The Cuckoo's Nest

Spreading the Story

2010-02-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hi there everyone,

Waiting for a snowstorm here this evening. Mark's brother from Indy visited us this weekend. It was great to see Scott, but unfortunate to have to watch the Colts lose the superbowl together. Ah well. Sam is getting over a cough and stuffy nose and dealing with some 'cabin fever' the past few days.

Not too much new news, which is a good thing really. I had an ultrasound last week which showed that Abby is growing well at now 2lbs 10oz. I am 28.5 weeks and still anxiously counting down the days to 32 weeks as our first goal, and then hoping to make it to 36 weeks and past.

We are hanging in there through this loss the best we can. We have our sad moments, our distracted moments, and even our joyful moments. We are trying to prepare for the twins' birth in ways that will make it meaningful to celebrate the joy of Abby's arrival and the sadness of Will's loss.

People continually ask what they might do for us, and of course prayer is always appreciated. But, beyond that, please do not be afraid to spread the word of our loss and situation to those we might know but not have close contact with. We do not feel it is gossip or a 'private matter' that we lost our precious son. It helps us out to not have to tell or story over and over again to everyone we happen to run into at church, the grocery store or elsewhere.

Thank you as always for your love and support.

Almost 27 weeks along now

2010-01-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

I went to see my perinatologist yesterday afternoon. I am always so tired after the long drive back and forth that I just can't get the energy to post right away. Sorry for the delay in information.

Abby continues to look good. We did a basic ultrasound with the portable machine (not detailed) in his office, which showed she is quite active (I knew that from her kicks) and that she has good levels of fluid around her. Her heart continues to beat strongly. I also got my blood drawn to make sure my blood is not clotting abnormally due to losing Will. Apparently, this is a very rare issue, so praying that all will be fine. I go back for a detailed u/s next Tuesday to check on her growth rate and heart function as well as my cervical length.

The doctor said that our risk of losing Abby in utero is decreasing with every week, and that my biggest risk remains pre-term labor. I'll be 27 weeks this Thursday, which means I'll be 7 months pregnant and in my final trimester. This is very good news for Abby, though my doctor said making it to 32 weeks is my 'big goal' and then 36 after that.

My mom is visiting right now, and she has helped me get to be out and about a bit more. I'm still on 'modified rest' I would call it. Not total bedrest and not totally homebound, but generally taking it as easy as possible with lots and lots of ice cream. OK, maybe the ice cream is unecessary. Speaking of food though, thanks so much to all of you who provided dinners for us these past two weeks. It was so helpful for Mark and I not to have to worry about that detail of our daily lives.

Please do continue praying for Abby that she will be strong and healthy and make it to full-term. We are so blessed with all your support.

Eve

A New Update After My Appointment

2010-01-21T04:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

Just wanted to give a brief update as to how we were doing and what we learned at my appointments on Tuesday. First of all, thanks again for the prayers, visits, calls and food you have provided to us. We so appreciate it.

I would say we are doing the best we can. The business of life doesn't really stop for loss, so Mark finds himself in the unfortunate position of being quite busy at work. I have decided not to return to work for the remainder of my pregnancy, as our situation is too uncertain and not fair to my clients. Mark and I are taking advantage of each other and our faith upon which to lean and enjoying the support of our friends and family to let us vent at times and other times distract us as well.

Some have asked us about a service for Will. We have decided to wait and see how things progress with my pregnancy before making any concrete plans or decisions. We hope to honor Will's life in a service at some point, just not right now.

I had promising appointments with the Perinatology Center at St. John's for a detailed ultrasound and at my actual perinatologist's office for a visit. Abby looks good and is growing well at 2 lbs 2 oz. Her heart looks strong, and she seems to be showing no signs of stress due to Will's death. They will be monitoring me for a rare blood clotting issue that sometimes occurs in these circumstances as well as Abby's growth and health with weekly appointments. They still cannot tell us what happened to Will, but that it is very rare for babies to die in utero so late in pregnancy.

