Sunday morning!

Little Emma did not have such a good night. When we had left she had a few Bradys but very early this morning I had the very strong impression to call and check on her. At a little before 5 I shot straight out of bed and called. Emma had two Bradys each requiring minimal assistance, but if you recall she has never  needed assistance before. 

For whatever reason she was not liking things last night. When we first got here this morning she had one more dip before she got her daily dose of caffeine. The doctors and nurses have all told me that this is normal with preemies, however I finally feel like a parent and I worry no matter what. 

She got her dose of caffeine and it's been close to three hours since her last episode. Some other small news; her electrolytes have been a little whacky and yesterday she was put on a sodium bicarbonate. Today her levels have improved but not exactly where they should be so she will receive another round today. 

She has been taken off the uv lights for today but will more than likely be back under them tomorrow. Also some great news, she is getting bumped up to 2 cc of milk now from 1. Hopefully this will help her grow and get nice and big :-) 

Today is the first day I also put our names down for the Ronald McDonald rooms on the other side of the floor. We shall see if we get a room or not. It's first come first serve and also depends how severe a babies illness is. Wish us luck !!

Thanks all for your love and prayers and a special thanks to Andrea our new friend (Michelle's best friend was in our pod last night - she is a NICU nurse here) we really appreciate your kind words and prayers. It was nice knowing you were here with Emma last night. 

Saturday Evening - Emma's Status

Emma Brielle Flores is such a strong little girl. As everyone who is still reading knows, she has been breathing on her own since just about the minute she was born. After 8 or so hours they doctors extubated her and she has been breathing between 21 - 24 % oxygen. That has been such a miracle for us, as so many new borns have major respiratory issues. We are not out of the woods yet, but we are very thankful for her little lungs.

There are a couple of main things we were worried about from the beginning, her lungs and her bowel development. There are whole list of other things, but these were some of the ones we were pointed out right away. A couple of the terms we hear a lot in NICU journey are Apnea and Bradycardia.
Apnea is a period when breathing stops, and likewise a Brady (Bradycardia) is a period when the heart rate stopes or falls below 80 in permies.

Emma has not had a ton of Bradys but she has suffered a few. Luckily during her first 48 hours she was able to recover from all of her Bradys and apnea on her own. Nurses did not have to do anything to get her to recover, but none the less it is something we would like to avoid. As such she is getting small doses of caffeine every morning and they seem to be working well. As I am writing this she just had a little Brady but I think she does it just to make sure she has my attention ;-)

With all of this we are very happy with her progress and how she has done so far. She is so strong I can't believe it. Last night the nurse had to change her sheets and asked if I would like to hold her...um yes please!!!! It was awesome just feeling her little weight and how strong she is. I was amazed at this tiny little person and all that she does. 

Our road from here is pretty basic. No major road blocks so far, she has been breathing on her own now for 5 days and eating regular milk now for 3 days. Her bowel movements are good and urine output has been normal. She is of course tiny so that means she needs to eat and grow. Her weight dipped after the first night from 1.8 down to 1.7 and then down to 1.6. She had held 1.6 for two days and this evening she is back up to 1.7. These are all great signs to us and we could not be happier. 

Knock on wood and prayers offered, if she continues this pace we may be able to leave this section of the NICU in a few weeks. We are not getting our hopes too high and we are taking things one hour at a time, but that would be our next major goal. To do that she would need to maintain her breathing and raise her weight to over a 1000 grams. Right now 1.7 is 771 grams so we still have a ways to go. She is eating milk now so hopefully she can keep on growing and holding down those calories. 

If she leaves this section of the NICU we would be moved to the 8th floor where she would be on the feed and grow plan. Just waiting for her to get bigger at the point. 

So other than that things are good. Bianca got to change her diaper this evening and Emma is back in her cool girl glasses with the lights back on :-) 

She does have a small cut (well an abrasion on her inner right arm that has been dressed, which more than likely is the result of her skin sticking together and her moving to fast. She is a squirmy wormy that's for sure. 

I will update again tomorrow on her progress! Thank you all for your love and support through this next stage of our journey!

Saturday Afternoon!!

Can I just say that I love my little girl too much! Just going to throw that out there. She is just so darn cute!!!

Ok sorry had to be a parent for a sec :-) so lots to talk about and holy information over load batman. I used to read Allison's blog about Grant and marvel at the medical terms that she has to learn and now that I get to go through some of it...wow new found respect for her and her husband! There is just so much info they throw out at you all at once. 

So let me bring everyone up to speed and go over some of the other things that happened on Tuesday. So first and foremost, Emma is doing awesome and I am so proud of her! She is drinking milk and breathing with out the respirator and doing all those things big kids do (she is a bit of a show off). 

Tuesday I mentioned that Bianca was being worked on... Well lets just say that is the understatement of the year. Let me jump back in to the time line. So Bianca's water breaks around 3-3:30 in the morning Tuesday. We call nurses they call doctors and BAM she is in labor. Bianca is given magnesium to slow contractions and hopefully postpone for 24 more hours so we can get one more shot of steroids into Emma's system. Well Emma was having none of that so around 9 am we are rolled over to labor and delivery and after meds and half dose of steroids Bianca is tired and I am exhausted. She is contracting but not bad and not too often.  She falls asleep and I knock out on the couch. I fall asleep so hard that I wake up with blankets and have no idea how they got there (Stephanie is a rock star let me tell you - not only did she take care of Bianca she covered me up and I didn't even budge. Yeah she rocks). Around 11:30 to 12:00pm we wake up and contractions start coming a little more frequently. Ill save the length of this and get to the grit of the story. Stephanie mentions to me that Bianca delivered Eva with no meds and although she was small that was painful and she took it like a champ, so she tells me, if Bianca asks for an epideral SHE NEEDS IT. Well let me say, I was not one to argue. At 2:30 ish she shoots up in bed and says, I NEED THE SHOT NOW!!!!  

Well I was no fool, I ran out and got her the shot :-). The anastigeloigist (sp?) came in with his resident and asked my mother in law and I to leave outside. He assures me ten minutes tops. 30 minutes later I am still outside and one doctor leaves and another comes running in. Yeah let that sink in for a minute.... When a doctor runs some thing is not right. Well we freak out I am going nuts and texting Jarrod asking him about his experience with the huge needle (well his wife's). So they finally come out and I am told she is doing well but she had to be poked three times...three times with that needle! So she looks at me with tired eyes and says she is feeling numb. Well after a few minutes of ice chips Bianca lets me know that she is still feeling a bit on her left side, so she gets some more drugs and all is well.

Shortly after this point Stephanie calls the doctor to check and see how things are progressing. Doctor takes a bit, and then some more, and both Stephanie and I are like, "eh lets just check". So glad she did (again she is a rock star in my book) and sure enough Baby Emma was right there. Waiting another 24 hours...right out. Everything at this point becomes and all out blur. It was Bianca, Stephanie, my mother in law and me in the room and suddenly there were like 20 people in there. There was a team for Bianca, a team for Emma and everyone was just moving. It was really impressive to say the least.

On to the birth part - Emma had decided to see the world as soon as possible, so she came face first (hence the bruising on her little face) and came fast she did. I got to help with holding Bianca's left leg and her neck while she pushed. Once pushing began it was really 3 hard pushes and Emma was here!
She was passed on to the NICU team right away and Bianca was still pushing on the placentas. Emma was crying almost right away which was such a great sign. The doctors and nurses started her with a respiratory tube just to be sure and she was ready to go. I got to touch her and take a few quick pics before she was off to see Bianca. After a few minutes of holding darling Emma she was taken to the NICU and we were told that we would get to see her in a few hours.

At this point I have always thought, yup labor is all done and there is nothing else to do. Well to my surprise there is still lots to do here (yes yes I should have paid more attention to the "Miracle of Life" video we watched in high school). The doctors all had another patient that was on the table and ready for a c-section right away, so they all stepped out and told us to sit tight for 30-45 minutes. Stephanie stayed with us as things were cleaned up and we settled into the thought that we have a new baby girl and she was being cared for somewhere in the building. After a few minutes Bianca started shaking and I was starting to get worried. I could tell that everyone else in the room was getting a bit anxious as well since there was still more to do as there were two placentas still inside of her. After awhile Stephanie wanted to make sure Bianca was ok and we started talking and checking on her bleeding. Not much had come out which on the surface seemed good, but now that I think about it, there probably should have been some more stuff coming out.

