September 28, 2007

Riley Lorene

Morgan Kennidi

September 27, 2007

We had a family meeting with the doctor and head nurse at the NICU yesterdy. oth girls are doing really well but Riley is having some spells aka bradies. It started when she began feeds so we all think it's just a matter of time for her to get past them and grow a little bit more. That it is her body trying to get use to having food in the belly and all that jazz.
Morgan on the other hand is doing fabulous!

As of last night they are both on full feeds and no more IV's. There antibiotics are done, no signs of infection and there gaining the weight back that they lost in the first few days.

The doctor also told us the criteria they need to meet before going home. (there is NO weight requirement at all)

1. They need to hold there body temp on there own with no help from a warmer (almost there)
2. They need to take full feeds from the bottle or by breast (working on it)
3. They can't have any spells for 5 consecutive days before leaving..

Morgan is taking half or more of her feeds by bottle and did well at her first attempt to breast feeding also. She is close to holding her temp (if she doesn't already).. And she has not had any recorded spells as of today since birth.

Riley has only tried a bottle once so we have to work with her and she has never been put to breast so far. (She is a spitter so the are trying to get past that first) She I also think is very close to holding her temp. And as for the spells well in due time I think she will be FINE! She may be there a bit longer the Morgan if she doesn't catch up.

By the way the doctor was talking though, we are looking at maybe 2 weeks before the girls are home.. YAY!!

Morgan Top
Riley Left
Mommy Right
Seconds after being born!

Morgan staring at mommy and holding my finger

Me and My Girls!!

Mommy, Morgan & Riley

All we needed was Aiden to be there..
Mommy, Daddy & the Girls

September 26, 2007

How it all went down...

Some of you have asked how it all went down, if I had signs of labor and all that and I haven't posted the details yet because I didn't have my computer for the first few days and well while I am on the pain meds, things become loopy and I get sleepy concentrating on the computer screen so I needed a clear mind. Not that I am not always loopy but ya know what I mean.. haha

Sooo... I woke up saturday morning and my plan for the day was to go pick up the cake for Chuck's dads 60th bday party, get a few things done and go to the party at 2pm. Like I said that was the plan. Morgan, Riley, and my body had other plans in store for me.

I warn you now some of this may be T.M.I. for some people but you asked for details and with that said I won't leave anything out..

I woke up about 7am and went pee, as usual I go about every hour or two. That was normal until I wiped. It was slimy, and the discharge was clear with a tiny ting of brown (very little ting)

I cleaned up and went back to bed to lay down until Aiden woke up. About 8:30 I got up again cause the little man wanted out of his crib and I went pee again. It was the same. SO this got me thinking "mucus plug"???? I then went on the computer and googled the word to see what I'd come up with. A lot of sites said you may not lose it in one blob it could be a gradual thing, however a lot of people who lose theres don't go into labor right away, but it could be a sign labor is close (within two weeks). This got me thinking that hmmm if that is the case then maybe the girls will come a week early or so, now that I was 34 weeks.

As I continued to go to the bathroom every hour it was the same routine. A bit slimy, clean and wash up and go about my business, if it didn't stop after the 4th trip I would call the doc. Being that it was a saturday and all, and dad's party, and I was not having any BH's or contractions I wasn't worried and was hoping to not have to call.

On the 5th potty break I was still having discharge but this time it had blood in it. Not a lot by any means, but it was fresh bright red blood. Like I said not a lot and was mixed with the clear jello like stuff my body was creating.. Ewww

I then got on the phone and called my doctor. I told the nurse my info and the issues and she had the doc call me back. The on call returned my call in about 5 minutes and I went over it all with her again. She suggested that I come in to be checked to make sure the cerclage was still in place and make sure and not tearing and I was not in labor, but since I was not having contractions she wasn't too worried and neither was I.