We are told that Abby's greatest risk for pre-term delivery or other complications is in the month after losing her twin. We have made it 10 days, and are taking things one day at a time, hoping I can make it as far as possible with her. I have been taken off strict bedrest but am still on a modified rest program with limited activity.

Please continue to pray for us and especially for Abby that she is a strong little girl, able to come into this world a healthy baby despite all the challenges she faces.

God Bless,

Eve

Our Update

2010-01-15T14:32:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to give a quick update on how things are going. I'm hanging in there on bedrest for now, and enjoy very much feeling Abby's kicks. Unfortunately, it's hard for us both when she sleeps, so we are in the process of renting a doppler for the next three months to help give us reassurance that she is alright.

We have been comforted by the company and support of friends, and treated to dinners brought to us to help ease Mark's workload. My sister is visiting until Monday to help get the house in order and to provide emotional support for us. My mom will be coming up next Saturday for a week as well.

People are asking what we need right now. Of course, continued prayers for healing for us and safety for Abby would be so appreciated. Please do not be afraid to call. Although it's sad for us to talk about our Will, it so comforting to hear the voices of our friends. I'm not sure how long my bedrest will continue, and for that we may be in need of support that any can give to help take Sam to school/pick him up or maybe even take me to doctor's appointments as Mark may not always be able to leave work for these.

Being alone is tough for us, so don't hestitate to visit for awhile. Please just call us first, our family visitors will not mind the interruption.

We are leaning on each other and God for comfort and feel more blessed then ever for our Sam, who provides us with smiles and laughter even during our tears.

Sad News (loss mentioned)

2010-01-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

Hi to our dear friends and family,

I'm so sad to write this, but we wanted to let you know we discovered that our precious baby boy, William Scott, no longer had a beating heart at my 24.5 week visit to the perinatologist. I had no warning signs that anything was wrong (apparently our baby girl, Abigail) was bumping into him for a day or two, simulating movement on his side.

They cannot tell us what happened, as he just had a glowing review of an ultrasound the week before, but the doctors believe it had something to do with his placenta or cord. They will not be able to tell, as he needs to stay with me in order to let Abby grow more. There is a risk that my body will want to go into labor, so I am bedrest for at least a week. We are hopeful that Abby will stay put much longer and have no ill-effects from losing her brother.

We are so sad, but taking comfort in the loving support of our friends and family, and our faith that we will one day meet our little Will in heaven. Please be in prayer for us and especially for our little fighter, Abby, that she has the strength to get through this time.

God Bless,

Mark, Eve and Sam

Christmas Pics!

2009-12-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

A few pics from Christmas or a few days after! We even got a little snow on Christmas! Update on thing in the post below!!!!!

Merry Be-Lated Christmas and Update!

2009-12-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

So sorry I haven't updated in awhile, time has a way of escaping me! We have had an 'eventful' past few weeks here. On the babies front, we're still working on getting names for our little twinklets...and being rather picky. I've had several ultrasounds which show that the babies are indeed a boy and a girl, and appear to be very healthy. As of last week, they were estimated to weight about a pound a piece already!

Mark's parents have been visiting us for a little less than two weeks and helping us with several projects around the house: termite/water damage repair and helping to entertain/spoil/take care of Sam (if you call that a project, lol!). We had a very nice Christmas hunkered down at home with a wonderful Christmas meal compliments of everyone except me (although I did make the green bean casserole, which really doesn't require much more than opening cans of things, but it still counts, right?).

I have been having a bit more struggles with contractions lately. The day before Christmas Eve, I was contracting frequently enough to warrant a trip to Labor & Delivery (L&D for short) at St. John's. Luckily, my cervix did not seem to be changing with these contractions, so I was allowed to go home with a new dose of medicine.

