A New Week

It's a new week, and we are back at it. Randi went in this morning at eight for more fluids, heart rate scans, and ultrasound scans. Randi went through three liters of fluids and an hour and a half of heart rate tracings. Everything appears to be holding steady. The babies had good heart rate accelerations and no elongated decelerations during contractions.

The perinatalogist finally arrived around six in the evening for the ultrasound. Wyatt and Parks had turned 180 degrees from Saturday with Wyatt now head down and Parks head up. This is a real good sign that they are staying active and have enough energy to move this much. The doctor spent a lot of time on Wyatt's heart and wasn't saying much, which got us pretty nervous. Finally, he broke the silence and told us that Wyatt was developing slight tricuspid valve regurgitation. With so much pressure put on his heart, it is becoming hard for him to completely empty from the right ventricle. In this case it, produces a backflow into the right atrium (see picture below). At this point, the regurgitation is minimal and not clinically significant. It can potentially become threatening, although it will probably take longer to develop than the number of weeks we have left. It is just another indication of the overall stress that Wyatt is facing.

We also got a little more clarification from the doctor today about a few issues. Since it is asymmetrical growth restriction, Wyatt's head is much larger that his belly, and we have been watching these babies closely, he does not feel that there is any reason to believe that the IUGR is chromosomal in nature. We have seen no markers so far that would indicate this. His growth restriction is simply a function of trying to suck a large oxygen supply through a small straw. Also, the perinatalogist feels that we will deliver these babies at 34 weeks, at the very latest. This would be the point where both babies would have the greatest potential for survival without permanent injury. We don't know; however, that Wyatt's placenta will give us that much more time, so we are thankful for every day, but praying for at least 33 weeks.

Lets Go Duke!

We sent Duke, A.K.A. Solivia's Charleston, off today until the end of July on his quest for an American Championship. He will be shown with the help of the kennel where we got Duke and Dante, Soliva's Pointers. Dante, A.K.A. Solivia's You Wish, won his American and Canadian Championships years ago. He will be in good hands while we get the babies here and settled. We are going to miss him while he's gone.

31 Weeks Today!!

Note: We are going to start getting into the habit of using the boys real names. I would hate to be in the NICU trying to make an important decision and call them by Pooh or Tigger. So, from here on out Pooh is Wyatt and Tigger is Parks (Randi won, of course).

Randi went in today for more fluids, monitoring and ultrasounds. The babies are loving the IV fluids. Both babies had very full bladders and their amniotic fluid levels are good. Parks's umbilical blood flows look stellar, and Wyatt is holding steady with absent end diastolic flow. Randi is returning to Labor and Delivery on Monday for more IV fluids and peace of mind. We will look at the heart rate tracings to determine whether to call the doctor up from his off to do an ultrasound scan. If we don't get one Monday, we will definitely get one on Tuesday at our regularly scheduled appointment.

Where We Are

"No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He'll never let you be pushed past your limit; He'll always be there to help you come through it." -I Corinthians 10:13

Wow!! The roller coaster continues. Randi returned to the hospital fro her second steroid shot and continued heart rate monitoring on the boys. The heart rate tracings looked really good for both Pooh and Tigger. Following the trip to Labor and Delivery, we returned to the perinatalogist's office for our scheduled ultrasound. On this visit, we saw NO reverse end diastolic flow on either of them. We actually saw some solid diastolic flow again, mostly a positive side affect of the steroid shots, and the doctor was "doing cartwheels," as described by his nurse. That's right, we are back on the upswing. It really wears down your emotions.

"Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I look back over the course of events that led us to this point, it is amazing to see the Hand of God move. We are thankful for our upbringing that provided us a strong foundation of faith, patience, and temperament. We are thankful for those like JenMom and the triplets that have come before us with similar experiences to give us a frame of reference of what to expect. We are thankful for Randi's subchorionic hematoma early in the pregnancy that alerted us to seek out a specialist. For, I am certain that we would have already lost Pooh if we had not already sought out additional treatment. We are thankful for this blog and the outpouring of support we have received. It started out as a funny way to show off belly shots and ultrasound pictures.

"The question, O Me! So sad, recurring- What good amid these, O Me, O Life? Answer: That you are here- that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse." -Walt Whitman

The perinatalogist also gave us some more sobering warnings. There is still a real chance that we could only go home with one baby, although he stated that "we had every right to be optimistic and celebratory that we have made it this far." He also gave us a little confidence that Pooh might have actually gained more weight than we previously thought. He's just not sure how accurate the measurements were from Tuesday. He said that determining weight through ultrasound measurements is just a little more technical version of Navin R. Johnson at the carnival guessing your weight. He'd look you up and down, look at your hat size, see how big your waist line is, and figure out what the inseam was on your boot cut jeans to get a number. Sometimes it's accurate; sometimes it's not.

"Prayer is something we do in our time. The answer come in God's time." -Father Cavanaugh in Rudy, the movie

"Let the day's own trouble be enough for the day." -Matthew 6:34 (Paraphrased)

So, we are plowing along and preparing ourselves the best we can. Whether we like it or not, this is the way life is going to be for a while. Every appointment brings with it the joy of making it to the next appointment, but it can also be extremely disconcerting to see your child suffering. Randi returns to Labor and Delivery Saturday for more IV fluids and ultrasounds. Then, it's back to the perinatalogist's office on Monday for our regular appointment.