Sunday, Feb 28

Well, it was a great weekend (or as great as one can get in a hospital).  We watched Star Wars Episode 5 on Friday and Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Saturday.  Add candy and popcorn and you have a great movie night!  Mornings were fun too, with breakfast being delivered on Saturday (from the cafeteria, but not too bad) and McDonalds hot cakes on Sunday morning.  We all enjoyed playing the Nintendo 64 - especially "battle" on Mario Cart (you try to pop the other players’ 3 balloons).  Tonight is sure to be hard, with Missy remaining at the hospital and JJ and Matt returning home, but Missy has some girl time scheduled for tonight to get her through it.  Matt will be back in the morning after taking JJ to Unicycle Club (yes, we do have a Unicycle Club at school). 

We are hopeful that Monday will bring some answers, but are also aware that things may also remain unchanged.  Saturday night Missy had some moderate contractions - a minute long, about 5 to 7 minutes apart, but they stopped.  Regardless, both babies are breech and must be delivered by caesarean.  Tomorrow we should get a complete panel of test results back by mid-morning, but you can’t know when a doctor will actually pop in to discuss the results with you.  Our experience here is that both groups of doctors we see make their rounds by noon or so. 

If the results are unchanged, or have changed very little, Missy will remain on bed rest at Northside until at least Saturday - which is 35 weeks.  If the test results show some change, it is likely that a caesarean will be scheduled for the end of the week.  If there is a great deal of change, we would be looking for a more immediate caesarean.  It’s hard to tell now how Missy's body is handling the preeclampsia.  Reaching 35 weeks would give the twins a fair chance at not being admitted to the NICU and going home.  The doctors (routine and specialist) will make the best decision they can, balancing Missy's health and the twins’ health.  Again, the twins are looking great and showing no signs of stress!

Friday Update

The pathology reports came back with no kidney stones in the blood clot.  We have not spoken to the urologist about this, but did discuss it with the specialist today.  He will be in touch with the urologist.  He was thinking the urologist might want to investigate Missy's blood clots when she has her cesarean.  (That's just what she wanted to hear!)

Other than that, medically speaking, it was a slow day.  We will know a lot more on Monday when the in-depth tests come back.

Tonight we are enjoying our family campout/in at the "Wilderness Lodge at Northside," complete with microwavable s'mores.  The soft glow of the Nintendo 64 is keeping us warm, and it's a balmy 70 degrees with no dew when we wake up.  The cafeteria staff has rounded up the chuck wagon, and breakfast will be delivered between 7:30 and 9:00 am!

Thursday

Ran a new panel of tests today.  The blood thinner is at a "therapeutic" level.  The levels testing for preeclampsia remain unchanged - which is good.  We will run a more thorough panel of tests on Monday morning and have a better idea of a cesarean date.  The discussion today was that 34 to 35 weeks might be as far as we can get for Missy's health. We will be 34 weeks pregnant on Saturday.  Luke and Lauren had an ultrasound today and they still look terrific!  They look like they are just under 5 pounds each - which is great.  No report back from pathology on the blood clots, but the urologist came by today and they won't look at anything until we are not pregnant anymore and they are not concerned.  Missy appreciates the visits, cards, flowers and emails - they really keep her spirits up!


The only worry of the day was the daily weigh in - down a few more pounds.  Missy's doctors think it's mostly water loss from swelling going down.  However, she has heard about the dreaded "dietician" who will come and bring you a protein shake, then watch you drink it and double the meat on all your meal trays.

Wednesday Update

Today was fairly uneventful - compared to the last few days.  We did not see the urologist today or get the pathology test back but have been told we would get both on Thursday.  We are taking a whole new panel of tests on Sunday into Monday morning and will have a much better idea of a caesarean date on Monday - sometime (we are on "hospital time" here).  When Missy's levels for the preeclampsia get unhealthy for her, they will decide to do the caesarean.  The idea is to get the Heparin out of the system for 12 hours before surgery, if possible.  Missy's levels are checked once to twice a day to assure the amount of thinner is ideal.  Missy's other tests to show for more signs of preeclampsia are done once to twice a week.  Missy is hoping to have a few uneventful days.  

Missy is looking forward to having JJ and I spend the night on Friday night.  We are getting an air mattress, a pizza and a movie.  The whole family is looking forward to our movie night at Hotel Northside.

A Quick Administrative Note...

Apparently I have bad timing in wanting to direct a lot of traffic to the blog (which was largely out of date until now).  Blogger (Google), which we use to post to the website, has decided to discontinue using FTP as a method of publishing.  To the non-geeks in the crowd, this basically means I have to relocate the blog to a different address.  The new site is <http://mhbain.blogspot.com/>.  If you have a bookmark or favorite for the old blog, don't worry - everything will be redirected to the new site automagically.  For the geeks in the crowd, you might want to update your RSS feed.  Also, I confirmed that my postings were being published to Facebook as well, so you can follow along there if you prefer.

Sorry for the confusion...

Tuesday Update

This is just a quick note for those of you who may have been concerned after my last posting:
Though it was an 'exciting' early morning, the remainder of the day was largely uneventful, and Missy was able to get some much-needed rest.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring more of the same - we'll keep everyone updated.

Tuesday Morning

At 3:45 this morning, Missy woke up with terrible back pain and called me to head in to the hospital. Our thought was, "this is it!" Missy and her nurse felt that she was having 'back labor,' but after two doses of Morphine, she was still in tears and ripped off both of her fetal monitors in frustration. Instinctively she went to the bathroom, passed a large blood clot, and immediately felt better. We then decided it would be a good idea to try and take a short walk around the hall.