Unfortunately, my contractions REALLY ramped up again yesterday (the 27th) and landed me back at L&D. After a lot of lab work, they determined that I have a urinary tract infection, which may be the reason for the increase in contractions. Once again, the babies looked great and my cervix is still holding.

I'm 22.5 weeks and VERY close to what's considered 'viability' which is at 24 weeks. Please pray that these babies hold tight at least that long and hopefully MUCH, MUCH longer for us!

Good Bless and Happy New Year!!!!

A Very Special Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

As promised, I'm posting after my BIG ultrasound today at almost 18 weeks. We were blessed with wonderful news all around...

My cervix is nice and long despite my early contractions.
They can find no evidence of my subchrionic hematoma any longer!
The babies looked fantastic, with healthy heartrates, and appropriate growth for their age.
And...

We're having....

A BOY

And...

A GIRL!!!!!!

Here's a few pictures in the post below. The one of me is at 16 weeks with the twins. The other is a not so 'ladylike' shot of our girl and a confirming shot of our boy!

We are so excited and just pray that the pregnancy can go for as long as possible to keep these babies healthy!!!

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

2009-11-24T11:56:00.001-08:00

Happy Early Turkey Day, Gobble Gobble!

2009-11-22T14:20:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!

I didn't realize it had been so long since I last updated here. Hope everyone is doing well and still enjoying this unseasonably warm November weather we've been having. Today, Sam even played in our sandbox for awhile....crazy!

We are counting down the days until our 'big ultrasound' which is this coming Tuesday. If all goes well, we will finally be able to see if we're on Team Blue, Team Pink or Team Purple (that's my combo for blue and pink, lol!). I'll post as soon as I get a chance on Tuesday.

Sam is preparing for his Christmas program at school...and it should be really cute. All the kiddos are wearing Christmas pajamas for the program. No slippers though. I can only imagine the fat lips and bumped heads if all those wily 3, 4,and 5 years olds went skidding across the stage in fuzzy, 'slippery' slippers.

Really the only 'not the greatest' news for us right now is that I've started having some contractions. They were pretty frequent the other day after I got stuck in a big traffic jam on my way to the doctor. Luckily, they are not changing my cervix at this point, thank goodness. I just have to take it very easy and not let myself get too stressed. Sounds simple, but not quite so easy to do with a 3 year-old and twins on the way! I will be getting ultrasounds every two weeks to monitor my cervical length. I'm also supposed to be getting visits from a home health nurse starting next week to give me progesterone shots to help prevent pre-term labor and monitor the babies.

Pray that these babies stay put as long as possible!!!!

Back to the real world this week!

2009-11-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone has gotten to enjoy this AMAZING Indian summer weather we're having (well, those of you in Florida, you're practically still IN summer, yeah?). We actually grilled out hotdogs and had a little picnic on our deck today...in November! We loved it!

Not long after I wrote my last post, Sam got quite sick last weekend. He started running a high fever and just wanted to sleep. So of course, we worried that he had come down with H1N1 again. He ran a high fever (101-103) for about 3-4 days, and then FINALLY started recovering. He ended up with some kind of croup-like illness. We put him on a short-course of steroids after a really rough night mid-week. He's on the mend now...and thankfully all Mark and I got from it was a very mild cold that's nowhere to be seen.

Sam had his H1N1 vaccine over a week ago, so hopefully his immunity to it is almost developed. I was lucky enough to get mine on Thursday at my perinatologist. Mark still doesn't qualify for it, but he was lucky enough to snag a seasonal flu vaccine last week at his work. All in all, it was a shot-heavy kinda week.

I had a pretty uneventful perinatologist appointment last Thursday. Amazingly, I only waited about 20 minutes to get in. All the nurses were joking that the doc must've had some 'hot date' to be moving so close to on-time! I got to hear the twins' heartbeats again on doppler...it never fails to give me chills to be reminded that there are two little living babies in me! I even gained 2 lbs this visit...which is the first weight gain and not loss I've had all pregnancy! I go back again in two weeks and will start taking weekly progesterone shots, which will (hopefully) help prevent pre-term labor. Although with having twins, we know I am high risk.

