Ultrasounds galore!

I had another ultrasound today. The first one since I've been back in Edmonton. :-) So far, since we found out we were having twins almost 3 weeks ago, I've had 10 ultrasounds (Some in Toronto were 3+ hrs long). Since Repete was so stuck the last time I was in Edmonton, the ultrasound tech's couldn't get the full anatomy of Repete, so today's ultrasound was about 1 1/2 hrs and they got most of the anatomy (they still need a side profile of the face and a few pics of the chest. Nothing to worry about, they just didn't get those yet.)

So far both babies look good, both have normal heartbeats again, blood flow is good,both have enough fluid, and both seem to be doing well 'on their own' now. (And for anyone who is interested...lol... my cervix is fairly long, that is very good, the risk of having early labor is a real possibility after a surgery like I just had in Toronto.)

 So much to be thankful for! 

I have to go for a heart echo again sometime this week for both babies, just to be sure they are coping well. 

Repete is still about 2 weeks behind Pete in measurements. That's a fairly large difference, but still at the low end of normal. As far as we can tell, the age difference hasn't increased since our first ultrasound 3 weeks ago.

 I'm booked for another ultrasound next week Wednesday to measure blood flow, fluids etc. The week after that, I will have another ultrasound to see if Repete is growing. The Dr. said they like at least 2 weeks between ultrasounds to measure for growth. If Repete stops growing, they will have to take the babies out by C-section (that means they could take the babies out at 25 weeks.) The dr's really want the twins to stay in till at least 30 weeks, and past that is all 'bonus'... If things do come to a point when we/the dr's have to make the decision to take the twins out, it would mean the dr's believe the likelihood of Repete dying if left inside any longer is very high. The reason Repete could stop growing, is because the placenta couldn't be evenly divided between Pete and Repete when the dr's did the surgery in Toronto. (This is often the case) So if Repete's portion of the placenta isn't providing for him anymore, he could die. This is monitored closely via ultrasound, in hopes we can catch any problems before they become fatal. 

But as I said earlier, everything looks quite positive right now, as far as we can tell both babies are doing quite well. We are so thankful that so far things have gone so smoothly! 

We do know that all our lives are in the hand of our Heavenly Father. Whether we are in the womb or out, no matter how scary the situation looks, He is in complete control of all our lives. He knows much better than you or I what is best for us. What a comfort! 

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seed first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own. 

Matthew 6: 25-34

Home again :-)

We are home again :-) So nice to sleep in our own beds, eat at home (I didn't realize eat-out food got so gross after a while...I've always loved eating out) get back to everyday things, hug and kiss our kids, and just get back into a bit of a routine :-)

We went to the hospital in Toronto for our last ultrasound on Thursday morning, everything looked normal (same as Wednesday) so they said we could fly back home yay! The babies hearts are still not quite as good as before the surgery, but the dr. said it often takes a week or so to go back to normal. :-) Otherwise, they are both moving, and Repete has lots of extra room now :-). So thankful!
After we got out of the hospital and called the travel agency AB health works with, and the lady there booked us a flight out at 2:45 that afternoon. We packed up our stuff at the hotel (the hotel generously offered an extended checkout time, so that we didn't have to take all our stuff to the hospital that morning) phoned a taxi, and headed to the airport. There we had a bit of lunch, bought two cute Teddies (with Toronto sweaters) for Pete and Repete. We buy teddies for each of our babies before they are born, we thought it would be kinda neat to buy these one's in Toronto :-). Then we waited a bit longer, and then we were off! Matthew's parents picked us up from the airport in Edmonton and took us out for supper :-) Then they dropped us off at home, and we went to go pick up our kids Yayayayay!!! :-P We missed them so much! We are very thankful Rebekah, Mom dB, and Rachel could take care of the kids at home for the first part, and that Laura, and Emily could take the kids for the rest of the time :-) and on very short notice too! :-) They were VERY well taken care of, and they really had a great time :-) THANK YOU SO MUCH!

The recovery for this surgery isn't too crazy, I mostly just have to take it easy, and not lift anything too heavy for 7-10 days or so, otherwise I can do everything normally :-) One think that I didn't expect is for my belly to be so much smaller (at the end of the surgery the dr. took out of Pete's sac about 1 1/2 liters of amniotic fluid (he had way too much, and taking it out helps me not to go into labor too soon)) I didn't think I'd notice a size difference so much, but all my clothes fit much better :-P I'm pretty tired, but I'm not sure if that's just because I was able to take so many naps while away, and now I got used to it :-P or if it's a recovery thing.
I have another ultrasound early next week, and we'll know a little more about how these little babies are doing :-) I still feel both boys kicking all the time, so that's reassuring :-)

Thank you so much for all your help and prayers!

Ps 105: 1-4
Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; 
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always. 