Stephanie began massaging very gently on Bianca's abdomen and sure enough a whole bunch of stuff came pouring out. We both thought, "Yay the placenta" but no just the largest bunch of blood clots I had ever seen in my life...EVER. I will spare everyone the description of what it looked like or graphic comparisons to first person shooter video games, but needless to say it was not something anyone would like to look at it. In my defense though, Stephanie agreed it was a ton, so much so, that she saved the not so friendly looking ball of goo to show to the doctor; who she went to grab. Doctor came in, agreed and went to work on finding these placentas. If you ever wondered what forceps are for, I can tell you :-) with forceps the doctor gently pulled the umbilical cord and out came placenta for Baby B(Emma).  There was much rejoicing and off we went to find Eva's placenta. Eva's cord had fallen off 2 days before and in fact, not much was left at all that had not already recessed back into the uterus.

Again I am going to spare some of the details or descriptions of the good doctors search for Eva's placenta (picture that scene in Indian Jones and the temple of doom when that witch doctor guy rips out the prisoner's heart   - yeah something like that) suffice it to say, it was scary. So out comes placenta two after a few minutes all was out and sure enough Eva's placenta was pretty torn up and in pieces, but we were through the hard part, Emma was ok and Bianca no longer had anything left to come out.

At this point Bianca gives me a good scare - for the next 2 hours or so she begins to shake and shiver and freak out to the point that I honestly thought we were in serious trouble. Bianca's shaking only got worse once the placentas were out. Stephanie tries to get a pulse on her right side at the same time I try to get one on her left (hey I am a Boy Scout, I can find a pulse) and guess what?? Niether of us could. Stephanie found one on her neck but it was very faint. She was breathing and talking to us so she was alive :-) but she was not doing so well. They also tried to take a blood pressure and nothing was working. I won't go into the whole two hour story, but since they could not get a blood pressure the doctors could not administer additional medication and so we were forced to wait it out and cover her in warm blankets. She was very vocal in saying that she was not cold at all, but could not stop shaking. Her lips at this point were ashen white and she had gone completely pale.

After a few other doctors came in they were finally able to give her additional drugs the got her to stop shaking and rest still. By this time it was close to 3 hours from when we last saw Emma and I was getting pretty anxious. When Bianca finally settled down and I could ask her if she wanted any water or juice her response let me know she was just fine; "Can I have some ice cream?" Yes ladies and gentlemen after giving birth to perfect little Emma and scaring me half to death, all she could think to ask for was a pint of her favorite ice cream!!! and you are darn tooten I got it for her.

I will update on Emma's total status in just a minute. We are at the hospital right now and we are about to go through shift change so I will have time to write some more soon...

Thursday morning

So much to write and say but not a lot of time this morning. Very quick update: Bianca is doing well and we are getting kicked out of here (ok not kicked out but she is being discharged right now). She is up and walking around and smiling lots and lots. 

Emma is doing great and we could not be happier. She has been off the respirator since about hour 12 and is on just a c pap machine with around 21-24% oxygen levels which is awesome. In other words she has been breathing on her own now for awhile so hopefully she keeps that up. She has had bowel movements and urine so she has kept her nurses busy. 

I will update more a bit later but for now things could not be better :-)

Quick pic! Yes my daughter does where sunglasses at night (this was taken around 2 am) 

Tuesday afternoon - welcome our new baby

Emma Brielle Flores was born at 3:23pm CDT weighing 1lb 8oz with all ten fingers and ten toes :-)

I don't have too much time to update, but baby came out vaginally with a pretty short amount of time pushing (less thank 30 min). When she was born she was moving her legs and arms and was looking really good. I got to spend sometime with her while they cleaned her up and heard her first little cry ! Yup that's right, Baby Emma cried with a great little set of lungs. She still needed a tube to help her breath but she was doing great. I got to touch her little hand and she opened her eyes to look at me. My heart melted and I am so smitten with that little girl. 

Bianca is holding strong and is still being worked on as there were still two placentas coming and lots of blood to deal with. I will update a bit later on with how everyone is doing!

For a quick explanation of our babies names:

We had always wanted to use Emma but never knew that Eva was a girl until she was born. So Eva came out right there and then. Emma has always been a special name to us for lots of different reasons, but as today progressed we thought hard on her middle name. So from Stephanie's suggestion (yes that Stephanie our wonderful nurse - sorry Karly we love you too but it was your day off) we decided to give her a middle name that starts with a B. 

Hence Baby A = Eva Aimee

And Baby B = Emma Brielle

Brielle is a French name which in Hebrew means "of God" or in French "God is my strength". They are our precious little angles and we love them both so much. 

I will update again soon ...

Tuesday 2pm

Quick update...Bianca has now had an epidural and contractions are coming very fast. Nurses have setup for a vaginal delivery but OR is on standby if there is any distress. NICU nuero teams are on stand by. 

I'll tell the epidural story later on or ask Jarrod as he calmed me down the most when I couldn't stop shaking. 

Baby's heart beat is good and Bianca is well. She is exhausted though but doing all she can. 

Tuesday mid morning

It has now been 6 hours since Bianca woke me up with the news of her water breaking. She has been administered two different antibiotics, a new round of the magnesium (so lots of ice packs and cold towels again) and has had a new dose of steroids. We are hoping to make it one more day now to allow for this dose to kick in and do as much as possible for baby girl. 

We have been moved backed to labor and delivery and are very close to the surgical room in case she needs a c section. We have consulted with the doctors and attendees and if there are any any any signs of distress they will do a c section. 

Once baby girl is born they will take her and I may or may not be able to go with her right away depending on stability, but I have been warned it make take up to three hours before I will get to see her. 

I took my first NICU tour today... As much as I wanted to hold back the tears, they came. No one looked at me in a negative way, but were very supportive. There are so many precious little ones here and my heart goes out to each one of them and their parents. 

I got to meet Dexter; a beautiful little boy who was born at 24 weeks and is now 11 days old. He is so tiny but perfect. He is bigger, much bigger than Eva and it surprised me to see the difference two weeks make. There are so many tubes and connections but such a loving wonderful staff. I can't say I'm happy this is all happening, but I am grateful that we are in the right spot where these miracle workers can help our baby. 

Here is a quick picture I snapped of Dexter's diaper so you can get an idea of the size of his little body:

This is a tough time for sure but we are so grateful for all the blessings we have been given. 

Bianca is sleeping now as she is pretty much exhausted. We are back to waiting for now, but are ready to go if the time comes soon...

Tuesday - 5:51AM CDT

Contractions are coming more consistently now, but Baby's heart beat is still very good. We have seen now at least 5 different doctors this morning and are now awaiting our high risk team as well as our NICU team. As we are about to be caught in the middle of shifts (shifts are 12 hours starting 7AM to 7PM) our night staff has begun filling in our day staff.

Remember the doctor who I did not get along with when we first got here, well she came rushing in this morning at 5:30 when she arrived and has been the most comforting person yet. It's amazing how much an opinion can change when we get to know someone. As we are typically less close and chatty with the night staff, seeing a doctor, our doctor, that knows us and knows what we have been through has been a wonderful comfort to Bianca and I.

We are staying positive, that is not to say we are not scared or worried, but we are positive. We have been through so much in this past month that we cannot deny the gifts and blessing of Heaven.

There is so much to be said of the power of prayer and the faith that is shared amongst so many people that have supported us through this trial. We cannot thank everyone enough - we knew our journey wasn't over yet, and Baby B is starting a new chapter for us today.

Sunday and Monday Recap - 

Sunday we received our normal visit from our wonderful Bishopric, who came and administered the sacrement to Bianca, her mother and myself. It is a wonderful way to start a Sabbath day and we were prepared for another tough week ahead. We ate and I left to attend our normal services as well as the World Wide Leadership broadcast regarding "The Work of Salvation". It was such a beautiful training where we learned of the exciting developments in missionary work and how this new generation has been prepared to serve and bring the gospel to the whole world. I was reminded of my service in Ecuador and all of the wonderful people I served and served with. How I miss the Shurtleffs and President's counsel. David Golding (Elder at the time) often reminded me of the most commonly used phrase in the Book of Mormon (at least in english)... "and it came to pass." This trial will to come to pass. With all of these reminders it was amazing to see how that time in my life has better prepared me and my family for this amazing journey. 

I mention this as I believe that our children our missionaries in every sense. Many have asked me regarding our faith and how we have remained positive during this time, and it is because of that faith and in a knowledge that God lives and loves us that we walk this road every day. 

