32 Weeks & 5 Days

Happy Easter everyone!! When I think back to last Easter, I remember that I spent this morning in Jacksonville for my first appointment to evaluate my progress on egg development. I remember thinking this was cute that I was making eggs on Easter. This year, I find myself in the hospital with three of these eggs getting very close to entering the world as little men! What a journey this has been and will be.

Yes, I am still in the hospital. It appears I will remain on hospitalized bed rest until the babies are born. My blood pressure has come down considerably and is now within the normal ranges. The outcome of my lab work has been normal and the protein levels in my urine have reduced to trace amounts. After my 24 urine was collected, there was one problem. My "output" was extremely low. This is a symptom of preeclampsia and can indicate that my kidneys are struggling and I am not able to filter out my fluid "input." In a 24 period, I had only produced 750 cc of "output."

We were tasked with strictly tracking my input and output. I track the input and the nurse has to measure the output. This started at 4pm yesterday and I was told that if my output dropped below 500 cc in 24 hours, this would result in immediate delivery of the babies. Well, that sounded like a challenge!! BRING IT ON!!! Since that time, I have produced 2,500 cc of output and I still have 4hr & 45 min in the 24 hour timeframe. See, all I needed was a challenge! So, it appears I get to keep the babies until at least tomorrow.

This morning, I was visited by the Maternal-Fetal Specialist to complete another bio-physical profile. All babies are doing well and he checked the growth on Baby B to determine that he is probably between 4 & 5 pounds at this point. The weights at this point are not 100% and should be considered estimates but in his opinion all babies are looking great. The steroid shot also enhances the lung development of the babies about 2 weeks. It takes 48 hours for full effect. As of tomorrow, the almost 33 week lungs of the babies should be functioning at about the 35 week level. Based on all of this, he said it is possible that a delivery this week may not result in an extended nursery stay. I was VERY happy to hear this but will not count my chickens before they hatch! I am scheduled to have a tour of the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) today so I will be prepared if they are in there upon delivery.

The decisions regarding when the babies will arrive is a day to day decision at this point. It is really based on how my body can handle the preeclampsia. As soon as they see anything with me that causes too much concern, they will deliver the babies. Delivery is the only cure for preeclampsia. I am feeling well and I do not have any discomfort from this condition. Everyone here keeps telling me how impressive it is to make it all the way to 32 weeks before exhibiting complications. Usually with triplets, this happens much sooner. While this should bring me comfort, I will finally feel comfortable once I have delivered three healthy babies which may be some time this week or next week.

Again, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter!

Take care,

Kellie