29 weeks and growth scan

and it just get's bigger:)

We finally made it to 29 weeks and are fast approaching 30 weeks this coming Wednesday. We are praying for at least 2 more weeks to make it until 32 weeks. On Friday, we had our growth scan on Friday and the babies sure are getting crowded my belly. Once again, we couldn't see Baby A's head because it is underneath Baby B and C's body! Baby A and B past their BPP's but Baby C has decided that he wants some extra attention and decided not to practice his breathing but did decide that he wanted to remind us that he is a boy (we got a picture of this). Despite him being contrary, they all still past their bbp's. Baby C has over 9.7 cm of fluid and the cut off is 8cm so they were concerned that I might have gestational diabetes but I passed the glucose test with flying colors...thank goodness...I can't imagine giving up all of my sweet treats. One of the doctors said that if I had to give up my treats i would have nothing left in my room....okay its not that bad.

The following are the babies weights in just 2 weeks of growth:

Baby A was 2 lbs 9 ounces; she grew 9 ounces
Baby B was 1 lb 10 ounces; she grew 4 ounces
Baby C was 3 lbs 4 ounces; he grew 14 ounces

So Baby C needs to share some love with his two sister's and stop drinking all the water and sucking in all the food. Baby B did show some reversed flow but her blood flow from her liver to her heart still shows normal and the doctor is so impressed with her nst and bbp tests that he says this is nothing to worry about (i think they are questioning just how effective the umbilical doppler is). And then Saturday she was the only baby to do her accelerations on the nst and baby a and c had to have bpp because they didn't. Today all of the babies past their nst so there was no need for a bbp (ultrasound)...go babies~!! I believe God is taking care of our little baby b and we continue to pray for a and c's health as well. She is truly a little miracle despite what the doctors have been saying might happen...it all rests in God's hands!


So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

28 week belly pic

Well even though I will be 29 weeks Wednesday here is my lovely belly picture from 28 weeks. I look terrible..but I guess that is what the hospital does to you...lol!! I also have grown quite a bit since this picture was taken.

Baby A, B and C have been looking great on their tests and past all of their bbps on Friday within minutes which is great news!!!

28 weeks!

We finally made it to 28 weeks yesterday but of course not without complications. These babies are defiantly taking after me and stumping the doctors. I went downstairs to get an ultrasound yesterday on Baby B's blood flow and her biophysical (bpp)and she was showing reversed flow into the baby but past her biophysical (bpp). So the doctor came in to take a look and you could see the sheer panic written all over her face but then she calmly said we may have to deliver these babies today. I almost feel off the table...not yet its just way too soon. She proceeded to ask the ultrasound tech to check the blood flow from the liver to the heart while she went and consulted with a colleague about the situation. When she returned and heard the news that the blood flow from the liver to the heart was normal they decided not to proceed. They have been completely honest in telling us that they have no idea what is happening and have never seen anything quite like this before and do not know what to expect. But their thought is to intervene if that is what the patient wants before it gets worse and becomes too late. I spoke with the neonatologist (who takes care of premature babies) and told me all the risks of having them this early and a better chance would be around 32 weeks.

After many tears, we are giving this decision to God because we know that she is in His hands and will always be safest there. We don't want to take the risk of losing all of the babies and as hard as it is to do this we believe that God has a plan for her and don't want to disrupt that plan and intervene and make things worse.

We went down for the doppler today and she is only showing absent flow now and still a normal flow from her liver to heart...so this is great news. She also again passed her bbp so we are praying that God continues to hold her and keeps her safe for at least 2 weeks if not 4.
Thank you again for all of the prayers and continue to pray for all of the babies...especially baby b.

And I have finally included some pics!

Growth Scan Update

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-11

Baby B has grown a little but unfortunately all the babies have shown some restricted growth. They like to see them grow 200 grams in 2 weeks and the big guy grew the most at 150 grams. So they are concerned now that my incubator may at some point stop functioning and at that point the babies will be better on the outside. The next scan isn't for 2 weeks which will put me at 29.5 weeks as long as nothing happens between now and then with the bbps and nsts. But the good news is that baby b is worth saving and they have all grown. I know that sounds awful but it is no longer an option for us to just let her go to save the others b/c she has proven herself. This is such a relief for me and in 4 days I will be 28 weeks which is viability!! All the babies bbp's and nst's look great so only there weight is being compromised at this time.

Baby A- went from 1.5lbs to 2lbs- grew 4oz
Baby B- went from 1.3lbs to 1.6 lbs- grew 3oz
Baby C- went from 2lbs to 2.6 lbs- grew 6 oz (hog..lol)

WE feel very blessed with news and although not the best its very promising. Thank you again for the continued prayers.

30th Birthday Celebration in the hospital

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes, cards, phone calls, and gifts. I can say that I will never forget my 30th birthday!!!

