliver that day. In any case, we just take it one
day at a time and I say to myself "well, we got an extra day for the babies
today."
That's today's update. We will try to continue to keep everyone up to date
with the latest :)
My PUPPP itchiness is still here, even though I've taken oral steroids and topical creams. It's all over my body now too; not just limited to my belly. Oh well. I just pray that God gives me the self-control to not itch myself to death.
The other thing I have developed is an ear infection. What? Aren't little ones the only ones who get these? So, I am on antibiotics for that. I think I also developed a sore throat with the ear infection.
And poor Paul and Jared aren't feeling well either. Jared has a runny nose and Paul has a cold and a toe infection. Man oh man! I haven't seen them lately because they're sick.
Please continue to pray for us, especially with the recent health issues/colds/bugs that have popped up. Continue to pray for God's endurance and strength on me as we wait to see when these ladies will be born. Pray for rest for Paul and Jared.
A lovely view of my bed and trapeze
Some flowers from friends...how sweet of them!
Cards and Jared preschool craft projects
The view from my window, of downtown Phoenix
Me at 30w2d. My friend, Karen, said "your tummy just doesn't look
real." Yup, it's real alright. I can tell you that ;)
An overview of the purple quilt
A closeup of one of the purple patches
Another patch, on the yellow quilt
A patch on the green quilt
And yet another patch on the pink quilt. These are too cute!
Then we received preemie hats for the girls. We're going to try to "color code" each girl, e.g. one wears the pink hat, another the sage, etc., etc. The hats seem so tiny. It's funny, first we have a big baby boy (10lbs 10 days early) and now we have four preemie girls (probably <4 or 5lbs and several weeks early).
- Brielle Grace - Brielle = "God is my might or strength," Grace = "God's grace on us"
- Suzan Faith - Suzan = Hebrew for "lily," Faith = "Our faith in God" and "Paul's mom's middle name"
- Bethany Hope - Bethany = "House of figs" and "is the village in the Bible where Lazarus (risen from the dead by Jesus) and his sisters, Mary and Martha, lived (John 11:1 and 12:1)," Hope = "our hope in Jesus"
- Anna Joy - Anna = "Grace and favor" and "was also an aged prophetess who recognizes the infant Jesus upon his first visit to the Temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2:36)," Joy = "the joy we find in Jesus"
Baby A (identical,
on the right side) - 3 lbs 8oz
Baby B (other identical, on the right side) - 3lbs 11oz
Baby C (fraternal, squished at the bottom) - 4lbs 3oz
Baby D (other fraternal, on the very top, off to the left side) - 4lbs 1 oz
I'm not too confident in these measurements because I know the ultrasound
tech had the hardest time getting a good view of the heads, abdomens and
femurs. Now why would she have trouble seeing everyone? Ha! :P I know she
didn't get a measurement on Baby C's head, Baby B was lying weird so the
head might be off and then Baby D's femur was hiding on the tech. Plus, the
identicals have consistently been measuring the biggest. So how can they
all of a sudden be measuring the smallest? In any case, even if they are
all close to 4lbs then that's a LOT of babies!
Someone asked me when I'd have another growth ultrasound. Well, they only
do them every 3 weeks. So unless God can miraculously keep my body steady
for 3 more weeks then that means the next weight measurements will be on the
NICU scales :)
The end is nearing, I know it. I figure delivery will be in the next week
or two. So those of you that voted for a February delivery, sorry. Not
going to happen :) I'm guessing we'll have all, five, March babies.
And talking to Dr. Elliot today, he said PPA is actually shooting for a delivery goal of 34 weeks. Ufff! 32 is great but it's more of a milestone. At 32 weeks the blood vessels in the babies (I think in their brains) develop the muscle sheathing they need. Otherwise, babies could be at risk for brain bleeding due to not having this sheathing developed.
So, I pray and pray and pray that God will continue to give me His strength in carrying these babies. I've now gained my 80lb goal (ufff!) and with that my joints, feet, legs and muscles are so sore. I can barely walk around my room. My preeclampsia is also on the rise, although a very slow rise. I think some of my weight gain the last few days is water retention, which is a symptom of preeclampsia. And with water retention comes edema, or for me pitted edema in my calves and ankles. So again with all of these limitations, I pray that God would continue to help my body and help give me patience in all this. I still know that all of this, all that I can endure, is better for the girls. They'd like to spend more time with Mom versus the NICU incubators :)
So, that's where I'm at. Now, we wait and see...how the preeclampsia progresses, how it affects my body and how it affects the babies. I did see the girls today, for my daily heart tone ultrasound, and they were quite wiggly, just like Big Brother - ha! It's good to see they are doing well.
We'll keep everyone posted!