Today is the date I picked for our baby birth date pool. Based on the morning monitoring, it looks like I'm going the way of a #16 seed. The doctors have indicated that it's obvious Bea is a not a morning person, so they're not going to be worried if she doesn't have any heart accelerations in the morning. Apparently that doesn't make life any easier for Mom who right now likes a good acceleration as much as an M & M blizzard.
Today is also Bullet's birthday. Nine big ones. He's been on cancer remission for two years. We had two separate surgeries to remove cancerous growths from him two years ago and are very happy he's still running around, though quite a bit slower. Last year he needed knee surgery. I wonder what 2007 will bring for our expensive dog. Melissa enjoys seeing pictures and stories about Bullet's daily antics as much as anything. The happiness he brings her (and me) is worth every penny we've spent on him.
I've jokingly mentioned in the past that if Bea makes it past 12:00 midnight tonight she'll be our little (birth stone) diamond. In my dorky geotechnical thought process, I realized that a diamond is almost a miracle of nature. It takes the perfect chemical composition, pressure and temperature to make a diamond, much like our little Bea. After everything Melissa has been through, I wonder how big of a birth stone I need to get her. Pam, no need to reply. I fully understand your viewpoint on the subject.
I have to admit after I made my original post, I realized I was always confused on whether midnight is either 12:00 am or 12:00 pm. Well apparently it's neither. A.M. stands for ante meridian (kind of like the ante partum unit Melissa's in) and P.M. stands for post meridian. Thus PM is when the sun has passed over the prime meridian. At noon the sun is directly over the prime meridian, so it's neither east or west. You could interpret that 12 pm is the 12 o'clock after the sun has passed over the prime meridian, which would make it 12 midnight, which would immediately be followed by 12:01 am. Thus to be correct 12 am and 12 pm should be avoided. 12 noon/noon or 12 midnight/midnight should be used instead.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday March 30
Today is the 49th day Melissa has been in the hospital. Seven big (really big) weeks. There are only 19 days left until 34 weeks, or when they will deliver Bea regardless of how well she's doing. For the most part we're doing pretty well, however every once in awhile we get tired of the whole thing. But we know it will all be worth it if Bea comes out just fine, and everything is looking like that will be the case. That's all for now.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Thursday March 29
Bea had a much better day of monitoring today and for that we're all very happy especially Melissa.
Tonight we had a tour of the NICU and the Special Care Nursery. We started with the NICU so we could finish at the Special Care Nursery which we assumed, correctly, that it would be much more pleasant and less stressful. I had walked to the NICU before and and seen the building, hallways and pictures in the hallways. It was all new to Melissa.
I had taken my last tour at 25 weeks, when Bea was small compared to many of the babies, and was smaller then the babies on the NICU video. It was very unnerving. Today we were on the other side of the scale. Bea is a heavy weight compared to most babies in the NICU, in fact she might be large and strong enough to avoid the NICU all together. However it was still very scary, because we were able to go inside and see real babies.
The babies were doing better than we expected, but it was still scary. It was so real. I'll never forget the images of a little baby hooked up to a breathalater with their mouth full of equipment, with their chest rising up and down from the machine, with little sheets of a plastic like substance covering their skin to presumably keep the skin moist.
The Special Care Nursery in comparison was very peaceful and quiet. The babies were bigger and happier. We were able to find a baby in the SCN that was the same weight as Bea was. The baby looked great and much more like a baby I always pictured compared to those in the NICU. Bea of course will lose fluid weight initially like all babies, but it was great to see what she's going to look like in a couple of weeks.
Tonight we had a tour of the NICU and the Special Care Nursery. We started with the NICU so we could finish at the Special Care Nursery which we assumed, correctly, that it would be much more pleasant and less stressful. I had walked to the NICU before and and seen the building, hallways and pictures in the hallways. It was all new to Melissa.
I had taken my last tour at 25 weeks, when Bea was small compared to many of the babies, and was smaller then the babies on the NICU video. It was very unnerving. Today we were on the other side of the scale. Bea is a heavy weight compared to most babies in the NICU, in fact she might be large and strong enough to avoid the NICU all together. However it was still very scary, because we were able to go inside and see real babies.