Several years ago I had the privilege of growing up with some very dear friends, the Brown's, who were in our home ward for years. They have a son my age who I have grown up with our whole lives and his older brother had always been an inspiration to me. Their older son had battled long and hard with cancer and past away my sophomore year of high school. He had touched so many lives that nearly the entire school attended his funeral service. It was a service I would never forget as so many expected a family to be torn apart and devastated, but found they were united and of good cheer. They were comforted in the knowledge of eternal families and that their son was not lost, but separated from them for a short time while he attended to the Lord's business. As typical in our church, each missionary has a plaque with the missionarie's picture, the mission field to which they are called and often a scripture. I will never forget the week after the funeral when I walked in and saw a missionary plaque in the foyer with his name on it with the mission field of his calling being a "Celestial Mission". I would like to think that Eva is also serving a mission at this time, working in the fields on the other side of the veil.

Monday - 

All moved smoothly throughout Sunday with a tiny exception I did not mention before, Eva's umbilical cord, which had been clamped off, had finally fallen off. This was a cause of alarm to us as we just were expecting it (silly us first time pregnant). So we about near gave the on call nurse a heart attack when I told her the cord fell off (she thought I was referring to Baby B). 

Two main things happened Monday - Bianca was put on a blood thinner as the doctors had become increasingly concerned with the potential for blood clots with her constant bed rest. Blood thinner are fun medicines in my opinion, as these resulted in bloody noses, that of course caused some more alarm for us. After some discussion, she was moved to Heparin with a shot twice a day. So more needles, but if they can prevent a clot that could cause serious health risks, we were all for it.

The other thing that happened is, our high risk doctors felt that they should tie off the remaining cord that was still attached. Late last week, it was discovered that Eva's placenta was still viable and still connected. So if the placenta was still connected as well the cord, we had a loose cord, hopefully not spilling contents or doing anything else yucky, and as such it was cause for alarm. 

The doctors performed (or used not sure which) a speculum procedure to find the loose end of the cord and tie it off. After some time though, they were not able to find any cord left to tie. Bianca's body had essentially retracted or absorbed the remaining section of cord. We are not sure what that means exactly, but the doctors were not too alarmed.

So that brings us up to today, water broken and uterus contracting. It's now been 3 hours since Bianca woke me up telling me she felt her water broke and what she felt almost 30 days ago was happening again. We are of course in a much different position - we are in the hospital with an amazing team by our sides, medication has been administered and we are doing everything we can to help our baby girl. We are staying positive because thats who we are and what precious Baby B needs. As we know more I will update...

Tuesday morning

Baby B's water broke this morning at 3:30am. Bianca is not in labor yet as she has no contractions and no bleeding, but we have a two test confirmation that her water did break. Doctors have put her back on IV fluids and a new set of antibiotics. We are over the 24 week mark which was a primary goal, by now 3 days. The steroid shot was given almost two weeks ago and we may be given a "life saving" dose at this point. The on call dr is not a high risk specialist, but she has already alerted the team as well and the NICU. Baby is head down which would be the best position for a vaginal delivery, however if there are any additional indications that she is delivering this morning a c section will be performed. 

At this point Baby had a good heart beat and is doing as well as can be hoped for her size. We have to have faith and trust that we are in the right place and that everything will be ok. We have been prepared for this and know that we have done everything we can for our girls. 

We are both holding on to faith and hope and prayer. We probably won't know more for a few more hours but for right now we are holding tight. 

This does not mean Bianca is delivering yet, but if she is going to based on the water breaking it will be within the first 72 hours. We have to do more of what we are good at which is waiting...

Such great nurses...

I would like to say thanks to all of our amazing nurses - and we have had a few :-)
but two have really stood out as being not only amazing at their jobs, but really being there for Bianca, Eva, Baby B and Me. Karly and Stephanie have been those angels that you read about, doing above and beyond to make sure we were ok!

So when we came in last Tuesday (wow so much has happened in under two weeks) - you may have heard I was not the biggest fan of our receiving doctor; well it was Karly that took the time to reassure me. It was her example that lead me to apologize to the poor doctor after I had pretty much bit her head off.

When Bianca started going into full on labor on the second day and I saw the cord, it was Stephanie and Karly that put us at ease and helped us through the most difficult part of knowing our baby was not going to make it.

When the pain was so much and the mercury was heating Bianca's body up so much, it was Stephanie and Karly who worked fast to cover her in ice packs.

When we got moved from our first room to an even smaller room, it was Karly who got us a new bed and Stephanie that wheeled in a fridge just for Bianca.

When Bianca's back hurt it was these two wonderful angels who got her a new mattress pad and new pillows.

Karly came by with new magazines for Bianca and Stephanie spent time with us to tell us all about her miracle baby and their journey in the NICU...and the list goes on and on

Today they even celebrated with us on 24 weeks! with fresh baked cookies!!! How awesome is that :-)

Please know that all of our nurses have been amazing - but these two have just done more than anyone could ever ask for...oh and did I mention they are not even her nurses any more. They have done almost all of this since we have been in their care. My father in law said it best during the service for Eva; so many times we expect angels to be persons beyond the veil of this world, but often they are right here all around us.

Thank you Karly and Stephanie!!!

Saturday Morning - 24 Weeks and Viability!

I am so sorry for not posting much this week - well to be frank hardly nothing at all. This was a tough week emotionally and there were a lot of things I had to deal with before I was able to post. So this is sort of a recap of the week. Although things will never be normal again - we have begun to settle back into our routine a bit more.

Monday was spent getting family settled in and preparing things for the funeral. I want to express a sincere thank you to everyone who helped with programs, music, pictures, organizing the agenda, the flowers and all those little things that I had never really thought about.

Tuesday we had a wonderful service for Eva Aimee surrounded by family and friends. The Klein Funeral home was so great and I could not have been happier with all of the support and organization they provided. Our darling little girl was laid to rest in the Klein Memorial Park off of 2920 near our home in Tomball. I am so thankful for my parents and sister for being able to attend as well as almost all of Bianca's family; brothers and sisters as well as spouses nieces and nephews. It was so wonderful to see her surrounded by so many people that love and support her.

Here are a few pictures of the service as well as her family's visit to the hospital!

The rest of the week has been spent trying to catch up at work and taking care of things around the hospital. The hard part for Bianca has been the emotional strain of not being able to be there for the service and having to be in bed for so long.

We entered the hospital on May 28 and today is June 22 for a total of 26 days! YIKES!
Today also marks 24 weeks for our miracle Baby B!

24 weeks also means are first day of viability - Where Baby B has a high enough chance of survival that NICU specialist start monitoring her even more.

So what has happened during this week with Baby B and Bianca's health...
Both are doing very well with Bianca getting lots of bed rest and sleeping a lot. Baby B has had strong heart tones and seems to be kicking and moving a lot. Earlier this week we got to hear Baby with hiccups and see her practicing her breathing. I never knew I could be so happy about hiccups.

Some of the other news - Baby B is generally developing well and is consistent with 24 weeks of development with the exception of her little tummy. Her tummy is more than a week behind the development of the rest of her body. There are lots of reasons for this, but over all we need to increase Bianca's diet and her good calorie intake. We have been noticing that Bianca eats less than normal due to her being in bed all the time and tends to get a bit of reflux after she eats. (After we learned this she ate a slice of pizza, a hot dog and a full salad for lunch...I think she is on board with the whole eating more idea)

As I have mentioned before, we have a team of doctors now and we meet more and more every day as well as new nurses all the time - but we now can add a Physical Therapist and a Dietitian.  Bianca is now on PT exercises to keep her muscle tone up and strength as well as a new diet including more protein and eating more often. She is now on Boost / Ensure drinks to keep her calorie intake up and give the baby as much.

Over all things are good and I will post more as soon as I get a chance.

Sunday Morning - Happy Father's Day

This morning I got one of the nicest messages I have ever received from Michael Amaral. It was short and sweet; he wished me a happy father's day.

Through all this I had forgotten what a blessing and privilege it is to be a father. Our little girl was on this earth for just a short time, but I know we will see her again and she is not gone from our lives, but working in the Lord's kingdom now. I am reminded so much of my paternal Grandmother and her dedication to service. After my Grandfather had passed away and all her children had grown she decided to serve a  full time mission and was called to the Mexico City Temple. Her life was an example of service to us all and she passed away serving at the temple she loved so much. Our little Eva took after her example and the example of so many of our loved ones in her willingness to return to our Heavenly Father and serve.

