Well Monday night did not go as I expected. As I was laying in bed, my water broke. I had no pain with it but I woke up my mom and we rushed to the labor and delivery unit of Presby hospital. As you can imagine, I was extremely distressed since the babies are so early at this point. We got into a room and Dr. Nockelburg came down and did an exam. I was not really dilated and I couldn't feel any contractions. They put me on antibiotics and hoped that no real contractions would come. That way, I could make it a couple more days before they were born.
Christian (Baby A) had other ideas for early Tuesday morning and I started to feel contractions at about 130am. At 3am I asked the nurse for some pain meds and as she was giving them to me she noticed Christian's umbilical cord was prolapsed (meaning exposed). This sent everyone into a running blur to me. The nurse put her hands on me and pushed his cord back up. The nurse, Kristin, rode on my bed to an emergency delivery. They put a catheter in and strapped me down and that is just about the last thing I remember. They put me completely under and delivered both babies at 330am. Their birthday is July 28th! It was an incredibly scary experiance for both me and my mom. Brandon was in MN for work and rushed to catch a flight on Tuesday morning first thing.
At 530a I was woken up by someone in the NICU who needed me to sign a release to put Christian on blood pressure medication. He had a tough day yesterday and was on the max dosage of medication but seems to be looking better today. Right after the delivery my blood pressure shot up as well and they put me on magnesium so I would not seize. My blood pressure came down throughout the day and I was taken off the morphine, magnesium and the catheter out at 10pm last night. Brandon and I were moved to a new room at about midnight last night.
They did LOTS of vital checks, pain management and attempted "pumping" for the boys food last night and this morning. So far Christian has not been able to feed, but Brock is feeding a little bit yesterday and today.
We can't believe they are here already and love them so much!!! It is estimated that they will be in the NICU for 8-12 weeks depending on how they do. They need to eat on their own, keep their temperature on their own and breath on their own before we can take them home.
I should be here until Friday and then I will be moved home.
I hope everyone will PRAY for our little boys! We have a long road ahead of them to first get better in the NICU and then be able to lead normal lives once we all get to go home. They are so wonderful and precious to us already and we will do anything we can to help their journey along.
Thank you to everyone for the emails, texts and calls. We are only having family visit at this time as I am very sore and the boys can't really have many visitors. If I have not returned your email, text or call yet, I will we have just been slammed the last two days.
Love Jenn
Jenn, it's so great to read this post from YOU!!! Cliff and Lauren told us the news first thing Tuesday morning. We have been praying for you and your BEAUTIFUL little boys!! Of course this was a reality check for me as well since our stories are so similar up to this point with our pregnancy, so I'm very anxious to follow along with you on Christian and Brock's journey in the NICU and then at home. We toured the NICU today for my 30 min allowed wheelchair ride ... lol! I'm glad that we did. The nurses are SO sweet there, and it gave me a much better idea of what our life will be like visiting our girls if they are to stay in the NICU. Anyways, we got to see 6 precious preemies there. One had been delivered at 28 weeks weighing 2 lbs 7 oz. It brought tears to my eyes to see how precious and healthy they look while still being so, so, so tiny. They told me that even at that point, depending on the baby's condition, the mother and father would be allowed to hold the babies at least a couple times a day and the encourage skin to skin contact where the baby lays on your chest to hear your heartbeat....SO sweet! Anyways, we are thinking about you girl!! I'm still very anxious to make it to my first goal, 28 weeks. We still clearly have a long road ahead of us as well. I will continue to follow your blog and Facebook postings. Thanks for sharing your story with me!!! Even though I would never wish bed rest or pre-term delivery on anyone, it's most comforting to talk to others that share in the experience. We are going to be cheering Brock and Christian to start eating like the strong little boys that they are so they can go home to be with you and Brandon as soon as possible!!! Congrats are you precious, precious boys!! I think we need to introduce your boys to our girls once we all get to go home ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe are thinking of you guys all the time and praying that all of you are healthy and strong. I am so sorry you guys are going through this, but I am positive everything will be alright. All our best.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
The O'Neills