The babies were doing better than we expected, but it was still scary. It was so real. I'll never forget the images of a little baby hooked up to a breathalater with their mouth full of equipment, with their chest rising up and down from the machine, with little sheets of a plastic like substance covering their skin to presumably keep the skin moist.
The Special Care Nursery in comparison was very peaceful and quiet. The babies were bigger and happier. We were able to find a baby in the SCN that was the same weight as Bea was. The baby looked great and much more like a baby I always pictured compared to those in the NICU. Bea of course will lose fluid weight initially like all babies, but it was great to see what she's going to look like in a couple of weeks.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
31 Weeks!
Boom. Another week has passed. Bea took the day off. She monitored poorly in the morning and required a second monitoring late morning to confirm she was just sloughing off the first time. Then the evening monitoring she decided to really lower her heart rate a couple of times which scared Mom a lot. Mom in turn called Dad and asked when he was coming over and ended up scaring him too. Thankfully when Dad arrived he saw that there were no monitors on at the nurse's station which meant naughty Bea finally shaped up and did a normal heart beat.
We're now hanging out in the heart hospital again after wheeling through a little art sale-fundraiser in one of the lobbies. It was nice to see different scenery (literally) after almost seven weeks here.
The doctor who saw Melissa today was the same doctor who checked us in (nearly seven weeks ago). He said he and everyone else can't believe Melissa's still pregnant. Now they want us to get to 32 weeks. That's only about 15 percent longer than we've been here.
Today in the group session the other pregnant women asked if Melissa had seen all of the movies in the collection. Melissa responded that no, she figured out right away that she would have to watch 5 movies a day for 40 days to get through them all -- but wait, she has been here for 40 days! Matt questions whether Melissa has seen 200 movies in her lifetime. She's not a big tv/movie watcher. She may have seen Sound of Music 200 times, but we're not counting the reruns.
We're now hanging out in the heart hospital again after wheeling through a little art sale-fundraiser in one of the lobbies. It was nice to see different scenery (literally) after almost seven weeks here.
The doctor who saw Melissa today was the same doctor who checked us in (nearly seven weeks ago). He said he and everyone else can't believe Melissa's still pregnant. Now they want us to get to 32 weeks. That's only about 15 percent longer than we've been here.
Today in the group session the other pregnant women asked if Melissa had seen all of the movies in the collection. Melissa responded that no, she figured out right away that she would have to watch 5 movies a day for 40 days to get through them all -- but wait, she has been here for 40 days! Matt questions whether Melissa has seen 200 movies in her lifetime. She's not a big tv/movie watcher. She may have seen Sound of Music 200 times, but we're not counting the reruns.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Tuesday March 27
This is the first day without any (scheduled) visitors for Melissa as far as I know. Her mom is back in Appleton and I'm not showing up until dinner. I'm curious to see how bored she is and how talkative she will be.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Monday March 26
We had our last ultrasound today. It'll be our last because three weeks from Wednesday will be week 34 and they are only doing ultrasound on three week intervals at this time for us. The testing went really well. After the ultrasound technician was done, he said the doctor would be right in, well after 15-20 minutes and no doctor Melissa and I started to get worried because delays in the past have meant they're evaluating something bad. Good news was the doctor was stuck with another patient and had only good news to discuss.
Bea's weight was measured at 3 lb 11 oz with an accuracy of +/- 10 oz. That puts her over the 1.5 kilogram limit for the NICU (they only have stats for babies under 1.5 kilogram in weight). So we're really hoping we can skip the NICU and go straight to the special care nursery.
The doctor reiterated that Twin to Twin Syndrome babies that survive a partner's demise have a 30% chance of having a stroke (some brain matter damage). There is no definitive test to evaluate brain damage but a baby's reactivity is a good sign that nothing wrong happened. Thus when Melissa thought Bea had a really bad monitor last week because of how variable the results were, the doctor reiterated how happy she was because the variability in response to a stimuli like her pinching her cord is an informal sign of no brain damage. Thankfully Melissa and I weren't previously aware of the doctor's concerns.