My heart is full of gratitude on this Sunday morning for the sacrifice of so many fathers and the love they have for their children. My parents are here with us as well as my in laws and it has been an amazing beacon of strength to have our Fathers with us during this time. To all the Fathers who read this blog; Happy Father's Day - thank you for being the Dads that make us great, that pick us up when we are down and who lead by example.

As much as I have wanted to write in the last few days, it has been extremely busy with lots of different phone calls and preparations for so many different things. I am so thankful for the additional flowers and love we have received these last few days especially from those who have donated to the march of dimes and the Pierce family, Kris  Carpenter, all my co-workers in Phoenix and all those who have called and left messages. To Josue and family, thank you for your kind words and messages; to Manny and Gaby thank you for the call and I am so sorry I have not had a chance to call you all back. Likewise to Raul Davilla and his family for their messages.
BTW - Kris thanks for the longer HDMI cable - the nurses are amazed at how we got Netflix and the apple TV to work on the hospital TV's :-)

Let me take some time to update everyone who is still following along on Baby B and why we have not named her yet. We did not know the sex of Baby A (Eva) until the minute she was born. The Friday after we were admitted into the hospital was the day we were to learn each babies gender. So I was the one to announce that Baby A was a girl to Bianca. We had really not thought of a lot of girl names as we had always assumed Baby A was a boy. The few names we had agreed on totally left our minds when we saw our perfect little girl. So let me explain her name quickly; Eva is Bianca's maternal grandmother's name and Aimee is my sister's name. We decided to name our daughter after two women who have always led by example, dedicated their lives to service and love for Heavenly Father so much that they have raised families into Him. We also wanted to name her after individuals who were instrumental in raising us as children. So Eva Aimee is the name we chose.

Baby B has not been named as of yet as we are awaiting her FULL TERM arrival to see her, hold her and then see what name fits well for her. We do not love our second daughter any less or any more than Eva, we just want to see her to make sure her name fits :-)

Bianca is doing well and is in very good spirits and has begun focusing her efforts in taking as much care of Baby B as she can. She is still on bed rest and will continue to be until hopefully we reach 38+ weeks. As we hit 23 weeks yesterday that means we have around 15 weeks to go - YIKES. There are of course milestones to hit and things to do in the mean time, so for right now our goal is to 24 weeks. So our goal is next Saturday everyone :-) Positive thoughts and prayers for that day.

Our team (and yes I do mean team at this point as we on a daily basis see no less than 3 doctors and often, are not even the same ones) have consulted with us and together we have come up with a solid plan. Bianca is now off IV fluids and IV antibiotics, although the risk of infection is still very high. She is on a regimen of antibiotics in pill form now though along with lots and lots of water the old fashion way - by drinking it. She still has her IV in, but not connected at the moment. Her blood pressure, pulse, temperature and lung sounds are checked multiple times each day to ensure that she is doing well on bed rest. Baby B's heart beat is checked daily with the doppler and movement and position is tracked by ultra sound a few times a week. So she is being watched like a hawk at this point.

Baby A's cord and placenta are still inside of Bianca and there has been no big push to get them out. Each time she gets cleaned up there is more and more fragments of membrane that come out. That is a tough thing to see as you almost immediately worry that its new blood from something else. Our primary high risk doctor is comfortable with us waiting it out for the placenta mostly to come out on its own, however as Baby A was so small, there is a chance it will fall out by pieces as it comes apart inside of her. Although this is a slow process, Bianca is not in any pain just a bit uncomfortable at times as she feels more pieces fall out.

Our next major issue is bed sores and being in bed for so long. Bianca has been on complete bed rest now since May 28 bringing us to a total of 20 days. Let's take a minute to remember how long that really is...ever been a broke college student working part time and living off raman (Allison remembers cause she was in the apartment building across from me !) and you spent all the money you had on books and food the minute you got paid on the 1st and you had to wait till the 15th for the next pay check. Yeah multiply that by a bazillion and you got it. She is in good spirits like I said, but her anxiousness is starting to set in. Thank you to Craig and Blair for the cool gift box with things for her to do. Our antepartum nurses and doctor rock as the plan is to change rooms every week or so just to give Bianca a fresh look at something new :-)

-TOTAL SIDE NOTE - I had been telling the nurses how long Bianca had been on bed rest, sort of puffing my chest out a bit, and I meet the guy a few doors down from us whose wife has been here for 3 months...I shut up :-)

Bianca's skin has begun to peel around her joints from taking sponge baths and not being able to completely rinse off. That has been a cause for alarm, but changing soaps and aveeno lotion will hopefully to the trick as the last thing we want is more discomfort. Her hair has also become a challenge as washing it is difficult but necessary just to keep her positive and healthy. Dry shampoo as I mentioned a few week back - not really a solution, more of a stop gap and tends to leave your hair with some big clumps. Her compression boots are still on though to help with circulation, but I am finally starting to see her leg strength weaken. Daily I put my hands on her feet and tell her to push so we can exercise and we are beginning to see some major muscle tone loss. She is still strong, but its much less than her normal strength.

Sadly the last thing is her catheter has finally been removed - good, as it was always irritating - bad, that she has to remember to urinate. For her sake I will not go into details, but its sort of funny when you didn't have to think about it for 2 weeks and all of the sudden you do.  I will say no more ;-)

Sorry this has become so long - but since I haven't written I just thought I would take some time and get everyone up to speed (and Bianca is still asleep so I had some time !)

Lastly Baby B's odds. The goal is to help Bianca go to term with Baby B around 38 weeks, however we have had to make some decisions in the mean time. As we learned with Eva, at 22+ weeks, she was still too small to have extreme measures taken. Part of the problem is that the baby cannot have a tube placed inside her mouth to help expand the lungs and help her breath. Intubation tubes are just not made small enough to handle an infant that size. So for Baby B, during the delivery and day after Bianca was given her first dose of steroids to help growth development. So here is the break down of odds from a statistical look based on her weight, gestational age, and the dosage of steroids:
Survival - 26%
Survival without profound neurodevelopmental impairment - 16%
Survival without moderate to severe neurodevelopmental impairment - 9%
So as you can see we want Baby B to keep developing as long as possible. These odds though have been music to my ears from what we were first told in May.  Baby B still has a long road to go and we are not naive in that, but we are full of faith and hope and we will continue to fight the good fight.

Saturday Morning - March Of Dimes - 23 Weeks!!!

Good morning - what a beautiful morning it is and we are so happy for another day :-)
I apologize for not writing more yesterday as it was just such a hard/busy day. I will update more on that a bit later on this morning. For right now let me give some specific details regarding the funeral.

We will be having services on Tuesday - June 18th at 10:00AM for little Eva Aimee.
The services will be grave side and due to the limited area and seating we have asked that only family and invited friends attend. This is not to say we don't wish everyone could come, but the space and time just won't allow for too many people, not to mention that my wife's family is a bit huge already :-)

Bianca will not be attending as she and Baby B are doing very good and will remain in the hospital for hopefully several more weeks to come! We are officially 23 weeks today with Baby B and we are hoping to go the distance and go full term. I will update more about that a little later on today.

A few more things regarding the funeral - several people have already reached out to me regarding sending flowers or other things to the funeral home and grave site. Although we appreciate so much the thoughts and gifts, however as Eva has brought so much joy into our lives, we would like to give that joy back in some small way.

In lieu of flowers we are asking for donations to be made in memory of Eva Aimee to the March of Dimes! The mission of the March of Dimes is to help mom's have full term healthy babies, and help with research and coping with health issues that occur with pre-term pregnancies.

If you would like to donate please visit our donation page at: http://www.gofundme.com/3a11fo
If any one has questions please feel free to contact me :-)

Lastly for this morning - we would like to post a single picture of Baby Eva that the nurses took once she was born - (Allison - the nurses took amazing pictures as things happened a bit sooner than we had thought, and we are happy we did. Thank you so much for the sage advice as this has helped us so much!!)

She has my nose for sure, and she is just perfect - all ten fingers and ten toes :-)
We love you all and thank you so much for you support during this time!

Friday afternoon

Just a quick update as I have been all over the place today. Funeral arrangements are under way and should be finalized shortly. Bianca and I are talking about donating to a charity like the march of dimes in lieu of flowers as many have already begun asking where to send arrangements. I will keep everyone posted on that as soon as we have some time to work through options.