    

Surgery is Over :-)

Yesterday was a long day - we woke up, left our hotel and walked down to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 7am, they admitted me, put me in a room, put an iv in and did some blood work. After that we waited (and I fasted - I had started fasting at 10 pm the night before) until 7pm and then finally we headed to the operating room :-) (I have to admit I was a little grouchy after noon or so... being so hungry apparently does that to me... :-S  But once the dr. came to get us for the operation I felt better :-) )
 The dr. did an ultrasound before the operation to determine the position of the babies and placenta, they use the ultrasound machine the entire operation. The anesthestiologist gave me a little general anesthetic to relax me, the nurses got me into a comfortable position - I was so comfy! the dr. put some pink disinfectant on my belly, and then freezing on the spot they would make the incision, and the nurses put a sheet up so we couldn't see the dr actually doing the operation. We did get a screen so we could see everything on the camera, then the dr. did the incision (ouch that hurt! I didn't realize I was going to feel it so much) and in a few seconds we could see inside Pete's sac :-) So cool! then the dr used the laser to cauterize the veins that attached the babies. And we watched and prayed. Then the dr. took a little peek around at Pete and Repete :-) So neat! We could see Pete's face, even his eyebrows, his finger and toenails, and yup... he's a boy ;-)  we saw a little bit of Repete but not nearly as clear as Pete, because of the thin membrane that is separating them. The dr. didn't want to get too close to the membrane because it would be bad if that broke.  The whole operation took about 18 mins, so actually quite quick - and the incision is so small it didn't even need stitches, just tape! :-) I went into recovery for a bit, and then headed upstairs. I asked if I could PLEASE have something to eat... the nurse said 'the chart says ice chips' What??? It had been 25hrs since I had last eaten at that point, so I pleaded a little more and she let me eat an apple and orange juice I had saved. That's all I was allowed :-( I wasn't very happy... at least they gave me some tylonol after the surgery - it took away my food headache.
The nurses gave me some antibiotics before I went to sleep, and again a few times during the next day. I had breakfast at 8:30 Yay! Food! YUM!
 I had an ultrasound at 11:30am this morning and things looked good :-) heartbeats for both, they were both moving, and Repete already had more amniotic fluid :-) Then we went back to our room and while we were waiting to hear from the dr. Matthew's cousin (a brother of the cousin we stayed at for the weekend) came for a visit :-) Was nice to see him again, it had been a few years :-) . Then the dr came at 7:30 and did another ultrasound, he said he does see a change in the heartbeats from the ultrasounds before the surgery. This is normal, it's the babies adjusting to the difference in blood flow. Their hearts should normalize over the next  few days - Matthew's analogy is that it's kinda like when you get new glasses, your eyes take a few days to adjust. :-)
 We are at a hotel now and will go to the hospital for another ultrasound in the morning to see their heartbeats. Hopefully things will continue to be positive :-) Praise God things have gone so well so far!

Still waiting...

Not really any major things to let you all know about, just a little about our dr. appt this morning. It's more that this really a complicated decision because we don't live here in Toronto. 

Sooo... No surgery today. We went in to see dr. T. at 8:30am, he did an ultrasound and he can't really see any change from Thursday last week to now..... ( he did the ultrasound the day we came in on the plane) So now the two dr's (Dr. T and Dr. R) that are primarily taking care of me and babies are arguing - friendly arguing. :-P Dr T isn't sure the surgery needs to be done, because the babies/situation don't seem to be changing for the worse or for the better, as far as they can see. Dr R thinks there is a little resistance in the blood flow for Re-pete (Dr R did the ultrasound on Friday). But Dr. T says that he thinks that's because Dr R was pushing too hard with the ultrasound wand, and at that point it could skew the results a little....Dr. T says the difference is very, small and it seems to be depending on who is doing the ultrasound. Anyway, both dr's don't want to send me back to Edmonton without the surgery, but if we lived here they would just monitor often to see if there is any change. But I don't live here... So the surgery is booked for tomorrow, and I'm assuming they will both argue about it tomorrow too :-P - Dr T has a doctorate on ttts, and Dr R is the one that would be performing the surgery and is a specialist on ttts :-)

Thank you for all your prayers! We are very thankful that we could stay at Matthew's cousin and wife's place by/in Toronto, over the weekend, and that his cousin drove us back to the hospital this morning for our appt. at the hospital We were also able to attend both church services here on Sunday, it is always so encouraging to worship together :-) Thank-you to all those praying for us and our babies. 
Tonight we are going to stay at a hotel that very generously lowered their price for the room so we can stay close to the hospital. :-) 
Thanks again to all those taking care of our kids back at home :-) I hope they are being good for you! :-) We miss them so much!
Everyone has been such a big help, and so far things have been fairly easy on us :-) 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

Friday May 17

Matthew and I are still in Toronto - we left on the red eye out of Edmonton on Wednesday night (12:15) Arrived in Toronto early Thursday morning, and went straight to the hospital. At the hospital we found out that both babies look healthy.  (The drs either call them A and B or, Ollie and Polly :-) The dr. said we don't have to keep those names... we can change them once they are born ;-)    I'll call the twins (pete, (big baby) and re-pete (small baby) )

I'll try to explain the rest as best as possible, it's really hard to explain without drawing an example - I have a sheet on it, so I might post some pictures later when I get home.

