And the freedoms keep on keepin' on...

I came back from my doppler Thursday morning to this adorable crowd in my room:





Can't beat them apples... that's for sure!





And while Dana was here with her girls, Jackie (dark hair) and Ava (blondie!) prior to heading out to the beach we discovered a couple cool new activities in mommies confined space:





This is Aiden and Jackie with my bed jacked up almost as high as it can go, complete with doctor's gloves on, driving a space ship. Yes - Aiden is in the process of yelling "BLAST OFF!!"





Dude - this was serious bidniss.





This was the chicken dance - complete with doctor's gloves on hands AND feet to maximize the effect when one stomps their feet down. HOLY CANOLI was THIS game a diamond in the rough (before we started to wake all the babies in the unit with our screeching... opps).





And I had to throw in this one of Caleb luvin' up little Ava... just because. Go ahead, admit it... you want to hug my kid too he's so darned cute!




Anyhow, my mom and Dana wheeled my heini outside for some fresh air as they departed for the beach... (I'm not going to whine anymore, OK?) I figure, who says bedrest has to be spent in BED?? It's just a figure of speech, right? And look at this SWEET setup I have, eh? Life is all about enjoying the little things. Roger that.



So, even though my little muncha's were off galavanting at the beach without me - I have to say that I had a pretty cool day... as cool as they come in a hospital when you are on lockdown anyhow - it's all about perspective. It was pretty cool because I had a PARTY PAD in 1119 for like 45 minutes, dudes!! So many visitors, and all in one fell swoop - which was NUTS!





First one of our neighbors from Hawk's Eye stopped by, Carol!! She works for North Flight and actually tracked me down from the Manor to the hospital - AND she left helicopter pins for our boys!! It was so nice of her to stop to say HI!!



Next Doctor Madion showed up with 2 extra peeps and my reg nurse. I was pumped to get to talk to Dr. Madion because really, up until this point it has been all doc's that are not our primary OB's stopping in (because it's their day) and trying to answer our questions. Dr. Madion KNOWS what up and he was SO UPBEAT!! It was great to see him and see how enthusiastic he was about our babies and our progress. Yes, our doppler numbers were higher today - especially B - but he continued to say great things about how we made such a huge comeback after Monday.


The good part about Dr Madion is too that he is NOT afraid to admit when he just doesn't know or doesn't have a concrete answer for something... or maybe even if (GASP!) he was wrong about a prediction or thought he had in a previous conversation. And so when I asked him his thoughts on whether or not this whole bedrest thing was "working" or if, in fact, our babies are just going to do what they are going to do no matter if I'm in a hospital room or outside with my kids.... well... he leaned against the wall and said "I don't know, and I don't know that anyone really DOES know." He went on to say that he thinks it's a good idea that I'm not souly in charge of taking care of our boys all day and being so crazy active at this stage of the game. Which we knew. But he also admitted that he finds me in a wheelchair being babysat is pretty ridiculous and over the top.

The truth is that Baby B's dopplers are showing two things: 1) we once again have diastolic and systolic flow (YEAH!) and 2) the ratio between the two has been up and down all week since I've been in the hospital. Primarily, mostly up - which is "normal" now for little Baby B - but not ideal. The victory is in the fact that after our crazy scare on Monday morning with NO diastolic flow, we are still in the winner circle having re-established flow in both directions.

As Jeremy mentioned, after we reflected on the week's results and how there does not APPEAR to be a concrete link to steady numbers with my being in the hospital... well... is it all necessary?

Dr. Madion was great though, just telling it how it is and being laid back - which is nice after the stiff folks I've been accosted by. To no fault of their own, but everyone interprets the Doctor's orders differently and there are certainly those nurses that walk in and expect me to be laying laying in my bed 24/7 with no exceptions for... standing to hug my kids... or getting a cup of water... or opening the shades... Anyhow, when I asked about the outdoor privledges he quickly flung up his hand and said "I don't CARE how long or how much you are outside. It's FINE."

YAHOO!! WHAT?!?!

"That's a lot of work for us, Dr."

HUH??

Who said that??

Oh - my - gosh. The nurse piped up with her 2 cents.

Next thing I know I have "3 outside visits for 30 to 60 minutes per day." written in my chart. Alrighty, I'll take it!! But I was still a tad bitter about the opportunity to have unrestricted outdoor time... OK, I'm done with that.

