33 wk pics, last week

O.K. these will probably be the last I post of me pregnant! That's a lot of baby in there!! LOL!!

Thanks Terri!!
Kim thanks so much for your support and answering all of my twin questions. I'm not done with you yet. Ha! Ha! I will probably drive you crazy with questions after they get here.
3 days and counting!!!

4 days......

Thanks Kelly and Kim! I have told Chet that one of his new jobs will be laundry indefinitly!! I now have a full time job of feeding babies!!

Lisa and Diane thank you so much for your visit this weekend. I really enjoyed it.

4 days to go! We are all getting so excited! I was hoping to post some pics of my belly this week but haven't got them downloaded yet. I may not be able to post this week. My loaner computer needs to go back to it's owner. Thanks Dawayne! It has been a life saver for me.

We will post about the birth and pics of the girls as soon as we can. Hopefully before next weekend is over. Please continue praying for us this week and especially Friday morning at 9 am.

11 days and counting...

Thanks Keith and Kristie!!

Only one more Saturday and Sunday to get through, only one more week that Chet has to do all the laundry and bring it back to me!! I reminded him of that yesterday after he spent all afternoon ironing my shirts. I only have about 5 that fit!! LOL!!!

Saturday my nurse brought me some visitors....13 month old mono twin girls and their Dad!! Their Mom was visiting someone in the hospital and Dad was making rounds showing off the girls to the nurses familiar with their case. They were here for several weeks and the girls were born at 29 weeks! They were in the NICU for I think he said 8 weeks. You sure couldn't tell it by looking at them now. They are so beautiful and happy! All smiles. It was such a pleasure seeing them and talking to their Dad about their experience. I have talked to many people on line but to actually see a set in person and discuss it with a parent was awesome. I can't wait until my girls get here, even more so now!!! I sure hope and pray that we have a very short NICU stay though. I am still really worried about the NICU part. I just want to go from where I am now to all of us being home together!

Birth date in sight.......

Friday, September 1st @ 9 a.m.!!!! Woo!!! Hoo!!! In two weeks we will be meeting these baby girls!! I am so excited I can't stand it!!! I went out and shouted it at the nurses station and they all cheered for me!!!! I am so happy!!! I can't wait to take my babies home and be with the rest of my family. YAY!! YAY!! Woo!!! Hoo!!!! Yee!!! Haw!!!!

US today

Bri's first day of 2nd grade!!!

First thing this morning my nurse came in and said my US was canceled because the tech has strep throat! Bummer!! But they got me in with Maternal Fetal Medicine here at the hospital which is where I had the US the night I came into the ER and we found out we were having twins. I was mostly having an US to see the cords and do a doppler flow on them to see how the blood was flowing through them. But I told the tech I really wanted to know how much they weigh, so she did growth on them too. Natalie is ready to come out! Her head is so low behind my pubic bone that she couldn't even measure her head or see it very well. So her measurements are a little off because they factor in femur length, abdomen circumfirence and head circumfirence to get the weight. Without her head circumfirence her weight calculated to 3.34 lbs. Which we know is inconsistent with two weeks ago when she weighed 3.2lbs. Maggie weighed 3.99lbs!!! So considering that they both have weighed within 2-3 ozs. of each other this whole pregnancy more than likely they both weigh around 4lbs. give or take a few ozs.!!!!! Yippeeeeeeeee!!!! No wonder I am so miserable. I have close to 8 lbs. of baby in me at 32 weeks.
I still haven't been able to pin down a date from my doctor and he was off today. I will be calling his nurse in the morning to ask her to remind him and give the days that I would prefer. Hopefully I can report that day to you tomorrow.
Talk at you all later!!!

US scheduled...

Thank you so very much Wendy and Kim!!! XXXXOOOOOO's!!!!

We have another US on Wednesday at 2p.m. I can't wait to see how much they weigh. Dr. is concerned that I am still having some contractions and says he doesn't want me to have any. Neither do I! They are painful and wear me out. Everything wears me out right now. I am getting more and more emotional and tired every day. Anywho he talked about increasing the medication to keep the contractions at bay. So far the nurses haven't brought in anything else. I hope he didn't forget because we talked about a lot of things while he was in here.

