That’s the out-of-pocket cost of having IVF and a complicated pregnancy with good insurance in 2008. No NICU or delivery bills included – that’s just IVF, meds for the IVF & pregnancy, lab/ultrasound for the IVF & pregnancy, and copays for the perinatology and pediatrician visits, and the copays for babies’ at-home meds. Yeghads.
At least it will be a good tax refund year!
So I was bored on Saturday, and decided to have some babies to spice things up! OK, not really.
At my OB appointment on Wednesday my BP was going up just a little, so we did a 24 hr urine for protein. OB’s office called me Friday afternoon and I had a fair amount of protein in my urine, so got admitted on Friday night for monitoring babies, running some bloodwork, that sort of thing. BP was still fine, and I felt fine. Babies looked great on their NSTs. Labs weren’t terrible, so I figured we’d see how I was in the morning. By the next morning, my labs were slightly worse (liver and platelets.) So my OB’s newest associate, who’s all of three months out of residency, has to try to convince me that yes, we need to have these babies ASAP. I’m of course still in “keep babies in and get them to grow” mode after all the bedrest weeks, and don’t know this lady from Adam, and of course my BPs are still really good, so I’m balking a bit at this (I mean, how bad are the labs really?) but ultimately she talked with my OB, and we all agreed the thing to do was to deliver. (Baby B was still breech, and after a long discussion with my OB a few weeks ago, and reading up on breech second twins and all that, I was ultimately more comfortable with a c/s.)
Had a c/s on Saturday afternoon at 2:30, babies were born at 2:41 and 2:43. My mother (who I wanted for my support person) barely made it (she lives three hours away,) but I had a sweet nurse who drug her feet juuuust a bit to make sure mom was there. 🙂 Babies were/are absolutely perfect, cried immediately, never needed intubated (or even any oxygen.) They went straight to NICU, obviously, but did beautifully. Couldn’t ask for better given their age.
The 24 hours after they were born was a blur, with labs every few hours and being on magnesium sulfate (which makes you feel really stupid and tired and have the dryest eyes/mouth in the world) and I did get to see the babies briefly on the day they were born (once in the OR, then a few minutes each down in NICU – they took me down on the cart before we went to my room) and for a bit longer the next day (even got to hold them.)
My blood pressures started really going up after delivery, and I felt pretty lousy for a couple of days. Turns out, in retrospect, that the meds I was on to prevent contractions were probably controlling my BP, too, so once I was off of them after delivery, my BP went pretty haywire, and was truly into the early stages of HELLP as my labs continued to get worse, along with a side of near-kidney failure. Nasty stuff. That all started to turn around at about two days after delivery, and I’ve really done well since. Got to go home late on Wednesday, and of course am sore and tired and all that, but feeling much more myself.
The scary thing of it all was that I felt absolutely fine (I mean, big and pregnant, but nothing new) when I went into the hospital, and if we hadn’t delivered within a few days, it would have really hurt all three of us. As it was, baby B had slowed on her growth curve a little bit, probably due to the beginnings of the preeclampsia. Definitely dodged a bullet, and thank heaven for good prenatal care.
Babies are in NICU, obviously, but are just needing help with staying warm, nutrition, that sort of thing. No oxygen/respiratory help, and just a little caffeine to keep them in a good breathing pattern. Still on tube feeds along with IV feedings, and I’m pumping, so they’re getting 100% breastmilk right now, and that’s going great. I get to hold them once a day at least, and that’s absolutely wonderful.
So…introducing Chloe and Emma! (Chloe is A/Watson, Emma is B/Crick.) They were 3 lb 13 oz and 3 lb 10 oz respectively.
We hit 32 weeks today. So I went to see the OB again (every week now) and they were so excited they gave me a hat! Well, ok, so it’s not a party hat. And it might have had more to do with my blood pressure (142/92) and 2+ protein in my urine than, say, a desire to throw a big fiesta. And I’m quite thankful that I don’t actually have to wear it on my head. Now I just have to avoid mixing up the new jug in the fridge with the apple cider.
