Double Feature!

Well, we've decided that we should probably update the blog with some pretty exciting news. We'll start from the beginning. We went in for our 36 week appointment with Dr. England. I had been having some contractions, but nothing really painful. We decided to take the bag and pillow with us just in case. Really, we thought it was just wishful thinking. Dr. England found that I was 2 centimeters and 50% effaced. We told him that I was still having contractions so he put me on the monitors for a non-stress test. We sat there for about a half hour when my contractions were getting more intense and closer together. Dr. England kept us on the monitors for a little while longer and then he checked again. I was almost a 3 and 80% effaced. So, he decided to do an ultrasound to find out how the babies were positioned. They were both head down so he said it was a good day to get this thing started. We canceled the appointment we had for the next week and headed to the hospital. The next couple hours we spent waiting and talking about how much things were going to change in the next day or so. Around 5pm they came in gave me an epidural and broke my water. They started me on pitocin so they could control my labor's progression. It went kind of slow, but they didn't want to stress the babies out with the contractions or cause any heart problems for me. We were able to take cat naps for the rest of the night. Around 4am Dr. England came in again to check and I was fully dilated and 100% effaced. We got ready to head into the OR and pushed for about an hour and forty-five minutes before I figured out what they really wanted me to do. About 15 minutes later, the first baby was born. About another 45 minutes later, the second baby was born. We are now the proud parents of two baby girls; Olivia (4lbs, 3 oz) and Aislee (5lbs, 2oz)! We are so grateful to Dr. England and the staff at Alta View for being so thoughtful and careful while we have been here. Our nurses have been wonderful and the doctors have been very attentive to our needs. They're small, but doing very well. They eat and sleep and have dirty diapers. Paul's pretty good at changing diapers and burping babies. They may have to stay a few extra days to make sure they're gaining weight, but as of right now they're doing very well. We look forward to taking them home and showing them off! Here are some pictures.

Aislee and Olivia

Olivia

Aislee

36 weeks...!

Since it's been almost a month since our last post, we've decided it's time for a little update. We haven't had anything too exciting happen. We've set up the babies bed in our room with some shelves for their clothes. We have a bag ready at a moments notice. Paul put the bases for the car seats in the car. Really, we're just waiting! We had another preterm scare a few weeks ago. The doctors and specialists said that after 34 weeks they wouldn't stop my labor (LIARS!). We were watching the Olympics at about 4am. I know, I know. That's pretty early, but I don't sleep at night anymore, so I was just kinda hanging out on the couch. Paul came out to try and get me to come to bed. I was having contractions pretty consistently and they were beginning to hurt. We waited for a little while longer. We called the on-call doctor who told us not to mess around with twins and to come in. We took a little big longer so I could take a shower. We're delivering at Alta View Hospital in Sandy which is about a 30-45 minute drive from our apartment in Provo. As we're cruising along, Paul feels something funny with the car. I thought he was just really tired and that's why he was swerving a little. We pull over while I'm breathing through contractions and we have a flat tire! Paul changes the tire and we're back on the road. We get there and they hook me up to everything. The babies were doing very well. They took blood and did some other tests and find out that I have a bladder infection. As a result of the bladder and uterus being so close together, when one is irritated the other gets irritated (kind of the chicken or the egg thing). So, they don't know if my bladder got infected as a result of the past couple weeks of uterine contractions and that triggered my uterus to start contracting more aggressively...but, they gave me 6 bags of fluids (equivalent of a gallon and a half), antibiotics, morphine, and some other stuff to stop my labor. They had us wait there for a few more hours because I was still having contractions every two-three minutes. So, Dr. England had me rest for the next couple days and take medicine to stop any labor. We made it to 35 weeks, and if nothing happens in the next two days, we'll make it to 36. Then, they promised not to stop my labor. I'm pretty uncomfortable and I have contractions pretty often, just not painful enough to go to the hospital. We'll just keep waiting...

