The brilliant title says enough. In the spirit of a 'diary', I suppose I should expand on all 3. But at the end of this, I'm sure your interpretation of the title was a lot more interesting than reality. :)
Yesterday, we walked into Steph's room to find her laying in her bed, under a trapeze - those contraptions where people's broken legs in full casts are hanging. You've seen them in movies. This one just had a triangle hanging from the center to help Stephanie pull herself up from the bed. First of all, the triangle is hanging inches from her head. Second of all, if I was laying under that whole thing, I'd feel like I was in a cage. Third of all, isn't it the nurses job to help her get out of bed when she needs it, thus eliminating any need for this thing called a trapeze????? YES, it is. Needless to say, the trapeze was taken out of the room today.
McLovin is to Superbad what this fast-talking mcNeoNatalSpecialist is to our day today. Fun, funny and fun. McFUN. He talked a mile a minute, ended everything with OK, and was wearing those canvas boat loafers. So 1987. And Stephanie said 'suckle' to him. The biggest takeaway, other than the notable 3 above, was that he said babies delivered in the 28/29th week have above a 90% survival rate. The two biggest things to be concerned about are lung development and this intestinal infection that is fairly common in premies. The only known cure is breast milk. But premie babies can't eat much at the beginning so the treatment is tricky. Trick, trick, trickay....say what?! (to all you McLovin fans!)
Steph's mom and I have this thing. This DIY thing. We did Gracie's nursery in NYC together. Then, we did our garden together. And now, we're doing the boy's nursery together. In the midst of all of this potential premature labor stuff, we've managed to finalize the plans of the boy's nursery. Today, we bought the paint for the walls. First Anniversary is the color. How do they come up with color names? I mean, colors for crayons is one thing, but colors for paints? There are so many different hues and shades and subtle differences. And they all have a name. This is a brown with a bit of yellow in it. We're going with a natural base. We'll add some red and green accents. Maybe a little dark brown too. I'm sure they'll all have fancy names. The room theme is this camping theme and I'll do us all a favor and not try to describe it. It's not campfires and tents, I will say that. But it could be. If the boys ever wanted it to be. Anyway, the DIY is ON.
We know we're in a good place when my topics for writing are trapezes and fast-talking mcdoctors and DIY.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Whew...for now
We made it past Sunday and the babies aren't here!!!! This is very good news.
The second dose of pain medication on Sunday morning did the trick. Once it hit her system, it did some kung fu on those contractions. Since then, she's had very few and they have all been relatively painless.
Stephanie has been back in the antipardem unit for two days now and we like it here. She hasn't done anything active other than get up to use the bathroom or shower. No more wheelchairs, no more 2 1/2 year olds climbing on mommy, no more influx of visitors.
We did finish Superbad. It was good. I thought it was funny. McLovin was great, but I'm sure that's what everyone says. Dr. Jan saw it on when she came in yesterday and said, 'I love that movie, I've seen it twice.' It's just funny coming from her, our OB, likes crude, adolescent boy humor.
Today is 29 weeks. Keep them in baby.
The second dose of pain medication on Sunday morning did the trick. Once it hit her system, it did some kung fu on those contractions. Since then, she's had very few and they have all been relatively painless.
Stephanie has been back in the antipardem unit for two days now and we like it here. She hasn't done anything active other than get up to use the bathroom or shower. No more wheelchairs, no more 2 1/2 year olds climbing on mommy, no more influx of visitors.
We did finish Superbad. It was good. I thought it was funny. McLovin was great, but I'm sure that's what everyone says. Dr. Jan saw it on when she came in yesterday and said, 'I love that movie, I've seen it twice.' It's just funny coming from her, our OB, likes crude, adolescent boy humor.
Today is 29 weeks. Keep them in baby.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Long Weekend pt. 3
1.27.08
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. This was the day where it all changed. The day that has led me to this moment right here, in the Labor & Delivery room at 5:18 AM, listening to Mike & Mike in the Morning, watching Stephanie sleep and the fetal heart monitor show me that her contractions have subsided. For now.
Stephanie called the house at 5:45 AM, very sad, very lonely. She had been up since 4:30 and realized that she wasn't in her own bed, didn't have her own family around, and couldn't do anything about it. Other than pick up the phone and call us. I got myself ready and made the trek back to the hospital. I picked up some coffee for the two of us on the way. Come to find out, I probably should have gotten a decaf for Stephanie. And one size smaller.
Our morning together was very nice - we just talked and drank coffee and watched the dense fog cover the world outside her window. We popped in Superbad later in the morning. Just like any Apetow movie, it's crude. But I enjoyed the part we watched. Even though Stephanie rolled her eyes many times, I think she enjoyed it too. We still need to watch the last half of it.