So all in all, we're hanging in there! Mark is still quite tired from working so hard at work and at home. He got excited at the store this weekend and already stocked up on Thanksgiving supplies! Sam is excited to go back to school after missing both days last week. I'm excited to get to be out and about a little bit more. The walls around here seem to be closing in on me lately!

Hope everyone is doing well! Thanks, Kathy C. for your recommendation for your carpenter-husband. Woohoo! Let's get things moving!!!!

Boo! Did I Scare You?

2009-10-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!

It's been awhile since I last updated, which for the sake of this blog means things have been going pretty well lately, at least on the pregnancy complication front. My mom left early Tuesday morning, much to our dismay. She was a wonderful helper to all of us while she was here and spoiled us rotten!

I have been feeling much better lately and have been getting up and around a bit more. I'm trying to find that balance between 'activity as normal' and still 'taking it easy'. But it's been really nice to be back at work for short times, and be out and about in the world a little too.

Our biggest news is that, in the process of trying to prepare Sam's new room for painting, we discovered some water/bug damage near the window. Boo. We have been consulting with window replacement and pest control companies (we have ants, but had at least some termites at one time). Boo again. So if anyone knows a good carpenter let us know!

Last night we went to a friend's house for a Halloween dinner followed by Trick-or-Treating. Sam's been scared of people/kids wearing masks lately, but was a champ last night. He was Tigger. He asked to be a tiger, so this was as close as we could get. Maybe not as ferocious...but he was darn cute. I went to a couple houses and then let Mark and Sam go with the big group while I passed out candy to other kids in the neighborhood.

I have a perinatologist appointment coming up this Thursday and looking forward to getting to hear the twins' heartbeats again. I do get to feel little random squirms and flutters here and there...but it's still pretty sporadic. We have our official 'anatomy scan' the week of Thanksgiving, where we will hopefully be finding out the sexes of the babies.

Hope everyone had a great week!

Second Trimester, Here We Come!

2009-10-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we've finally made it to 13 weeks, which is the gateway into the supposedly 'most comfortable' trimester of pregnancy: the second trimester! Mark and I are feeling so blessed that we've been able to make it this far...one down and two to go.

This week, my mom has been here helping us out sooooooo much! She's been cooking, cleaning, playing with Sam, taking Charlie for walks, you name it. Unfortunately, she has to get back to her own life in Florida next week, so we won't be spoiled much longer. Sniff, sniff.

I've been feeling still pretty icky, but finally got off some antibiotics that I think was contributing to the yuckiness. My doctor also prescribed a new medication that (fingers crossed) seems to be helping with my migraines without the horrible side effects I'd been having. Hooray!

Sam and Mark are doing pretty well. We've had some fits here and there, but he's hanging in there. Sam's doing OK, too (teehee). Sam is loving his preschool and is extremely excited to be going trick-or-treating next weekend for Halloween. Mark and my mom are trying to prepare Sam's 'big boy' room for him to move into, but have run into a roadblock with some water-damage in our wall near the window (great).

I've been feeling little blips, flaps, and tickles from these twins for the past few weeks now...I'm very lucky to get to feel them so early. I had a GREAT ultrasound yesterday which showed two growing, very healthy and active little babies! It was so fun to watch them spin and punch and kick. What a miracle! But the best news was that they couldn't seem to find my internal bleed anymore. It doesn't mean that it's not hiding somewhere in there, but the fact that it would be small enough to 'disappear' fantastic news for us!!!!

So, I'm hoping to ease my way into the land of the living a little more these next few weeks, and even plan to see a couple of my clients next week!