Just an Update

Paul did a very good job with his post (except for some of the pictures...!). I'll just give a quick update about what is going on now that we're home from the hospital and playing the waiting game for a little while longer. We had an OBGYN appointment with Dr. England on Tuesday. He got the report from the ER doctors and was a little concerned with how soon these babies were going to get here. We had a NonStress Test where they hook the babies up to monitors and check their heart rates and movement. They're pretty active little girls and nothing really seems to phase them. The adenosine push didn't really seem to stress them out at all, unlike their mother who thought it was all over! He then checked a few other things and did the Fetal Fibronectin Test. This test checks for a certain protein that a women's body produces when she is within two weeks of labor. If the test is positive, she may go into labor within the next two weeks. If the test is negative there is a 0.5% chance she'll go into labor within two weeks. We got the results back on Wednesday and I was negative. Wohoo! We are anxious to have the twins here, but they need a little longer to cook (or so I'm told). We would be closer to 34 weeks, but we're hoping to make it closer to 35 weeks so they won't have to stay in the NICU for very long (3-4 days compared to 12days). And, my parents will be at Lake Powell this next week and then Dr. England will be out of town the next week. I was told to lie down and keep my legs in the air for as long as possible if things start to happen...! Hopefully, our little bassinet will be a baby clothes holder for at least 3 more weeks! However, I have to admit that I'm a little uncomfortable and can't wait to sleep on my stomach! I'm told it is all worth it!

the Adenosine push

The fifth floor of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (UVRMC) should smell like newly-sprinkled baby powder or Johnson&Johnson shampoo, but it doesn't. Molly and I figured that out this last weekend, after spending two nights and close to 24 hours in the Labor & Delivery ward at UVRMC. Not that the ward isn't nice, and the staff was a lot more pleasant there than in the Cardiovascular Unit (as we found out), but it still wasn't our ideal weekend location. Molly told me that I was supposed to write about our weekend adventure. Normally I would ignore such a request, but since I worried more than once this weekend that I would end up a widower at the tender age of 24 with not a whole lot to live for, that I would probably throw away the rest of my life pursuing a career that ate up the hours of my existence but could never fill it, that even reading about soccer on the BBC's website would only momentarily divert my attention from the gaping hole in my life...well, it didn't feel right to ignore Molly's request. Plus she looked so cute when she asked me. I am mostly kidding about wondering if I would end up a widower at 24, but there were some touch-and-go moments.
Joe Powell, a good friend of mine, was staying the night at our place on Friday night before heading to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He is having surgery to repair a tear in his ACL over a break in school. We wish him all the best with his upcoming surgery. So, Molly woke me up at about 1:40 am (I guess this is Saturday now), looking at me like this:

I was like, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
She says, "Feel my pulse."
I am like, "No way!"
She says:

"Fine," I say. Her pulse was fast enough that I couldn't measure it. I would get to about 15 and then I would lose count. Her heart rate was around 230 bpm, we found out later at the hospital. So we went to the emergency room, and we ended up in Labor & Delivery since she is now 31 weeks along. Her blood pressure is pretty low, but the twins both look fine according to the monitor they have strapped to her tummy. Eventually, about 2 hours after Molly's heart has gone haywire (she has a history of heart problems; that is why she can't eat chocolate, caffeine is off-limits) we are finally getting somewhere. Dr. Peterson has a tech doing an ECG, a nurse messing with Molly's IV, and a few other people in the room taking notes or something like that. He is explaining our options, which include a cardioversion and an adenosine push. Both are procedures that interrupt the heart and in doing so, help the heart restart with a normal rhythm. His explanation of the adenosine push goes something like this:
"Adenosine isn't FDA recommended for all cases of tachycardia. They have done clinical trials, but the results of those trials were inconclusive. We basically push x milligrams of adenosine through an IV and it quickly makes its way through circulation and resets the heart. There is a funny feeling associated with it, like everything is stopping but that is normal. Nurse, go ahead whenever you are ready."
I think all either of us hear is "not FDA recommended," so we were like, 'that doesn't sound like a good idea.' Then we were like, oh...they are already administering it. Then Molly gives me a really funny look, that makes me spring to the bedside to hold her hand. I don't have a really good picture of her making a face similar to it, but it is probably the opposite of this one:

