Miss Friendly Volunteer

So, last Sunday, 3 days in..we met Vicki (The Friendly Volunteer).  What a hoot!! She knocks on the door, and in a high pitched voice says, "Can I come in?" We say sure.. (anyone can come in).  She proceeds to tell us she is the "Friendly volunteer"; not her name, just the 'friendly volunteer'.. so I say, "Hi, friendly volunteer".. she laughs this little giggle.  Eventually she tells us her name is Vicki.  She's probably late 60's, early 70's.  First thing she asks me is if i want to color? Which i look at her a little odd & then say 'no thank you'.  She did leave me 2 bibs to cross stitch & a notepad & cards.

Well, today.. Miss Friendly Volunteer came knocking & asked again if i wanted coloring books & crayons..and i said YES.. LOL :).  I colored a picture for both Emily & Ben.. (hopefully they'll post below).

Miss friendly volunteer just stayed a minute! She's funny!!

Good morning, Sunday! 7/31/11 - 8:00 a.m.

Morning! I'm frustrated that the morning CNA or nurse hasn't been here yet to take my blood sugar, geesh! Do i really have to call them every morning? It's on my orders, look it up.  Sometimes, like any job, you have people that do their job & others that appear want to skate thru the day.  The other day, they were fighting over me because "I'm so nice & easy".. maybe if I start complaining.. ugh!

Anyway, had a good nights sleep. The itchiness is still around, on some parts of my body looks good; but other parts the rash is getting around..lol. My arms the rash has reached around to my elbow & beyond.  On my legs, it's on my calves & under.  We did lotion last night & today is shower day and we'll do it again.

Hope my u/s gets done early this morning.  I just ordered breakfast.  Going to have a sausage, cheese & toast sandwich; and yogurt.  I need to try for a low carb breakfast.  Lunch will be rotisserre chicken.

Happy Sunday to all! Hi to all my church family who will be celebrating at 10 a.m.

Love,
pattie, gary, baby a & baby b

Saturday night & still itchying! 9:29pm

Hi there! Long day it seems.  I did put some #'s together though (got do something), on Monday we'll be 27 weeks.  So 7 days from then will be 28; 21 days til 30 weeks, and 35 days til 32 weeks, and 50 days til 34 weeks.. Soo, our goal is the 34 weekers :).

This afternoon's nurses were uhh..not that great.  I didn't get on the baby monitor til tonight (at 8:30pm), and I told the afternoon nurses they usually do the monitoring between 2-4pm.  They never came in.  Guess I don't need much 'watching over', so they never come in here; unless I check in with them for insulin at meals, or blood sugar checks 2 hours after.

Babies did well at u/s this morning.  Baby blueberries are moving around like crazy.  Met with another OB this am, and then the monitoring went okay this evening.

My next dose of benadryl is at midnight, so I better get some sleep!

I'm eating a great lunch of a cup of soup, and chef salad for lunch..delicious! I'll have that again tomorrow.  Then the meatloaf, mash potatoe, squash & a cesar salad for dinner.  Pretty good! I'll get sick of it quickly though, i can tell.

Okay.. need to go put some lotion on this itchy bum!! Arghhhh.. G'night all.

Love,
pattie & gary, baby a & baby b

Saturday morning Itchiness.. Sat., 7/30/2011 - 7:00a.m.

Good morning people. Well on the up side, I slept very good, on the down side I'm taking a benadryl (to relieve itchiness) & another pill to relieve itchiness; and both make you tired.  I have what's commonly knows as PUPPS, a pregnancy rash some women get during pregnancy.  It started just on my bum on Wednesday, and now is everywhere:  belly, arms, legs, back, and my feet for goodness sake. You name it it's there, and it's itchy! Very uncomfortable.  Unfort, it's one of those rashes that stays til you deliver.  Ouchie!!  My ob came in last night & she was in shock how quick it had spread.. other than giving me pregoasone (a steroid-sp??), there's not much you can do, than take the oral pills & maybe put some cream on it daily.  Gary helped with the cream last night, but it just seems to soothe the itch for a few minutes.  I can get thru this, I know i can.. guess i'll be napping alot!