Tomorrow is my baby's 1st day of 2nd grade and I can't take her. Very hard for me......

There is a light at the end of this tunnel though and I know that I am on the downhill side. The doc I saw today will be talking to the other docs and they are going to set a birthdate for Natalie and Maggie!!! Woo! Hoo!! Somewhere around the 34 week mark. 2-1/2 weeks!!! I am hoping for September the 1st. We will see. I will let you all know about the US and the scheduled birthdate!
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!!

Good news Friday!!

Bri got into the traditional school we wanted her in!! YAY!! Nothing like finding out 2 days before school starts. So today I have scrambled to find out the bus schedule and afterschool care. Next week is going to be crazy for Chet trying to get her settled into school and a routine. Keep him in your prayers.

Even better news.....a neonatologist came to seem me this morning about the girls. He totally made light of the kidney situation. He said that almost every baby has some kind of abnormality that most people don't even know about because they don't have the US's we have had to catch them. Most things just correct themselves. So many babies are born with hydronocephus(sp?) and no medical intervention is ever needed. He said that more than likely the only thing that will need to be done if at all is to put them on antibiotics to make sure there is no bacteria in the kidneys that would cause further damage. He said if anything else is required it wouldn't be immediately but on down the road maybe years. More than likely they will just have to have extra check ups to keep watch on their kidneys. I was so relieved that I cried. Thank you God! Please continue to pray that these girls kidneys function as normal as can be for them when they are born. He also talked to me a little about the preemie situation and is very confident that they will require a very short hospital stay if they are born anytime around 34 weeks or thereafter. Even if they were born now they would probably require about 3 weeks hospital stay. Come on 34-35 weeks!!!

More pre-term labor...

Contractions started again this afternoon, one on top of the other. Yes, I got another shot!!! I hate that stuff!! The shakes were not as bad this time but my heartrate shot up. The nurse said it better stop the contractions because they can't give me another shot since my heartrate went up. Thank goodness the contractions did stop but the shot left me feeling baddddddd. I could feel my heartbeating all over my body. The good news is the girls did great through all of the contractions. Yay!! Dr. Pridham came in to see me about an hour or so after the shot and said he was going to go ahead and start me on the procardia to prevent the contractions. He said the further along I get the worse they are going to get and we need to prevent them instead of stopping them after they start. Also, the procardia shouldn't make me feel bad. They start you on a very low dose and slowly increase it as needed. Well, that is the excitement for today. I don't know how much more I can take in the next 4 weeks. 31 weeks tomorrow!

Catch up..

I don't really have too much to tell but wanted to share my heartattack from last Friday. Maggie had a deceleration! I was having a long contraction while on the monitor and suddenly I could hear her heartrate drop. It dropped down to 80 and at first I thought well maybe she just moved and came off of the monitor. I kept watching it and realized that she was on there and her heartrate was flucuating from 80 to 90 for what seemed like forever. Just when I was about to call my nurse she came rushing in and said flip over on your left side. Like it is that easy with pillows all around me and being as big as a house, yes, I will just flip right over!!
Somehow with the nurses helped I got flipped and in the process knocked a full cup of water over into my bed!! By this time Maggie was completely off of the monitor and the last thing on my mind was how wet I was. The nurse started moving the little device around my belly and it took about 20 seconds or so but seemed much longer for her to find her again and her heartrate was coming up. By this time I needed CPR and clean sheets and clothes!! I ended up staying on the monitor another hour and a half and both girls did fine. Needless to say I was sick the rest of the evening, between my upset stomach and backache from having to be tied down to the monitor that long, and headache from sheer stress. So far no more decels below 110 from either baby since Friday. I sure hope that doesn't happen again. I think I aged 10 years in 5 minutes. I am glad to know that my nurse was watching from the nurses station though and was right on it. I guess I am in the best place. Let's pray for no more decels!!! So far so good....

30 week pic! Whoa!!