Today, all the babies recieved 10's on their bbp's but baby b still showed absent blood flow. But she is still fighting away in there and I just pray we can keep this up for at least 5 more weeks...I will be 27 weeks tomorrow. However, today they noticed something different with Baby C's umblical cord and thankfully its nothing to worry about but is uncommon. Instead of going in his body and to the left towards his liver it goes in and to the right towards his heart. These poor babies are taking after their mommy too much...they are a science fair project...I have always said that about myslef and I think it must be hertitary:) We got a couple of cute face pictures of Baby B and C today but we probably won't be able to see baby a's head anymore. Poor little things head is laying underneath b and c.

God is so good for the Hoplets!

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

God is so good and has answered our prayers and I just pray that He continues to give us these miracles everyday. We recieved great news on our doppler reading today. Baby B showed some elevated blood levels but mostly intermittent absent blood flow (it goes normal, evelvated, intermittent absent, absent, and reversed from best to worse) so she went from having absent to have some signs of elevated....so this is VERY encouraging. She was also showing ALOT of movement and great breathing and the doctor said this was positive results:) Also, all the babies are also looking like more like 28 weekers on the non stress test instead of 26 1/2....must take after their daddy...lol!!!

Thanks again for the prayers...God is good!

btw-Thanks Lora Mae for the name, Hoplets, this is too cute!!!

More encouraging words!

The doctor that I seen today seems just as encouraged by the results of yesterdays bpp and nst...even though the doppler is showing the absent blood flow. He explained to me that she is still getting enough of what she needs its obviously only effecting her growth which she can catch up on when she arrives but appears to be just as healthy as her brother and sister. He said she will likely be our little fighter (and drama queen) b/c she has had to work so hard to keep herself up with them but so far is giving them a run for their money. The only thing that we will pray that doesnt happen is the reversed blood flow and that things stay as they are and she shows some growth next Friday! During the non stress test her heartbeat is usually more difficult to pick up b/c she is so much smaller but today she was only slightly fainter than the others but we didnt have to work hard to find her at all!!!

Praise the LORD and the power of prayer!! I have found some much peace and have been able to remain calm through this and I am so thankful that the LORD has taken that burden for me. Thank you for the prayers for all of the babies and for baby b!

Praise the LORD

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

We spoke to the doctor before we went down for the babies biophysical profiles and doppler scans today and once again had the talk of what might happen and the chances baby b might not make it through this. She left us with encouragement and answered many of our questions but still we were feeling alot of of what if's and who know's. Afterwards, the nurse hooked me up to the nonstress test before i went down but all of the babies were so active that we couldn't keep them all on the monitor for the 20 minutes. However, I am glad to see them so active because that means they are reactive which is a very good sign. So we headed down for the tests by ultrasound and of course Baby C did his test in a matter of seconds, I do believe he is a bit of a showoff. Baby A was being a little lazy but did hers pretty quickly as well. Baby B had the hiccups (which is a good sign b/c it shows she is trying to practice breathing) and she was wiggling all of the place. As you may recall from previous posts baby b was always in the perfect position for pictures b/c she didn't move alot so the fact that she is doing this now is great news. As soon as she settled for a moment she too quickly passed the test...Praise God...they all passed perfectly! Her doppler is still showing absent blood flow but that is okay b/c at least she is getting something, showing signs of improvement and remaining stable.

The doctor came in to visit us late this afternoon to talk about the results and you could just see the excitement written all over her face. She was very happy with the results of the tests minus the doppler and even commented that the ultrasound tech said how active baby b was which was a wonderful sign.

I have a renewed spirit and does God answer our prayers. I just pray that she can start to have better blood flow to help her even more.

Warsaw baby shower:

Thank you so much to all who attended the baby shower for me held last Sunday even though I wasn't able to be in attendance. You have no idea how much it meant to me to see everyone enjoying themselves and rejoicing in these little miracles from God. I have enjoyed watching the video, seeing the pictures, and the cards and gifts from everyone. We are so overwhelmed by every one's generosity and are extremely blessed to have each and everyone of you in our lives. We feel so blessed that our babies will soon be born into such a loving arms!

Thank you for all of your prayers and please continue to pray for the babies but send a extra special prayer up for Baby B!

Update

O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Psalm 143:1



They are keeping me pretty busy around her monitoring me all the time and my only slow time is in the afternoons. So I really haven't gotten to bored at all and the nurses quickly become your close friends!! I couldn't be in a better place right now. Today on the doppler Baby B showed absent which is better than showing reverse as yesterday but still on all the nonstress tests (nst) she look no different than the others so she has to be getting something. I starting to believe that the test is wrong...or at least not showing that she is recieving something. So we go again tomorrow for another BPP which test how well they are doing and it will show if she is in distress (but the nst can show this too and so far it hasn't) so hopefully again tomorrow she will recieve a perfect score and show these doctors that God is in control and we can hang on to the miracle of Him. I guess she is taking after her mommy always has to stump the doctors!!!