So yesterday, was a bomb day.  U/S didn't come in til nearly 4:00pm; so they did my monitoring right after lunch (the babies were great, good feed on them); and then the u/s (soo late).. good u/s too.  Baby A had a little more fluid.  Yea!  Baby B was waving & really jumping around, as usual.  We saw that one of them had the hiccups, and one was drinking the amniotic fluid.  What a cool thing to see.

Yesterday, they also ordered me an 'air bed'..which lasted about 2 hours in my room.  First it was really too high, and you couldn't climb in and get into a comfortable position.  Second, you couldn't sit straight up.  OB came in & saw I was uncomfortable and ordered it out.. she's really funny.  I was going to give it thru the weekend, but she said, 'nah you dont need it, let's get rid of it'.  So, now I'm back in my regular bed, and had a good night sleep.  At least I can type & eat without being up to the ceiling.

I missed the regular phone callers last night, my mom & my mother in law.. but i was really tired; and of course itchy!!

On to Saturday, well as of today we've been here 9 days seems to gone by quick.  Gotta order breakfast so i'm not eating too late.. gotta go.

Happy 6th Anniversary to Ross & Heather! Yea for you guys!!
A knowledge of sympathy goes out to Gabi Senna's family.. 83, he passed this week. What a wonderful spiritual man.  He was the man that lead all our holy ghost prayers at my mom & dad's..for many years!

Thanks for everyone who's thinking positive thoughts for us & saying a prayer; may you have those thoughts & prayers back at you 10 fold.

Love,
blueberry a & b, pattie & gary

Friday Morning - 9:47 a.m. - July 29th

Good morning all!! Okay, so someone slipped up & sent me a 'public' message on Fb..it was very nice..but we're trying to keep this hospital thing private, til we're about 28 weeks or so.  I know that most of the people on my facebook would want to know & be ready to do anything, say a prayer or have a happy thought; but there are some people who would be stir up some craziness.. dont want that!

Anyway, i had a good sleep, except for this rash.. very itchy, a little bumpy.. started on my bum & hands, now it's moved to my belly, upper arms, boobs.. and did I say it was itchy?? Soo.. they're going to try to figure it out today, so they can get me something stronger to take than benadryl.

Breakfast today was scrambled eggs, a sausage, my own toast (lol), and yogurt.  Hoping that u/s tech comes in the next 1/2 hour, then we'll do the dopplers this am.  OB came in last night, and everything is still status quo.. looking good! Dr. Pope called in yesterday am too.. he's soo nice to check in!

I see napping in my future today!

Thanks for reading  & thinking positive thoughts for us.  We've been here 8 days today! See the time is going by fast!

love,
blueberries a & b, pattie & gary

Thursday Evening..July 28, 2011 - 8:49pm

Another good day for baby a & baby b.. they are doing so well.  Managed to get at least 20 minutes on the doppler & baby b moved again, he's back into his favorite position, he's laying head up & horizontally under my ribs.  Baby a is still head down.  But, remember she doesnt have alot of room to move.

Dr. Pope, our OB from Fairhaven, called in this am to check in.  Very cool that he calls to check in on us.

Our ob from up here came in tonight, & besides showing her this crazy, bumpy rash i have on my buttocks & left hand.. everything looks good.

Gary & I have elevated to a new notch in our relationship, when he had to put cortisone cream on my rash! He was a good sport about it.  The things you do for the people you love. :)  Glad I have him!!

Okay.. going to na nights soon.. I had my fat free frozen yogurt snack at 7:45 ish.. will get my final insulin & some benadryl at 10-10:30.

G'night all!!
love,
blueberries a & b, pattie & gary :)

Baby Blueberries!: July 28, 2011 - Thursday - 9:45 a.m.

Baby Blueberries!: July 28, 2011 - Thursday - 9:45 a.m.: "Good morning, sleeping good! I do feel tired, might've been the Benadryl i took last night for a bad 'bum' rash & rash on my fingers. The n..."

July 28, 2011 - Thursday - 9:45 a.m.