O.K. here is my 30 week pic. Chet is right, definitely a DUPLEX!!!
I am as big or bigger than I was at full term with Bri!!
Here is one of Bri digging thru her drawer in my dresser here. She has toys and candy in it! And here is one of the art work Bri has done for my room door.
I am just learning how to post these pics without a link and I don't think they are on here in the order I wrote about them but here goes. Leave me some comments!!!

2:30

Angelique and Kim thanks so much for you comments. I can't tell you what wonderful support it is knowing we have great friends and family praying for us and supporting it us. I get teary eyed everytime I read an email or comment on my blog from someone. I really feel all of your love and it means so much! Thanks for being great friends!

Pic of Maggie Mae!

O.K. here is the only good pic we got and it is Maggie Mae. But, as the US tech said "her sister looks just her"!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/jobrimom/Baby_A_8_2_06.jpg

Another US and we are growing!!

Yay we are over 3 lbs!! Both girls weigh 3.2 lbs.!!! WooHoo!!!! Natalie measured 30 weeks exactly and Maggie measured 29 weeks 6 days. I will be 30 weeks tomorrow so they are right on track!! They have gained over 1/2 lb. in 13 days!! If they keep this up and we make it to 35 weeks they will be around 5lbs!! Good thing I have big babies. I was hoping that it would be the same with this pregnancy.
Natalie's kidneys looked about the same. Please keep praying for Maggie's though. Hers have enlarged a little more. Both girls bladders are filling and draining and there was plenty of amniotic fluid so we know that they are urinating. They are both in the same position head down, Natalie(baby A) on my left and Maggie(baby B) on my right. Natalie's feet are under my ribs. Ouch, I wondered what that pain was. They are both still facing my back so once again it was hard to see their faces. Natalie is so far down in my pelvis we couldn't see hers at all but we did get to see Maggies. She is so cute! She is chubby cheeked like Bri was when she was born. She was awake and looking around, sticking out her tongue, and drinking amniotic fluid. It was so cool! We got some pics but they aren't as good as seeing her on the screen. I will try to get them posted this week.
My cervix is actually longer than last time even after all of the contractions I have been having. So that is good news. The tech reccommended that we have a Pediatric Urologist come and see us to discuss the girls kidneys and what to expect after they are born. We are trying not to stress and worry about them. Please pray for their kidneys.
Chet is a little tired and worn down from being "SuperDad" but he is doing such a good job! Bri seems to be fine of course. I am so grateful for her laid back personality. She just takes things as they come. We go to the nursery about every evening to see the babies when the nurses are doing assessments and Brianna gets so excited and we have to drag her away. She is going to love being a big sister! She made us some big signs and put them on my room door. I will get some pics on here of those too.
I guess that is about it for now. Almost 4 weeks down and 5 to go! I will post pics later this week. More to come.....

More contractions....

on Saturday! I didn't feel well Friday and felt even worse on Saturday. I thought I was just feeling big and tired of being pregnant and maybe a little sorry for myself but noticed that I was having some strong contractions. About 6 or so the nurses aide came in to talk to me and I had a really big one while she was in my room so she went to get my nurse and of course they put me on the monitor. Basically same thing as Monday and I ended up getting the shot again. I didn't feel as bad this time afterward, it was mostly just the shaking but didn't last as long this time. The nurse said you kind of build up a tolerance and it will effect you less everytime which can be bad and good because that means it can also stop working at stopping the contractions. That makes two times in one week. If I keep this up they will put me on something to prevent the contractions from even starting. The good news is the girls looked good through it all. I ended up being on the monitor for about 3 hours and they did great. They gave me a sleeping pill and 2 tylenol last night and I slept great! So today I felt really rested and relaxed. I have been back to my regular contracting about once or twice an hour. 29 weeks and 3 days today!

Angelique and Cierra took Bri shopping today for school clothes and shoes and a backpack. She had a great time and it was nice that I had them visit last night and today. Bri and I walked them out and we all went by the nursery. The nurse was taking twin boys to the nursery. Brianna was so excited! I had to make her get back out of their faces. One of them was screaming and the other was sleeping through it all. LOL! They were little bitty and so cute. They had little hats on with their names embroidered on them. Cute, Cute, Cute!