At this point the doctor was already on his way in - he asked about any family history of kidney stones. We're waiting on some results from a kidney ultrasound and analysis of the clot to see if the clot caused the pain, if it was a stone, or both.

We haven't had a chance to speak to the doctor about the possibility of whether the kidney clot was related to the pulmonary embolism. The past few days leading up to this, Missy had noticed blood in her urine, but the doctors were thinking that the babies were dancing on her bladder and irritating things. As soon as she passed the clot this morning, that issue immediately resolved itself, so we now know that it definitely was a result of her kidney(s). The thought now is that even if there was a hint of a kidney stone, the Heparin would cause more bleeding than usual, causing the clot.

On another note, Missy has lost 4 lbs. since she was admitted, and runs the possibility of having a dietitian start monitoring her intake. We're assured that even if she's losing weight, the babies are continuing to grow.

On a good note, Missy's feeling terrific after having passed the clot/stone, and she's now resting comfortably.

Monday Update

There's not much to report today. The babies are continuing to do well. Missy's tests for the most part are coming back steady, with one exception: her protein level has doubled, which is not a great sign for the preeclampsia. The doctor(s) didn't seem to express concern over this, so we will wait and see what tomorrow brings. She did have a great number of visitors come by today, including her very favorite, JJ. It looks like they had fun putting together this Clifford puzzle, and I hear that JJ enjoyed getting to go for a wheelchair ride with Mommy.

Sunday Mid-day Update

All test results today have come back the same as yesterday, which is as good as we can ask for. This means that things are still stable, and Missy's doing well. The Heparin is doing its job, and Missy's blood pressure and heart rate have dropped back to a normal level, so her body isn't working so hard to get past the pulmonary embolism. We'll get back a few more test results tomorrow to compare if her body is doing better or worse.

The babies continue to do really well. Every day we're waiting in a holding pattern based on test results to determine the next course of action. If Missy's levels remain stable, then she'll stay on bed rest, if not, then we're looking at delivery.

One positive note for today is that Missy's been granted wheelchair privileges for 30 minutes a day, so we're about to go outside shortly to enjoy the sunshine!

On a good note, we are still in our "permanent" room in the high-risk wing, where Missy is resting comfortably. These rooms are designed for long-term care, but we've been told that we're taking things hour by hour. The twins still look great, but Missy's test results are not looking as good as they did before.

Missy will have a new, complete workup Sunday morning, which will give us a lot more information on how her body is doing. The doctors are trying to keep the twins in as long as they can without compromising Missy's health. It's an ongoing balancing act.

Right now we're anticipating that this will take a few hours, to a few days, or up to a week.

Update on Missy

We moved to the new room last night at 11:30. I left this morning to pick up JJ and do some things at home. Missy seems to be doing well with the Heparin. Her blood pressure is down as is her heart rate. My thought is that the clots are dissolving and her heart doesn't have to work as hard. I haven't spoken to her since she's seen the Doctors. I will update again once I have anything relevant to post.

Online CareCalendar

2/19/2010

At this point, the doctors aren't so concerned with the clotting, so
long as more don't develop. The real issue is the preeclampsia. They
are giving us a prognosis of about one to 1 1/2 weeks until delivery
if all goes well. However, preeclampsia is very unpredictable, so the
situation could change at any moment, forcing us into a caesarean.

We appreciate all of the kind offers to help our family over the next
couple of months. The next few days and weeks are highly
unpredictable, but we have set up an online CareCalendar for March and
April. If you are interested in assisting with meals or childcare,
please follow the directions below for volunteering. If you would
like, please sign up with a friend to help with a meal or childcare.
We are new at using this CareCalendar; you should be able to see a
listing of open needs and ones that have been filled.

If you have further questions or need to contact us, we've found that
email is the best method to reach us (mhbain@gatech.edu); it has been
difficult to answer the phone at times and we sometimes don't get a
great signal in the hospital room.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and generosity.

===================================
HELPER LOGON
===================================
The HELPER logon is used by family and friends
that would like to sign-up to help a loved one.

To access The Bain Family's personal CareCalendar site,
visit http://www.carecalendar.org/logon/32144 and enter the following
information in the appropriate spaces:

CALENDAR ID : 32144
SECURITY CODE : 2811

Missy at Northside

2/19/2010

Wednesday after lunch Missy noticed her feet swelling and felt like
she had some high blood pressure / chest pain. She called her
doctor's office and they wanted her to go immediately to Northside.
She arrived here on Wednesday around 5 to get her blood pressure under
control. We spent 11 hours yesterday having non-stop tests to
determine why her heart rate was so high and why she had chest
pressure/discomfort. Of course, on the last test they discovered she
has many small blood clots in her lungs - which is a serious
condition. She has been in two different rooms at Northside and is
now getting ready to get transferred to the High Risk wing as soon as
a bed opens.

The great news is is that the twins look great! Their heart rates and
movements are terrific and they are unaffected by it all. We are
trying to get the correct dose of Heparin blood thinner in her system
and then go from there. At that point they will decide if she has a
cesarean or remain on bedrest (I assume in the hospital, but we've not
been told). Saturday the twins will be 33 weeks and we really need to
try to get them to 36 weeks to decrease their time in the NICU.