NICU information

A neonatologist finally came to see me today to talk about what to expect in the NICU. She spoke mostly in terms of, "Well, once they get to be 32 weeks..." The NICU folks seem to have two major milestones - 28 and 32 weeks.

Once the babies get into the NICU, they'll get started on IV fluids and put in a warmer. How things go from there depend on how healthy they are. At a basic level, we probably won't be able to hold them much until they are more stable. We can be with them and hopefully hold them every three hours during care sessions (diaper changes, feedings, etc). The longer they stay in me the more likely we'll be able to hold them and bottle/breast feed sooner. Also, if they come out healthy-ish, we can start "Kangaroo Care" or skin on skin contact. If we can't hold them right away, we should be ale to hold their hands or stroke their faces (this is where you can cue my tears). The length of their stay obviously depends on how far along they are and how healthy they are. She said that babies born at 32 weeks are typically in there until 36 or 37 weeks. Babies born earlier usually have to stay until they would have been considered term babies. The girls will be allowed to co-sleep with each other once they are off some of their tubes. Speaking of tubes....

Here's what we can expect in terms of equipment and monitoring:
1) A cardio-respiratory monitor to measure heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, and breathing.
2) A chest tube to keep air from getting inside the chest. If air gets inside the chest, it makes it harder for the lungs to expand and breathe.
3) An endotracheal tube (ETT) that goes from the mouth or nose, past the vocal cords, and into the trachea. This is called intubating and it assists breathing. The kind of sad thing is that because it interferes with the vocal cords, we won't be able to hear any crying (again, you can cue my own tears at this point).
4) Feeding tubes. Preemies get fed by "gavage" or a method where a small tube is inserted into the nose or mouth and goes down into the esophagus and stomach.
5) An incubator to help the babies maintain their body temperature.
6) A ventilator to provide breaths of certain sizes at certain rates.
7) Catheters to allow them to take blood and give IV fluids.

We can expect a lot of neonatal tests including, but not limited to:
1) Blood tests for all sorts of things like infections, effectiveness of breathing, and other blood components.
2) Ultrasounds to look at brain hemorrhaging. She said babies born at 32 weeks usually don't get this. However, with mono/mono twins they'll probably do it no matter what because they're at an increased risk for passing blood clots to each other.
3) Depending on how old they are when they come out, a retinal eye exam.

Some of the problems they may have in the NICU include:
1) Anemia
2) Apnea (stops in breathing). She said that at this hospital, they don't really discharge babies with an apnea monitor for the home. Instead, they wait to discharge until the babies can go at least 5 days without an apnea episode. Apnea can occur with pretty steep heart rate drops. Almost everyone I've talked to with a preemie has had to learn how to tap on their babies to get them to breathe again.
3) Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) where the babies will spit or vomit up food.
4) Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) or bleeding on the brain.
5) Respiratory distress syndrome when the baby's lungs aren't fully mature.
6) Retinopathy which is an eye disease. I'm not sure, but I think this is mostly fixable with laser surgery.

And lots more - too many to list. In terms of lifelong disability, once we get to 32 weeks we'd be looking at learning disabilities, ADHD, etc. She said the earlier they're born and/or the sicker they are in the NICU, the greater the chances of these problems. The good news, I'm past 28 weeks so some of the really, really scary stuff is hopefully past. If they're born before 32 weeks they'd get an evaluation from a Part C agency (for those not in the "biz" Part C is the early intervention program. All of Alex's therapies came out of Part C).

I also asked (just because how the heck would I know) if the babies wear clothes in the NICU. She said not for awhile.

I think that's it.

Take care,
Kris

Ultrasound

I saw my other doctor today for an ultrasound looking at growth and cord notching (indicative, according to one article, of cord knotting). My two doctors seem to have different philosophies about this whole mono/mono thing. Today's doctor talked about going to 35 or 36 weeks. So, who knows?

Okay, here the scoop....Evelyn's weighing in at 2.9 lbs. Clara's a little smaller than I had hoped at 2.3 lbs. This means Clara only gained .05-.1 lbs in 2 weeks. My doctor seemed unconcerned. I, of course, will be kept up all night :) They also checked the blood flow in the cords and all looked well there. They also didn't see any notching in the cords. Oh...and my cervix is still long.