 Re-pete is quite squished and doesn't have very much fluid. The membrane dividing the two babies is basically cling wrapped around him, which explains why they couldn't find a membrane at the first ultrasound. And Pete has LOTS of room, and is moving and floating around (Looks like he's having a good ole' time :-P )  So basically the difference between the amniotic fluid (which is baby pee) means Pete is peeing lots (too much) and Re-pete isn't peeing much, but he still is peeing a little bit. They both have a good heartbeat, but in Re-pete's cord the dr can see that the transfer of blood isn't as much as they would like to see (which is why Re-pete isn't peeing much) Pete on the other hand has lots coming in and out of his cord, but the problem with that is, his heart is thickening because there is too much coming to Pete and there is actually too much amniotic fluid. So far, the dr. is confident that this is not effecting their health badly at this point, but can become a problem if we leave the placenta as is. 

The risks of leaving things as is, are

- The condition worsens and the difference between babies becomes bigger, the organs become too stressed from too much/too little blood, and Pete keeps peeing excessively, at some point, because of all the amniotic fluid, my body decides it's time to deliver the babies, in that case we have them much too early. The chances of their survival if they are born at 24-26 weeks is not good. (that's in 4 - 6 weeks... so very possible this happens, because they already seen a slight change between Thursday and Friday's ultrasounds. Another possibility is that Re-pete dies from the lack of blood. At that point Pete would continue exchanging blood through the placenta via the cords from a dead baby :-( that would not be good, and Pete would likely die as well. 

- The risks of the surgery are

The drs don't get to pick where to separate the placenta, they have to separate the placenta where the blood vessels connect - it looks like Pete would end up with 2/3rds of the placenta, and Re-pete would get 1/3. If this is right, then both should be fine, 1/3rd is usually enough. if Re-pete  ends up with less, he could die because he wouldn't have a big enough piece to survive. If Re-pete dies after the surgery - not enough placenta -, there is very little risk to Pete because the blood vessels that exchanged blood have been cut (laser) 

- Another risk is that when the dr is doing the surgery he accidentally breaks the dividing membrane with the laser. That is a bit of a concern because of the way the babies, placenta, and membrane are positioned. 

Right now I can't remember any other risks but I may be missing some. 

The surgery.

They basically use a little tiny camera and laser put inside a little tiny sharp knife like instrument. They would insert the laser at the bottom of my uterus, go into the sac and laser the veins that connect both babies on the placenta, the placenta is at the top of my uterus, so they go right into the sac. I asked the dr. what would happen if Pete grabbed the laser (my kids are not that well behaved, and like to discover new things... haha) The dr. said that is ok, they can deal with that :-P 'whew' :-)
I am told I can likely watch the surgery on a screen, So cool, I wouldn't feel anything, but I would feel a little loopy :-P I've been told they can sometimes get some pretty nice close up pictures of the babies :-) And I may even be able to take some pictures home :-)

Because of the way the babies/placenta/cords/separating membrane are positioned they haven't done the surgery  yet. Also, because the dr's weren't completely sure of the severity of the problem - sometimes things are ok if they stay as they are. But the two ultrasounds (Thurs and Fri) show things are sure it is getting worse.
They are hoping for a little more fluid and some other stuff I don't remember... so surgery will be DV Mon, Tues, or at the latest Wed. next week.

We are very thankful that there is a surgery and competent dr's that can, Lord willing, help our babies. Also, that our flights have been paid for by Alberta health as well as taxi to the hospital. We also received a complementary room for one night from the Delta hotel by the hospital.
We are also very thankful for all the people helping us with our 3 kids at home. :-)
And that God has given us so much strength and patience, we are not very stressed, making the decisions is hard though. We know that all things are in our Heavenly Fathers hands.

Thank-you for all your prayers.

Toronto...

