Going Strong

I thought I would make a quick update to the blog to let everyone know that Will, Kate, and MH are all still doing well. Both Will and Kate have been taken off the ventilators and are breathing on their own. That said, they both still have normal air (21% O2) blowing in their noses to help pressurize their lungs and "remind" them to breathe. They also have venous lines in their umbilical veins to provide fluids, nutrition, and do blood draws.

I'll try to get some more pictures uploaded in the near future so please continue to check the blog for further updates.

Thanks to all -
Josh, MH, Ben, Will & Kate

Happy Birthday Will & Kate!!!

At 8:53pm and 8:56pm yesterday, Oct 11th 2008, Katherine (Kate) Klein Lovekamp and John William (Will) Lovekamp were welcomed into the world.

MH had an ultrasound yesterday afternoon that showed little growth of both Will and Kate since their last measurement about 2 weeks before. So that, along with MH's declining health, made the decision easy for the doctors and they performed a C-section last night at about 8:30.

All three of them were doing great last night and are only getting better this morning. Kate was born first, weighing in at a whopping 1lb 7oz, followed by Will, who tipped the scales at 1lb 12oz. Both of them are on respirators but breathing room air without any supplemental oxygen and are taking a lot of breaths on their own without the assistance of the ventilators.

Needless to say we are releived at their good health but there is a long road ahead for both of them. We are also forever grateful to all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers for our now larger family.

Love -
Josh, MH, Ben, Will, & Kate

Still Pregnant...

Dinner together in the hospital cafeteria - yummy Schlotzsky's

So, MH and the twins have successfully cleared 26 weeks and have now been in Phoenix for just over 2 weeks. We continue to get daily updates on the progress of her health and that of the twins (who continue to do well). She (MH) seems to be having a gradual decrease in kidney functioning, which by itself isn't too worrying, although I think the consensus is that it is likely an indicator of her eventual decline leading to a C-section. That said, there is still no way to predict when that might happen so we continue to be thankful that we have come this far and are hopeful that things will stay steady for a while longer.

Kate pushing back at the heart rate monitors

MH's mom, Kay (aka Mimi), continues to be a great help in Phoenix with Ben, MH, and myself. Ben and I gave her a break and visited an Oktoberfest event in a local park in Tempe, AZ on Saturday. The two of us had a great time riding the ferris wheel, merry-go-round, and playing on lots inflatable slides and bounce-houses. Ben burned off any remaining energy at a small water park that was there.

Ben having fun at the water park - he never slows down.

I continue to work mostly from Phoenix, although I am in Flagstaff for the next few days for work and plan to return to MH's bedside at the end of the week. MH's aunt, Lisa, is scheduled to arrive in Phoenix tonight for about a week to visit and to help out (and probably most importantly to provide Kay with some much needed companionship).

Thanks to everyone for continuing to check the blog and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

A little more news

I thought I would update this blog with all of the tests and information that I am getting on a regular basis. I keep having nothing to report, because I am remaining stable at the moment, so thought this would help us remember and explain some things to you guys.

So, we had an ultrasound the other day and they predicted the weight of the twins. Will weighed in at a whopping 1 lb. 10 oz. and Kate weighed in at 1 lb. 5 oz. She is so dainty compared to her brother. They will continue to look at their growth rate every 2 or 2 1/2 weeks from here on out.

They will also be doing ultrasounds on Mondays and Thursdays to look at the cord blood supply to make sure it is adequate for each twin. This ultrasound will also include a BPP or BioPhysical Profile, where they watch the babies each for up to 30 minutes and look at their heartbeat, breathing, and movement. I will have one of these some time today.

They also draw blood every 24 hours. Pre-eclampsia can affect your kidney functioning, liver enzymes, and platelet count. So these labs are drawn each day to determine how all of these things are functioning. With kidney functioning, they look at my uric acid and creatinine levels. At this time, my creatinine level remains the same from when this all began - slightly elevated for being pregnant, but no serious concern. My uric acid level has increased, so they will be looking at that closely. My liver enzymes are normal, and my platelet count, which was decreased, has now returned back to the normal range. They like to see your platelet count above 100, if not they considering delivering. At one point last week, my platelet count was down to 94 and they held out, thank goodness, and it is now at 193 (150 being normal).

Another thing that they look at is the amount of protein in my urine, which helps to let them know how my kidneys are functioning. So, once a week, I have to collect my urine for 24 hours (fun, fun, fun) and then they analyze the amount of protein that I am spilling. My first test indicated 600 mg (and this number is the one that made me remain in the hospital in the first place). About a week later it was at 660mg and then the most recent reading last week had gone up to 1800 mg. The doctors start getting concerned if the number is above 5000 mg. I will do this test again on Sat. and every Sat. as long as I am pregnant.

They also do non-stress testing on the babies twice a day. This is where they put them on a heart rate monitor, which can tell them how well the babies are doing depending on their heart rate. This is a taxing thing to do twice a day. First, you have to find both babies and their heart rate and then you have to keep them together for 20 minutes. Thankfully, the twenty minutes does not have to be consecutive, but at 25 weeks, the babies are so tiny and moving around, it is difficult to hold them on. It has taken up to 2 hours before. I am already learning what it will be like to have twins at home.

A list of other things that aren't tests but they look at are: vital signs (including blood pressure - which mine have been perfect for a week now), headaches, vision changes, swelling, change in babies movement, etc.

