Take it day by day..

Yesterday during my daily ultrasound, Baby B wasn't cooperating very well. I already think she is going to be our problem child :)  The babies' bellies were so close together that they were making it difficult for the ultrasound tech to get a good doppler reading on their umbilical cords. (The doppler can tell us how the blood is flowing to and from the placenta to the baby and makes sure that the babies are getting enough blood/oxygen supply... VERY important!) Baby A's doppler was easy to find and sounded great, but we were hearing (and seeing) some absent blood flow from Baby B's cord.  This means that she is getting blood/oxygen, but it is just not as strong of a flow as they would like it to be. There are basically 3 stages of blood flow that they watch at the ultrasound: Normal blood flow, absent blood flow, and reverse blood flow.

I went on with my day as usual (pool therapy and 3 monitoring sessions) and all of the monitoring went well, for the most part.  Speaking of my normal day, you all are probably wondering what I do all day. Let me tell you, it's important stuff. I like to joke with my sister that I'm busy "saving the world, learning to fly, and memorizing the phone book." But seriously, what do I really do? I usually wake up between 7:30 and 8:00 and the nurse comes in shortly after to check my vitals (blood pressure and temperature). Three days a week I go to pool therapy which basically consists of stretching in the water. It's not too difficult, but it is nice to get out of my room and feel like I'm doing something.  I get hooked up to the monitor sometimes right when I wake up, or if the ultrasound lady is available, they will have me do that as soon as possible. The mornings usually go by pretty fast, because that is when everything happens. I'm usually waiting to get monitored, get my ultrasound, or to see the doctor. By the time all of that happens, my lunch arrives and my day is basically already half over! A lot of times in the afternoon, one of my parents will come to see me. Then around 3:30 or 4:00 I get hooked up to the monitors again for an hour. Soon enough my supper comes to my door and I eat while I watch Wheel of Fortune.  I waste a few hours at night usually by working on a crochet project or by watching Netflix. Thank God for Netflix!! I am currently in season 3 of Private Practice and I can't get enough of it :) At some point almost everyday I find some time to read. Last night I just started a book called Sisterland and it is actually a story about identical twin girls. They are adults now and apparently both have some psychic abilities (I don't know too much of the story yet as I have just started the book.) So far I have found it pretty entertaining!

These are a few of the crochet projects that I have worked on. Some of them are being sold at Heart 'N Home in Webster City if you would like to check them out!

As for today, I woke up as usual and I got monitored right away because the ultrasound room was busy. I then did my pool therapy and when I got back it was time for my ultrasound.  The babies behaved a bit better today, as we were able to get better dopplers on them.  However, at one point, Baby B was showing absent blood flow again, and it even looked like reverse blood flow for a moment. I was scared to death, because I knew that wasn't good. Luckily, she bounced back fairly quickly and we were able to get a good, healthy blood flow reading. Unfortunately, when the doctor heard this, he wanted to put me on continuous monitoring again.  :( So, that is what I am doing at the moment.

My job for the day!Sorry about the selfie :)

 Apparently yesterday during monitoring, either one baby or both babies' heart rates ran low, also, so he just wants to keep an eye on them and get a good idea of how often it is occurring. The nurse said that the doctor wants to know how its going in 6-8 hours (at first I thought she said 68 hours and I about crapped my pants) so maybe if they are looking great (like I know they can!) I could be taken off of the monitors. I need to learn to not plan things, because Jake is coming to visit tonight after work. On Thursdays for the next few weeks Mercy is offering a "Multiple Blessings" class/workshop kind of thing which I went to last week by myself. I think there were 4 or 5 other couples who attended who were all also expecting twins. I was looking forward to going to that tonight with Jake, but guess who is already running the show! I guess I'll never be able to plan things again, unless if it's okay with our daughters! :)

Sorry about jumping around so much today, I was just trying to explain everything. Again, thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers as I know they are helping us through this journey tremendously! Here's a snapshot of the girls from today... enjoy! :)

Baby A is on the left with her arm around Baby B. Baby B's head is on A's chest. How precious! :)