So here we are at 32 weeks and three days! 32 weeks was quite the exciting milestone to reach! The beginning of this week we came to Billings with the intention of staying here at the Ronald McDonald House, but after going in for the ultrasound appointment, my doctor decided to admit me to the hospital. Thus, I have entered the hospital room that will be my home until our daughters arrive!
Baby A had only grown three ounces since she was last measured at 30 weeks gestational age. Concerning as this was to my doctor, he decided close monitoring in the hospital was the best option. The babies are hooked up to heart monitors for a minimum of 20 minutes each morning and each evening. On top of these sessions, we have biophysical profiles (ultrasounds) performed every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. During these they look for the lungs to be “breathing”, movement, blood-flow through the umbilical cord, brain, etc.
I just returned from today’s ultrasound and both babies “passed”! Way to go Baby A! They get to stay put for another day. We have been saying for a long time now that each additional passing day is a gift from God, and it continues to be that way. I had no idea the magnitude of the adventure we would experience BEFORE the twins’ delivery! Although now it’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that “the end” is so near.
In the last post I included that the doctor planned on delivering them by 34-35 weeks at the latest. When we arrived here at the beginning of this week and saw the weight gain of Baby A (or lack thereof), it was debated whether or not the doctor would deliver them within a couple of days. The final decision was made, however, to see how close we could get to 34 weeks before scheduling a C-section delivery. That leaves us with a maximum of 11 days left!
We are living with the understanding that any given day an emergency C-section could be scheduled to take place, but that is just the first of many unknowns DIRECTLY in front of us right now. The unknown of how well they will both handle delivery, the unknown of what level of NICU care they will both require, the unknown of how soon (bigger) Baby B will be released compared to (smaller) Baby A, the unknown of figuring out basic new parenting skills such as breastfeeding, etc., the unknown of having to face these things while Dean and I are living four hours apart most of the time, and the list goes on.
Even as the road ahead continues to twist and turn making it impossible to decipher from here and now, I am reminded to count my blessings. So many others have much more hopeless situations to walk through. We have been blessed with, yes, a hard road, but an incredibly rewarding and wonderful one too. I know that it is far from over and could take some pretty challenging turns, but I can already say that we are far more blessed than we deserve.
I want to let you all know that I am writing this fully expecting it to be my last post before the twins are born. When I will be able to update again, I don’t know. I will as I can!
Whatever day God has ordained to bring these two little girls into the world, brings the next phase of our life’s adventure. Bring it on!
–Amanda
2 Comments
Amanda, you are beautiful. And strong. And brave. All gifts given to you by God to use as he sees fit.
And I can’t wait to meet your precious miracles! True gifts from our father himself!
Stay strong girl! We’re praying for you all. Xoxo kelsea
Love your outlook praying for all