Tales from 30 Weeks Pregnant
30 weeks.....I'm in the home stretch now....now the babies just have to stay in their safety nets until they put on more fat....nothing bad can happen now that I've reached 30 weeks right? We're all in the clear!
Well, that might have been my take on things if my baby had not died at 26 1/2 weeks. I would not think about stories that I've heard from others who have shared loosing a baby at 33 weeks, 35 weeks and even 38 weeks. But when I think about those stories, I have to remind myself that the reason behind Violet's death was a chromosome problem that neither of these babies have. I have to remind myself that while I had a baby die late in pregnancy, I also had a very healthy and normal pregnancy with Georgia. I have to remind myself that my OB is watching me very closely. She is doing her best to make sure that I leave the hospital with two babies instead of empty arms and a broken heart. Usually, I do a great job at reminding myself and I don't let things bother me too much, because if I did let them bother me, I would go crazy with worry.
Today, I was tested a bit. Things are fine, but in the midst of it all I was a little scared. Today I went for my 30 week ultrasound, non stress test and OB appointment. I also had to do a 3 hour fasting glucose test since I didn't pass the one hour glucose test from two weeks ago. And now, here is the my story.....
I showed up for my appointment right on time and after checking in headed back to the lab. I had to be fasting for this test so I made sure to I had nothing but water before I left the house. I had to get a blood draw first, then drink that terrible syrup stuff again. YUCK! After that I went back for my ultrasound, but I had to be back at the lab in 1 hour to have my labs drawn again......yes I was going to have my blood drawn 3 more times that day for a grand total of 4! Yea!
My ultrasound started off as normal. Vicki (her name is always easy for me to remember since my mom-in-law is a Vicki as well) showed me both babies and their beating hearts, as normal. We started off with Baby A. She is still in the head down position-good work Baby A. She is still the shy one with her head turned toward my back. Baby A is now up to 3lbs 3oz! Way to go, putting on some fat. Baby A's heartbeat was normal...I can't remember what it was exactly but it was a little bit lower than it usually is, but still in the normal range. I'm sure that both babies were a little out of sorts since I was fasting.
Onto Baby B. Baby B is a little stinker. She has flipped back into a breech position. But other than that, she is also doing just fine. Baby B is weighing in at 3lbs 5oz and her heartbeat was about the same as Baby A's.
She checked on my cervix and it was good. I was at 4.3cm, which is above average still. Vicki made sure to let me know that this is rare with twins. As Nolan says, things are sealed up tighter than Ft Knox in there. Oh the humor! Glad there is a comedian in the house!
Vicki also checked the blood flow in an artery of the umbilical cord. That was normal on both babies. She watches their movement, again that was normal. Another thing that she was looking for was if they were doing breathing exercises. Did you know that babies breathe in the womb? Well, it's not really breathing, but they inhale the amniotic fluid and this helps prepare their lungs for life outside the womb. They normally should do this every 30 minutes or so and they have to do this exercise for 30 seconds consecutively. Well neither baby did it. Vicki kept going back and forth between Baby A and Baby B because she didn't want to miss something. She would start to see some of the movements she was looking for, but it wouldn't last for 30 seconds. Sometimes it was just the movement of their chest going up and down, like we do when we breathe and other times she would see them hiccup (I guess hiccups count as breathing exercises). Vicki gave them the 30 minute time limit and nothing. So they failed that part of their screening. Vicki was reassuring me that sometimes this happens, while it's a little rare that both babies failed this part. I was fine with that, I was given no real reason to be concerned.
I was out of my ultrasound just in time to get my second blood draw done. And boy, was I feeling sick by this time. I was shaky and felt like I was going to lose my lunch at any moment, not that I had any lunch to lose though. I just kept telling myself to hold it together, that in just a few hours I would be able to eat something and would be feeling better. The lab tech told me that the first hour after drinking the syrup is the worst and that I should start to feel a bit better. She got me some cold water after my blood draw. She sat me in a waiting area close to where I would be having my non stress test done.....that was nice because there was no one else in that waiting area. I didn't have to deal with feeling like I was going to get sick and being around other people. The lab tech even offered me a bed to rest until it was time for my non stress test. She was very sweet.