That's about all the news from the Reinle's for now. Please keep praying for us!

A scare yesterday!

Not with the girls but with me. I didn't feel well all day and I was very sleepy. The nurse put a note on my door "do not disturb" and told me to sleep if that is what I felt like. So I pretty much did on and off all afternoon. I noticed that I was having more contractions than usual but didn't really think much of it until I went on the monitor around 4. I had 3 or 4 contractions in about 40 minutes and my nurse came in and asked me if I was feeling them and had I been drinking plenty and did I need to pee????? Yes I felt them! Yes, I always drink a lot and I peed before I got on the monitor but I could probably go again. I was on the phone with my Mom and started with a really strong contraction and I had to hang up. The nurse said go pee. So I did and hooked myself back up to the monitor and climbed in bed and another contraction started. My nurse came back in and said that she had paged the doc and was waiting for them to call back. She came back about 5 minutes later with a shot of terbutaline(sp?). It is to stop contractions. By this time I was having them one on top of the other. Got the shot and they stopped almost immediately but boy does that stuff make you feel bad. My heart started racing and then I got nauseas and started shaking like I was freezing to death. Horrible feeling!!! My nurse came in to take me off of the monitor about 20 minutes later because I wasn't having any contractions and they wanted me to eat and drink lots of water. It took me a good ten minutes to get out of bed because I was shaking so bad. I managed to eat a little and drank lots of water. The shaking continued for about an hour and a half and I had about 2 contractions during that time. I had several wake me up during the night and this morning I am averaging about 1 an hour but that has been normal for me this whole pregnancy. I sure hope I don't have to deal with this for the next several weeks because I am so scared they are going to make me stay in the bed! These babies have to stay in for at least 3 or 4 more weeks! It has been one thing after another!!! I haven't seen the doctor yet this morning. I am wondering if they will want to do an US to check my cervix again after all of those contractions. I will update when I know. Please keep praying for us!

The girls are growing!

They have both gained 4 ozs. in 13 days! So they are 2.8 lbs. and 2.9 lbs. For 28 weeks that is pretty good. They are both measuring right at 28 weeks and are in the 40th percentile. I think I may need to eat more ice cream. They were growing faster before I was in the hospital. You don't realize how you take for granted being able to go the kitchen any time you feel like a snack. Last week I didn't gain any weight. I can tell I am not having my regular between meal and before bedtime snacks. Friday is weigh in day, so we will see if I gained any this week. If not I am going to get Chet to bring me some ice cream to keep in the nurses fridge. Actually he is bringing me some ice cream tonight! Hee! Hee!

Maggie's right kidney is the one that is so big but it hasn't increased hardly any in the last month! Yes! Keep those prayers going folks! Natalie's left kidney has increased some but her's isn't near as bad as Maggie's. They both have one kidney that looks good. Their bladders look good and there is plenty of amniotic fluid so that means they are urinating. Another good sign. The tech said their cords look great. I take that with a grain of salt though. I have learned from the monoamniotic boards that they think they look good on the US but when they are born it is a different story. I will trust the monitoring for that. They did great today on the morning and afternoon monitoring. I am still averaging about 2 contractions per hour but the US showed my cervix looks good. She said it was about 4.5 cm. but I think it was 6 something last time. I was going to ask when she reviewed the past reports but we were talking about their kidneys and I forgot. But overall everything looks great!

My strep culture came back negative! What? The nurse said it must be viral but they are keeping me on the penicillin for precaution. I have felt pretty crummy today. Headachey, throat really sore and scratchy and really tired. I layed around in bed until 11 today and layed around dozing this afternoon before and after monitoring too. I hope I feel much better tomorrow.

That's about it for now. Please keep praying for our family and these precious baby girls. Thank you all!