Please keep us in your prayers

Please pray for the babies but send an extra special prayer for baby B. They have discovered that she has restricted blood flow from the cord to the placenta. ON Tuesday it was absent blood flow meaning nothing was getting to her at the time and today reverse meaning going back out which is the worst. However she shows no signs of a baby in distress. They conducted a biophysical profile test on all of them that tests fetal tones, movement, breathing, amniotic fluid and muscle tone and they are given 2 points for every thing they do. 10-8 is great, a 6 will be retested, and a 4 is something to get worried about. Well all 3 got perfect scores and on the non stress tests the doctors are not able to tell who is who so she is holding her own, doing really well and basically baffling the doctors at this point. However they do know that she is not receiving everything she needs do to the ultrasound and to her size. So I will have a doppler done everyday to test the blood flow through the cord to baby b and a non stress test twice a day and we will take it day by day. We will know more at 27.5 weeks (Friday the 16th) when we do the growth scan and see how much they have grown. If they were born today they would only have a 50 to 60 percent chance of survival but at 28 weeks its 80-90 so these next two weeks will be crucial. There is also the option that if she should start to have distress to allow her to be stillborn to give the others a better chance and allowing them to remain in utero longer but I pray to God that we never have to make that decision and we get to a comfortable 30 weeks because she has begun to shown improvement. I am now suppose to lay on either side for 24 hours a day expect to eat and to get up to use the restroom in hopes of increasing the blood flow to her. They are also taking me off the contraction medication which can lower blood pressure so they hope it will cause my bp to go up slightly which may help force the blood through the cord.

Well this is all we know at this point and will be taking it day by day and will try to keep everyone updated the best that I can but sometimes its its difficult to even write these words. Again, please pray for all of us..its all in God's hands!

25 weeks- Hotel Good Sam here I come:)

I am an official resident of Hotel Good Sam. I was admitted to the hospital after my doctor's appointment on Friday. There is alot of discordance between Baby B and the other 2. Baby A was 1lb 12 ounces, Baby B 1lb 3ounces, and Baby C 2lbs...yeah he is sucking it all up. They want to be able to monitor me and make sure that she is doing okay. I will have another ultrasound on Monday to check the blood flow to her umbilical cord. She appeared to not be getting an adequate amount but at least getting enough to continue to grow and everything about her is perfect expect her weight and her placenta is letting her down a little. While they were doing the testing she had the hiccups and Baby C was kicking her. We didn't get to see too much of the babies b/c they are getting a big crowded in the there and it just looks like a jumbled mess.

After the ultrasound I headed into the doctors office where I gained another 15 lbs in 3 weeks so that was a concern as well and they had decided to admit me before I knew. The nurse came in and told me and then took my blood pressure so it ended up being 144/80something so they were worried about that as well. However, after I got settled into the hospital it went down to the 120's so it had to have just been the anxiety. I have also been diagnosed with very mild preclyamsia but as long as it says where it is we are good.

On Friday night after only sleeping 2 hours the nurse came in at 4am to take my blood pressure and after she did I just couldn't get to sleep. After about a half an hour I started to feel a lower backache, menstrual like cramps, Harding of my belly and feeling nauseous. i finally called the nurse around 5:30am and they put a monitor on me. I was in fact contracted 1 to 4 minutes apart and they checked my cervix and I was not dilated and gave me a shot to stop the contractions and didn't work so now they are giving me a pill every six hours to help with the contractions and so far so good. Later I came to find out that it was from the steriod shot that I wish given to help speed up the babies lung and brain development.


We spoke with the doctor on saturday and she said that I will be here for the remainder of the pregancy unless Baby B really catches up but even at that they will probably still have me stay. They would have me so they can watch baby b's every move to be sure that she is doing well and babies heartrate is monitored twice a day for 20 mintues. I will also get a scan twice a week to check the blood flow to the babies and a growth scan every two weeks to check the weights. The doctor seemed to think we would make it to 28 weeks for sure and possibly 30...I am now aiming for 32 weeks (which has been confirmed by three different docs now)....PLEASE PRAY FOR US! The birth weight is nothing compared to the gestional age so the longer I can cook these little ones the better even if she is only 2 lbs. There has to be a very good reason for them to take them so the odds are looking really great now for me to make it a few months here as long as everything stays the same. Again, please pray the babies and especially baby b. Its all in God's hands now and she seems to be a fighter.

I am also missing my shower today at the church with my church family, friends and Brad's side of the family. I am very sad that I can't be there but they are planning to record the whole thing so I can see everyone. I hope they don't eat all the cake...I am getting the leftovers....lol!