This doctor also talked about doing an amnio. My two doctors seem to disagree on two main points -1) when to deliver and 2) whether or not I should have an amnio to help determine lung maturity and, therefore, delivery date. I want to agree with today's doctor about the later deliver and the other doctor about not having an amnio. Basically, I want the best of both worlds. An amnio just seems a little dangerous with two babies in there. I'm worried about hitting one of them. I guess we'll see as we get closer.

In other exciting news one of my floater friends gets to go home tonight and the other will likely go home tomorrow. I'm excited for both of them even though I selfishly will miss the company.

Moustaches

Not much to post today. The girls have been behaving. My doctor stopped by earlier today to talk about doing an ultrasound tomorrow or Tuesday. We'll take a look at the cords and the blood flow in them. If I can make it to 31 weeks, this ultrasound will help decide when we schedule a c-section. It's looking more like 32 weeks instead of 34 weeks given the decels Evelyn's been having. We also talked about the contractions I've been having. She's not concerned at all since my cervix is so long. She said that since it's so long, tomorrow's ultrasound would also be the last time they measure my cervix. Cervical length is not my issue these days.

Papa came in yesterday and it's been nice having him here. Alex is obsessed with his moustache since he now knows two people with moustaches - Papa and Mr. Potato Head. I'm hoping Papa will get to go to the ultrasound with me so he can see the babies and the cords.

Other than that, not much to report. We're just watching the girls and hoping their heart rates stay within the normal range. 5 more days until I'm 30 weeks. The survival rate at 30 weeks is pretty high, as is the handicap-free rate. It's amazing to me that I'm actually hoping for 30 weeks. My pregnancy with Alex was so carefree and I really took for granted his health. I just assumed everything would go well. This whole experience has shown me how fragile this and other situations can be. A friend who went through something similar about a year and a half ago said something very true - that most women don't experience the dark side of pregnancy. I hope that all those I know who are trying to get pregnant or who are pregnant continue to not experience it.

On a cheerier note, Lexie told me that if I keep clicking up on my remote past the radio stations there are more channels. I'm happy to report I've caught up on Project Runway.

Take care,
Kris

Bunk beds

My afternoon monitoring session was incomplete because the girls are laying on top of each other like bunk beds. This is making it basically impossible to detect the lower one's heart rate underneath the upper one. The resident did an ultrasound instead to make sure babies hearts looked good. She also checked to make sure they're moving (believe me.....they're moving) and that they are taking practice breaths. She said she was much more reassured by the practice breathing than by anything from the monitor. It's funny (well, not ha-ha funny...) because as the days go on and I learn more, I have less and less faith in the NSTs (non-stress tests, aka monitoring sessions). Basically, no one really knows what it means if the heart rates drop. The use of the monitors has done nothing over the last 30 years except increase the rates of c-sections. I also found out that plenty of c-sections have been done because of drops in heart rates that ended up being unnecessary. But, they do the monitoring because it's all we have. It's just, apparently, a pretty inexact science.

I signed my consent form today for a c-section and added on to it to do a tubal ligation while everything was open. No more babies for me after this is all over.

I hope my last session goes well tonight - although, again, who really knows what that means. If I had requested last night's session 10 minutes later we wouldn't have caught the first decel and I would have been off in an hour and, therefore, we wouldn't have caught the second decel. It's all a matter of timing. What looks good one minute could have been scary 5 minutes earlier. The only way around this is to do 24/7 monitoring. Given the inconclusive nature of the monitoring and the mental anguish that goes with the monitoring, I'm glad 24/7 was not my doctor's recommendation. Believe me...anyone who thinks being at the hospital is a nice break and relaxing is mistaken. Waking up each day fearful of an emergency c-section of premature twins is never relaxing. The monitoring sessions are scary. The variables are scary. The decels are terrifying.

Do I sound tragic enough yet? Whatever - it's my blog and I can be as tragic as I want to. :)

Take care,
Kris

More worry

Last night was another trying night. Evelyn had two more decelerations (she got down to the 80s during the first one and the 70s during the second). I got put on continuous monitoring from 8:30 last night until 7:30 this morning. We called the Hightshoes around 11:00 and had them stay the rest of the night with Alex so Greg could come to the hospital. They gave me an Ambien to try to help me sleep a little bit. It worked a little, but because I was stuck in the same position all night, I didn't sleep well. I was also having some contractions because my bladder kept filling up - apparently your bladder can irritate your uterus into having a contraction. The good news is that she's recovering well from her decelerations which, hopefully, means she's not causing herself permanent damage. My doctor didn't seem to think the heart rate issues were because of cord accidents. So, something else is going on. She said a cord accident would look more like a spike in the heart rate and not a gradual decline, plateau, and gradual incline.