A while later I was put in a room with a recliner and a TV to do my non stress test. Of course, Baby A was just fine. She didn't move around too much so her heartbeat was pretty consistent. Baby B was kicking and rolling around so her heartbeat was a little difficult to find in the first place. Beatrice, the medical assistant performing the test, was looking for Baby B way over on my right side. I told her that I think that she is more in the middle, but she really didn't listen to me and I figured that she did this a gazillon times a day so what the heck did I know, right? Anyway, Baby B's heart rate was all over the place. After 45 minutes of being hooked up to the machine, Beatrice took the reading to the nurser practitioner that I was seeing (Dr Voelkel is on vacation this week....I bet she went somewhere amazing). Oh and the lab tech came and found me and took my blood again....three down, one more to go.
When Beatrice came back into the room she was in a bit of a rush and said that the NP (nurse practitioner) wanted to see me right away and was sending me over to the hospital for further testing since neither baby passed either of their screenings this morning. WHAT? No one told me that they didn't pass their ultrasound screening! I told her that it was just the breathing exercises that she did not see. Beatrice told me that even if they miss one that means they don't pass and since the NST didn't go well they were sending me to the hospital. I was trying to keep my composure during all of this.
So as I was whisked away to an exam room, I started to get very anxious. I started to think about the babies being in distress. I started to think about what it would be like to deliver them today. The two people that I wanted with me at that moment to reassure me were Nolan and my OB, but neither were there. At least Nolan was a text message away. He said he was coming right over. My OB did not come back from her vacation to take care of me, so I was stuck with the NP that I don't have a ton of confidence in....the last time I saw her she didn't even know that I was having twins. Seriously lady, read up on your patients before you see them.
After waiting in the exam room, the NP came in and went over the results of both tests. She said that the reason she was so quick to send me to the hospital was because the on call OB taking care of Dr Voelkel's patients was doing a delivery at the time. She said that he was back and she would show the results to him and let him make the decision. So, here I was freaking out because Beatrice made me feel like it was some sort of emergency when it was just that the NP wanted to make sure that she wasn't missing anything. The NP told me that Vicki stated on her report from the ultrasound that she did see both babies doing breathing exercises, but just not for 30 seconds. I also let the NP know that Beatrice was trying to put the heart monitor for Baby B clear over on my right side. The NP gave me a real funny look and asked why she was trying to put the monitor there? Like I know! But talking with her made me feel a lot better and not so nervous about what was going on.
The NP left the room to check with Dr Wagner (the on call OB) about sending me to the hospital. He still wanted to send me over just to get check out. So off I went with a nurse to labor and delivery. I sent a text to Nolan telling him where I would be so he wouldn't have to search all over the hospital or go to my OB's office looking for me. I was checked in and put into a triage room. My nurse was super nice and she was able to find both babies heartbeats fairly quickly. And no Baby B's heartbeat was not found on my right side, it was pretty much on top of my belly where I told her she was laying!!!! Both heartbeats were a little low, but that was probably because it was after noon and I still had not had any food in my system. While she was getting all of this set up Nolan came and found me. He said that I sure know how to scare a guy by telling him I was at labor and delivery. Well.....I guess I wasn't thinking when I told him that. Sorry for scaring you babe!
Soon, Dr Wagner came in to check on me. He asked what went on that morning, so I gave him the run down. He said that both babies looked good for now and he was impressed with their weight (good job girls). He said that he wanted to monitor them a little while longer and hopefully I would be going home soon. The nurse gave me some apple juice to hopefully bring the babies heart rates up a little bit. I drank it, it did bring their heart rates up, but it also made my bladder full!
Both babies were moving around a bit, but had good heartbeats most of the time. After two hours of laying on my back (when your 30 weeks pregnant with twins, laying on your back is NEVER comfortable), I asked the nurse how much longer it would be. She called Dr Wagner for me and told him was the results were of the non stress test. He said that things looked good and sent me home. YEA! I asked if I needed to be watching out for anything and the nurse said no, just to monitor my kick counts. She said that they should be kicking about 10 times every two hours.....no problem there. I think they kick 10 times per minute sometimes!
So as we left the hospital at 2:30 (yes I had been there for 6 hours) we were both relieved that things looked good and very hungry! But we were mostly glad that our babies are healthy and they are not going anywhere anytime soon! We still need a few more weeks here at the Fletcher Lichti House to prepare for these little ones!