I packed my bag just incase, jammers, undies, toothbrush and all that good stuff and off I went. I had Chuck stay home with Aiden and my friend Keisla (the girls godmother) dropped me off at the hospital on her way to work. (Feeling bad I might add that she couldn't stay with me)
I went in, checked in and headed up stairs to wait. I was in the waiting room about 10 mins and they called me into the exam room. The nurse to my vitals and asked me questions and then the doc came in. She asked me again what happened and I told her. I also told her I just saw my OB on Friday (the previous day) and she did an ultra sound and all was fine. The only thing that we were watching was the girls weight cause they were so different by ultrasound measurements.
She asked if my doctor checked my cervix or did any kind of an internal and I said no, so she said she was going to do one.
Out came the can opener (that is what I call it and that is what it feels like! OUCH) After 22 weeks of "being good" being examined by the doc with that god awful device is painful!!!
SO she checked and looked and could see the knot on the cerclage and it was still in place and tied. She said she could see some tinged mucus but NO active bleeding. This is good I thought!
She the proceeded to swab with one of hose huge Q-tips and all of a sudden any place she touched with it began to bleed. WHICH MEANT.. my cervix was getting soft.
She took out the torture device and said I am going to finger check. She did and then said you body is trying to dialate, the cerglage is stopping it, but the baby's head is right there (Morgan)

The next words out of her mouth were.. "So we will be doing your c-section today" Ummm WHAT??? No contractions at all, a great day, I feel fine, and I am in active labor.. Geeesh

Well I was 34 weeks and 2 days and now VERY pleased I made it this far. I called Chuck, told him to find someone to watch Aiden on bring him to the hospital and my mom will meet us and take him, and to hurry up cause in just a few hours (if that) we will be having the girls.

I called my mom, who showered and drove up. Chuck dropped Aiden off at the party and then came to the hospital. He got there about 45 mins after I called him. By this time I was already in the OR with the spinal, all preped, all set and waiting for him. They threw his scrubs on him, tossed him in the room with me and off we went.
Music playing, people chatting, a really nice and funny delivery team, some familiar faces from the NICU and we were ready to bring the girls into the world and that is just what we did.
About 15 mins after Chuck was in the room, at 4:00 pm, Morgan Kennidi Russell was out. Weighing in at 3 pounds 14 ounces and 16 inches, she was my peanut. She cried and cried and so did I with so much happiness just to hear her little voice. (I never got to hear Aiden) I was so happy and felt blessed she was ok. Then at 4:03 pm Riley Lorene Russell was here too. Weighing in at 4 pounds 7 ounces and 17 inches long, she was my big girl. She also cried and made it known she was present. Then they both joined in together... What a sound, it melted my heart!
Chuck took some pictures and got to hold them, they then brought them over to me to see and gives kisses too and off they went to the NICU.
Since they were under 35 weeks they had to go to the NICU, and this is where the new journey begins for all of us.
I am now a proud mommy of my angel Chase born at 20 weeks, my superman Aiden born at 24 weeks, and my twin girls, peanut and chubs, born at 34 weeks.

And that is my story... I am off to see them in a bit so I will update more soon.

September 24, 2007

I'm still in the hospital and will be until Wednesday so I can update but can't post pics until I get home, since the only computer I have is my father in laws laptop.

I am doing fine and have been keeping up with my pain meds so things are not too bad. The first night was crazy. I had to wait 18 hrs for the morphine in the spinal to be out of my system completely before I could get any pain meds and as you may know just cause it is in your system doesn't mean it is working to kill the pain anymore. FYI... it wasn't, so due to the soreness and the SUPER itch from the spinal wearing off I didn't sleep for the first night. I was awake for 42 hrs before I actually slept.

But on to the good stuff.. The girls...

Morgan... She is my little one, 3 lbs 14 oz and 16 inches long. She is doing fabulous, needed no O2 and is already eating (and has tried a bottle twice as of last night, once with me and once witht he nurse). She too half of her little feed by bottle befor she pooped out. Awwwww

Riley... She is my chubba, 4 lbs 7 oz and 17 inches long. She went onto CPAP for less then 24 hrs due to a bit of fluid inher lungs but is now off and breathing fine on her own. She is also now eating too but as of last night has not tried a bottle yet.

