Updates on the girls

Alice Antonina Inman

5 lbs 3 oz   19"

Claire Bathsheba Inman

4 lbs 13 oz   17.75" 

We are all doing really well. The girls are still in the NICU, but are doing fine. They are not sick babies, but need to be eating better and growing. Right now they are losing a bit of weight, which is normal for all babies. Alice is out of the warming bed and regulating her own temperature well. Claire is still trying to get the temperature thing down and occasionally needs the warming bed. If they were full term, we wouldn't be concerned about them losing weight, but since they are so small, they are being supplemented with formula through an NG tube for awhile. We go down and feed them about every 3 hours to help them get used to breastfeeding and while they are latched they get their supplemented formula. Last night however, we decided to give up on the 2 am feeding in lieu of sleep. Currently we are spending about half of our time in our room and the other half with the girls. If anyone wants to call they can. My room number is 801-507-7319, or you can try my cell phone 801-644-4508. If I am not there, I am with the girls and try back later. We will be here until Thursday and after that there is a possibility we will stay here in a "Parent Room" if they are available and the girls are not ready to leave. I will try to continue the updates. Also, thank you Melanie for posting the pics to my blog yesterday, and Marc for taking dication while I was laying in bed.

They're here!

Last night I started having contractions at 7:30pm that were 5-10 minutes apart. I called my doctor. Luckily, she was the on-call and not someone else from her practice. She said, "If the contractions get more intense or closer together, come into the hospital." Around 5:30 this morning, they did. But I still wasn't convinced that I was in labor. So, I got up, showered, packed my bag and waited for Marc to wake up. We made it to the hosptial by about 10am. There, they hooked me to monitors where my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. And when my doctor checked me, I was 3.5 cm and 90% effaced. Since we were past 34 weeks, she had no problem taking them today. And if we had any doubt, my water broke on the operating table right before they started. I was happy that the anesthesiologist was someone that I had worked with before and I knew he would do a good job.

They were born by c-section at 12:15 and 12:16. They were doing really well right off and were both crying when they came out. Baby A, the one we were worried about, weighed 4 pounds 14 ounces and was really healthy. Baby B weighed 5 pounds 2 ounces and had her cord wrapped around her neck 3 times. Despite that, she was still crying and doing well. Because they were so early, Marc got to see them before they were passed into the NICU, but I didn't. They were really fast sewing me back up. When we got back to the recovery room, Marc's family was just showing up. They visited with me for about an hour until I was taken up to my regular room.

When we got to the regular room, Pete and Colleen and their family dropped by as they were on their way to Idaho. It was nice of them to come and get pictures of the girls so that my parents could see them, since they are in Idaho.

While I was resting, Marc went down with all the visitors to the NICU and decided that they definetly looked like him since they have dark curly hair.

Around 4:00pm, I got the okay to go visit them. When we got to the NICU, Baby A was awake and moving around and acting hungry. So we tried feeding her. She did really well and was on for about 30 minutes. Then we tried Baby B, who was a lot sleepier and was not really interested in eating. At this point, they appear to be doing great but will stay in the NICU to be monitored. As soon as they can regulate their temperature and are eating well, they will join us. We are happy that things turned out so well and that everyone is healthy.

So many engagements, so little time

Yesterday Marc's cousin had her adopted son seal to her and the family. Marc was convinced that it would take place at the Salt Lake Temple. I questioned him on it since most of Marc's family is in Bountiful, but he said No, it was at the Salt Lake Temple. Well, it wasn't. We were at the Salt Lake Temple on time, but when we realized that none of Marc's family was anywhere to be found we started asking questions, and sure enough, it was in Bountiful. We did make it to the Bountiful temple for them coming out. Whatever.

It was still good to go and socialize with the family, even though we missed the big event. The problem with being very pregnant is that when you miss things like this, everyone starts to get worried (or excited). But no babies yet. Thank goodness. Speaking of which, yesterday's non-stress test went very well and both babies are very reactive. In fact, baby B (the one we are worried about) was more reactive then we have seen her.
Today we used our first season tickets to Pioneer Theater Company. We saw My Fair Lady. It was fun. I don't, in general, like to go to plays that I have seen the movie to. I think it is often ruined because of this. Several times during the play I thought, Rex Harrison was a lot better. But of course he was, it was Rex Harrison. The girl that played Eliza was good though. It was fun to go to the play, we haven't done that for a long time and I look forward to the rest of the season.

