33 Weeks

I wanted to give a detailed account of what we experiencing. To the right I added a picture of a normal and "absent" doppler reading to show you all what is going on. Picture A (which is pretty close to what our baby a's dopplers look like) is considered normal. You can see the waves peak (when the heart pumps) and then come down when the heart relaxes, but there isn't a lot of space between the peaks because there is a continuous flow of blood. If you look at picture B (pretty close to what our baby bs doppler looked like Wednesday) show an "absent blood flow". This means that his placenta has been breaking apart and making it difficult to push blood through. You can still see the peaks, but the flow (or when the wave dips) you can see that it goes all the way to the line if not a little past it. In previous weeks, Baby Bs blood flow came close to the line, but not touching it because there was a little bit of continuous flow. This means that he has to work extra hard to get that blood to pump back and forth to the placenta (which houses all the nutrience).

We went to the high-risk doctor this last Wednesday April 4 to do our weekly doppler and there was a big change this week we hadn't seen in the last 3. His flow was now touching the line and leaving space between the peaks, which ment that he now had "absent blood flow". When this happens, they look closely at one part of his heart to see how it is pumping. After you get absent blood flow, what happens is that it can start to 'reflux' or slip backwards. This causes heart failure and why this can lead to a still-birth.

So, we got admitted right away to Labor and Delivery where we got a non-stress test right away. A non-stress test (which we are getting at least 2 times a day) is just heart beat monitors they put on my belly to listen to each of their hearts and look for signs of stress. So far all of them look good. We also got a Betamethasone shot Wednesday and Thursday which is a steroid shot that will help their lungs develop quicker since they will be premature. Our doctor is trying to buy us time and get us to deliver Monday or Tuesday. We are also getting a daily doppler done now just to make sure the "reflux" hasn't started. If any of these tests go arry in the next few days they will push us into delivery right away. Otherwise, Vince and I have decided to have a c-section done. Even though both of the babies are head down and ready to go, the stress of contactions and labor can be hard on babies. Since baby b is under enough stress already, we decided not to risk it. If we were to go ahead with a "natural" delivery I would be stressed out thinking about him the whole time which would stress them out more so we opted for the c-section. This will give us more peace knowing that it is the most controlled way to make sure he is fine. I have also been trying to wrap my head around the fact that they will probably be in the NICU for some time. Monday is 34 weeks, which is great because typically babies born after 34 weeks only need to be in the NICU to help regulate their body temp. make sure they are strong enough to eat and fatten them up and maybe a little oxygen. They have predicted that they may be in there anywhere from a few days to a month. Also, we could be going home with just one baby for a while. This is hard for me to think about, but I know everything we are doing is the best case senario for the babies and we are praying (and really at peace) with everything that has been going on.  

So as of right now, Vince and I are trying to enjoy our probably week stay in the hospital. I am still able to get out and walk around so that is really nice, I don't have to stay in bed all day. Now we just have to decide on names.