Both babies are past the isolet stage and now being swaddled in there isolets and keeping there temp. Next stage is an open crib (yay)
Both babies also has a round of antibiotics for a precaution. Due to being born early and still considered preemies, they were given the antibiotics just incase they had an infection that caused them to come early. Nothing has grown on the cultures so they are in the clear.

The are expected to be in the NICU anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks. However att he rate they are going I don't expect them to be there for 6. They are really doing well and it's completely different then when we had Aiden at 24 weeks.

I can't tell you how happy we both are to see them so healthy, happy and strong. I will post more pics when I am sprung from here so hang tight. And thank you to everyone who has sent us there best wishes...

SURPRISE!!

Quick update from Dad while Mommy recovers...

Say hello to:

Morgan! (3lbs 14 oz, and the elder by 3 mins)


Riley! (4lbs 7oz)


And one very excited (and now very tired) daddy. More updates later!

The SHOWER

It was Sept 8th, given by my mom (THANK YOU!) It rocked ! I had to post a few pics. I don't have them all yet but I do have one of my cake that I just LOVED!!!

And of course I had to end it with a pic of my little man who enjoyed the day so much!! He just had a ball with all the family and friends and rides in his wagon.. It was awesome!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to my mom again and to everyone who helped out.. Love you all !!

September 21, 2007

SO here is the update..
I was suppose to have a NST today (Non-Stress Test) and got to my appointment, went in, got hooked up, heard both babies for about 2.2 seconds and then nothing. The nurse came over and searched and was like, hmm this is weird, we know they're there. They are moving but we can't hear them. Then my doc just happened to walk in and said well i was going to do an ultrasound anyway so we will see what they're doing in there.

I went in the ultrasound room and all was fine. Both babies had strong heart beats. However Riley flipped AGAIN and is now head up and feet down (breach). This child can't figure out what way she wants to be (and she is the bigger one). The doc said she seems to have more room cause she has poor little Morgan stuffed down low on my right side (head down feet up).

Here is the kicker. We don't have to worry about twin to twin transfusion because they have there own placentas. With that said there is a BIG weight discrepancy between my little ones this time. Morgan who has always been a bit smaller and was 3 lbs four weeks ago is now measuring 3 lbs 14 oz. Riley, who has always been a bit bigger, and who measured 3 lbs 3 oz four weeks ago is now measuring a whopping 5 lbs 6 oz.

Now I know the ultrasound is not 100%, it is usually off a little either direction (and the internet said it can be off as much as a pound in some cases) but a pound and 8 oz difference is a lot..

Since the babies sounded good and still looked fine and everything else is going well I didn't have to do the NST today after all. However because of the size difference, I am having two NST's next week and scheduled for two the following week. I will be going in on Wednesdays and Fridays to have them done. If the babies are not is distress at all them we go on with the plan of a c-section on Oct 11th. If there are signs of something else then we will change those plans, if if need be deliver them a wee bit earlier then planned.

The doc did say though that it is possible I could go into labor before then and if so not to stress over it, that they might end up in the NICU but nothing like what Aiden went through, which i knew anyways.

We also talked about keeping my cerclage in. That since it has held, I am having a c-section, it doesn't bother me since I can't feel it, and I'm not getting my tubes tied and know I want more kids in the future, if we keep it in, i can still get pregnant again and still have my monthy cycles (which I don't miss) however when we choose to have another baby, I won't have to go for the cerclage procedure again cause I will already have on in place.

I didn't even know this was a possibility. Who would of thought that it could stay in and last 5 years or forever for that matter until taken out. BUT, it works for me if I don't have to go through that pain again anytime soon.

So that is about it.. The girls are still baking, Riley is a piglet and growing very well, Morgan is my picky eater and watching her weight already (ha ha) and we will check on them next week and see whats what..

I've also posted some new belly pics.. ( I look like crap since it's about 1am or later and i was about to go to bed) but we can't always look beautiful..

Picture from my Shower 9/8/07 (32 weeks)Taken yesterday (34 weeks) and my belly looks square?!?