I went back on around 10:00 this morning and everything looked fine. I'll go back on later today. For now, we're just watching them. Our doctor is "worried" but not rushing me off to the OR quite yet. If Evelyn keeps having issues a very premature delivery is likely. I'm 29 weeks today and I'm guessing I'll be pretty lucky to make it to 30 weeks.

So....all this information is mostly to let people know what's happening so I don't have to keep repeating the story on the phone or in person. I'm pretty tired and freaked out, so I'm closing up shop for most visitors and phone calls for a few days. I'll let people know if/when I'm for it again. If you really want an update, please call Greg on his cell.

Take care,
Kris

All is well

Babies have been monitoring fine since Monday. A few variables, but otherwise fine. I've got a little bit of a cold which seems to be making me kind of lethargic and prone to naps. I'll update more tomorrow.

Take care and have a happy Thanksgiving!
Kris

More decels

Each day keeps getting worse and worse. I'm hoping today is a turnaround day. Yesterday, Evelyn had another deceleration- this one longer, lower, and worse than the one on Saturday. So, their heart rates are supposed to be between 120 and 160. On Saturday she dipped to 100 or 105, but came promptly back up. Yesterday she dropped to the 80s, stayed there for almost a minute, and then took several more minutes to recover. A little while later, her heart rate jumped to the 180-190 range and stayed there for about 10 minutes. During that 10 minutes she continued to have variables meaning she'd drop way down, then go way back up, drop way down again, and go way back up again. It was torture just waiting for her to regulate herself. It all started around 3:00 yesterday when I went out to the nurse's station because I couldn't feel Evelyn moving. I ended up monitoring until 8:00 because every time she'd act up, I'd get assigned two more hours. Towards the end of the session, Clara then decided to hide from the monitor which bought me the 5th hour trying to get her on continuously.

I'm hoping today goes better and that the girls are doing well. Everything is really out of my control, but it's still really difficult to deal with all the heart rate issues.

Take care,
Kris

Example of momo cord

I know this is kind of gross, but I wanted folks to see what we're up against. This is a photo of someone's momo cords. Crazy, eh? It is hard to believe the babies were born okay. By the way, you better believe I'm getting a picture of my cords. I need to know what they look like.

Photos

My floating friends Inbal and Lexie. We look hot. Check out our noodles. We have a system - Inbal gets the pink ones because she's having a girl. Lexie gets blue because she's having a boy. I get green because twins, although girls, will be raised gender neutral :) We also have jobs - I get the noodles and Inbal puts them away. Hey...it's the little things that make us feel better.

Alex and Ava watching a movie on the hospital pullout couch.

Me - trying to look as pitiful as possible with my leg things on and my monitoring belt.

My couch and window

My bathroom

My bed

Leave them in

The last two days have been really difficult. The girls are doing fine. Not great, but fine. After my decelerations on Saturday and the 2-hour sessions went okay, they bumped me down to 1-hour sessions. Last night Evelyn had a few more variables and then she completely moved and they lost the heart rate. They had to bring in the ultrasound to find her and she's okay - they only lost her because she changed positions but, man, it's a lot to handle emotionally. My doctor came in today, looked at the strips, and said he was "unimpressed" but what, last night, they were worried about. He joked a little that obstetrics is an easy specialty because you only have to answer two questions. The first is, "Do we leave the babies in or take them out?" The second in, "Will we take them out vaginally or by c-section?" Question 2 is already decided for me, so we're just trying to answer Question 1 everyday. Today's answer is "leave them in." The medical staff try to make me feel better and assure me that all these little dips are appropriate given their age and their mono/mono status. It does absolutely nothing to reassure me. Every minute I'm on the monitor I'm terrified and every minute I'm off the monitor I'm anxious to get back on. I just want them to stay put for at least 11 more days until I can reach 30 weeks. Everyone keeps saying, "This is why you're here," but I'd rather be here for 8 weeks and have nothing go wrong at all :) Unrealistic? Yes, but still, I'm in denial.

Anyway, this morning's monitoring went well I guess. The nurse didn't say anything, but they looked fine to Mandy and me. Only one small dip at the beginning. They'll keep monitoring me more intensely until, I guess, I'm either in the clear or I need to increase the monitoring even more. Ech...it's too much to think about.

