Here is one where she is dressed like a little firecracker. Thank you sincerely for all the emails, calls, and texts over the past week. We are reminded again of how incredibly fortunate we are to have such supportive family and friends. This is partially why we are having a hard time sending out updates or accepting your generous offers of support. We still feel indebted to all of you for the support you poured over us during our stint in Arizona with KD.
We are are thankful to be in somewhat of a holding pattern. Things are stable and each day that we cross off means another day for BD#2 to get stronger in utero. Right now we are at 24 weeks, 3 days and after visiting with my OB this morning, the next goal is 28 weeks.
As soon as the calendar flipped to 24 weeks a few days ago, we were officially on the intervention algorithm. BD#2 received the recommended regimen of steroid injections and IV antibiotics were started. If contractions should occur, IV magnesium sulfate will be used to try to prevent labor. They also started monitoring BD#2's heart rate and activity. The nurse very hesitantly told me today that she is seeing "accelerations" in his heart rate which usually doesn't occur until week 32. The accelerations are fun to watch; when his activity increases, his heart rate increases (a little response us cardiac nerds refer to as chronotropic competence).
They will check the amniotic fluid index (AFI) once a week and BD#2's growth every 4 weeks. Last Monday the AFI was 7.7, today it was 7.5. I am trying to be satisfied with that value but it is hard to hear that after a week of laying flat on either side and drinking fluids nonstop, the value decreased. Instead of using the term "decreased," the MDs choose to explain it in terms of the AFI being "maintained." This homeostasis of sorts is a success to them considering how much was lost and that I continue to lose small amounts each day. Last Monday they referred to the AFI as "adequate." I don't think there is one person on our email distribution list that finds much satisfaction in terms like "maintained" or "adequate." In fact, almost immediately after hearing the "A" word, we thought of the following clip from a favorite News Radio episode where the late Phil Hartman receives a peer review of his work as a news reporter:
(Right after that last line, Phil Hartman's reply is "ah, you miss Wisconsin don't you?")
So, we, rather I, learn to adjust expectations and accept that results close to the norm or slightly below in this situation are a good, if not great, outcome.
JD has been amazing as always. He has been taking care of everything outside of this hospital room and still maintains that consistent positive outlook that makes him such a wonderful person. He brought KD up to the hospital three times this weekend so it was great to see her after not seeing her since that dreadful night on June 24th. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to notice any difference in our family dynamic. My mom and JD's mom have been helping a ton.
I'll sign off for now. If any of you were wondering where the "creative" blog title came from, I stole it. A good friend of mine writes a fantastic blog, "Mission Decorate," (www.missiondecorate.com) with great home DIY project ideas. I've had more time to catch up on her posts so when it came time to come up with something, this was all I could think of...(sorry for the intellectual plagiarism JiD).
I hope you all had a fantastic Holiday weekend. If you are starting to wonder why time goes so fast, particularly in the summer, I have a theory. It is because of people like us who are trying our best to follow instructions to do nothing but "wait and see."
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