So, after that wealth of information, I am holding steady at this time, for the moment. I spoke with a doctor yesterday who really spelled it out for me when I asked him if I could go home on bedrest and he immediately said NO!!!! Understanding that preeclampsia is unpredictable, he gave me his professional opinion. I will be in the hospital until the babies are delivered. He would like to see me get to 32 weeks, but he does not expect that I will. He thinks right now I am still in the honeymoon period from the steroid injection they gave me 2 weeks ago to help the babies respiratory system develop faster to be more ready for delivery. He thinks now we will begin to see a decline and I will need to be watched closer. It is possible that the first sign of this decline is the recent elevation of uric acid in my blood, which is a loose indicator of kidney function.

I also asked about going back to Flagstaff at 28 weeks, because the NICU there can supposedly handle babies born after 28 weeks. However, Flagstaff does not have everything that the babies may need if they come early, so I think that we have decided to stay here in Phoenix for the duration. It will be harder on the family for now, but those several weeks are nothing compared to a lifetime of health benefits for Will and Kate.

So, here I sit in the hospital with frequent visits from my mom, Josh, Ben, and lots of wonderful friends.

Thanks as always for the well-wishes and prayers.

25 weeks and counting

Hello everyone!!! It is Mary Hampton here. I am finally feeling up to looking at the computer, so I thought I would update the blog myself. I am feeling good and my labwork is continuing to remain steady for most things and my platelet count is increasing daily. I have even been moved from having bloodwork drawn every 12 hours to every 2 days. My arms will appreciate the break and enjoy the recovery time. I keep asking about going home on bedrest and the doctors either chuckle, or just walk out of the room. One doctor even seems to think that my rapid turnaround has to do with the decrease in altitude. They say that they have sent women back to Flagstaff and the 7000 ft. elevation after they are doing better and they turn back around and end up in Phoenix again. So, "at home on bedrest," may mean somewhere in Phoenix if they ever let me go. But for now, I am still here for frequent blood pressure checks and baby monitoring, which by the way, WILL AND KATE ARE DOING FABULOUS. Getting bigger and moving more and more everyday.

I have enjoyed my visitors and especially having Ben come by the hospital. He is staying in Phoenix with my mom and Josh. It is a joy to have him here, even though at times, he tends to raise my blood pressure. HA! He is doing great and handling things pretty well. He enjoys taking mommy on her wheelchair outings. Highlight of the day for both of us.

We will continue to keep everyone posted as things progress. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts, prayers, phone calls, visits, gifts and flowers. I am truly blessed!!!

Holding Steady

As the title suggests, not much has changed in the last few days here in Phoenix. MH's blood tests continue to help us remain optimistic that she will stay pregnant for the foreseeable future. However, this makes it that much harder to remember how quickly things can change...

Thanks to everyone for the calls, flowers, thoughts, prayers, and tons of help. That includes our parents, who flew in over the course of last week and the weekend. MH's dad will be taking off to get back home tomorrow afternoon and my parents are planning to fly out on Saturday afternoon. MH's mom is thankfully going to remain here to help with her and Ben (and me).

I'll try to keep the updates coming -
Josh

No news is good news

Mary Hampton has been in Phoenix now for several days and appears to be remaining stable. The message from the doctors, which has also remained stable, is that MH will stay on bedrest in the hospital here until she delivers, which could be virtually any time. She seems to feel better every day but we are all anxious since she her condition will deteriorate at some point forcing them to deliver the twins.

So...here we sit in a hospital room waiting for something to happen that we are hoping won't happen for weeks if not months.

As always, thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers and please keep them up.
Josh

More good news

The doctors gave us a little more good news this afternoon. Since her liver, kidneys, and blood all seem to be stable they have taken her completely off the medication that has been making her feel so bad and limited her blood work to every 12 hours instead of every 4 hours. They are also planning to allow her to get up and move around a little which will be nice. If she tolerates all of that action without being medicated over the next several hours they will likely move her from the high risk unit that she has been in to the normal labor and delivery department.

All of that said we are all too aware of how quickly things can change and are trying to stay prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support and I'll keep the updates coming.

Josh

Still pregnant...

A short update this time...we've been in Phoenix now for over 24 hours and MH is still pregnant and all seems to be stable. The babies are both doing well and mama is starting to feel better with some minor adjustments to her medication levels. We are hopeful that she will remain stable and be allowed food soon. Otherwise we will continue our 4 hour routine of awaiting test results and keeping our fingers and toes crossed.
Keep the prayers coming...they appear to be working!
Josh

We're in Phoenix

So...over the course of last night the doctors drew some blood from MH that showed a decrease in platelet count from her initial bloodwork when she was first admitted. Then this morning she had a bad headache and an increase in blood pressure that concerned the doctors enough to put her on magnesium sulfate to control her pressures and get rid of her headache, prevent seizures, strokes, etc... They also drew her blood and checked her liver enzymes and platelet count again which showed a little bit further decrease in platelet count and an increase in liver enzymes. The increase in liver enzymes concerned the doctors enough to fly her to Phoenix (on what I hear was a rough helicopter ride) to be more closely monitored and potentially have a C-section at St. Joseph's hospital.
Since she has arrived in Phoenix her bloodwork has stabilized somewhat but it is kind of an hour by hour sort of thing. So we're just hanging out in a hospital room in Phoenix waiting to see what happens. I'll try to keep you all as up to date as possible -
Thanks for all your love and support.
Josh, MH, Ben, Will, and Kate.