Bianca and Baby B are doing well and were able to rest last night. The doctors have been closely monitoring her and so far so good ( fingers crossed and prayers said ). I will update more in the morning but thank you to everyone who has called and sent flowers. We appreciate the outpouring of love for our little girl. 

Wednesday 2:40 pm

Our precious little girl Eva Aimee Flores was born today at 2:40pm weighing 15oz with all ten toes and ten fingers and the most beautiful precious little person I have ever seen. 

Her heart had stopped beating sometime before she was delivered but we are so thankful she is not in pain and is in the right place now. 

Bianca is doing as well as can be expected but physically she is doing well. Baby b is still high in her uterus and the sack and placenta have not been disturbed. We are not out of the woods by any means, but baby b is hanging on. The doctors will monitor her every minute now and we will have twice a day ultra sounds. 

Our journey is not over and we know we are an eternal family with our darling little Eva. We are so thankful for all the love and support we have received and we ask that if possible that prayers continue for Bianca and both our little girls. 

Funeral arrangements are being made and I will post more information as I know more. 

Thursday mid day

Baby A is almost out now, most of the feet and legs are out and visible as well as a lot of the umbilical cord. The baby is still progressing slowly but nurses have confirmed there is no longer a heart beat. The doctor has not declared the baby still born yet, but it has now been close to two hours moving very very slowly at this rate. 

Bianca is so tired and has finally started to rest but she is still having contractions and the baby is still coming out. Bianca is now on a magnesium drip as well which is to provide natal care and relax her uterus in the hope that baby b does not deliver. So far baby b has not moved too much and doesn't seem distressed. This medicine though also makes this process even longer for baby A. 

The magnesium medicine caused an extreme rise in temperature and Bianca was flush for about 20 min in which we covered her in ice packs and draped her in cold clothes as much as possible. Once the initial dose was given she has been much better.  

Baby B has also received the first steroid shot to help development as there is still a chance that they will be delivered soon as well. This is the main reason why we haven't pushed baby a faster or done any sort of c section, just trying to give baby b a fighting chance at this point. 

Doctors have also upped the dosage of antibiotics as this is a very tough spot to be in and replaced her catheter to try and avoid infection as much as possible. Still on iv liquids but down to ice chips as water is not an option any more in the event she needs to be put under for any type of surgical procedure. 

I haven't processed in my mind everything with Baby A yet and I don't know how to express anything I or Bianca are feeling right now. I just wanted to update on where we are now as I know so many people are worried. Once baby A is all the way here and out I will let everyone know what the plan is moving forward. We love everyone who is reading and thank you for your prayers.  

Thursday morning

Still no new development - just a horribly long night. Bianca has had contractions but, not strong ones and Baby A is just not progressing. At this point we have no idea if Baby A still has a heart beat or not, but Bianca is exhausted and neither of us had much sleep. The nurses are checking on her constantly and we meet with another high risk doctor very early this morning. The use of steroids for Baby B is still out for at least another week. At this point we are praying that Baby A is not in pain and can deliver if that is what is going to happen, on their own without force. Any measure of force will put Baby B into serious jeopardy.

I wish I knew more and had more to share, but right now I am at a loss as to where to go from here.
Bianca is finally resting a bit until the doctors come back in with what I hope will be a plan.

Wednesday - baby a status

I don't have good news but had a short second to update. During Bianca's settling in here she was being cleaned up and it was found that the umbilical cord of baby a was protruding out. The cord prolapse (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbilical_cord_prolapse)

Essentially is one of the worst things that could have happened. Baby A's feet are out now and the cord is pinched essentially eliminating blood and oxygen. The doctors and nurses have come in and there is nothing left that can be done. Baby A's heart is slowing though the contractions have some what slowed down. The high risk specialist has advised all doctors involved to let Bianca continue delivering naturally as in these cases an emergency c section is performed but as that would put baby b at such a horrible risk all we can do is let things continue. Bianca is holding on as best as she can and we are just trying to keep it together. Ill update when I know more. 

Wednesday - More Updates

After consulting now every doctor we have ever had turns out we were all wrong. The consensus is now that Bianca is 22 weeks 4 days and 22 weeks 6 days. So Saturday will be our 23 week mark. Of course this is not exactly what we wanted to hear, but we are in the right place and we have a team now working with us.

We also have a nurse coordinator assigned to us, who is our liason for all things long term care here including post labor with babies in a NICU. We are very thankful to her as there are a lot of questions including parking and meal plans. I used to think a lot about Allison and her long term stay at the hospital with parking and meals and washing clothes, and now I totally understand what was going on.

I am so thankful to her and her husband and their miracle baby Grant and or course their new baby. I find myself thinking of Grant a lot when I feel down. Miracles do happen and we are living in one right now. If you want a smile and a warm feeling just read their story: http://grantmeaheart.blogspot.com/

I'll keep the updates coming as we are meeting with our new team later on today.

Wednesday mid morning

Well let me just say moving hospitals is not a fun experience at all. At all at all!

Since I can't gripe to much anyone else I will gripe here. We were told last night we would leave at 9 to 9:30 AM and I would not be allowed to ride in the ambulance. At 6:30 we are told we are rolling out within 30 min. So we rush to get the last of our things packed and moved. EMTs got there and asked if I was ready to ride and I sat there with a blank stare and said i thought I wasn't allowed to go. So sadly I could have, but ended up driving way behind with trying not to lose my mother in law in Houston traffic :-)

Bianca kept me posted to how things were going by text; I am so glad I told her to take her phone. She arrived to labor and delivery only to find that they have no idea who she is and where she is coming from. The EMTs went ahead and dropped her off and she was pushed to triage assuming she was a new case. I am going to go with the edited version of the story, but by the time I got there the doctor wanted to give Bianca a vaginal exam and was asking her to push as there was nothing she could do for our babies. I had to start yelling to get them to understand we were a transfer and not new patients. The doctor finally told us we needed to talk about the news she just have us and that there was nothing that could be done for our babies. 

I asked her to please get the info and look at our chart. We were finally moved to a delivery room and the high risk doctor, not the same as we are supposed to see, came in and took control of the situation. He asked us our history and we went through the whole story again (sadly I wanted to just point him to the blog) but we were able to get on the same page. 

We have now spoken to our neo natal specialist who was awesome in calming us down, apologizing for the rough morning and getting us up to speed with what his team does in the nicu. We are not there yet but we had to make some pretty hard decisions in regards to care at certain stages of treatment. There is still a long long fight ahead of us and the kiddos. 

To make the day a little more stressful, the doctor who I did not see eye to eye with came in to tell us our weeks were off and we are only 21 weeks 6 days and not 22 weeks 6 days which puts us back a week and would cause all sorts of other problems. Well so here is the thing, I already didn't like this doctor very much and this set me off. Again edited version... I was not so nice. 

We finally agreed to contact our fertility doctor who happens to be literally across the street. We implanted the twins after the embryos had been fertilized for 6 days, hence the missing week they can't account for. Of course the clinic is closed for lunch so we are now waiting on that. 

Long story short, we are in the right place talking to the right people but it took us a long time to get here. We arrived at 9:00am but I don't think anyone else knew that till 12 :-)

I did go out finally and apologized to the doctor. She didn't know what was going on or who we were so I understand her reaction to seeing what we have been dealing with for 15 days. I am thankful for her understanding as I just finally couldn't keep it together. Sometimes crying it out helps for a bit. We are here and that's all that matters. There are lots of other updates but I will try and fill everyone in a bit later on. 

Wednesday morning

And away we go!

Wednesday early morning

New update- we were just told that we would be leaving now closer to 7:30 this morning. Lots to do. So far everyone is well and in good spirits!

Tuesday Late Evening

Official word - We are moving to Children's Memorial Hermann 9:00AM tomorrow morning :-)
We have so many mixed emotions as we have grown close to all the nurses and staff here that it is a bit sad, but we are so happy that we are doing everything we can for our two little ones.

Sadly I won't be able to ride in the ambulance (just found out) with Bianca so I get to follow in my car. My mother in law has had it sooo easy as the house is just a few miles away and 3 turns max and now she gets thrown into Houston traffic! For those of you who are from Houston, please pray for her :-) Going down 45 at any time of the day is pretty much the worse experience ever. I tried to explain toll ways and I don't think we are on the same page.

I am running around packing now trying to get things in order for the move tomorrow and my flight (yeah did I mention I am going to DC tomorrow for work) so I am pretty sure that tomorrow is going to be a really intense day.