Ok so, I went for an ultrasound this morning at 8:00am and it showed something called, twin to twin transfusion. Basically the babies are sharing a placenta and the one baby is getting/(hogging?) more of the good stuff from me, and what ever is leftover the other baby gets.
 So, after the ultrasound this morning, they decided to fly Matthew and I to Toronto for laser treatment/surgery to fuse the parts of the placenta that are 'attaching' the two babies (that's how I understand it anyway) so that they both twins get equal amounts of nutrients etc. When they were making the travel arrangements I went for a heart echo for both babies, they also checked the twins brains, to see if these things are developing normally or if there are any problems they can see yet. So far everything looks good. :-)  There are quite a few more articles online on ttts and on the laser surgery, I don't have time to link any of them cuz I have to pack, and get the kids ready, and clean up the house... (You know, cleaning up those pesky dust bunnies under the couch you never want anyone to see... lol just kidding... I won't have time for that.)
We have babysitters for the time we are gone, Matthew's Mom, Rebekah and Rachel :-) So the kids can stay at home :-) yay! I'm sure they'll sleep better in their own beds :-) and now they get Grandma and aunties to spoil them :-)

We are very thankful there is a 'treatment' for TTTS.
We know all things are in the hands of our all sovereign God and Father.
 Please pray for our little twins.

That's it for now, I'll try keep you all updated - probably when we get back from Toronto.

Surprise!

Well we had a great surprise on Friday :-) I went for my scheduled 18-20wk ultrasound appointment, and the tech told us we are having TWINS! We are so excited, a little overwhelmed, but excited! The tech said both babies look good, but couldn't get measurements of everything, but not to worry, there will be many ultrasounds from now on :-)


Here are a few questions we have been asked:

Are they identical?
Yes, the ultrasound tech couldn't find a separating membrane, so they share a sac. After some reading Matthew and I learned that sharing a sac could 'cause' some problems. To name one problem, they could knot up their umbilical cords, which is one of the reasons they take so many ultrasounds - if one gets a knot they will monitor very closely and if it tightens then they will have to do a C-section. Another major thing is something called twin-to-twin-transfusion, basically both babies share a placenta and one twin is hogging all the good stuff and the other twin gets what's left over...(That's how I understand it anyway)  There are a few other problems, but they are hard to explain with out boring you :-P I'll try keep you updated if any of these arise and try to explain them if they do :-) 

Do you know the gender?
The ultrasound tech found the gender on one - A boy, and because they are identical the other is a boy as well :-)

How are you feeling?
Well I was feeling like a big suck before the ultrasound... I've never had very many pregnancy symptoms with previous pregnancies, and this one seemed to be worse :-(  Now that I know it's 2 babies, I feel like less of a suck haha!

Did you know it was twins?
Well we had our suspicions... there were a few things quite different from my previous pregnancies. But we kept flip flopping between doubting it was twins, to being about 80% sure haha (at one point we even picked out 4 names (2per gender) just in case!...we like to be prepared...  haha!
- I was sooo exhausted! More than I've been with previous pregnancies, but I have 3 kids at home this time and I was also babysitting 2 kids full time for 2 months in my first trimester, and another baby a few days a week... so that could by why right?
- I was extra nauseous . I still didn't puke,(but I very rarely puke, even when I'm sick).
- I was having some extreme headaches. I've had headaches during pregnancy before, but not this bad or this often.
 -At my first appointment (I went a little late cuz I've had a few kids already, I know what's going on...) I found out that my pregnancy hormones were fairly high, this is not normal for me, but the numbers still fell into the 'normal' range for other people who have just one baby, so the dr. didn't seem alarmed.
- I had to pee constantly... even after my first trimester. ugh! No full night sleep for me.. lol
-I am also having a hard time eating a whole meal already at 3 1/2 - 4 months??? What? For me, second trimester means I don't feel pregnant. I can lift, bend, eat, pee normally, shave my legs, clip my toenails, etc. Not this time...
- I was having some crazy awful round ligament pain - dr. said that's because I've had a few babies already...
- I had not been measured yet. I had gone to my regular family dr. the first (late) appointment, and she couldn't find the top of my uterus (because it was higher than she expected?) She gave up pretty quick and just listened for the heartbeat instead. :-) (only found one, but the heartbeats may be beating at the same time due to being identical... that's what one article said... but then again she stopped after finding one heartbeat... why look for 2 for no reason?)  My first appt with my OB was last week Monday, and she seemed to be in a hurry, so she only listened for a heartbeat very quickly, and when I asked if she could measure me, she said, 'you look about right to me'...  My ultrasound was on Friday that week anyway. so I didn't push it... even if I was measuring big, it would still have to be confirmed by ultrasound. :-P

There were a few other things that pointed to twins, but I've had a few babies so that could be the reason this pregnancy was a little different too. :-P


Because the twins are identical and sharing the same sac, there are a few complications that come with that, so I will have an ultrasound ever 2 weeks, and the babies will likely be born (C-section) at 32-34 weeks ... teeny tiny... I'm a little nervous about that :-S

anyway that's about all the news I have for now... I'll try blog again soon, cuz I'd like to share some fun times Dylan and Miriam have had these past weeks :-)

This is a pic of baby B :-) I'll have lots of ultrasounds so I'm hoping to get a picture of both of them next time :-)