Well, that might have been my take on things if my baby had not died at 26 1/2 weeks. I would not think about stories that I've heard from others who have shared loosing a baby at 33 weeks, 35 weeks and even 38 weeks. But when I think about those stories, I have to remind myself that the reason behind Violet's death was a chromosome problem that neither of these babies have. I have to remind myself that while I had a baby die late in pregnancy, I also had a very healthy and normal pregnancy with Georgia. I have to remind myself that my OB is watching me very closely. She is doing her best to make sure that I leave the hospital with two babies instead of empty arms and a broken heart. Usually, I do a great job at reminding myself and I don't let things bother me too much, because if I did let them bother me, I would go crazy with worry.
Today, I was tested a bit. Things are fine, but in the midst of it all I was a little scared. Today I went for my 30 week ultrasound, non stress test and OB appointment. I also had to do a 3 hour fasting glucose test since I didn't pass the one hour glucose test from two weeks ago. And now, here is the my story.....
I showed up for my appointment right on time and after checking in headed back to the lab. I had to be fasting for this test so I made sure to I had nothing but water before I left the house. I had to get a blood draw first, then drink that terrible syrup stuff again. YUCK! After that I went back for my ultrasound, but I had to be back at the lab in 1 hour to have my labs drawn again......yes I was going to have my blood drawn 3 more times that day for a grand total of 4! Yea!
My ultrasound started off as normal. Vicki (her name is always easy for me to remember since my mom-in-law is a Vicki as well) showed me both babies and their beating hearts, as normal. We started off with Baby A. She is still in the head down position-good work Baby A. She is still the shy one with her head turned toward my back. Baby A is now up to 3lbs 3oz! Way to go, putting on some fat. Baby A's heartbeat was normal...I can't remember what it was exactly but it was a little bit lower than it usually is, but still in the normal range. I'm sure that both babies were a little out of sorts since I was fasting.
Onto Baby B. Baby B is a little stinker. She has flipped back into a breech position. But other than that, she is also doing just fine. Baby B is weighing in at 3lbs 5oz and her heartbeat was about the same as Baby A's.
She checked on my cervix and it was good. I was at 4.3cm, which is above average still. Vicki made sure to let me know that this is rare with twins. As Nolan says, things are sealed up tighter than Ft Knox in there. Oh the humor! Glad there is a comedian in the house!
Vicki also checked the blood flow in an artery of the umbilical cord. That was normal on both babies. She watches their movement, again that was normal. Another thing that she was looking for was if they were doing breathing exercises. Did you know that babies breathe in the womb? Well, it's not really breathing, but they inhale the amniotic fluid and this helps prepare their lungs for life outside the womb. They normally should do this every 30 minutes or so and they have to do this exercise for 30 seconds consecutively. Well neither baby did it. Vicki kept going back and forth between Baby A and Baby B because she didn't want to miss something. She would start to see some of the movements she was looking for, but it wouldn't last for 30 seconds. Sometimes it was just the movement of their chest going up and down, like we do when we breathe and other times she would see them hiccup (I guess hiccups count as breathing exercises). Vicki gave them the 30 minute time limit and nothing. So they failed that part of their screening. Vicki was reassuring me that sometimes this happens, while it's a little rare that both babies failed this part. I was fine with that, I was given no real reason to be concerned.
I was out of my ultrasound just in time to get my second blood draw done. And boy, was I feeling sick by this time. I was shaky and felt like I was going to lose my lunch at any moment, not that I had any lunch to lose though. I just kept telling myself to hold it together, that in just a few hours I would be able to eat something and would be feeling better. The lab tech told me that the first hour after drinking the syrup is the worst and that I should start to feel a bit better. She got me some cold water after my blood draw. She sat me in a waiting area close to where I would be having my non stress test done.....that was nice because there was no one else in that waiting area. I didn't have to deal with feeling like I was going to get sick and being around other people. The lab tech even offered me a bed to rest until it was time for my non stress test. She was very sweet.
A while later I was put in a room with a recliner and a TV to do my non stress test. Of course, Baby A was just fine. She didn't move around too much so her heartbeat was pretty consistent. Baby B was kicking and rolling around so her heartbeat was a little difficult to find in the first place. Beatrice, the medical assistant performing the test, was looking for Baby B way over on my right side. I told her that I think that she is more in the middle, but she really didn't listen to me and I figured that she did this a gazillon times a day so what the heck did I know, right? Anyway, Baby B's heart rate was all over the place. After 45 minutes of being hooked up to the machine, Beatrice took the reading to the nurser practitioner that I was seeing (Dr Voelkel is on vacation this week....I bet she went somewhere amazing). Oh and the lab tech came and found me and took my blood again....three down, one more to go.