Concerned, but not freaking out

Another long day of appointments. First we saw my regular OB. Things were OK in that department except that both babies are still breech and I am starting to dilate, but not efface. We decided today to schedule the C-Section for the 14th (which we have been talking about for awhile). Next we headed over to the Non Stress Test. Things there were also normal, nothing to be concerned about. Then we get to the regular ultrasound. I was really happy because we actually got a real ultrasound tech instead of a student. The problem is that baby A (on the right) is measuring 5 lbs 5 oz, exactly where she should be (48th percentile) and baby B (on the left) is only measuring 3 lbs 14 oz (the 10th percentile). That is a huge difference, especially where they have been measuring right on with each other up to this point. The next thing they measured was the blood flow of B's umbilical cord. This was on the "upper limit of normal." Which means it is fine for now, but could change to not fine. The concern is that baby B's placenta is beginning to not functioning properly. Things are fine as of right now, but it warrants a much closer watch. So now we will be going in for a non-stress test twice every week where they will also check blood flow, and we have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to check growth again. If anything changes, they will take the babies. If things continue normally we will still deliver on the 14th. A should have no complications at all, but B will most likely need to spend some time in the NICU. So in summary, closer watching, hope all is fine, the babies will probably be born in 2 weeks instead of 3 unless something happens.

Last Night!

Last night was my last shift working at the sleep lab, at least until the beginning of the year. However, if all goes according to plan (ha ha), I won't ever work there again! The sleep lab itself has been a really good job. The pay is pretty good and they are super flexible. I have been there for about 4 years, it is by far the longest I have had one job. If it wasn't for working nights I would have kept working longer, but it has been HORRIBLE this last month. Now I just have to figure out what to do with myself for the next 3 weeks until the girls arrive.

Non Stress Test

Yet another doctor's appointment. Yesterday we hit a big milestone, 32 weeks. Even more exciting is that in 2 weeks I will be far enough along that if I went into labor they wouldn't stop me. The babies are still breach (suprise, suprise) but other then that things are looking good. We also had our second non stress test today. We have started doing them every week and will most likely eventually go up to twice a week soon. Basically they strap 3 moniters on me, one for each babies heart beat and another to measure my contrations. They moniter the heart beats for 20-30 minutes looking for the rates to go up at least 3 times. Those are looking great. As far as my contractions go, appartenly I have an "irratable uterus." Basically that means that I am constantly having small contactions and then occationally a big one. It is kind of uncomfortable and there is nothing I can do about it, but they are not too worried.

Condo

This week my parents had a condo reserved in Jeremy Ranch (just outside of Park City) that was going to sit empty. Since I am free game for these kind of things, and the waste was unbearable, Marc and I went up to check it out on Saturday. From the outside the condo is pretty dumpy, but the inside is nice enough and updated. Spending the weekend was so relaxing that we decided to stay the whole week. It only takes about 15 minutes to get here from our house, and going to Salt Lake is about the same amount of time. I went back to the cabin today to clean and get a few more things, and just being at my house is exhausting. It has been wonderful to be away where I can't think about all of the things that I need to get done before the girls get here. This way I can just relax, read, watch a movie or whatever instead of stressing out. I will probably go back tomorrow to try and get the mess under control. We have been trying to get the nursery set up, which means all of the baby stuff is in my front room and there is an increasing pile of garbage (boxes and such) that needs to go to a dumpster. So I feel that when I am trying to get organized I am creating more of a mess! We did get the carpet installed in the basement and it looks great. It feels like a real basement that I can walk around with bare feet! We got the carpet at a 'free labor' sale and it was a remnant that Marc bargained down to a great deal, so it was SUPER cheap. My grandma's only specification was that it hide dirt well. It does that and it matches the paint and wood nicely.
Today I met with the nurse practicioner at the Diabetic Care Center. She was pleased with how well I was doing with controlling my sugar. She was telling me that I am usually a little high in the morning, which is concerning, since there isn't much I can do about that reading. If it continues to be high or gets worse (as it often does as the pregnancy progresses) I may need to start insulin shots. She will check up on me in about 2 weeks to decide if I need that. In the mean time I need to start checking my sugar 7 times a day instead of 4. Lovely. But she was pleased with how I was doing in with my diet, so that's good.

Rearrangement and Assembly

Today was a big day. Marc and I were planning on clearing out the basement bedroom and hallway since we are having carpet installed tomorrow. Yesterday my mom called saying she would be on her way home from Logan and wanted to stop by. No problem as long as they didn't mind doing a little heavy lifting, so we called Marc's parents to see if they wanted to join in the festivities. So we spent the morning trying to get things ready for the shift. My mom, Janell, my aunt Laura and her daughters Summer and Amberlee all showed up around 12:30 with lunch. We chatted and ate lunch and got to work. Janell and Summer mostly just watched movies, but Amberlee was extremely helpful, trying to do whatever was needed. With their help we were able to get everything cleared and stacked into the great room in the basement. When we had completed that, Marc's parents came just in time to help us move everything from our room upstairs down to the great room to make way for the babies things. (We are turning the upstairs bedroom into the nursery). So of course we had to clear out the bedroom and sweep and mop and dust and all of that loveliness. Then we assembled the cribs. It was good we had so many there to help because it took everyone to figure out the rather vague instructions, but they are so cute! My mom got them for us off of overstock for $500 for the pair and I have seen the exact same ones for $400 elsewhere. I think we got a really great deal. These convert into toddler beds and then into full sized beds, so they are the only beds we should ever need for the girls.
I am excited for the new carpet to go in tomorrow and get our bedroom set up. We still need to get a few pieces of furniture for the nursery, but things are coming together.