What?! Another July Birthday?? Announcing Thing 1 and Thing 2!

!ntroducing Thing 1/Baby A (aka Summer Marie, 2lbs. 11 ounces, 15.5 inches long) and Thing 2/Baby B (Brooke Ashley, 2 lbs. 15 ounces, 15 inches long)! After many complicated months of worrying about these little girls, they decided they were ready to join us! They were born Monday July 14th, 2008 at 1:08 and 1:09 PM via C-section. They are little fighters and still have a long road ahead...here is the way it all happened.

Summer Marie

Brooke's first hat and sleeping bag to keep warm :)

Brooke Ashley

Sunday, July 13 I woke up with some bleeding. Dr. Walker came in to talk to me and assured me it was likely it was from the old abruption on my placenta that occured around 15 weeks (my first complication and trip to the ER). I laid low all day and we monitored how much blood I was losing. Nothing too significant was happening and I remained stable. No more purple chair for me for now!

Monday, July 14 started out like any other Monday around Evergreen. They woke me up at 7:45 and loaded me up for my wheelchair ride downstairs to the 2nd floor. Robin from MFM was waiting for me. My ultrasound was pretty standard...all looked the same with dopplers and no change in Baby B' s heart. She couldn't find any indication that I had an abruption/bleed but this is common...they can be hard to see and the docs treat you like you have one anyway. Both babies were head down (which explained why I felt as if I had been riding a horse for days!) and Baby B had maintained her posistion as the first out the door. When she checked my cervix, it was no longer riculously long, fantastic, dazzling, amazon-like, Ueber, magnificent, amazing, or any other adjective we had come up with so far to describe it's magnificence up to this point. When a woman carries multiples, she is more likely to have a shortened cervix, which causes pre-term labor. A normal length could be 2.5 to 3.5 CM, mine has been holding ground at 4.5 to 5 CM, but Monday only measured 2.5. This, though maybe significant as we look back, was not lower than normal, so nothing to worry about at that time.

2 peas in a pod...both head down, made me feel like I had been riding a horse for a week! They obviously knew to get ready!

Baby A's last ultrasound photo
Baby B's last ultrasound picture

As the transport guy took me back to my room, I started feeling a small amount of contracting...again nothing to worry about as I was getting along in size and girth! By 10 AM I started feeling harder contractions and started watching the clock. Ok, no big deal right? I watched the clock and realized they were coming every 3 minutes...an hour passed. As time was passing, they became harder and I started having to breathe through them. I was 27 weeks and 2 days, so I thought Dr. Paek would just give me something to stop them and I would continue growing babies. Well, my nurse called her, and told me since I was ruptured, she would not order any medicine to slow it down. We were to wait and see where it was going. I called Tom and let him know he should probably join me. He hung up and jumped on the first bus back home to grab the van. I then called my sister Debbie and she told me just to let her know if anything was going to happen and she would be here.

Nothing was stopping. My contractiongs were steadily getting more painful (especially with 2 little heads trying to barge their way out) and I was getting more and more uncomfortable. Reality- was setting in that this was it...though I didn't want to accept that! How could it have changed so quickly? Dr. Paek and I agreed that morning after my ultrasound that I would more than likely stay pregnant for quite a bit longer....I guess these kiddos were about to call our bluff! As time continued and I was still contracting, I started to feel really yucky and hot. I called the nurse and she took my temperature. I had a fever of 101.7. She called Dr. Paek again and came in to tell me things were going to start happening very quickly. I called Tom to see where he was...he was almost home to Renton, but needed to to still grab the van and drive 25 minutes to Kirkland. I was worried he wouldn't make it, but Dr. Paek said she would really like him to be there with me too...so we would just continue getting ready and hope he got here on time. I called Debbie back and she said she would get here as quick as possible. I was getting more and more uncomfortable as time passed...I did not want to do this alone...

An anesthesiologist came in to talk to me anout what was going to happen. Since I had a fever, it was very likely that I had developed an infection in my uterus and this was causing the labor. She would usually do an epidural so I could be awake and see my babies born, but the risk of spreading the infection through a puncture from the needle was too great. They would put me under a local anesthetic instead. I wouldn't get to see my little babies as they entered the world :(
They continued prepping me and Dr. Paek joined me in my room all dressed and ready for surgery. I signed release papers, changed into a gown and rolled onto a transport bed. By about 12:30 PM they had me, accomanied by Dr. Paek and crew, on my way downstairs to the OR...still no Tom.