Good morning, sleeping good! I do feel tired, might've been the Benadryl i took last night for a bad 'bum' rash & rash on my fingers.  The nurses think it's just from laying/sweating all day & then the sheets; so I'll have Gary bring me a sheet from home.  Geesh! Could be worse, I guess!!

Yesterday was a good day.  Baby Blueberries are doing so well.  Baby B flipped..so he is head down now, but he has a lot more room to flip, so you never know.  Baby A has been head down for awhile now.  The OB came in last night again & is happy  how things are going.  Look her up, Jackie Blackstone, D.O., here at Maine Medical.  She has a great personality, good bedside manner & is highly educated.

They want to do a doppler this am on the babies; and we still have an u/s due this morning to.  The babies heartrates are doing great.

Breakfast this am was the usual sausage & cheerios.  Gary came back yesterday, with snacks & clothes & towels. I'm wearing my own clothes, which is very comfortable.

Dr. Pope called this morning to check in on us, he's happy how well things are going.  He's a good OB too. Sad we won't be with him to deliver, but glad he's calling in to check on us.

Okay.. resting before the u/s's & dopplers start.  Will write again later for an update!

Thanks for reading,
love,
pattie & gary, baby a & baby b :)

Wednesday, July 27 - 11:34a.m.

Hi, just got back from u/s & it went well.  Both babies are doing really well.. moving around, as usual.  Baby A's fluid is about the same as yesterday, no more/no less.  Baby B flipped & both heads are together right around my belly button.  Precious!!

I'm having a snack & watching something on tv.  Gary left Fairhaven & heading up now.. I estimate he'll be here around 2:30.. maybe with a iced French Vanilla coffee!!

I do feel a little tired today...maybe just resting! lol

Breakfast was the usual sausage links, cheerios, yogurt & fruit.  Think for lunch, not sure, need to check the special..but the tomatoe soup was really good :).

Signing off for now! Love you my baby blueberries!!

Mommy & Daddy

Baby A has a little more fluid today... Yea! 8:13pm

Milestone.. Baby A has a little more fluid today! How exciting!!  That's Daddy's girl.. it's not much more..but it's a little more; and the OB says that's great. She's peeing & the fluid is staying in.. in a few weeks she might have so much more than right now.  :)

Okay.. it's been a long day..but everything went well. So i need to get ready for bed :)

G'night all! Good night Baby A & Baby B.. Momma & Dadda loves you blueberries!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Good morning! Finally, a well rested night of sleep!  I slept for 8 hours plus, and didn't wake as they came in every 4 hours to do their vital check 'thing', or give me antibiotics.

Yesterday went well, about the same information.  Our blueberries are doing well.  Baby A still likes to play hide n seek, when the nurses are trying to monitor heartrates; but Baby B is a good baby & let's them listen.  The whole process took about an hour.  It's uncomfortable for me, as I'm laying on my back with 2 monitors on my belly; but it's good that we do this daily to monitor the heart rates.

This morning I have an ultra sound, as usual.  Just ordered breakfast..the usual, sausage, yogurt, rice krispies today & fruit cup.

Last night, Theresa was here & we ordered dinner from the Dog Fish Cafe.. I had a cesar salad with chicken.  It was good.  It's nice to order outside of the hospital every once in awhile.  Money wise, we can only really do it 1x week.  I see a subway sandwich in my near future.  Probably tomorrow with Gary.

Gary went home yesterday & will be back Wednesday.  He really needed to "check in" with the house & get some work.  We will get thru this together, as long as I can give up on controlling every situation.. LOL..

Weird things happening yesterday:
- Someone was cleaning the windows.. like our shades was up & there he is with a ladder.. very funny!
- Chatting with the nurses & laughing about "Friendly Volunteer" from Sunday, Vicki.. which really requires her only little 'posts'.. :)

Thanks for all those supporting us! 26w1day.. :)

Why Blueberries??

We've gone to NH twice in the last year, once in November & now for camping.  We love North Conway, and love having breakfast at "The Blueberry Muffin".  However, back in November I got sick right after eating breakfast at the Blueberry Muffin, and ended up in the ER (& at that time was told we were pregnant, we lost in December). 

