They are here!

I've been meaning to update for a while, but as you can imagine things have been a little crazy! I will try and get caught up- for now I will start with the arrival of our precious twins! At our appointment Friday morning to discuss possible delivery we were informed that my labs were bad and I would need to deliver that afternoon. I had severe pre eclampsia and HELLP syndrome- we just didn't know since I was on procardia and really wasn't having any other symptoms. So we were sent immediately to labor and delivery and set up with a 2pm c section time. The treatment of pre eclampsia is an IV medication called magnesium sulfate, so they had to start this ASAP to prevent seizures and progression of the pre eclampsia.  Unfortunately the side effects are weakness, blurry vision, flushing, and nausea/vomiting.  Thankfully my good friends who planned on coming to my delivery were free that day and came in.  I am so thankful for them and it really put me at ease to know even though the babies would have to go up to NICU to be observed since they were less than 36 weeks, they would be well taken cared for.  So 2pm came around and I was still feeling ok.  The OR was full of friends/coworkers.  Before I knew it I heard they had cut and they were working on getting a baby out.  We weren't sure who would  come out first.  The first thing I heard was someone say how big the baby was, followed by a sweet little cry that I will never forget.  It was little Kinsley Alisa at 2:28pm who weighed in at 5lb 9oz.  Next was an even bigger surprise and more comments of a big baby when Landon Joseph come out at 6lb 12.9oz at 2:29pm.  I will never forget hearing them cry and feeling so thankful that they were ok.  I sent Joe over to see them while my friends worked on them and got them ready to take upstairs.  Its around this point that things start getting fuzzy, thanks to the magnesium sulfate.  I remember pieces of things, but really have had to be filled in by people.  I remember sending Joe upstairs to be with the babies, and I remember them being brought down and just feeling so incredibly happy that they sent them down early.  They had their first baths in the room and Joe took pictures.  I apparently nursed each of them, although I don't remember that at all.  It was soon after that the nausea/vomiting set it, and that pretty much continued for the next 24 hours, until they turned the magnesium off.  I apparently fed them all night, and Joe took care of everything else.  He wasn't able to leave me alone at all with the babies since I was unable to get out of bed to get to them if something happened.  He did an amazing job watching out for all three of us.  By the next morning I could barely open my eyes and when I did I felt crossed eyed.  At 2pm on Saturday the magnesium was turned off and within an hour I was a new person.  I felt like I was seeing the babies for the first time.  It makes me sad to feel like I missed out on "firsts", but I'm so lucky to have Joe and all my incredible friends who looked out for us.  That night I had my catheter taken out and got out of bed for the first time.  It was still until the next day I was able to eat anything but every hour I felt a little better and more like myself.  The babies did awesome in the hospital and the only problem they had was getting a little chilly.  The pediatrician was amazed he was coming to see them in our room and not up in the NICU on Saturday afternoon.  By Monday afternoon my labs had improved enough we were able to go home! What a crazy 3 days it was!  Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!  Hard to believe we took two healthy babies home with us!

Updates!

Ok, sorry for the delay.  I pushed back our appointment a day so that Joe could come.  He ended up having a meeting yesterday afternoon that he couldn't miss.  First off, I let the Dr know I wasn't ready for the cerclage to come out this week, and would like to make it to 36 weeks if possible.  She said that she would be ok with her partner removing it next week if we got to that point.  However, we are now looking at a possible delivery date of Friday.  The last few days I've been having extremely bad itching on my feet and hands/arms, so bad I've been using scissors or anything else I can get my hands on to itch, or have even tried icing it when it got bad enough, and this has mostly been at night.  Apprently this is the primary sign of cholestatis of pregnancy.  This typically happens in the last trimester of pregnancy and is caused from increased pregnancy hormones.  The hormones stop or slow down the movement of bile through the liver.  This causes a buildup of bile acids that then spill into the bloodstream, causing the itching.  It also places stress on the babies and is a reason to deliver.  A risk factor is carrying multiples. Another symptom is dark urine, which I have also noticed the last few days, regardless of how much I have drank.  In addition, they found a lot of protein in my urine, which is abnormal, and could possibly be pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure).  Although my blood pressure has been ok, the procardia that I'm taking every 4 hours lowers blood pressure and can mask pre eclampsia.  Which would be another reason to deliver the babies. 

So, I had some liver enzyme labs drawn.  Unfortunately the lab to draw for levels of bile salts takes a while to get back, but she drew one anyhow.  She is also having me do a 24 hour urine collection.  She also started me on some medication, that if it is cholestatis, it should quickly help with the itching.  If there is a huge improvement in the next day it will prove that's what it is.  We have an appointment with her Friday morning.  She seems confident that the best decision will be to deliver the babies on Friday, so much so that she told me not to do my heparin shot that morning, but it was ok to go ahead and eat breakfast before coming in.  She is on call for 24 hours so she will be able to be there.  If it is decided we need to deliver Friday she said she could remove the cerclage and start me on pitocin if I wanted, although in this situation I am leaning towards just having a c section. 

I am excited and anxious and have a hundred thoughts running through my mind.  I am bummed this means they may spend a few hours in nicu for observation (unless we can manage a way out of that) or longer if they are having problems, but generally 35 weekers do well.  Hopefully after 13 weeks of contractions they come out ready to go! :) 

We will of course try and keep everyone updated.