Gracie, Nana (my mom) and YiaYia (Steph's mom) showed up later in the morning and we partied like we were in a hospital room. Actually, Gracie found a little ledge to crawl up on and it gives her just enough room to walk around and strut and half-dance and sing - her very own stage. In fact, Teddy said one moment gave her a glimpse of Stephanie when she was little - on a stage, just in her own little world.
The real fun began about 4 PM when Stephanie and Teddy returned from the wheelchair outing. She started having contractions. This went on for awhile.
Dr. Jan then came. Examined her. Still 2 cm. But more efaced. We'll monitor her for a little while longer.
The contractions continued.
The move to L&D was on.
They've since given her some pain medication to help her sleep and supress the contractions. Right now, they have subsided and Stephanie is asleep. The doctor said it was not uncommon for patients to go back and forth from the L&D wing to the antipardem wing. This gives us hope. But the doctor also gave Stephanie steroids to help lung maturation in the babies. According to Dr. Jan (on Friday night), they like to wait to give the steroids until they feel like it's needed b/c it's a one-shot deal and you really need to give it within 7 days of expecting the babies. So, that is a big indication to me. But, we'd all rather them give the steroids for precaution rather than wait to hope she won't go into labor. At that point, I think the likelyhood for complications from steroid injections increase. I don't know.
In any case, we're here. She's sleeping and I'm crossing my fingers that the boys chill out and let their mommy grow them a little bit longer.
The doctor said things about premies being on ventilators to help breathe and jaundice and feeding problems and growing and all this bad stuff that made my head spin. It actually did much more than that - it's really worrisome news.
But we have faith. We know that we are being taken care of, especially the baby boys, and we'll get through this the best we can.
BTW - if they do have to come early and sooner rather than later early, how appropriate would it be if they were born on Superbowl Sunday?
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. This was the day where it all changed. The day that has led me to this moment right here, in the Labor & Delivery room at 5:18 AM, listening to Mike & Mike in the Morning, watching Stephanie sleep and the fetal heart monitor show me that her contractions have subsided. For now.
Stephanie called the house at 5:45 AM, very sad, very lonely. She had been up since 4:30 and realized that she wasn't in her own bed, didn't have her own family around, and couldn't do anything about it. Other than pick up the phone and call us. I got myself ready and made the trek back to the hospital. I picked up some coffee for the two of us on the way. Come to find out, I probably should have gotten a decaf for Stephanie. And one size smaller.
Our morning together was very nice - we just talked and drank coffee and watched the dense fog cover the world outside her window. We popped in Superbad later in the morning. Just like any Apetow movie, it's crude. But I enjoyed the part we watched. Even though Stephanie rolled her eyes many times, I think she enjoyed it too. We still need to watch the last half of it.
Gracie, Nana (my mom) and YiaYia (Steph's mom) showed up later in the morning and we partied like we were in a hospital room. Actually, Gracie found a little ledge to crawl up on and it gives her just enough room to walk around and strut and half-dance and sing - her very own stage. In fact, Teddy said one moment gave her a glimpse of Stephanie when she was little - on a stage, just in her own little world.
The real fun began about 4 PM when Stephanie and Teddy returned from the wheelchair outing. She started having contractions. This went on for awhile.
Dr. Jan then came. Examined her. Still 2 cm. But more efaced. We'll monitor her for a little while longer.
The contractions continued.
The move to L&D was on.
They've since given her some pain medication to help her sleep and supress the contractions. Right now, they have subsided and Stephanie is asleep. The doctor said it was not uncommon for patients to go back and forth from the L&D wing to the antipardem wing. This gives us hope. But the doctor also gave Stephanie steroids to help lung maturation in the babies. According to Dr. Jan (on Friday night), they like to wait to give the steroids until they feel like it's needed b/c it's a one-shot deal and you really need to give it within 7 days of expecting the babies. So, that is a big indication to me. But, we'd all rather them give the steroids for precaution rather than wait to hope she won't go into labor. At that point, I think the likelyhood for complications from steroid injections increase. I don't know.
In any case, we're here. She's sleeping and I'm crossing my fingers that the boys chill out and let their mommy grow them a little bit longer.
The doctor said things about premies being on ventilators to help breathe and jaundice and feeding problems and growing and all this bad stuff that made my head spin. It actually did much more than that - it's really worrisome news.
But we have faith. We know that we are being taken care of, especially the baby boys, and we'll get through this the best we can.
BTW - if they do have to come early and sooner rather than later early, how appropriate would it be if they were born on Superbowl Sunday?
Long Weekend pt. 2
1.26.08
Last night was a long night. They monitored Stephanie until 2 AM then, after showing no signs for immediate concern, she was moved to the antipardem unit in the hospital. I went home to relieve my dad (he came over to watch Gracie when we went to the hospital.)
I got about 4 hours of sleep. So did Stephanie. So did my dad, probably. My mom said she got about the same. Very indicative of the next couple of years, at least.
As soon as Gracie woke up, the first question she asked was 'where my mommy?'
'At the hospital', I said.
