Dramatic shifts followed by stability

Firstly, another milestone in the books: we’re at 28 weeks today! At times, we doubted we’d ever make it this far. Now, our doctor is telling me to target 34 weeks (that magic number) on May 8th. At 30 weeks, the babies achieve more development and organ health. At 32 weeks, they achieve the same plus more body fat needed to survive the initial weight drop and the stress coming of life outside the womb. But at 34 weeks, the babies’ development is basically complete, and they just continue to gain weight in utero from there. This makes 34 weeks the ideal time for them to be born. Dare we hope we can get them there? Will my body and theirs hold out? My doctor is more confident than ever. So, we’re praying my preeclampsia stays controlled and the babies continue to be stable.

Of course that’s all easier said than done. Just 24-36 hours ago, a team of nurses burst into my room, and rolled me onto my side. Some did an ultrasound while others put in an IV line and began prepping me for an emergency c-section. Why? All babies at this gestational age commonly have what’s termed deceleration events. These are caused by the babies rolling onto, clamping under their arms, or yanking/squeezing their umbilical cords such that they cut off blood flow, effectively occluding their own umbilical cord accidentally. Prior to this age, my twins were neither strong enough nor had enough body mass to do this. Usually the dip in heartrate resolves all on its own in 1.5 minutes or less rather immediately. Yet, this week, one of my babies had a deceleration event where his heartrate dropped beneath that which can sustain life for more than 4 minutes, and was prolonged: it didn’t appear as though it was going to come back up on its own. Note: at approximately 10 minutes into a deceleration event that hasn’t resolved, they must do an emergency c-section. The rolling me onto my side got that baby’s rate to come back up to normal, then the other baby had a similar event less than an hour later. I was put on 24 hr monitoring and was awakened overnight every time there was an event greater than a minute. Needless to say, it was a harrowing 24 hours. Since then, the babies’ monitoring hasn’t picked up more or worsening deceleration events so were again stable. But my IV is still in and that constant lump in my chest remains, where it will for 4-6 more weeks. It’s so clear that nothing is very predictable at all. Therefore, the plan is to manage whatever pops up when it pops up. My doctor said, “the way to manage [this type of pregnancy] is to solve each problem as it arises. Then, keep solving problems until the only solution is delivery.” We’re trusting his incredible experience and expertise. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t battle fatigued and worried dor our twins lives. I admit I may have watched The Martian starring Matt Damon several times recently for encouragement to keep a calm head and focus on solving problems until there are no more to solve. It’s a great movie. Plus, in the movie, Matt’s character figures out he becomes a pirate in the process. 😊

As always, thank you for all the prayers and positive energy as well as the puzzle books, reading material, texts, jokes, memes, binge watching recommendations, and kindness sent our way to help support our mental health. We know we are not alone.

With Gratitude,

Pamela

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