Take care,

Kris

Decelerations

Today's been a tough one. The on-call doctor stopped by to tell me that Evelyn had a few decelerations during my morning monitoring session. A deceleration is a drop in heart rate for a few minutes - not necessarily an emergency, but definitely worth watching me more closely. So, I got assigned two 2-hour sessions to watch them more carefully. I had my first 2-hour monitoring session mid-day and there were a few variables (dips in heart rate for a few seconds), but no more decelerations. The resident felt the variables were appropriate for their gestational age. I'll go back on around 7:00 tonight for another long session. I'm hoping they still look fine.

I also got orders to wear these ridiculous things around my legs to try to prevent blood clots in my legs from being immobile for so long. For some reason, I'm on these, but my friends here who are actually on bedrest are not. I'm going to ask my doctor about them on Monday. I don't think I'd mind having them on at night and while I'm monitoring, but I'd rather not wear them throughout the day because they tether me to the bed and make me feel like a true hospital patient.

In other news, Mandy and Ava are out visiting which is lovely. We were hoping to give Greg a bit of a break today. However, I got a little freaked out by the extra monitoring and called him to the hospital. We're going to try to have a slumber party tonight with Ava, Alex, Mandy and me and let Greg have the night to himself.

The kids seem to be having a nice visit with each other. Ava talks at Alex and Alex just stares at her. So, you know, typical for them :)

I guess that's it.

Take care,
Kris

Evelyn photos

Picture 1: Evelyn's face. She, like Alex, looks like she's starting with a wide nose :)

Picture 2: Most of Evelyn's face. This one's my favorite because you can see her little hands in front of her face. She's clasping her fingers like she's praying.

Picture 3: Evelyn's profile.

3-D

Today has been a very exciting day for me - exciting good, not exciting bad. After my floating session in the pool I got a massage from a massage therapy student trying to get some internship hours. Then I got wheeled over to my doctor's office to check my cervical length and do fetal growth measurements. First thing's first...my cervix is still "extraordinarily" long. The fetal growth measurements looked good. I'm 27W 5 D today and Evelyn is measuring 28W 1 D, Clara is measuring 27W 0D. So, they're different, but not so different that anyone is worried. The weight estimates are 2.5 lbs and 2.25 lbs. The best part (after that good news) was that they did some 3-D ultrasound pictures. Clara was uncooperative and wouldn't move her hand away from her face so we only got pictures of Evelyn. But, you know, they're identical so it's basically like seeing them both :) I'm going to have Greg scan the photos in and I'll try to figure out how to post them soon. Everything else also still looks good. My doctor said, "Things are going as well as we can hope." The best indicator is still the heart rate monitoring. Cross your fingers and hope it continues to go well.

Take care,
K

Variables

Things are settling into a routine around here. Get up, take shower, eat breakfast, get monitored, work, float, eat lunch, work, get monitored, mill around, eat dinner, visit with family, get monitored, go to bed. And that's pretty much it. The floating time has become my second favorite activity (after visitors) because it's nice to check in with my two floater friends. I get a little freaked out everyday though...hoping they're both still here and doing well. One has low amniotic fluid and something called a unicorn uterus (seriously...look it up...it's crazy). The other has low fluid, IUGR, and placenta previa. We're all likely going to be here until the end of the year - assuming all goes well. Today we spent a large amount of time talking about how tired we are of the food here. I wish I could have some food requests from visitors - I still just have so many aversions. I've even tried employing Amy's technique of smacking my lips together to try to figure out what I'm "tasting" to no avail. Actually, that's not totally true...I know some foods I'd love to have - I'd love some brie, wine, beer, deli meat, etc. All sorts of things that I can't have. I actually dreamt about beer last night. How sad is that?

Anyway, on to my Evelyn and Clara update. They're doing well. Clara had what they call "variables" during her afternoon and evening monitoring sessions. Basically, it means that her heart rate dipped for a few seconds. They keep assuring me this is okay and normal and everything, but it's really difficult to get optimistic seeing the printouts with the dips in them. I guess as long as these variable blips stay short or whatever, things are okay. It likely means her cord is getting compressed for short periods of time. No one but me seems to be concerned so I'll try to move past it.

Both girls seem to have settled into their places. This makes the monitoring sessions much shorter for me because the nurses know where to put the discs and we don't spend an hour trying to find the heart rates. If my belly were a clock, Evelyn is hanging out pretty low at 6:00 and Clara is at about 10:00. I'm happy they've settled in, although it doesn't seem to be preventing them from testing out their limbs. They are in a constant game of oneupsmanship - who can beat on Mommy the most :) Whatever, I'll take it. Active babies are healthy babies.