'Why, what's wrong?'
'Mommy and the babies needed extra special care.'
'My babies alright?'
'Yes, they are.'
'My mommy alright?'
'Yes, she is.'
'Where my mommy?'
'At the hospital, baby.'
This back and forth went on for a couple of minutes; it was very clear to me that Gracie felt the absence of her mommy in our house, even before she woke up.
When I walked into the house on Friday night, I had a moment where I thought 'Steph won't be back in this house until the babies are born.' This was the last time she was going to walk in or out of a family-of-3 house. I get sentimental with that sort of stuff.
Teddy came in Saturday morning. My mom drove in. We all met at the hospital. My dad came by. Miker, Roxy and Chloe came by. It was nice to have the comfort of family and friends almost immediately. While we had wonderful friends in NYC, we didn't experience the depth and immediacy of company as we did this morning. It is great to be back in Texas. :)
Speaking of great - this antipardem unit is great. Just the idea of it. This hospital (Plano Presby) has a wing dedicated to women who are at a high-risk for pre-term labor and the sole purpose is to keep the women from going into labor. Out of 10 rooms, 9 of them are occupied by multiples, 3 of those are triplets. I didn't know such a thing existed.
The day itself was fairly uneventful.
Last night was a long night. They monitored Stephanie until 2 AM then, after showing no signs for immediate concern, she was moved to the antipardem unit in the hospital. I went home to relieve my dad (he came over to watch Gracie when we went to the hospital.)
I got about 4 hours of sleep. So did Stephanie. So did my dad, probably. My mom said she got about the same. Very indicative of the next couple of years, at least.
As soon as Gracie woke up, the first question she asked was 'where my mommy?'
'At the hospital', I said.
'Why, what's wrong?'
'Mommy and the babies needed extra special care.'
'My babies alright?'
'Yes, they are.'
'My mommy alright?'
'Yes, she is.'
'Where my mommy?'
'At the hospital, baby.'
This back and forth went on for a couple of minutes; it was very clear to me that Gracie felt the absence of her mommy in our house, even before she woke up.
When I walked into the house on Friday night, I had a moment where I thought 'Steph won't be back in this house until the babies are born.' This was the last time she was going to walk in or out of a family-of-3 house. I get sentimental with that sort of stuff.
Teddy came in Saturday morning. My mom drove in. We all met at the hospital. My dad came by. Miker, Roxy and Chloe came by. It was nice to have the comfort of family and friends almost immediately. While we had wonderful friends in NYC, we didn't experience the depth and immediacy of company as we did this morning. It is great to be back in Texas. :)
Speaking of great - this antipardem unit is great. Just the idea of it. This hospital (Plano Presby) has a wing dedicated to women who are at a high-risk for pre-term labor and the sole purpose is to keep the women from going into labor. Out of 10 rooms, 9 of them are occupied by multiples, 3 of those are triplets. I didn't know such a thing existed.
The day itself was fairly uneventful.
Long Weekend
1.25.08
Friday night started out just like any of our past Friday nights have: I get Gracie from Nanny B's, we go rent a couple movies, pick up a bite to eat and go home to hunker down for the weekend. Mmm. Comfy cozy. Knowing that Steph's mom, Teddy, was coming in on Saturday morning gave us a extra sense comfyness. All was going to be well this weekend.
It all changed after Stephanie and Gracie got out of the bathtub. As I'm getting Gracie dressed for bed, I hear a yelp come from the living room. Stephanie has just plopped herself down on the couch complaining of a sharp cramp. She breathes, gives it a few seconds and it goes away. We both thought it would be best to call our doctor (Dr. Jan - she's GREAT!).
Long story short - Dr. Jan said come into the hospital, we did, she examined Stephanie, the result was 2 cm dilated and we just bought ourselves a ticket for hospital bed rest. Keep in mind that Stephanie is in her 28th week right now. We want to get to 32 - 34 weeks. It's going to be a long weekend.
Friday night started out just like any of our past Friday nights have: I get Gracie from Nanny B's, we go rent a couple movies, pick up a bite to eat and go home to hunker down for the weekend. Mmm. Comfy cozy. Knowing that Steph's mom, Teddy, was coming in on Saturday morning gave us a extra sense comfyness. All was going to be well this weekend.
It all changed after Stephanie and Gracie got out of the bathtub. As I'm getting Gracie dressed for bed, I hear a yelp come from the living room. Stephanie has just plopped herself down on the couch complaining of a sharp cramp. She breathes, gives it a few seconds and it goes away. We both thought it would be best to call our doctor (Dr. Jan - she's GREAT!).
Long story short - Dr. Jan said come into the hospital, we did, she examined Stephanie, the result was 2 cm dilated and we just bought ourselves a ticket for hospital bed rest. Keep in mind that Stephanie is in her 28th week right now. We want to get to 32 - 34 weeks. It's going to be a long weekend.
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