We are so thankful for everything and all the prayers. We are not out of the woods yet (although we are leaving the Woodlands - ha get it, leaving the woods - ha *sigh* my sister will laugh) so please keep prayers and good vibes coming!

Tuesday evening

Unofficial update - our OB came back this afternoon and told us that he still had not found anyone at st. Joseph's hospital ( he was recommended that hospital by the NICU specialist as they are a religious hospital and perform extreme life saving measures on all premies) but that he was making calls still. He literally sat outside out room and made calls. 

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate our OB for working with us on everything so far. 

Here is the unofficial part. The nurse just came in to let us know Children's Memorial Hermann in the medical district had accepted out case. If all stays on this course and with paper work, we would be transferred tomorrow morning around 9 am.  

Fingers crossed and praying!  I'll update again once I know more. 

Tuesday afternoon

We haven't heard from the OB yet but we did get some info from our nurse that the doctor has been on the phone and so far no willing takers on our case. The main reason is that we are still not at 23 weeks, so we may be staking out here a little longer. 

Please wish us good vibes and prayers that we can find a doctor and a hospital for our little ones. 

Tuesday Morning - Two Weeks In Bed

More news this morning - Our OB came in and gave us the low down on his plans for us. He ordered another ultra sound for this morning and he wants to move us out of the Woodlands this week hopefully, so babies will hit 23 weeks in a facility that can best help them should Bianca deliver any time past this Thursday.

A couple of things; it's not as easy as just picking another hospital and going as a naively thought yesterday. Our OB will start calling around to the major children's hospitals downtown to see which has space and is willing to take our case. Luckily there are lots of options but here is the short list:

• Women's Hospital of Texas
• Texas Children's Hospital
• Children's Memorial Hermann

So fingers crossed that we are able to get to a place that can best help the little one's.

On to the ultra sound - Baby A gave us a nice bit of panic this morning as the tech was not able to find their little heart beat for a long long time. Normally our ulta sounds last a few minutes, this go around it was over 30. Baby A has now gone from a straight position looking as if he was ready to be born any minute, to a curled up little ball. He seems to be setting up shop there and just tucking back into the fetal position. Bianca had a sharp pain in her lower abdomen late last night, and we now think that was Baby A moving and wiggling around. This is why it took so long to find the heart beat, as the entire torso of the baby is behind her pelvic bone. After what seemed like forever though, Baby A's heart beat was found and is doing remarkable well. 

Baby B is doing well and has decided to move around quite a bit. Baby B has gone from breech, to transverse and now to Cephalic meaning head down. We don't think that is an indicator that Baby B is ready to be born, just that they are swimming around and enjoying the extra room. 

So lots of good things are happening and we are hopeful. Modestly of course, but we are happy on where we are now and hope that things continue to get better. We are awaiting to hear back from our OB later on this afternoon to see how things are moving with our search for a new hospital.

Monday - Evening

I got lots of messages wondering how things went today, and I have just not had a chance to slow down today. Monday's are just a mess with work and the start of the week, even the hospital seems a lot busier on Monday. - Sorry David :-(

So we have lots of news to report tonight so I will try to be concise and to the point.  Our OB is back in town and we were so happy to see him after almost a week. He let us know that the fluid is much higher than we original thought with the nurse and that Baby B is doing much much better than even he had hoped. B's amniotic fluid levels are getting close to normal which means that either the sack is resealing/resealed or that Bianca is producing more, and faster than the tear. Either way that is some of the best news we have had! Baby A's heart beat is still strong and we are still hoping for the best for our little fighter.

We have also begun talking to our OB about something we had only dreamed of before; we are now talking about hitting 24 weeks and what our options will be once we get there. Tomorrow marks 2 whole weeks that we have been here! Those first few hours were so horrible and hard to deal with, I can not thank everyone enough for all the support we have had. So 2 weeks is incredible really for what we were told when we first rolled over to labor and delivery. Thursday will mark 23 weeks for the babies which is also a huge milestone for us. This means that next Thursday we will hit 24 weeks, which is our big goal now. Honestly I do not like thinking so far in the future (for us making it one more day is a miracle in and of itself) but we are so hoping for that milestone.

What does 24 weeks mean - well it really is a question of what does 23 weeks mean for our plans. We meet with the NICU specialist and started to go through some of the treatment options. As I have mentioned before, steroids are for sure an option when we are closer to an induction time, however we discussed that its sort of a one time shot sort of thing. We were informed that the practice of prolonged steroid use can cause brain damage or other side affects once born, so we would get one shot to have the medication help with lung development.

The other things we were given were the statistics regarding survival rates this early on. (please note - these are the numbers we were told today and I am sure you can find other literature all over the net with other stats) At 23 weeks we are looking at less than 10% chance of survival. At 24 weeks we are looking at a big jump to 70% chance with the use of steroids. At 25 weeks we jump up to 85%+ and every week after things get better and better. Obviously we are looking to make it as long as possible, but here is where things get a little more complicated.

As Baby A is still in such a tough spot, we are still worried about their development and growth. We have confirmed again that Baby A can't stay too long in the position they are in, but for now they are ok. So we are going to have to think about making some tough decisions regarding when to induce to give both babies the best shot possible. We are researching as much as we can, but we will have another ultra sound tomorrow morning and we are going to ask about how big each baby is getting. We have been so concerned with fluid levels and heart beats, that we haven't really been asking about that, as Baby A's size is going to be a major factor.

On to the next topic of discussion. Our hospital has a NICU policy of at least 23 weeks (pushing 24) before they will perform extreme measure to help babies make it. Our OB has let us know, that past this Thursday we will at the very least be looking at moving from the Woodlands (north north Houston) to the medical district downtown hospital which has a much larger NICU and a more experienced staff.

If you didn't know Houston is one of the best places in the world to be sick or with any sort of medical condition. We have one of the largest medical districts in the US. So the NICU specialist wants us to really look at our options at 23 weeks for moving hospitals, not so much because we are not in a good place, or the same hospital group doesn't have an outstanding children's hospital, but there are several other hospitals here that have intense experience with premature babies and their care. In the time between now and Thursday I am going to be calling a lot of hospitals trying to find which is the best for our little one's. For any of our Houston friends, I would appreciate any and all opinions on hospitals or doctors that you know of in the medical district.

Assuming (knock on wood, fingers crossed, lots of prayers and anything else you can think of) we can make it to Thursday and we move hospitals, we will need to make some adjustments as far as the commute to the house and how often I can go back and forth. Right now the hospital is 15 minutes away and once we move it will be close to an hour or more depending on traffic. Those are the least of worries, but my friends that live within the loop, I may be calling on you all a lot more ;-)

Thanks everyone for all the love and support and prayers ... keep them coming as they sure do help !!

Sunday Morning

Had a quick consult with the on call OB and she is a bit concerned about how hard Bianca's abdomen has been on her last two visits. Bianca has been contracting a bit more this weekend and has been feeling less and less comfortable. We are hoping it is more associated with being on bed rest so long and not a sign that babies are starting to get restless, but its hard to tell.

She is sleeping through the night and the prune juice and dried prunes are helping so that is all good news. I have felt Baby B a few times and Bianca says the Baby A has been wiggling so we are happy that they are both hanging in there.

I wasn't able to do much research last night as we were both pretty tired and ended up going to bed pretty early. I will update with anything new, but hopefully we will have a quiet Sunday.

Saturday afternoon

Bianca has has a rough 24 hours now, not so much because of babies, but due to a certain body function not...well um.... Happening. Being on bed rest is not always as great as it sounds and out of respect for Bianca (and on the threat of violence by a very pregnant woman) I will say no more about her regularity. 

Thanks to Jarrod and Michelle for the prune juice and grape juice cocktail. Here is hoping all comes out well (hehe get it...too much??)

On baby news, both heart beats are good and baby B has for sure been moving around and swimming. We are hoping that all the movement is a good thing. We are not having another ultra sound until Monday when our OB is back so hopefully we will have a quiet weekend. 

We are now researching how often one should change a catheter to avoid infection. So more fun research for the evening :-) 

Saturday morning - hello weekend!!

Just a quick update. Bianca is not such a happy camper and we were up very late last night with what were possible contractions or bowel issues. 

The doctor is about to come in and do a quick consult so I will post more after that. 

Here are some of the amazing flowers we have received!!! Thank you all so much especially Katie and Tony who have sent the latest batch!

Friday Afternoon

I had to run out this morning for a meeting (which I didn't even make) but didn't get a chance to update everyone on Bianca and Co. She had a great night and slept straight through and was able to get some much needed rest.

