Non-Stress Tests and a Delivery Date

In the past 8 days, we have had 3 fetal monitoring visits (or non-stress tests). In these visits, the doctors find the heart beat of each baby and we monitor the heart rate and the number of kicks and movements for each baby. So far, each time we have had very active and very good babies. Today, we wound up checking one baby at a time which is fine but it took a lot longer.

One big item was decided today. Today we scheduled the delivery date in case we don't go early. The scheduled delivery date is Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30.

3 1/2 weeks to go.

The only thing that I am little nervous about is that we have to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM. Our alarm clock doesn't have a 5:30 AM, much less a 4:15 AM when Heather will need to get up in order to take a shower before we go to WakeMed.

Where can I get an alarm clock that has a 4:15 AM? They don't make them where I shop.

Progress Energy Shower

Last Tuesday, we had the shower from Heather's co-workers at Progress Energy. Since Heather is out on short-term disability, we could not have the party at Progress. However, Heather's co-workers were nice enough to bring the shower to our house. We had her entire group along with other members of her division. We had a good time. Heather didn't have to do anything but open presents at this party. Naudain, Kevin, and Nancy brought over all the food and all of the gifts. Everyone was here for a couple of hours. A good time was had by all. We enjoyed seeing everyone and were really appreciative of them coming over to our house, even though it is a little out of the way for most of them. We received both convertible car seats, as well as several needed items like clothes, diapers, wipes, and toys. Here are some pictures from the shower. Thanks for Naudain for the pictures:

Lots of Important Doctor Appointments Today

Well, today is the day that Heather and I had several doctor appointments. Here was our afternoon schedule:

1:10 OB visit
2:10 Fetal Monitoring visit
4:00 Perinatologist

We had a really good appointment with the OB today. We discussed a date for a C-section if the babies got to 38 weeks. Since 38 weeks is considered full term, we would have the births either on July 24 or July 27.

Then we went to another room and got Heather situated for the fetal monitoring session. One monitor is placed where they can listen to Baby A's heart rate. Another monitor is placed where they can listen to Baby B's heart rate. One more monitor is placed on Heather's stomach to measure if she has any contractions. They want to watch the babies' heart rates as they move and kick. They want them to move and show the variability in the heart rate when they move and kick. After we were in there for about 20-30 minutes, the doctor looked at the results, imagine looking at a printing of a EKG, and we got very good results. The doctor said that both boys are doing well. They do want us to have Non Stress Tests (NST) twice a week now. The fetal monitoring visits are known in the office as NSTs.

Then, we drove across the street and went to the last appointment, and in our opinion, the one where we would learn the most, as we went to a new perinatologist. Heather's OB wanted us to change perinatologists to one that can deliver the twins if need be, as the one we have been seeing isn't certified to do that. The ultrasound technician measured everything for both boys.

We got really good results. Both babies have grown in the past 2 weeks. One had gained 17 oz. to get to 4 lb. 1 oz. and one had gained 14 oz. to get to 2 lb. 14 oz. The doctor was extremely pleased. Baby A was in the 52nd percentile in weight. Baby B was around the 17th percentile. As long as he stays above the 10th percentile, we shouldn't have too much to worry about. The doctor says that he is very encouraged with both babies. He doesn't want to see us for 3 weeks, when we would be almost 35 weeks. He doesn't think there is a reason right now that he can't forsee us going 36-37 weeks until giving birth.

This was as good of a report as we could hope for. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts.

Sunday School Shower

Today we had a shower that was thrown by our Sunday School class at the home of Walt and Emily Nelson. It was also hosted by:

Jamie and Christi Melton
Jim and Sharon Tiller
Wes and Laura Thomas
Ben and Kelli Wood
Andy and Amy Jung

We had a good afternoon at the floating shower. The food as you can see was strictly desserts. Yummy.



We enjoyed talking to our friends, some of whom we haven't seen in the past 6 weeks, as with Heather's modified bed rest, we are unable to take all the stairs to our Sunday School class room.

Here are some pictures from the shower:

First Fetal Monitoring Visit

On Friday afternoon, we went to the first of what will be weekly fetal monitoring visits. The boys were monitored for their heartbeats as well as Heather had a button for registering kick counts. This visit went very well. The boys heart rates were somewhere between 138 and 153, which is normal and excellent.

We talked to the doctor about our next perinatologist visit, which is scheduled for Monday. On Wednesday, the doctor's office called to setup this fetal monitoring visit. They also told us that they want us to change our perinatologist. We will now go to a new perinatologist on Wednesday afternoon, right after our regularly scheduled OB visit and the second fetal monitoring visit. It will be a doctor's visit filled afternoon. We will know a lot more information about the decision to induce or to wait another 7-10 days.

Baby Shower at the Lucks

This past Saturday we had a baby shower at the home of Nathan and Paige Luck. I met Nathan the first day I was on campus at State. This floating shower was also hosted by:

Andy and Amy Jung
Ben and Kelli Wood
Jason and Beth Prichard
Jason and Diane Willeford
Brian and Valerie Short

It is amazing that within these friends, some of the closest friends one can have, I met 5 of them within the first semester my freshman year at State.

The shower was a lot of fun as we were able to hang out with lots of friends and both sets of our parents. This was the first time our parents had seen each other in a couple of years. Also, my sister Janet and her daughter Kate were there. Kate was really looking forward to the shower as she thought that for the "baby shower" we were going to pull the boys out of Aunt Heather's stomach, bathe them in the bathtub, and then put them back in Aunt Heather's stomach. From the mouth of children.




We received lots of very nice gifts and were thankful for everyone who showed up and threw it for us. We were very appreciative for everything we got as well as all of the well wishes. Here are a couple of pictures from the shower:

Cause for Concern

On May 29, we went back to the perinatologist for a checkup. We had both boys measured to see how much they had grown in the past four weeks. Baby A had grown a very impressive 20 ounces and totaled 3 lbs. Baby B had grown 9 ounces and weighed in at 2 lbs. The calculations showed that there is a 30% difference in the size of the two boys. As we have mentioned earlier, less than a 25% difference is acceptable, but 30% or more sometimes means that there is something wrong with the smaller baby. The dr. doesn't think that Baby B is sick as all of his major organs seemed to be working well and he was very active. The dr. indicated that if a baby is sick, he is more lethargic. The doctor said that the cause of this is one of three things:

1. Placenta
2. Umbilical Cord
3. Genetic Defect

We measured the flow within the umbilical artery and compared it to Baby A. He measured the difference in the flow at the heart beat to the flow at the off-beat. In Baby A, the difference was between 2 and 3 (no units, just a simple difference). This is considered normal. Baby B had a difference that ranged from 4.5 to 7.2. This is too big of a difference. Furthermore, the graph that shows the normal weight progression of babies shows that Baby A is above average, but Baby B has gone below the lower mean confidence limit. The doctor used the phrase "his growth has stalled," but we didn't agree with that word. Maybe slowed, but not stalled. One thing that we have seen is that the length of the femur is about 3 weeks behind where it should be. We hope it grows fast in the next few weeks.

The doctor wants us to come back in sometime in the next 10-14 days. This means that we will go back on June 8 to remeasure everything. At this next appointment, we will see how Baby B is doing and determine if we need to wait for another 10 days or go ahead and, gulp, induce labor.

Our prayer, even though June 8 will be 31 weeks, is that Baby B will gain weight and get back above the lower confidence limit so we can keep the babies in gestation as long as possible.