When Beatrice came back into the room she was in a bit of a rush and said that the NP (nurse practitioner) wanted to see me right away and was sending me over to the hospital for further testing since neither baby passed either of their screenings this morning. WHAT? No one told me that they didn't pass their ultrasound screening! I told her that it was just the breathing exercises that she did not see. Beatrice told me that even if they miss one that means they don't pass and since the NST didn't go well they were sending me to the hospital. I was trying to keep my composure during all of this.
So as I was whisked away to an exam room, I started to get very anxious. I started to think about the babies being in distress. I started to think about what it would be like to deliver them today. The two people that I wanted with me at that moment to reassure me were Nolan and my OB, but neither were there. At least Nolan was a text message away. He said he was coming right over. My OB did not come back from her vacation to take care of me, so I was stuck with the NP that I don't have a ton of confidence in....the last time I saw her she didn't even know that I was having twins. Seriously lady, read up on your patients before you see them.
After waiting in the exam room, the NP came in and went over the results of both tests. She said that the reason she was so quick to send me to the hospital was because the on call OB taking care of Dr Voelkel's patients was doing a delivery at the time. She said that he was back and she would show the results to him and let him make the decision. So, here I was freaking out because Beatrice made me feel like it was some sort of emergency when it was just that the NP wanted to make sure that she wasn't missing anything. The NP told me that Vicki stated on her report from the ultrasound that she did see both babies doing breathing exercises, but just not for 30 seconds. I also let the NP know that Beatrice was trying to put the heart monitor for Baby B clear over on my right side. The NP gave me a real funny look and asked why she was trying to put the monitor there? Like I know! But talking with her made me feel a lot better and not so nervous about what was going on.
The NP left the room to check with Dr Wagner (the on call OB) about sending me to the hospital. He still wanted to send me over just to get check out. So off I went with a nurse to labor and delivery. I sent a text to Nolan telling him where I would be so he wouldn't have to search all over the hospital or go to my OB's office looking for me. I was checked in and put into a triage room. My nurse was super nice and she was able to find both babies heartbeats fairly quickly. And no Baby B's heartbeat was not found on my right side, it was pretty much on top of my belly where I told her she was laying!!!! Both heartbeats were a little low, but that was probably because it was after noon and I still had not had any food in my system. While she was getting all of this set up Nolan came and found me. He said that I sure know how to scare a guy by telling him I was at labor and delivery. Well.....I guess I wasn't thinking when I told him that. Sorry for scaring you babe!
Soon, Dr Wagner came in to check on me. He asked what went on that morning, so I gave him the run down. He said that both babies looked good for now and he was impressed with their weight (good job girls). He said that he wanted to monitor them a little while longer and hopefully I would be going home soon. The nurse gave me some apple juice to hopefully bring the babies heart rates up a little bit. I drank it, it did bring their heart rates up, but it also made my bladder full!
Both babies were moving around a bit, but had good heartbeats most of the time. After two hours of laying on my back (when your 30 weeks pregnant with twins, laying on your back is NEVER comfortable), I asked the nurse how much longer it would be. She called Dr Wagner for me and told him was the results were of the non stress test. He said that things looked good and sent me home. YEA! I asked if I needed to be watching out for anything and the nurse said no, just to monitor my kick counts. She said that they should be kicking about 10 times every two hours.....no problem there. I think they kick 10 times per minute sometimes!
So as we left the hospital at 2:30 (yes I had been there for 6 hours) we were both relieved that things looked good and very hungry! But we were mostly glad that our babies are healthy and they are not going anywhere anytime soon! We still need a few more weeks here at the Fletcher Lichti House to prepare for these little ones!
Yikes, that is more excitement than you need! Glad to hear everything turned out fine (and yes, that fasting glucose test is not very fun!). Did the glucose test come out okay?
ReplyDeleteYes it was a lot more excitement than I needed and a lot more time than I wanted to spend. Thank goodness Georgia was with her aunt and cousins swimming and having a good time instead of sitting at the hospital with me for 6 hours. I would have felt so bad for her! I haven't heard back from the glucose test, they said probably before the end of the week. Fingers crossed for good results. I love how this comment is from the wee hours of the morning....I wonder what you are doing up at this time!
ReplyDeleteUgh, so much drama. They need to be careful with mamas--especially mamas who have already been through too much! The important part: glad those little stinkers are doing well. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteHaha. Yeah, I'm pretty much up around the clock these days. :)
ReplyDelete