The Light at the end of the Tunnel

This pregnancy has been a journey full of excitement, exhaustion, twists, turns and some very interesting blogs. I can finally report that there is a light at the end of the tunnel......

Monday was my regularly scheduled NST and OB appointment. At the NST, baby A (formerly baby B) cooperated greatly and her heart rates were exactly as they should have been. Baby B, however, decided to be uncooperative and the nurses never got test results to report. A doppler monitor was used just to make sure there was a heartbeat, and of course, there was. It just didn't register on the NST monitors. My blood pressure seemed to look good, but there was a slight elevation in protein in the urine. The whole NST was a breeze and we were in and out in an hour. Our OB appointment wasn't until 2pm, so we got some shopping done and grabbed some lunch. It was really nice to have a lunch date with my husband - Luckily, the Mexican food restaurant we chose to eat at had booths large enough, and high enough, to fit my ridiculously large belly.

At the OB appointment, I found I had gained 5 pounds.....IN 3 DAYS!! I was shocked, but I imagine that 3 pound burrito I had for lunch couldn't have helped any. The nurse pointed out that I really shouldn't freak out because I had only gained 1 pound in 3 weeks, which is significantly less than the average 3 pounds a week weight gain at pregnancy end that a woman usually sees. Okay. My blood pressure was lower: 130 something over 80 something, and the protein in the urine didn't seem to concern the doctor at all. What did concern her, was that the nurses were unable to get a reading on baby B at the NST - So she pulled out the ultrasound monitor. We saw the babies, and they were both fine. Both were wiggling, kicking, punching and had excellent breathing patterns. Both were still breech. Baby A, on my left, was completely vertical and was basically sitting on my cervix. Baby B, was head to head with her sister and kind of curved down my right side - She was hugging the placenta. The reason that the NST on baby B was unsuccessful, however, was because not only was she in an awkward position, she was in this position behind her sister, baby A. She was actually closer to my back at this point than the front of my belly. But, she was fine, which was really all that mattered to us.

Because of the significant improvements, the doctor informed us that we'd just keep waiting it out and see how far we get in to the pregnancy. I didn't have to be on strict bed rest any longer, but I just needed to keep my activities to a minimum. This was a blow to us, as we'd just heard on Friday from the other doctor, whom we had seen the most over the past few months, that it would be very unlikely that we'd make it past this upcoming weekend. We were left slightly confused as to the doctors completely different opinions on what we should expect, so I called the other doctor yesterday morning to discuss our questions, and to make sure that both she and the other doctor were on the same page. I was informed that it would probably be the end of the day before I heard back from her, as she had a full day of patients and an emergency surgery scheduled during her lunch hour.

Cooper had been with me all day - The house is Cooper proofed and things are set up so that I never have to lift him or run after him. The gates we have are lifesavers. I took a nap with Cooper and woke up around 3pm. Corey had just got home form work and we decided to take my blood pressure. It was 156/96. Corey had me lay back down and we waited a few minutes and took it again. It was 150/104 - I was sent back to bed. We took the pressure 3 more times, and it was all over the board. At 4:15 I called the doctor and once again got a fast pass right up to the family birth center. We left the house, dropped off the kids and were at the hospital by 5:15. The staff was a little stressed at my arrival, and seemed to be prepping for an emergency delivery - Lots of running around, questions being asked, blood vials being brought in the room and everyone coming in to check on me to see that I was OK. Corey and I just looked at each other and exchanged a questioning look. A nurse came in and told me that I was to undress and get in to a gown - That was fine. I asked, "just waist down?" She said, "No, you need to undress completely because you'll have heart monitors attached to your chest in the OR." Uh, what? OR? I mean, we were suddenly so overwhelmed with nerves. I did my thing and crawled in to the bed. I was hooked up to the monitors and the girls were a dream to work with. Figures. The nurse then took my blood pressure and it was 139/74. Of course it was. The storm of frantic nurses and OB staff began to slow, and we began to relax a little. The NST that the staff hoped to get was complete within 25 minutes - We were absolutely amazed, and though I felt fine from the beginning, it was still nice to know everything and everyone in the tummy was just fine.

The doctor finally got to the hospital a little after 6:30pm and discussed the results with us - I was fine. The constant ups and downs in my blood pressure still had her concerned, and the protein in my urine had gone up to a 2+ in a day. I told her that I had intended just to talk with her about my visit with the other doc the day before and she said she discussed the appointment with her prior to coming to the hospital to see me. She decided that instead of waiting any longer that it would be in both my, and the babies, best interest to schedule the delivery for the end of the week. Because both girls are breech, I'll be having a c-section. I signed the consent forms and got lots of questions answered - The doctor explained everything that would happen from check in to post op. It's quite a production - In the OR I will be accompanied by 2 doctors, a nurse for me, a nurse for each baby, a respiratory therapist, the anesthesiologist and of course, Corey. I'm a little scared, as I have never had a major surgery, and of course it's not the way I had hoped to bring our beautiful girls in to the world. At the same time, I get to avoid labor - Gotta be optimistic about as much as possible!!

Tomorrow I go in for a final NST, a round of pre-op tests and the final paperwork before our big day. Friday morning I check in around 6AM and the surgery begins at 7:45AM. It's 10pm on Wednesday night, and I have to be honest that with each passing minute I become a little more anxious. I think I'll head to bed now and go to sleep - Maybe I can sleep through the nerves and get through the next day.....Just one more day. My next blog will be after the girls births. With the girls celebrating their birthday on Friday, and Katie celebrating hers on Monday, we'll have plenty to sing about this weekend.

What a way to begin Spring Break.......Happy Birthday my three girls!!