I'm supposed to get wheeled over to my doctor's office tomorrow or Thursday to check on my cervical length and do fetal growth measurements. I'm anxious to see how big they are.

I think that's about it for an update. Oh, one more thing, did you know that King of Queens is on TV approximately 65 times a day??? Carrie and Doug are my new best friends.

Take care,
K

Visiting

Now that I'm settled, I'm open for visitors. My only real request is that weekdays from 6-7:45 PM are visitor free so I can spend that time with Greg and Alex. Otherwise, just call me first in case I'm in the pool. There's also a very good chance that visiting will happen while I'm being monitored. This is okay with me, but I wanted to prepare folks because I have no say in when they monitor and the "schedule" they keep talking about is so far nonexistent.

Anyway, stop on by. I'm in room 374.

On to other news...Greg got to try his hand at being in charge of my monitoring today and we got the best strips so far with 40 minutes of both girls staying on continuously . They told us Greg was hired. The nurse also told us that both girls are having accelerations in their heart rates which, at 27 weeks, is a good sign that they are both doing well.

No other big news. My big excitement yesterday was getting a remote control that worked. Who-hoo!! My life is pretty small these days :)

Take care,
K

Multiple humor

“Are they developmentally behind?” (Well, let’s see. They’re 3 years old and thus far, all their graduate school applications have been denied. We’ll get back with you on that.)

“Are they natural?” (Nope, their arms and legs are made of silicone.)

“Did you take drugs?” (Well, there was this one time in college...)

“Are they ‘paternal’ twins?” (Yes. They have a father.)

“Just wait till they’re older. It only gets harder.” (Thank you. I woke up this morning hoping I’d receive a word of discouragement while pushing a cart of preschoolers down the cereal aisle.)

“When one cries, does he wake the others?” (No. Multiples cannot hear each other’s cries because they all communicate with their special telepathic language only.)

"I'll be right back"

Did you know that "I'll be right back" is a relative term? Apparently, in the hospital setting, it's relative to the amount of time in a decade. So far, it's meant anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours later. This little phrase is especially frustrating when I'm all hooked up for monitoring, have to pee (because, well, I've two babies inside), and my out of reach lunch has been delivered and is getting colder by the second. "I'll be right back" is noticeably longer when paired with, "...with the ultrasound machine." This usually guarantees an hour wait. Why they keep me hooked up monitoring nothing in the interim is beyond me. Can you tell yesterday was frustrating? :) I was especially happy to be hooked up for 2 1/2 hours while my nurse took her lunch break. Something happens at the 2 hour mark...I just start to go absolutely crazy.

Alex and Greg stayed the night last night which was wonderful. I was woken up by a 3 year old sneezing next to my bed followed by, "I want to lay down with Mommy." Just knowing they were so close by made me happy.

That's it for yesterday. No big news. The girls are still looking good.

Take care,
K

Floaters

I'm settling in now. I got my Perinatal room and it's amazing what my own bedspread has done for my mental health. The room is a little dumpy. It's not nearly as nice as Labor and Delivery or one of the fancy new hospitals in town, but does it really matter? It's still a hospital room and it's more important to me that I'm close to Alex than it is that I have a nice room.

Day 2 was much the same as day 1 only I got to go to the pool - an interesting and somewhat BBC The Office awkward experience. Marcel the PT and Eric the PT student intern (who looks about 17 years old - is that really how young we all looked in college??) wheeled me down to the pool. Luckily, I had the foresight to bring a bathing suit because the hospital ones are hilariously prepackaged like astronaut food. Anyway, I get wheeled down in my suit and robe. I got in the pool (a lovely 98 degrees - shout out to Nick Lachey) and proceeded to float for 30 minutes with a noodle. This is my therapy. And poor Marcel and Eric had to sit and watch me, but since there's no actual hands-on therapy, they just pulled two chairs up to the pool, watched me float, and shared an Oprah magazine. I felt compelled to chat with them because, well, what else am I going to do while floating? I found out the therapists call the pregnant ladies "floaters" because of our outstanding hydro-aerobic routines. I also learned lots of little tidbits about Marcel and Eric. So I get to do this everyday. I did feel good though to just float in warm water and feel weightless.

