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July 20, 1999

Toddlers Today

I would love to see info on the following on your upcoming toddlers Web site: Toddlers and pacifiers - i.e. how to get rid of them! When to toilet train. Toddlers biting and pushing other kids. When to start teaching numbers, alphabet etc.

Hunt

Editor's Note: These topics, and more, will be covered by Toddlers Today, coming in the next couple of weeks!

A Note For Mary

Mary,

I'm not sure where you are in your pregnancy right now or how things are "progressing" but I wanted to wish you all of God's best as you await the arrival of your new twins. The Lord will comfort you and be with you through all of this and deliver to you a set of healthy babies.

I am 13 weeks pregnant with twins of my own. We have a 3-year-old daughter, Brooke, who has given us so much joy. She is very excited about the idea of having TWO babies to help with! I look forward to all the excitement they will bring.

I just found this site and have enjoyed reading the past letters to the editor and decided to write you and let you know that I will be praying for you, your husband, and your unborn babies.

Natalie in Ohio

LLL

Hi,

I just heard about your site at your booth at the LLLI conference. What a great site! I'll be sure to bookmark it and check back whenever I can. :)

Take care,

Angie Broughman

Lamaze Educator Writes In

I am a childbirth educator (Lamaze Certified) and I am always so happy to find new sites (to me!) to recommend to my students. Glad to find you!

Julie

Aussie Mom Says Hello

I am from Australia and am currently 18 weeks pregnant with our first child. I really enjoy everything your site has to offer, especially the birth stories, as I really have no idea what I am in for and it's fantastic hearing it from other mums.

I am due on the 16th December 1999 and I will definitely send you my own birth story when our little bubba arrives.

Keep up the great work!

Regards,

Kirstin Hildebrand

Updates From Mary

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. We are nearly 31 weeks, 8 weeks hospitalized. The babies are still hanging in there and we expect they are around the 3 pound mark.

They are now going to start drawing amniotic fluid to test for lung functioning. As soon as the babies' lungs are adequate, they are going to take the squirts. They are still debating which baby to tap as the baby who has been more stressed will have developed faster than the less stressed. so if you tap Jack (the more stressed one), then you really can't assume Jill is as far along. If you tap Jill, then you don't know that Jack is really okay to wait around for Jill to catch up to him.

But it does seem that we are in the end game. Everyone would love to see me hit 32 weeks. But they are feeling like the time of delivery is soon and should not be put off any longer than absolutely necessary.... kind of a different game to be playing.

Emotionally, Troy and I are doing really well. There was something magical about hitting the 30 week mark. It was like those forever 20 weeks were behind us and the light at the end of the tunnel began to shine...dimly, but it is shining. We are ready to meet these little darlings and be done with this phase, but we can control those feelings much better than we could in the earlier weeks. As soon as we get some decisions, I will let you know. hard to believe that we just may have a good outcome to all this.

Mary

7-6-99

I had an ultrasound this a.m. It showed the babies weighing in at 3 lbs 2 oz each (they are 1 gm separate from each other). This means that the placentas are still functional (a big concern at this point).

Both babies had fluid -- Jack continues to have extrememly low levels, but he still has some fluid. There are no signs of labor beginning. Although I have been having a lot of cramping and pressure, it is still a "pre-labor" thing.

Tomorrow, my doctor will be in and we will make the decisions regarding the type and timing of the amnio. My guess is we will do it tomorrow.

Will keep you posted on things!

Mary

7-13-99

We got the amnio results. I needed a score of 3.5 or pg present in order to deliver. Our score was 2.2.

What does this mean? That the lungs arent fully matured. Here's a great catch 22:

  • they give me the steroid shots weekly to boost lung development;
  • the steroids give me diabetes;
  • the diabetes slows down lung development;
  • if I weren't diabetic, a score of 2.0 would have meant delivery;
  • if I weren't diabetic and I got a score below 2.0 they could guesstimate when the lungs would be ready;
  • the diabetes skews the amnio results which is why you have a higher requirement for diabetic moms;
  • because I'm diabetic, they can't predict when things will be ready to go. All of this could have been avoided if they hadn't given me the steroid injections to boost lung development! Ugh.

So the plan is this: They will do another amnio on monday the 19th. If the pg isn't present or the numbers are still not at 3.5, they will be able to scale the results and suggest a time frame as to when they believe the kids will be ready. They will do a 3rd amnio to confirm lung development scores.

Troy and I are trying to accept that I'm here for the remainder of July. I just can't stomach the thought of losing August as well. The end of July is 34 weeks, and full term for twins is 36 weeks.... so .... can you believe we are nearing full term??? Okay, all you prayer warriors, pray for speedy lung development 'cause these babies want to see the world!

If you are wondering, yes, an amnio hurts -- big time! After all the doctors left the room, I cried and cried on Troy's shoulder. I'm so glad he has great shoulders.

Mary


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