Now this time around, the blueberries water broke..our morning routine was that we went to "Blueberry Muffin" for breakfast & then it was hours later that again, i ended up in the ER with my water breaking. 

Therefore, the running theme here is Blueberries :) .. Either they love the food or not! LOL..

Morning Monday.. 7/25/11

I slept so good last night!! Asleep at 11:00 ish, they had to come in for a check on my vitals and IV run & I didn't really hear them at all.  No crazy dreams too, that's always a good thing!

I was up at 5, was seen by a resident..everything is going okay.  The OB will be in this am.  Theresa is coming up too, looking forward to seeing her, she'll stay til tomorrow.  Gary is on his way home today to check in with the house, and get some work.  He still needs to do some work up here.

Just ordered my breakfast.. I'll have to add a post on the 'breakfast club' thing..  this is my job up here, to coordinate my breakfasts with my carb control...it's electrifying! :) lol. Got to keep my mind busy doing something.

Water breaking @ 25w4days

I was just relaxing, reading a book on my Coleman queen size air mattress in our tent on Thursday, July 21.  My DH (dear husband) was chatting away with a fellow camper.  I had been experiencing some 'period like cramps' for a couple of days but chocked it up as 'camping poopies'. (On vacation camping, I wasn't very er.. 'regular'.)

Around noon, I finally had a BM (bet you're all glad to hear that)..however, with that came a gush & lots of leakage.  I called over to my DH and cried, "something is wrong".  We packed it up very quickly; and he drove to the nearest Emergency Room.  Once there, it was very hectic.. the important thing was to find the babies heartbeats; because it is twins, it was very hard to find.  I tried to stay calm, but was certainly crying, as I realized that this was 'too early' to have my water break.

The nurses & doctors were very nice in the ER (ironically, we remembered the ER doctor from a vist back in Nov. 2010, when I was very dehydrated).  After making 'nice nice', it was down to business, the OB was called in, there were nurses called in, and ultra sound techs with high tech machines called in.  At one point in the room, there were probably 8-10 people; and it was very warm.  (The AC had let go a few hours before we got there).  My DH was great, holding my hand & assuring me things would be okay.  I felt a calm that they would be, but sure a part of me just wasn't sure.

After about 10 minutes of looking at ultra sound for Baby "A", and watching an OB Doctor, an OB Manager, and two ultra sound techs nod their head 'no'; I was sure that Baby "A" wasn't still in my belly.  I was heartbroken.

They went back to looking for baby "B" and reassured us that he was okay & things were in tact.  My DH asked them to look again for baby "A", and they did.  I was praying for a miracle.  I realized I hadn't stopped praying since I got in the car headed for the ER.  Well, prayers do work.. the team was able to see little Baby A's heartbeat on ultrasound.  She was fine.  Thank God!

From that point on, there was just a lot of conversation around where we would be transferred.  Even though we were 2 hours away from a hospital in Boston (which would've been closer to our home in Fairhaven); we were only an hour away from a very good hospital in Maine.  After consultation with our own OB from Fairhaven and the ER OB, it was decided they would transport me by ambulance to the hospital in Maine.  Everyone just wanted Mom & babies to be stable.

Welcome to Maine little blueberries!

On Thursday, July 21st at approximately 12:15pm, at a campground in North Conway, NH; my little baby A blueberry wanted to see what would happen if she broke her water.  I'm her mom, and at 24w5days, I was very scared!  But thankfully, baby A blueberry & baby B blueberry are doing well; however we are in Maine.  (We live in Massachusetts; were vacationing in NH, and now our on bed rest til we deliver in Maine.)  Yes, we will have our first children, twins, born in Maine.  And that's okay! It wasn't in our "birth-plan", however it was in God's plan; and we are okay with the decision. 

I write this blog to express my overwhelming days, my nervous notions, and even my witty thoughts as I lay in a hospital bed trying to keep the blueberries in my belly for as long as we can.

I hope my family & friends who read this, will still feel a part of my pregnancy without seeing me weekly or monthly.  And I thank everyone who has kept me & my husband & our babies in your prayers.

We are doing good! And what's not to like about Maine?  Laid back, beautiful ocean side state with good lobster :).