My doctor came in a chit-chatted a bit this morning. We're going to try to clear up how far I walk. The nurses didn't want me leaving the hallway yesterday, but my doctor wants me to be able to go downstairs and get some fresh air. So, we shall see.

I added a link to Greg's blog about this whole experience. He's running around all day and has no time. I'm laying around all day and have nothing but time.

Today is my 27th week milestone. Every day is a little celebration, but every Friday is a victory.

So that's it. I'm sending out good vibes to my three pregnant friends right now. I hope everything is going well with your little peanuts.

Take care,
K

Move-in day

Hi everyone!

I moved into Rose Medical Center yesterday after a little shuffling around. The nurse at my doctor's office didn't quite get the paperwork sent in so the hospital was unaware I was coming. When I admitted, the Perinatal unit was full and I got placed temporarily into Labor and Delivery - a situation that I'm hoping is very temporary because I can't unpack and get settled until I'm in my actual room.

So far the hospital stay has been about what I thought it would be. After I got admitted, they came in to check my vitals (all clear) and start fetal monitoring. The monitoring is taking a long time because the girls are still kind of little and mobile and not cooperating with needing to stay in place for 20-30 minutes at a time. They also tend to have heart rates that are close to each other, so it's hard to distinguish them on the monitors. The going wisdom is that as they get larger and can't move around as much, it should be easier to know where to place the monitors. In the meantime, it's a big celebration when we get them both on and they stop wiggling. The whole process makes me anxious because I want so much for them to monitor well and stay inside me for 7 more weeks.

I also had some blood drawn. I'll get this done every 3 days to keep the lab updated. I get to wear an awesome, gigantic (and not at all irritating) plastic blue bracelet that lets people know about my blood needs in case I end up needing blood. They can scan the bracelet and it tells the bank downstairs what I'd need in an emergency.

I started my steroid treatment yesterday as well. I'll have one more shot today and then not again until 30+ weeks. The steroids let the babies know that they need to hurry up and start developing strong lungs (lungs are the last major thing to develop in babies and, because of this, premature babies often have lung problems). Can I just say - not to whine too much - that the steroid shot hurt...kind of a lot. Apparently, thick liquids hurt to inject. For fun, after the immediate pain, it turns into a dull pain for about an hour. I'll be happy after today's stick to get it over with.

I met 3 nurses (Linda, Donita, and Jennifer), 1 resident (Kelly), saw my doctor while he was on rounds, and my regular OB (pre-momo twin diagnosis) stopped in yesterday to say "hi." The part I'm adjusting to (and it just happened as I was typing that last sentence) is random people popping their head in and then leaving without saying anything. It just really makes me feel like what it is - I'm living in someone's place of work. I'm basically living in a storage room and they need to find stuff :) I'm sitting next to a big storage cart that includes such fun items as "amnio hooks" "emesis basins" and "placenta buckets." Lovely!

Today I'll start my pool therapy. I think it basically means I float in the pool. I should also get a better sense of my schedule today.

I was happy to see Greg and Alex last night and Alex jumped right on my bed and started playing around. I'm hoping this is a good indication for his adjustment. He's funny, you know, he does well with huge transitions like switching classrooms, moving to a bed, getting rid of the pacifier (and hopefully Mommy living in the hospital), but God forbid we try to get him to change shoes....then he melts down.

Mentally I'm doing okay. I've got freedom to roam around and I'll probably take them up on that offer today to get out of my room and get refreshed. I managed to squeeze out 7 hours of sleep last night which I thought was good considering it was Ambien-free and my first night here. The crappy part is that I have to leave my lights on a little so they can check on me (just to check, they don't actually wake me or do anything to me) through the night. I may start breaking that rule and turning off my lights :) Having them on dimmer makes a hissing noise that is, after 4 hours, like a stick in the eye.

I think I'll feel better once I'm in my room and have a schedule down. Living in a hospital is not good for planners like me.

Everyone has been nice and respectful. I was especially glad to see them stop the fetal monitoring when Greg and Alex got here last night. They seem to be pretty good about understanding that just because I'm here doesn't mean I don't have a life.

So - that's all. I'm going to go all Swedish on you all and keep my emotions bottled up :) Just kidding, I'm doing fine. A few tears yesterday, but mostly fine. And today's there's a Law and Order Criminal Intent marathon on to keep me busy.

Oh also, my cell is the best way to reach me. The landlines have to go through the nurses station.

And send big love to Greg who is now saddled with being an errand boy and single dad. He's handling it like a champ.

Take care everyone,
K