We were awakened this morning by the on call OB who finally got around to seeing us (not bitter, just saying) and we went over all the results from the ulta sound. So again her white cell counts are ok, in the normal range for a pregnant lady :-) and babies heart beats are  137 and 132 so all is well there.

Best news though, Baby B's amniotic fluid is increasing!!!! It's still a slow roll, but there is improvement which is something we are all too excited about.  Our nurse yesterday told us all looks "about" the same, but the doctor confirmed we are doing better. It's such a good feeling to have that positive note after so much hope and prayer.

We are also 22 weeks and 1 day now!! So YAY for another week and still growing.

On a slightly more blah note; got the first call from the insurance asking us all sorts of not so nice questions. It is the farthest thing from my mind as I just want the kids to be ok, but its a reality I am sure I will have to confront sooner rather than later. Surprisingly they know A LOT about what is going on and how her treatment is going....big brother style, but it makes sense.

We did finish Grey's Anatomy (well caught up to season 9 finale) and are sort of sad to see it go from us for a while. It was fun having the nurses walk in all the time and tell us how wrong everything was
:-) Than you for everyone who has given us lots of good ideas for new shows and things to do to pass the time. We think Chuck might be next and then Friday Night Lights, and a sprinkling of House of Cards in between. My vote was for ER as it just seemed right at this point and its a complete show, but eh it was a 3 to 1 vote :-/

I hadn't mentioned this before, at least I don't think I have, but in cases like our there are some major goal markers that we are trying to reach. The first of course is 24 hours from being checked in, as most doctors will either push to induce or you will go on your own. Marker Check!
Second is 10 days as infection in this case is most likely to set in or start showing its ugly head around or before 10 days.  Today marks our 11th day here so hopefully, fingers crossed and no bad luck Marker Check! Now our big goal is 24 weeks. We may have some good hopes at 23 weeks for steroids and other things, but 24 weeks would be ideal. Steroids to help develop lungs usually take 48 hours to set in, so we are looking at 24 weeks and change. We are hoping and praying hard to make that now.

Of course if we can make it past 24 the better, but this is our next marker and hopefully slow and steady and we can make it!!! All four of us :-)

Thursday - Afternoon

So sorry for not posting earlier as I have been asked a bunch about our status now. On top of living in the hospital and trying to take care of my wife and kiddos, I still have to balance work and the day to day. No need to feel sorry for me at all, but it makes updating a little harder than normal.

We had our ultra sound this morning (of course right when I left for work) and got little to no information once it was complete. I got back here this afternoon and finally got to talk to the nurse (the on call OB got stuck in surgery and has not been by).

Baby B is now transverse as opposed to breech as they were on Tuesday and Baby A is much the same. Heart beats are still strong and both still show movement. Baby A obviously has much less room to wiggle in, but is still hanging tough and doing everything they can to protect their baby sister.

Also got the good news that Bianca's white cell count is a bit lower, but overall the same as Tuesday. In most cases I would be worried that she is not getting better, but we are over the moon thrilled that she is not getting worse. We have been holding so close to keeping things still that knowing she is the same is just music to our ears.

The nurses are also recommending that she start limited PT (physical therapy) not so much because she is hurt, but she is in bed ALL THE TIME. So little exercises here and there will help her not lose all of her muscle tone and strength.

I have recently been told about procedures to add fluid and do other things to try and protect Baby B, but so far my research and questions to our doctors has resulted in us staying the course. For those of you interested, the actual term for low fluid is Oligohydraminos and is the cause of about 30-40% of second trimester premature births. Oddly enough, in most of the cases I have read about this, complete labor happens with 72 hours and we are now counting 10 days in the hospital. We are so very happy to hit 10 days!

We are so grateful to James, Dani and Julian for the great flowers as well as Jarrod, Michelle and Jordan's flowers and Paul, Abby and Co (sorry you have too many kids ;-) flowers!!

I thank you all for the support and love we have felt during this time and all the prayers. Every night as we go to bed we thank Heavenly Father for all the amazing people who have come into our lives and who surrond us with love right now.

Wednesday Night

Bianca is doing well and the babies are still hanging on. I know it's getting hard for her to be in bed all the time, but she is so willing to do anything she can for our little ones.

We wanted to express special thanks to Linda who passed me some great medical information and contacts from other hospitals that will hopefully point us in the right direction. Also to TJ, for a great dinner and great company. It is really amazing how the little things mean the most to us.

It has been a long slow day for some reason as we have heard lots of baby cries today and lots of activity through out the labor and delivery wing. We actually have seen very very little of our nurses today. Although I enjoy privacy, I feel left out today; I just worry that Bianca won't say something if anything is wrong.

We do not have much more to report, other than the leaking is still going and we are a bit worried that Bianca with all the liquids will start having shortness of breath or other complications. Drinking this much liquid and not moving can cause other issues we are not looking for. We are getting another ultra sound in the morning and hopefully we will know more about how the kiddos are doing and their stats.

Thank you all for the love and prayers and for Derek and Joyleen for the great suggestion of the Big Bang theory. We are almost caught up with Grey's Anatomy and I think it may be making her sad, so new shows are greatly welcome. And yes thanks to James we got the Apple TV working on the hospital wifi, hehe...

Wednesday Morning....Start of a new week

We talked to the on-call doctor early this morning and we are continuing the high liquid plan and lots of IV fluids. Our OB has programmed us to receive an ultrasound every other day, so not going to see the kiddos again until tomorrow.

I had to start heading into the office a bit more so I wouldn't be so far behind, but my mother in law has helped out tremendously when I am away. My work family has been beyond supportive and I could not thank them enough.

As the babies have already lasted much longer than anyone had thought, I am digging into new research to see what else can be done for baby A. It is a long shot I know, but I am hopeful to find some literature on a baby this far descended continuing to progress. I will report my findings as soon as possible.

Other than that babies and mom are still doing well and we are grateful for the start of another week in the hospital.

Tuesday night

Bianca is doing well and drinking lots of fluids. A pretty quiet afternoon and time for bed. 

Thanks all for your kind words today and support. 

:-)

Tuesday Morning - 1 week

We had our morning ultra sound right around 6AM - and from what I could tell nothing much had really changed. I sat there and watched as the tech looked around and could see both Baby A and B moving and with the best little heart beats ever.

So about an hour ago now our OB came in with that goofy smile of his and confirmed what I had thought earlier. There were no signs of improvement, but we both together said, "That also means she is not getting worse!" Which in my mind and in our opinion is a victory all in the same.

We have also just hit our first complete week in the hospital, and oddly we could not be happier!
One week more means one week closer to our goal of healthy happy babies.
Bianca is still working on her liquid pushing and we have come up with a little drinking game (of water and Gatorade) with Grey's Anatomy. Its sort of funny, but so far I am going to the rest room as often as she is :-)

Paul also came by to bring us more flowers and lunch !
Thanks so much Sir - Bianca is on cloud 9 right now

Our OB will be out for the rest of the week, but we are going to keep him posted on everything and we aren't going to let any on call doctor change her fluids ;-)

Monday Afternoon

Days like today are hard. In our afternoon consult our OB told us some not so great news. It appears that although both heart beats are strong and white cell count is low, Baby B has now started losing amniotic fluid as well.

I had been concerned for several days now that there was still discharge when Baby A was out of fluid, and to further confirm my fear our best guess is the fluid we are seeing is from Baby B now. Normal level is between 10-12 at this point of the pregnancy with the fluid levels dropping over time as the baby grows. Baby B's current levels are around 5. In the first trimester amniotic fluid is mostly comprised of mothers water intake, however into the second trimester, the babies own urine begins to pad the needed sack. Low fluid could mean issues with the babies kidneys or other complications, however in this case all signs are pointing more to the same thing that caused Baby A's sack to break as well.

So where does this leave us now...

Well there are things that can help and we are sure going to try everything we can. First off, if you remember Saturday the on call doctor let us drop Bianca's fluid intake as she was doing so well. From the quick research I have done receiving bed rest and IV fluids along with drinking A TON of liquids can help reverse this. If there is a tear or a leak in the membrane of the sack our prayer is we can fill it faster then it is leaking. Our OB has agreed with us that we are going to pump her full of liquids as best as we can over the next 24 hours. The liquid was cut in half on Saturday down to 50 (not sure of the unit) from 100, and we are now upping it to 150. Bianca is also now on a water binge as well as Gatorade and anything else we can find (thanks Jarrod and Michelle).

