The Skinny: I'm Rexy and I know it...
Cheesy. I know... but it does play in my head frequently as I'm being wheeled around Rex Hospital.
So here's the skinny on the past few days. Thanks to everyone for being patient in understanding our limited responses to texts/phone calls.
So on Tuesday we went in for a regular check up - expecting continued rave reviews on the girls' growth and how this pregnancy was going thus far. And we definitely got rave reviews on the girls still looking awesome. Unfortunately it was me who was causing problems. Within the last week my swelling had gone from "normal" when I was on my feet a lot... to waking up with puffy hands/face/feet everyday. It just had happened over night - but I excused it to being pregnant with twins in freaking july/august in North Carolina. It made perfect sense to me. :) Anyways, after I waddled my way into the doc's office for a weighing and had gained 10 lbs in 2 weeks - we were a little shocked. I've not been over eating and have actually been really conscientious about maintaining a healthy caloric intake. Then they took my blood pressure at lease 5 times total (spread out over time of course) and ALL of them were extremely high. All that to say, we got sent over to Rex Hospital and have been here ever since.
It's been a long few days. We were hoping to make a quick 3 hour trip to the hospital to run tests & get sent home & then bake these babies to 34-36 weeks, but that just was not the case. I don't know how you react in situations where your expectations differ from reality, but this pregnant sleep deprived woman has done a lot of crying.
We've seen a ton of specialists, met with our regular docs (who I ADORE btw), our nurses are legit and we love them, met a nice lady from the NICU staff, and we"re probably going on a tour of it later today. Everyone has been AWESOME. But still - a hospital stay is a hospital stay.
So the bottom line is, I have Preeclampsia and the only way to cure it is through delivery. So we're in a balancing act of managing my blood pressure/health while looking out for the lil' ones and trying to bake them as long as possible. We've tried out a variety of medications to get my blood pressure down and found one that worked, but then I had an allergic reaction to it so it was a no go. But praise God we were able to get the steroid shots to increase lung growth in Noel and Felicity over the past 48 hours! So that is a huge blessing. So we're just in a fun waiting game right now. Some docs are saying I'll be here till we delivery, whereas some of the nursing staff has given us hope to possibly go home! Either way - it is comforting to know that the staff here are AMAZING and our girls will be just fine. It might just take them a little bit longer to get introduced to the public and we might just get super chummy with the NICU staff.
So today I think we're back at square one: trying to find something to manage my BP and get a strategy/timeline.
Things you can pray for:
(1) Sleep for me. Last night they gave me a small dose of Ambien that was AWESOME. I slept for 5 hours which is more than I've slept in a long time. The night before that I only got 1.5 hours (and that's being generous). So we all know what happens when I get sleep deprived... I get teary... and last night before I got my meds I may or may not have had a break down. So yes... pray for healthy sleep for me.
(2) This is dumb... but the past few days they've restricted food from me from like 11am - 11pm. Combine empty stomach, no sleep, pregnant, and stressed out woman whose "expectations" are differing from reality, and again... you get tears. I just don't want to be the patient that cries all the time. Just sayin' - these nurses are so great and I just hate to cry in front of people in general. BooooooHisssss on these hormones. I usually feel like I can maintain my emotions better most of the time. :/
(3) Pray that we can have a clear strategy to make it to week 32 (or 34!!! call me hopeful). At this point, although it's not looking like I'm coming home before they deliver, I'm still semi-hoping to be released for bed rest at home. BUT - docs know best and I'd love to bake these girls at least one more week if not longer - but we're trusting that God is sovereign and knows exactly when Noel and Felicity will be born! So whatever the strategy is, pray for contentment in my heart and wisdom on the docs' parts. We really do trust them 100%!
(4) Praise God for healthy growth in the girls, and join us in continuing to pray for that! They really are rock stars. Noel weighs almost 4 lbs, coming in at 3.15 and Felicity is 3.7!!! They both have PLENTY of fluid in their amniotic sacs and are looking beautiful. Please pray that whenever their arrival is, they will SHOCK the NICU staff with how healthy they are and won't have to stay for very long.
Alright, this 31 week pregnant mama is going to get her some GRUB before they attempt to take it away again... (let's just go ahead and add that to the list as well... no more starving me. Please and thank you.).
Much love to you all,
