Home sweet home!!

Whoah ... what a week!  We just got home from spending 3 nights in the hospital.  Wednesday I woke up feeling a little funny ... not painful, not bad, just a little off.  I had very slight lower abdominal pain but I figured it was nothing (aches and pains are a normal part of pregnancy, right?) so I headed to work.  After a few hours I still wasn't feeling right.  The preterm labor clinic calls me every week to check up on me and they happened to call me Wednesday (thank God!) so I told them about my symptoms and they made an appointment for me to see my OB.  I remember telling the nurses I work with, "Great, I'm going to be one of THOSE patients!  The type that always thinks something is wrong with them!"  But oh how thankful I am that I did listen to my body!  As it turns out the ultrasound showed that my cervix was very thin and starting to dilate (either due to preterm labor or cervical insufficiency, the doctors still aren't totally sure).  My OB sent me right to the hospital where we were admitted by the perinatologists (OBs who specialize in high risk pregnancies).  They started me on some medications to quiet my uterus down and positioned my bed so that my head was 45 degrees lower than my feet (FYI: NOT an easy way to sleep!) to take pressure off my cervix.
Thursday morning the doctor came in to review the procedure that they wanted to do, which is called a cerclage (placing stitches in the cervix to keep it closed).  Because Baby B's (Luke's) bag of water was so close to the cervix she told us there was a 50% chance she would puncture the bag during the procedure and we would lose our little boy.  I think Scott and I both started to shut down at that point.  The risks of the procedure were huge but if we didn't do it we'd almost certainly lose both babies.   Several days later I'm still tearing up when I think about that conversation.
The doctors, nurses, techs and CRNA in the procedure with me were amazing.  I think I was in shock, I was shaking uncontrollably (for you nurses reading this:  I asked for ativan but it's not safe for the babes at this point ... the fentanyl certainly helped though!) and they were so kind to me.  One of the nurses help my hand the whole time.   As a nurse I've held many hands during stressful procedures but never realized what a difference just that human touch can make.
We had many people praying during the procedure (thank you!  thank you!) and we are just thanking God that it went very very well.  The doctor felt like she got good, strong stitches in place and both Luke and Amelia tolerated it with no issues.  When they had me in position for surgery the doctor was actually able to see the membranes (bag of water) which means that had we waited even one more day it could have been too late.  These are truly miracle babies for so many reasons.
Right now there are two main risks: infection and preterm labor.  Because my cervix had started to dilate the babies could have been exposed to bacteria.  I got IV antibiotics in the hospital but it's still a risk.  If this was originally caused by preterm labor, I could be in and out of preterm labor many times.  I know now what contractions feel like so I'm just monitoring at home.  If you are a person who prays, please continue to pray against these two things and for the health of both babies.
So for now, here I am on bedrest!  I spent 3 weeks at the beginning of the pregnancy in bed due to other complications so I've got some practice :)   We feel so blessed by an amazing community that has just loved us and lifted us up during the stressful and crazy time.  Thank you for your cards, texts, emails, prayers and visits.  I will try to keep the blog up to date ... I should have plenty of time!!!

My first blog post ever!!

It's true ... I'm starting a blog!  I never thought this was something I'd actually do ... but now that we're expecting twins I think it'll be the best way to keep our family and friends updated on our lives (and post cute pictures of the babes!)  We are so thankful and excited to be where we're at.  Scott and I both feel that these two little ones are truly gifts of grace and we can't wait to meet them.  We found out July 12th that there were two little hearts beating inside my body and on October 5th we found out that we're expecting one sweet girl and one precious boy.  As of tomorrow I'm 21 weeks pregnant ... we're getting there ... one day at a time!  The official due date is 3.4.11 but twins usually arrive several weeks (or months) early.  We're praying that we make it to at least 32 weeks which is 1.7.11.  Here are a few belly shots:

Week 10

Week 14

Week 20