At 32 weeks (next week) they'll do a test on Melissa's amniotic fluid and if the fluid is determined to be mature (we forgot to ask what that is) they might just go ahead and deliver Bea then. If the fluid is not mature, they'll let Bea sit until a "hiccup" occurs in her or Melissa's monitoring and they'll pulling her out right away. The explanation is there's no point in waiting for Bea or Melissa to develop an infection, they're pulling her out at the first minor sign of anything. Another doctor told Melissa that survivability and birth defect rates at 32 weeks for patients at Abbott/Minneapolis Childrens Hospital are normal, thus the magnitude of that date.
Oh yes, Bea has a big head and a really big abdomen, the arms and legs are not so big. Those mesurements started speculation on whose genes she has. They also saw hair on the ultrasound, and a lot more fluid than last week. Apparently Bea is a world class fluid producer. I'm putting in for an extra order of diapers right now.
Bea's weight was measured at 3 lb 11 oz with an accuracy of +/- 10 oz. That puts her over the 1.5 kilogram limit for the NICU (they only have stats for babies under 1.5 kilogram in weight). So we're really hoping we can skip the NICU and go straight to the special care nursery.
The doctor reiterated that Twin to Twin Syndrome babies that survive a partner's demise have a 30% chance of having a stroke (some brain matter damage). There is no definitive test to evaluate brain damage but a baby's reactivity is a good sign that nothing wrong happened. Thus when Melissa thought Bea had a really bad monitor last week because of how variable the results were, the doctor reiterated how happy she was because the variability in response to a stimuli like her pinching her cord is an informal sign of no brain damage. Thankfully Melissa and I weren't previously aware of the doctor's concerns.
At 32 weeks (next week) they'll do a test on Melissa's amniotic fluid and if the fluid is determined to be mature (we forgot to ask what that is) they might just go ahead and deliver Bea then. If the fluid is not mature, they'll let Bea sit until a "hiccup" occurs in her or Melissa's monitoring and they'll pulling her out right away. The explanation is there's no point in waiting for Bea or Melissa to develop an infection, they're pulling her out at the first minor sign of anything. Another doctor told Melissa that survivability and birth defect rates at 32 weeks for patients at Abbott/Minneapolis Childrens Hospital are normal, thus the magnitude of that date.
Oh yes, Bea has a big head and a really big abdomen, the arms and legs are not so big. Those mesurements started speculation on whose genes she has. They also saw hair on the ultrasound, and a lot more fluid than last week. Apparently Bea is a world class fluid producer. I'm putting in for an extra order of diapers right now.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Sunday March 25
Another weekend gone by. It was pretty smooth with no major health issues. Melissa probably enjoyed her few minutes outside in the hospital courtyard more then anyone else. Her room has a window that opens so she can get some fresh air.
We did have a really nice treat today. My Mom's cousin Mary Ann lined up her friend Tami who is a professional harpist to play for Melissa and Bea. One of Tami's specialities is playing for individuals in hospitals and nursing homes besides the normal parties and weddings. It was really nice. Bea moved around and kicked to the crescendo's. She moved around and kicked to Edelweiss and Somewhere Over the Rainbow, two songs Melissa apparently sings to here regularly. If you remember, Somewhere Over the Rainbow by IZ is Elsa's song. I think I'll get teary eyed everytime I hear that song to the day I die. It makes me stop and want to know what Elsa's up to.
We did have a really nice treat today. My Mom's cousin Mary Ann lined up her friend Tami who is a professional harpist to play for Melissa and Bea. One of Tami's specialities is playing for individuals in hospitals and nursing homes besides the normal parties and weddings. It was really nice. Bea moved around and kicked to the crescendo's. She moved around and kicked to Edelweiss and Somewhere Over the Rainbow, two songs Melissa apparently sings to here regularly. If you remember, Somewhere Over the Rainbow by IZ is Elsa's song. I think I'll get teary eyed everytime I hear that song to the day I die. It makes me stop and want to know what Elsa's up to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)