When I got downstairs, Donna from MFM was there to comfort me and asked if I wanted her to stay with me until Tom arrived. I asked her to call him...she came back and assured me he was almost here, she would stay with me until he got there. Everything was happening so fast...they had me on the table, prepped and taking in oxygen. Dr. Hill showed up to assist and I recognized him as Debbie's doctor. He was supposed to have retired after Connor was born, but he changed his mind and now assists quite often with C-sections. Small world!

Tom still wasn't there and before I knew it, I was out. The next thing I remember was hearing a nurse talking to Debbie. I was so groggy, I could hardly open my eyes. I layed there listening to them and tried to wake up. It took a while, but I could soon see them and talk a little myself, though my voice was very raspy from the intebation tube and oxygen mask I was still wearing. After a little while, they said I was ready to be moved upstairs to my room and were off. Debbie told me she didn't quite make the surgery and was in the hall crying hysterically because she thought I was all alone. The nurses assured her I was fine and Tom had come out in his scrubs when it was all over. He had walked in just as I was going under and with not a moment to spare. The babies were born just 3 minutes later!

When I got up to my room, I was greeted by my parents, Tom's parents, and Tom. They had all made it there while I was out. The transport team had covered my gurney in a huge plastic thing that inflated like a raft and floated me onto my bed. Much better than trying to use muscles to get on the bed that had just been cut through! It took some time for me to wake up a little more and actually hold a real conversation, but I attempted it...apparantly my speech was not to clear :) I visited with them while Tom took them over to see the babies. They were still so fragile, no one was allowed to touch them.

Brooke

Aunt Debbie holding Summer's little footsie :)


Mommy's hand with Summer's hand

Brooke

Summer's so cute :)

Summer is already trying to suck her thumb!

Summer

Tom, Summer, and Me

Summer and Mom

That night was very rough. Both babies needed help breathing and were intebated. Tom told me it was really hard to see them born and not hear a cry. They had to work on them right away and since they were so little and early, that first cry wouldn't be heard. Brooke had been having serious respitory problems from the first minute on and was still struggling. She was supposed to be transported to Children's Hospital in Seattle shortly after birth for her heart procedure, but was so weak and unstable they decided to hold off until she could handle the ambulance ride over. Summer was doing well. She was stable and holding her own :) As the night progressed, Brooke didn't improve. She was still fighting, but they had to get her stable enough to travel to Children's where she could get the special care she needed. They thought maybe all her respitory issues were caused by her heart defect, so they did an Echocardiogram to check things out. Her heart still looked the same and there was still no change in her respitory issues. It wasn't until almost midnight that she was stable enough to be transported. They were hoping to bring her by my room, but she was so weak, they had to move quickly and I didn't get to see her. Tom came in the room to tell me she had gone and that he had been able to give her a blessing. We had been so surprised by their arrival we hadn't decided on their names, so while he blessed her, he named her Brooke Ashley. I guess she had a name now! We had wanted Brooke, but were unsure about the middle name. Ashley had never even come up before and he didn't know where it came from, but hey, you can't argue with inspiration! My niece Micaela actually shares this middle name, so it does have special meaning after all :)

By the time Tom arrived at Children's, Brooke's PH Balance was at a fatal level. She was still struggling with breathing, blood pressure, blood gasses and more. They assessed her and decided to make this a priority over her heart surgery since she would need to be strong and able to breathe well during the procedure. Tom stayed with her all night and by 2 AM she started to improve greatly. She is still making small improvments in many areas and by yesterday afternoon she was only receiving 30 percent oxygen instead of 80-100 percent the day before. She has been slowly improving in little ways...she is a fighter! Summer held her own all day yesterday...she is a spunky little thing who doesn't like having her feet tucked in. She's been pulling on her her wires and even tried sucking her thumb yesterday :) She has also been trying hard to breathe on her own and may not have to stay intebated for much longer! I am hoping to get to stay with her in her private room once I am discharged and maybe after Brooke finally has her surgery and is looking a little more stable, she can be moved back in with her sister :) Look at their tiny little diapers! These are even too big :)

Every day things will get better...I have been up walking around...a little slower than usual, but hey, at least I am finally officially off bed rest! Yeah :) I will probably be discharged Thursday and then I can meet my other sweet daughter and get more pictures of her :) I'll keep updating!