29 week update

Man is this stay at the hospital going fast.... NOT! This feels like the longest 1 month, 5 days of my life (not that I'm counting). I'm starting to run out of things to do. The knitting, reading, sewing and staring at the wall are getting pretty monotonous. But I guess you can't expect much when your living quarters are the size of an average sized bedroom.
I learned something about myself today. I am getting really good at performing my own NSTs (non stress test). My nurse today tried for over an hour to get the babies on the monitor with no luck. She told me that she is a bit of a perfectionist so the fact that the hour long strip was full of dashes and short squiggly lines instead of the nice, long heart rate line that we are shooting for, she was quite frustrated. Every time she would find a second heart rate just to find out that it was from the same baby, her brow would furrow and she would let out a deep, long sigh. She told me that if she couldn't find both babies then I would probably have to go over to Labor and Delivery for a couple of hours for further monitoring. I was not pleased at that thought. I'm all for going over there if it's needed, but I didn't want to have to spend an extra two hours strapped to an uncomfortable bed just because the nurse couldn't find both babies. After an hour of trying she took me off the monitor and went off to ask a Dr. what they wanted to do. The second she left the room I grabbed the machine and wheeled it over to my bed, gooped up the pads and placed them on my belly. I wasn't going to go down without at least giving it a try. After, maybe two minutes, I had two different heart rates on the screens. Wahoo! I put on the call light and the nurse rushed to my room. She could see immediately that there were two heart rates from two very different babies. I knew she wouldn't love the fact but man, she did not seem happy about it. She kept a smile on her face and said, "Well if you can do this yourself, then what do you need me for!" Ah, well. I didn't take it personal. These nurses don't see many people with my situation and if they do, they probably only get a few chances to perform the NST while the patient is here. There are a LOT of nurses that work here. I think it makes sense that I would pick up a few things after an entire month of monitoring. Maybe I should do my own from now on;) It would probably make things a little easier, plus it gives me something to do!

26 weeks! Only 6 more weeks to go.

Update on me:
Life in the hospital has been a very interesting journey. I have been doing pretty good and haven't had too many breakdowns. I really credit my sanity to the wonderful friends and family who have been supporting me and taking the time out of their busy schedules to stop by and see me. It really means so much to me to see familiar faces. It makes it feel like, for that moment, things are normal. Billy has also been a huge support. Sometimes I wonder who has it worse, me or him. He works full time, has to worry about the dogs and then comes to hang out with me for a few hours before he has to go home to get some sleep and start it all over again. He always reassures me, though, that he wouldn't have it any other way.
It's hard being alone here, but I'm getting along just fine. When I'm alone I try to stay busy reading, knitting, and watching TV series on Hulu or Netflix. All in all things haven't been too bad. Let's face it though, it's only been two weeks. I still have a few more weeks to try and stay sane. I wonder if they have a psyche ward in this hospital.
The nurses are finally working with me on my sleep problems. Yipee! My doctor was so worried the last time she saw me because I looked like I hadn't slept in days so she had a little powow with the nurses to set up a better schedule. Now we get done with my last NST (the hour long monitoring to measure the babies heart rates) at 10:30-11 pm and nobody bothers me until 5 or 6 am the next morning. It's still really hard to get sleep but it's much better than somebody coming in every 4 hours to check on me. It's sooo much better!

Update on the munchkins:
When it all comes down to it, the only important thing is that my babies are healthy. Today I had an ultra sound to check on the babies cord flow. Baby B is measuring a whole half a pound smaller than baby A so they are taking special precautions to make sure the smaller one is growing and not being restricted of nutrients and/or blood flow.  This, of course has me worried. The Dr. has assured me, though, that everything looks great and there is nothing to worry about as of right now. The important thing is that they are both getting what they need and not what they weigh in comparison to each other. I just hope, that baby B can fatten up by my next ultra sound so that I can stop worrying so much.
Other than the size discrepancy, the boys are doing great. Their heart rates are right on track and they are kicking away in my belly. I can't wait to meet the little buggers but let's just hope it's not for another 6 weeks.

The Power of a Stranger's Gesture

Today, as I was lying in bed feeling bad for myself, trying to fall back asleep so that the day would pass by a little faster, a lady walked into my room. "I hope you weren't sleeping.", she said. Instead of saying something that would fit my sour mood I said, "No, I was just resting." She pulled something out from her bag and with tears in her eyes she said, "I brought you a magazine... I'm sorry I'm emotional but I was in your shoes just over a year ago." Right after she said that her husband wheeled in a stroller with two perfectly healthy identical twin baby girls. My eyes just lit up. She continued to tell me of her personal experience with her two month stay in the hospital. All the trials and markers. All the fears and reassurances. She even told me of the "secret" hang out spots here at the hospital. I can't even express what it means to me to have been able to talk to somebody who knows what I'm going through. It was such a kind gesture and I am so grateful for her visit. It was definitely a "pay it forward" moment for me. I look forward to someday being able to provide that support to another mom to be. It meant so much to me and I'll never forget it.

Hospitals- The Good and the Bad

Hospital cons-
#1 The food. It's actually not that bad. It's only bad by the time it gets to you.
#2 Going to wash your hands and realizing there is a bin full of used needles next to your face.
#3 The bed sounds like an airplane that is getting ready for takeoff (I just found out today, though that I can turn it off:)
#4 Rubbing body butter all over yourself with your pants to your knees and then remembering, when the nurse walks in, that you have no privacy.
#3 Dr.s start doing their rounds at 5 a.m...... 5!!
#4 The obvious things like missing your home, pets and freedom.

Hospital pros-

#1 You get room service AND maid service.

#2 Breakfast in bed every morning.

#3 You can request anything you want and they'll try to accommodate it. You want an elephant ride? It probably wont happen but the nurses will do everything they can. I should ask and see what happens:)

#4 If you're feeling lazy, there is ALWAYS a wheelchair available. 

#5 Having a visitor really makes your whole day.

#6 You get a kick out of the stupidest things. Billy drove me from the back of the hospital to the front and I felt like such a rebel:)

#7 Everyone has to be nice to you.

#8 What better place to get spooked out on Halloween than an empty hospital corridor?