Some realities that we didn't want to hear...
Our OB has told us that if we don't see major improvement in the next 24 hours, it is his medical opinion that we try and induce Bianca tomorrow, as we are putting now both babies at risk of complications and a subpar quality of life. HOWEVER, he has told us he is willing to fight. He is willing to go with us and what ever we decide and if we want to fight and see it through then he is right there with us. My personal belief from looking that man in his eyes today, was as a medical professional looking at numbers and statistics he is obligated to say we should induce, BUT as a parent - as a person that feels for us - he is telling us to not give up hope.

Bianca and I have prayed like we never have before and we are not giving up hope. They told us hours when we first walked in on Tuesday last week and we held on to hope. They told us that Baby A would come any minute or their little heart would stop and we held on to hope. We have come a long way in a short time and we are not giving up on them!

It may not work out, and we know that, we may lose our little ones, but we are holding on to hope.

Monday Morning - Blood Work

Bianca just got her blood work results back; the counts are a little higher than the Dr. would like, but she is still doing well and no infections. We also just had an ultra sound and very happy to report that both babies A and B, have very good heart beats!!!
And the most exciting news, we now know the sex of Baby B -

We are having a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

What an awesome day Monday is turning out to be...fingers crossed and praying it stays that way :-)

Monday Morning!!

A beautiful morning is upon us and we are so thankful for one more day. It's funny how you can take for granted each hour that you are given.

We did not hear from the lab last night regarding Bianca's blood work so after a quick check with our day nurse today we should get them some time this morning. To be perfectly honest I am not totally sure how Bianca slept, but I was not a happy camper. Had a pretty rough time trying to fall asleep and for some reason the nurse came in at all the wrong times, but that is a small price to pay for the care we are getting.

So I don't have much more to report other than the research I was able to do last night. So sadly I have not found many cases like ours (with respect to twins and one already so low in the cervix) however I have learned a lot more about IC (incompetent cervix) and some of the most heartbreaking stories from all over. As much as I hate reading the negative out comes there are a few things I have learned from other's experiences. (this is all my rough math as I really have lost count on how many articles I have read) but in 80% of the failed cases there were 3 main factors that seem consistent:

1. Doctors who sent patients home within or at 24 hours for home bed rest
2. An epidural is ordered to help with the labor process (in most cases forced)
3. Patients are told there are no other options and are pushed into inducing

Now I am not saying that is the case for all, but what I have seen is that if any of these two items are present that outcome is not good (obviously number 3 is the worst case)

In the positive outcomes the common factors are pretty simple:

1. Strict hospital bed rest and monitoring (no getting up to use the restroom or bath - complete bed rest) for as long as it takes (in most cases 9 weeks or more if labor has not occured within 24 hours)
2. Antibiotics are pushed immediately and fluids
3. No pain or numbing agents are administered
4. Doctors are open about what is going on and really take into account the babies heart rate (I know there is a quality of life issue here, but in almost every case I have read, baby still has a heart rate when born or induced. I have read very very few cases where baby is still born and the positive outcomes have waited with little more than a heart beat as the positive factor)

I am so thankful for our OB and his willingness to listen to us. He gave us the facts and gave us a realistic hope and probably the most sincere answer a doctor could give, "I don't know what could happen, so lets keep waiting and hoping". His honesty, although frustrating at the time, has given us now 6 days with both or our little ones. What a difference a positive outlook and faith can make!

Sunday Afternoon

Lots of rest today. Bianca did not have the best of nights so right after lunch the nurses changed her IV and took more blood work and she knocked out pretty soundly for about 2 hours. We are still concerned very much with infections as that could make things significantly harder, but we are hoping for another good report. 

Baby A has moved some today and that has been a cause of both joy and concern (remember we opted not to have the doppler yesterday so we have not heard the heart beats since Friday). On a positive note, there has been little to no blood today at all. 

Once we hear more about Bianca's white blood cell count we will know more about her current imune system state.

I should post again this evening and of course if anything changes.

When you can't sleep in a hospital

Yup I did it... Found Bianca complete episodes

Sunday morning

Not a lot to report from last night. The bed fatigue is starting to set in a bit and Bianca does get restless from time to time but I think that is pretty normal. 

We had great visits from Jarrod and Michelle and beautiful Jordyn so that was  a lot of fun. Thank you so much for the amazing flowers, gatoraid, dinner and of course the coloring books. The cupcakes didn't make it long either and surprisingly happy nurses make your hospital stay even better ;-)

Bianca's condition has not changed much other than we are starting to feel a lot more movement from baby B. I am not sure if that is due to normal growth and just the natural process of things or something more. I am putting my money on natural growth as by this time we should start feeling more external movement anyways. 

Turning on her side has become a bit more of a challenge as the babies shifting does not always feel so great physically and mentally. The fear of anything disturbing what we have right now is high, but we know it's all in the Lord's hands. This is a trial of faith and we feel so blessed to be going through it with so many wonderful friends and family. There are so many people we don't even know who are praying for our little ones and we cannot thank you all enough. 

Some tips I can offer if you ever have a prolonged hospital stay (which I sincerely hope no one ever has)

1. Bring your own pillow (sure the hospital ones are technically pillows but not the best for long term stays)

2. Keep the place as tidy as possible (it may not seem like a lot of space but it can shrink so much more when you have lots of junk everywhere)

3.  Bring your own lotion (you wash your hands like every five minutes and in the time in between you are using that foam stuff. Your hands gut tired real quick)

4. Make a schedule and a calendar (although your priority is here and all your energy is here there is a world outside that keeps moving along. Plan your bills, maintenance and needs accordingly. This also goes along with checking your mail.)

5. Remember to thank the nurses, food staff, house keeping and all those people who make these places run (their job is tough and they don't get all the credit they deserve. Say thanks often and really mean it. We pray for them like our own family now, as their skill and care translate to our kiddos care)

6. Vending machines are not and never will be your friends (you can waste a lot of money on vending machines here so play it smart and bring snacks or treats from outside. That and lets face it, vending machine food typically doesn't scream "hey look at me, I'll keep you happy and healthy while you are here sitting not moving much". 

I'll keep posting updates later on today.  Love you all very much!!!

Saturday afternoon

So far a slow day which is great! There has been some more consistent discharge and more blood but the nurses have not been alarmed so we are ok too. 

I have been looking up why there is still discharge since there is so little, if any, amniotic fluid around baby A.  Not sure if I had mentioned before, but there are cases of the sack resealing and filling again with fluid, but in all cases I have seen this happens in the uterus still. My hope is Bianca is still producing fluid and the baby still has some around him all the time. 

We have not done the Doppler today but we feel as though we are good with where the kiddos are and may just skip that and enjoy today. 

Bianca did get a chance to sponge bathe today and wash her hair. That is always such a spirit booster for her so I'm glad the nurses were able to help with that. Here is a quick pic of Vicky helping with Bianca's hair afterwards!! Thank you Vickers :-)

Sidelines National Support

I just learned of the organization Sidelines, which works specifically with high risk pregnancies and NICU information, support groups and volunteers who can assist with so many different things.
Although we have had such great care here, we are looking for other opinions and are hopeful to find doctors who have dealt with a case like ours.

If you are interested, check our their website as I have found all sorts of good information on it:
http://www.sidelines.org/

Saturday Morning - Lower Liquids High Hopes

Turns out we did meet our on call Doctor and she was super nice. We also have meet our 7th nurse (we have yet to have the same one twice), but luckily they have all been so nice and caring for us.

The on call doctor did go over a few things with us specifically regarding Bianca's care while on bed rest. So this case is a little different to write about as we are worried about the safety of the babies and their well being, and at the same time, I am worried about Bianca and her being on bed rest for so long. I have never been on complete bed rest before so I am not even sure what that is like, but I can only imagine it gets old.

So Bianca got her fluids lowered which I am taking as a great sign. She is eating solid food and able to handle most everything, but we are pushing her to stay hydrated and drink as much water as possible. We are so hopeful now that anything can happen, so since we can't directly take care of the kiddos we take care of the mom :-)

Some things I have learned from Bianca while she is on bed rest:

• Changing sheets when a person is on bed rest - HARD
• Using the restroom when a person is on bed rest - NOT FUN
• Exercising while on bed rest - NOT SO EASY
• Showering or bathing on bed rest - A SPONGE IS NOT A SHOWER BUT IT HELPS
• Getting anything you want to eat, by just pouting your lips - A BREEZE