The other OB vital stats: Heartbeats on both ducklings were found at about the same level on my belly, indicating that someone’s probably flipped. I’m hoping that someone is Crick, but we’ll see on Monday. Watson = 144, Crick = 160. Fundal height is now 42 cm (up from 40 last week.) Weight still stable. Blood sugars have been pronounced good. Woo ha.
In other news, I’ve finished the birth plan that our L&D floor apparently actually likes to see. (I always thought that they found them kinda silly and irrelevant, but whatever.) Both names have been chosen, and wall letters painted & hung. The stroller’s in the process of being put together. My hospital bag is packed, but I still need to pack one for the girls. I’ve made my gigantic list of things to do around the house before the kids show up (and am hoping to finish it, but promise not to have a stroke if I don’t.)
Oh, and have I mentioned that I’m the size of a manatee?
1) I heard Piper out in the yard this morning squealing at something. I assumed it was a cat/squirrel/other fauna sitting in a tree or on the fence and tantalizing her. So I waddled (in all my manatee-sized glory) to the door to bring her in, wearing only a t-shirt and underwear. At which I saw that she was, in fact, yelping at some utility worker on a pole at the corner of the yard. Let me express my most fervent apologies to Mr. Anonymous Lineman here. No one should have to see that vision so early in the morning. Props for not falling off of the pole in shock.
2) My grandmother (the one with dementia) let me know last night that what I really need for these babies is a couple of good bassinets to put them in in the car. She says that they’ll be too crumpled up in the car seats, and that that can’t be good for them. (In a tone that sounds as if they’ll be permanently deformed and forced to become junior Quasimodos.) Of course, this is a woman who thought that Obama vs Clinton was a local race, so perhaps her advice is somewhat suspect.
3) My blood sugar just a little while ago (2 hours after lunch) was 64. I think we might be over-correcting things just a tad.
Come on over and guess the birth stats at my baby pool. Guessing babies’ sexes shouldn’t be hard, but weights, lengths, dates and times could be interesting. FWIW, we’ll be inducing/sectioning by 11/14 at the latest, so judge accordingly. For further reference, Watson is A, Crick is B, and it’s a near-certainty that Watson will be born first. Winner gets…well, I don’t know what, other than bragging rights. 🙂
The best of the past 24 hours:
1) We celebrated Starbuck’s 31st birthday yesterday, with a trip to Outback (mmm…steak) and an ice cream cone.
2) Little miss B’s heartbeat was found waaay farther south than previously, and I can no longer feel a hard little skull under my liver, but rather something more butt-like. Dare I hope?
3) I won one of the coveted Halloween sleepers for just 99 cents! Now to get one more…
The worst of the past 24 hours:
1) Waited 3 hours in the OB’s office. It was Friday afternoon, and he’d had several deliveries/etc due to being on call, and that’s not usual, but all that sitting in hard chair = owie.
2) I definitely failed the 3 hour glucose tolerance. So now I get the joy of accuchecks 4 to 6 times per day, and daily glyburide. And, of course, minimal/no sugar or etc. for the duration. I’m going to miss my mellowcreme pumpkins and apple cider.
3) My pelvis has apparently decided to come apart at the seams, and I can just barely walk. Some of this is attributable to the chair in #1, but it’s mostly been creeping up for days. It took me three tries to get out of the booth at Outback last night. Am considering hiring a crane to follow me around and lift me out of chairs.
OB stats: Watson 140, Crick 144, BP 132/82, weight remains stable at + 13. Forgot to ask about fundal height (we were too busy discussing NSTs) but am sure it’s 40+ at this point.
Four more days until the 32 week fiesta!