This one says, "I'm tough and you better not mess with me," ...or something like that anyway (Molly will probably kill me for posting that one).
The look she gave me was saying, "I think my heart just stopped and I'm not sure that it is going to start again. Why aren't you holding my hand?"
That was definitely the scariest moment of the weekend. She had a 12-lead EKG hooked up to her chest, feet, hands and abdomen, with the wires from the baby monitors and the IV tubing and all the rest hanging about. It was one of my first experiences seeing someone smothered by medical equipment, and all the equipment just made Molly seem all the more frail.
My story is getting a bit long, so I'll summarize the rest. Dr. Peterson did know what he was doing, Molly's heart restarted with a normal rhythm and we are grateful to him despite his not-so-illustrious introduction to the adenosine push procedure. We stayed in the hospital the rest of the night for monitoring, but left mid-morning on Saturday. Sunday night is a story for a different time. Molly was having some contractions, which they were able to bring under control. So after a couple of rough nights, Molly will be able to sleep at home tonight,

and our little crib-thing, though we are excited to have it filled with babies soon, will continue to hold baby clothes.

Hangin' with the niece and nephews

Paul and I have been spending a lot of time with my sister's family (Arianne, Adam, Anderson, Aspen, Ace and Aussie). We go over almost every week to eat, play in the backyard and watch the Backyardiagans. We've spent a few nights when Arianne went into labor with Aussie and when Aspen had surgery. It's been good for us to watch four kids under the age of four. There is always something to do! I like it. It's nice to go over and have Ace want me to hold him even though he calls me "Paul" and Paul "Molly". He'll get our names right eventually, won't he?

Busy Week

Paul's sister, Chelsea got married on Friday the 20th. We went to Salt Lake on Thursday and stayed with Paul's family for the wedding festivities. Thursday, we went to Lagoon. Paul went on a lot of rides and got a toasty nose. We were able to spend some time with Jess and Mike's kids, Benson, Grace, and Sabrina. Lagoon has a lot more "kid-friendly" rides than I remembered. Some of the rides are still a little scary. We had a hard time convincing Grace that it was going to be fun. It's always nice to have someone hold your hand during the scary parts!

We also watched Paul's dad (Jeff) and sister (Jenny) get rocketed into the air. I got to go on the Sky Ride and Ferris Wheel. Maybe next summer we can try another amusement park!

Friday was the wedding. Chelsea and Matt got married in the Salt Lake Temple. It was very pretty. We are glad we were able to share that with them. Here are a few of the pictures from the reception.

25 Weeks...

Well, it's been a little while since our last post. A lot has happened. I haven't had an IV for almost three weeks! Yea! When I went in for my appointment with Dr. England a few weeks ago he gave me "knucks" for not throwing up. He's a pretty nice guy. The babies looked good. They're growing and developing just fine. The fluid looks good and there are no signs of pre-term labor! Maybe we will make it to 37 weeks. I've been a little more active with walks around the neighborhood while Paul is in class and going to the the grocery store. I'm trying to learn how to crochet. So, if anyone has any good tips or basic instructions they'd like to extend, let me know. I know the basics and I've gotten yarn, hooks, patterns, and a "how to" dvd. I just need to put it all together.

Paul took the MCAT! YEA! The test was on the 31st. The week of the MCAT, I went to my parents' house in Cedar City to spend some time with my mom and let Paul have all the time he needed to study. He took a few practice tests and finally used the MCAT study book I got him last year for his birthday (not the best present, but he asked for it!). We won't know until July 1st, but I bet he did very well. We're looking at OU. He's also planning on taking the GRE and has been looking at graduate programs, also at OU. So, we'll probably end up in Oklahoma for a few years.