Here's a pic of me on the monitor a couple of nights ago! Chet's right, I do look like a duplex!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/jobrimom/monitoring28wks.jpg

US scheduled

Dr. K came in with a portable US machine yesterday to see what position the girls are in and look at the cords. They are both still head down and except for their heads they aren't real close together. Dr. K said he really likes the position they are in and let's hope they stay that way. He pointed out their cords to me but didn't really say much about them. I am scheduled for a full growth US @ 1:00 tomorrow. I can't wait to see how much they have grown and how their kidneys look.
I have had a sore throat off and on for over a week. Not really a sore throat, it feel like something is in it. I thought maybe my allergies were bothering me and I had hives in my throat so I didn't say anything. But this morning it was worse than ever and I could see white stuff on both sides in the back of my throat. They cultured me and started me on penicillin but are pretty sure that I have strep throat! Joy! Joy! Where in the world did I get that from? Now I am going to end up with a yeast infection from the stupid antibiotic!! Could this get anymore fun?? At least I am not really feeling bad, just a little headachey and scratchy throat. Not even a fever. Hopefully I get over this very quickly.
I will update tomorrow after the US!

1st week flew by...

I am really surprised how fast time goes by in here. Especially since I get up so early, usually around 7:20 or so. They bring breakfast by 8. The nurses come in between 9 and 9:30 to take vital signs and put me on the monitor. The nutritionist comes in to take my lunch, dinner and breakfast order for the next day and housekeeping comes all before 10 o 10:30. The doctor doing rounds comes between 11 and 12 and I try to shower and dress between 10:30 and 11:30. Lunch is here between 12 and 1 and I am back on the monitor between 3 and 4:30 and dinner is here at 5ish. The hardest time for me is waiting for Chet to come in because he has been working late and not getting here until 7:30 or 8. I am usually starving then because the food is not so great here. Some things are really good but some are really bad!!! LOL! Even if the food is good, I still get hungry because the portions are usually so small. Dang I am eating for 3 people!! I try to take a walk in the afternoon and again in the evening after Chet gets here. I have read 3 books and about 15 magazines so far. I have done lots of scrapbooking and crosswords and word searches. I spend more time flipping on the TV than watching anything, although I have watched a few good movies.

A very nice gentleman from church came today to serve communion and pray. I was really impressed. I have had people come in to pray with me everyday. I wish to give a great big thank you to all of you who are praying for me and these babies and our family. I truly feel blessed.

The babies are doing great on the monitors. Maggie has given us a few scares because she hides and sometimes it takes a long time to find her. I usually don't get too freaked out because I can feel her moving but Chet gets sick and has to leave the room. Dr. Koontz is supposed to do an ultrasound on Tuesday. I can't wait to see how much they have grown.

I want to thank all of you that have prayed, come by to visit, sent gifts, sent emails or replied to our blog. You are such a blessing to our family.

Until next time....

Thanks for your prayers!

Melissa thank you so much for your prayers! I got cold chills when I read your comments. God is so big!

Kim thanks for checking on me!

The girls did great today on the monitors but Momma not so good today. I had several contractions while on the monitor but many more while off of it. I haven't done much walking around today just a lot of laying around and watching TV and reading. Trying to take it easy. I did sleep really good last night for the first time since I have been here. I am hoping for the same tonight.

I got lots of phone calls today and a visitor from church. It is so wonderful to have so many praying for our family. Thank you God for blessing me with good friends!

A peace than transcends all understanding...

Another day down! The girls did great today monitoring. The doctor on call today is one in the group that I hadn't met and he is super nice. We talked about God and church and he asked if he could pray with me. Wow! God is all over this pregnancy and our situation. He just keeps filling me with such peace about these girls. The Chaplain here at the hospital came to see me this afternoon too. She shared her testimony with me and I was so moved. Then I shared a little of mine with her and she was touched also. She asked if I had a favorite bible verse that was helping me now and told her Phillipians 4:13 I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me. She then read from Phillipians to me. It was so inspiring. Isn't it great that God knows what we need and when we need it?

Beginning the hospital stay...

Four days down and some 50 or so to go! So far not too bad. The girls are monitoring great. Days are long when I am here by myself but the evenings fly by. Bri is in TN with my Mom right now so Chet can be here more. When she gets back they won't be able to spend so much time here and I know it will get harder then on all of us. So keep us in your prayers. I will post updates here as often as I can and also pictures. Leave me comment messages please. I love hearing from you all. More to come later......
Angie