Just about the time that Dr. Madion was leaving Wendy (our former nanny whom I've talked about before), her sister Amanda, and Wendy's new beautiful baby boy Jayden came walking in!! With my girlfriend Heidi not far behind - PARTY IN ROOM 1119, BABY!!! I swear the place was PUMPIN'! It was heaven for this little social girl (even if 1/2 the crowd were hospital staff and doctors... I don't care!)!! It was so nice of them all the come visit... especially when MY little chitlins were chillin' like little villians at the beach with Grammie and Aunt Dana and da' crew. I really was SO happy that Dana and her girls were here for my mom and the boys to play with - thank you for making the trek AGAIN, Dana!! You've been just awesome...


That night I decided to try out the outside good bye /good night with the boys, with hope that it was EASE the tranition a bit... And once we had the idea to let me get wheeled all the way to the car and say good byes as they were getting in... well... take the pain and divide it by about 1/10th. It was a MUCH nicer good night for us all.





Here we are, livin' large during mommies outdoor time tonight! It was SO MUCH MORE FUN this way!! Thank you , thank you, thank you Dr. Madion!!!

Friday morning brought another doppler - BRIGHT AND EARLY (Jeremy was still in my room before he left for work when they came a callin' ) - and we were pumped for it. Today was Dr. J Day. And we had really held off on getting too worked up about anything until we saw the man. He IS the Holy Grail. And his experience with high order multiples gives us so much more confidence than a doctor (no offense) who read about it or studied it or KNOWS a doctor who did such-an-such... you catch my drift.

So... back to the wheelchair. Baby B's doppler looked very similar to what it looked like on Thursday - the numbers were high, but we still definitely had systolic and diastolic flow present so we were pumped! (pun intended?) When Dr. Jelsema came in to review the ultrasound and talk to us it was literally like Jeremy and I both let out this huge sigh of relief... it's just SO GREAT to be in the precence of this man. He is so freaking smart, and confident, and upbeat, and laid back, and talks straight, and, above all, he's a phenominal Christian man. He has prayed with us in the past... right in a standard ultrasound room... when we were pregnant with Aiden and Meadow... and were faced with the horrible reality of our daughter's situation for the first time. That amazing man actually asked us if it would be OK to pray together and ask God for strength... and we did. I will never forget that day. Take a man that you have so much respect for and compound that more times over than you ever knew possible... he is the type of doctor that is positively influencing parents faced with tough decisions about the fate of their unborn children - and how he maintains that on some days is absolutely beyond me. After all he has seen he is not hardened to the cruelties of the this life and he remains solid in his faith and sharing it with those that come into his life needing it most.

Whoops.

Was that another tangent by Mama T?

Anyhow, Dr. Jelsema indicated that he is very pleased, if not suprised, that we are still pregnant after the doppler results from Monday. He too honestly thought that Baby B was NOT going to rebound and we would have seen reverse flow by now, indicating that the babies need to be delivered NOW. So he was very excited for us - well - I'll say he was cautiously optimistic (who taught me that phrase??hmm....). But he also indicated that he felt that the hospital was the best place for me right now. Not because I can't get to the hospital from the Manor 3x/day for testing... and/or not because they are doing THAT MUCH to me AT the hospital that it's imperative I have a nurse looking over me 24/7... and/or not because I truly need to be holed up in a hospital room for the best test results for Baby B... but because he said "We are so close and you have beat the odds up to this point." His primary reasoning for supporting me being in the hospital is because of the risk of my actual water breaking or going into labor. The dopplers will take place everyday regardless if I am admitted to the hospital or staying at the Manor. And the test results will be what they will be regardless of where I lay my head at night. But he now felt that the difference is in the fact that when I am IN the hospital and I go into labor I am THERE. And we may have very little time to get me into delivery due to the fact that the babies are so little and certainly so fragile. That is why Dr. Jelsema supports my staying AT Munson.

And you know what we said?

OK.

The man has spoken.

Literally - from that moment on I was resolved to the fact that I was not going to be discharged from the hospital before our babies enter the world... because Dr. J thinks it's the best place for us all and therefore I do too.

This doesn't mean that I'm still not going to pester all the nurses about going outside and trying to get "passes" to see my kids more... but I won't mention leaving anymore. I won't.

Thanks to everyone again for the calls, the emails, and writing on the blog - we LOVE hearing from you!!! It's the greatest feeling in the world to know all of the support we have out there... and the prayers for our babies.