Thank you all for all the thoughts and prayers you sent our way! As of this morning, we heard and saw three heartbeats – bringing tears to our eyes and some relief. While we are so thankful to get through these first 24 hours after surgery, the next few weeks are still very critical especially concerning Baby B and her heart. Below I outlined a bit of how the procedure went (for those interested) and what our plans for the upcoming weeks, but we wanted to first thank you all again for so many well wishes. It’s the most amazing feeling to realize how many people out there care and said a prayer for us and our girls… Thank You.
SURGERY DAY: Wednesday morning we reported at Children’s Hospital at 7:00 am. They got us checked in pretty quickly and we went straight up to the Fetal Care Center. We were taken to the room we’d be staying in after the surgery and overnight where I got changed into one of those sexy hospital gowns. From there they took all my vital signs and put a TOEFL on me, which monitors contractions. Shortly thereafter someone came in to do another ultrasound to see if the babies had moved around or if they were still in the same places they were on Tuesday. Baby A was still camped out in the lower corner all bunched up as usual, and B and C were pretty much in their same spots (as I mentioned before Baby B had a bunch of area in which to move around in, which she liked to take full advantage of). After the ultrasound they put an IV line in (never have liked those things) and then we started our way down to pre-op. There we met with the anesthesiologist who asked me a bunch of questions and I was able to talk to her about how poorly I’ve reacted to anesthesia in the past. After all that paperwork was done I took a shot of some weird med (think salty sweet tart) that began relaxing me. I then received an epidural – can’t say those are too much fun, but I guess now I know what to expect in a few months! Once that was in we went into the operating room… there was a TON of set-up required, and I have to admit, I was knocked out for most of it. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I came back to when the doctors got ready to begin. It was like being in a daze where I wasn’t completely knocked out, but thankfully not completely present either. They spent a good deal of time figuring out exactly where to insert the scope, and then I felt pressure and a weird feeling as the scope traveled around inside of my tummy. They identified all the vessels they were going to sever (incorrect terminology, but I can’t remember all the terms they used)—there turned out to be 9 different places to sever. The laser was turned on and they went to work, the one “interesting” thing was that I heard a, what seemed to me, very large popping noise three different times as they were lasering (I later found out that this sometimes happens and isn’t abnormal). Can’t say I liked it too much. They then reduced the fluid on Baby B’s side – and I didn’t like that much either, both the noise and the sensation I felt were very odd. After that they were pretty much done with the procedure. They checked on each of the girls and they each were doing well… I guess all those prayers I said in the operating room were heard – as well as each of yours!
I was taken back up to the Fetal Care Center then and they began a bunch of monitoring. The first couple hours were kind of rough as I was contracting more than they liked… they said some irritation was common, but what I was experiencing was a greater than they like to see, so the doctor was called over. After some debate they decided to give me half a dose of tributaline (an asthma treatment), which has been shown to help stop preterm labor… the other is magnesium, which they really didn’t want to give me due to the stress it might cause to Baby B. I was given the treatment and it definitely helped. The odd thing is that I am pretty sure it was Baby A that was causing all the ruckus – I think she was pissed about all the commotion that had happened since it wasn’t for her! At any rate, the contractions tapered off after several hours and things quieted down. I napped off and on the remainder of the day and Travis stayed with most of the time. My parents stopped in several times as well to check on all of us… thankfully there wasn’t much to report. Travis went back to the hotel later on in the evening for the night and came back early this morning since the ultrasound they did was at 6:45 this morning!
The Day After: I can’t say I slept all that great… I was up about 4:00 nervous, anxious, concerned about the babies. I still am not feeling them move all that often – which seems strange considering there are three in there – but it worried me. Thankfully those fears were quickly put aside as the sonographer showed us the heartbeats in each of the babies…. After that the rest of the morning was a blur! I got to take a shower, we had breakfast, they did a few more vital checks, and then the doctor came in around 9:30 and discharged us!
Our next appointment is Monday morning where they’ll do another echo on each of the babies, a thorough ultrasound including all the biometrics on each of the girls, and we’ll finish with a consult with the doctors. Currently we are thinking we’ll be on a plane back to Dallas on Tuesday afternoon. Once we return we’ll follow-up with our own MFM for the remainder of the pregnancy. I’m on pretty strict bed rest for the foreseeable future, which I’m not exactly looking forward to—but we’ll do whatever for our girls…
Thanks to each of you and God bless you and your families…
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