So I popped into the department after my peri visit the other day, and ran into my coworker who’s also having twins. She’s about 26-27 weeks. The conversation got around to weight gain, and she’s proud to be not eating much and still being several lbs under her pre-pregnancy weight. (She started at a very average/normal weight. I’d guess a BMI of 22ish.) Nevermind that she’s already had multiple growth scans showing her twins to be small for gestational age (that’s <10th percentile.) Nevermind that this is an educated person, who should understand how important healthy birthweights are. Nope, it’s all about how skinny she can stay. I refrained from tearing her leg off and beating her to death with it, but it was close. Argh.
For reference, “average” twin moms are encouraged to gain about 25 lbs by the end of the second trimester (about where this person is) and more like 40 lbs total. I’m currently up 13 to 14, but started out with some extra, so my goal was only about 25 lbs total (and really my goal was just to eat plenty of nutritious stuff with lots of protein to grow me some nice-sized healthy babies, and I’ll worry about any extra baggage after they’ve checked out of Chez Uterus.)
That’s really the only word for the peri’s reaction to my cervical sono today. The guy looked like he’d seen a very welcome ghost.
Today’s cervical measurement (that is, the amount of cervix keeping my presently 7-odd lbs of kid from falling to the floor): 8 mm. Two weeks ago? 8 mm. Four weeks ago? 6 mm. Whaaa?
None of us (me, the peri, the peri’s staff, my mother the pediatrician, etc) can figure out how this is happening, but we’re dancing metaphorical jigs, anyway.
So I’m staying down for a few weeks more, seeing the OB weekly, continuing to shoot up (Lovenox) and pop pills (nicardipine) and will see the peri again in two weeks. He’s making noises about “loosening my restrictions” as I get closer to term. I refrained from kissing him at the idea – the guy reminds one of nothing so much as a clean-shaven 60ish version of Santa Claus, and I didn’t want to embarrass him all the way down to his socks, even if he is pretty darn familiar with my nether regions.
In short, hooray!!! Now we focus on getting to 32 weeks (6.5 more days, but who’s counting) and gently encouraging Miss B that all the cool kids are vertex this fall. We’ll see.
My due date group has a thread featuring waist measurements. In the interests of 1) remembering this a few years from now and 2) illustrating that I am not, in fact, as tiny as one might think based on the last belly shot, I’m now measuring 49.5 inches around, at 30w4d. This is fine with me, so long as I don’t gain more than another 16.5 inches. I’m not sure I can handle being bigger around than I am tall.
30 weeks yesterday! Woo hoo!
Tuesday: The glucola was gross. Rancid orange koolaid. Seriously felt like sugar shock, and then they accu-cheked my venous blood sample and decided to call the OB’s office before they’d let me leave! But of course wouldn’t tell me (just the dumb patient) the number. Lovely. OB’s office was apparently unimpressed, so they let me go home.
Wednesday: After all the sugar drama, the lab still hadn’t faxed my results to the OB as of my late-morning appointment. On the bright side, things continue to look good (we don’t bother with the cervix these days – that’s the peri’s department for now) with good HRs (Watson 148, Crick 156) and a 38 cm fundal height, and minimal weight gain. (Unless you ask my bathroom scale, which says I’ve gained 4 lbs this week? Bizarro.) Talked to the OB about delivery (consensus is c/s unless both are vertex. Watson’s been vertex right along, but Crick’s breech and has been for awhile, and after weighing the pros/cons/etc, I’m ok with the c/s. I may try to talk Crick into flipping, with the flashlight trick or something, but no harm if not.) Talked about, and started, steroids for their lungs (just two doses.) And am now on weekly OB visits + biweekly peri visits.
Today: Went back for my second steroid shot (and how much nicer are IM shots when not self-administered? Much.) Turns out my “OMG awful” 1 hour result was 176. Not great, sure, but hardly “run! run! run for your lives!” But that’s the lab for you. So will be doing the 3 hr on Monday after the steroids wear off a little. I’m guessing I’ll fail it, but hey, whatever. And my hemoglobin is 12.5, so go me! Other than the valet service losing my car key, which they eventually found, not a big trip out of the house.
Elowyn 