Thanks so much to everyone for their continued prayers and support. I'll continue to update how things are going. We're hoping we have cleared at least one hurdle with this pregnancy, knowing that there will be more to cover!

The Sickies Cometh!

2009-10-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

Just a quickie update on our week since my last post. Not long after my last post, Sam started running a fever out of the blue. I was really worried about Swine Flu since it seemed to come out of nowhere. Swine Flu is very dangerous for pregnant women. Before bed, Mark gave him some Tylenol and not a minute later Sam got sick all the Tylenol and his dinner.
So then we were thinking stomach flu.

Ick.

But he didn't get sick again, and continued to run a fever on Tuesday. Ugh-oh. Mark took him to the doctor to get 'swabbed' for Influenza Type A and H1N1. Thankfully, both came back negative. Apparently, there is some chance of a false negative with the H1N1 test...but Sam was so happy and acting 'normal' on Tuesday night, we knew he was OK. So it was just some very weird '24 hour throw up once' type bug.

Crisis averted.

I have not been feeling to fantastic. Nothing to do with the hematoma or bleeding, mind you. I've just been very nauseous and struggling with migraines. My perinatologist diagnosed me with 'hyperemesis gravidarium' according to my symptoms of my last pregnancy. Hyperemesis is a severe form of morning sickness that causes weight loss, lots of vomiting, and sometimes severe dehydration and malnutrition. I've been taking medication to prevent vomiting for several weeks now...and they have been working to some extent. But they don't help my nausea or lack of appetite. This is leaving pretty tired and weak.

I got a migraine on Wednesday night that just wouldn't seem to lift. I couldn't keep down my dinner or any medication to help with it, and I was really feeling in pain and very dehydrated by Thursday morning. So, my perinatologist suggested I go St. John's ER (where he is) for treatment. It was a LOOOOOOONG morning there with Sam, but I was able to get 3 bags of fluid through IV to help rehydrate me, along with medication to help with my vomiting and migraine. Oh yeah, and the twins looked great on u/s!!!!

So that was our big adventure yesterday. I'm 12 weeks along now and hoping the migraines will subside soon. The hyperemesis got better with Sam around 20 weeks, so hoping I'm at least more than halfway through it!

Talk to you soon!

No news is good news!

2009-10-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I would give a little check-in, even though there's not a lot of new information to 'check in'. I don't have another perinatologist appointment until next Thursday...and that seems a loooooooong way away right now.

I've been trying to follow the Dr's advice and let myself do a little more activity...don't worry I didn't wash windows or anything. But I have let myself take longer (and glorious) hot showers instead of quickie 5 minute ones. And I took my first trip down to the basement yesterday for awhile. That was exciting. OK, maybe not. And I actually 'did' my hair today for the first time in 3 weeks. That WAS exciting!

I've been given permission to drive short distances, so today I spent some time at a friend's house. It was really nice to have a change of scenery. Sam was really excited to go see his friends, but then got scared when one of them was wearing an 'Incredible Hulk' costume and mask. After some time and a little cajoling, he did finally go back to the basement to play with his friends. Oddly enough, I remember being scared of the ACTUAL show, 'The Incredible Hulk' when I was a little girl. Hmmm, must be genetic?

Anyway, my friend happens to have her own at-home Doppler for listening to a baby's heartbeat...and she so graciously let me use it! Low and behold, we heard two separate little thump-thumps right next to each other. Hooray!

In other good news, my mom is going to be coming for a week-long visit next Tuesday. Sam is very excited to see his 'Grandma Papa' (his chosen name for her...yeah, he chose it). But I'm also excited as she is going to be helping me go to several doctor's appointments, catch up on laundry, and anything else we throw her way.

Well, that's all for now! I probably won't check in again until my doctor's appointment next week if all continues to go OK.

Perinatologist Appointment Today!

2009-10-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

So I had my perinatologist appointment today, two weeks from my last one to check on my pregnancy in general and the status of my hematoma. Mark took off work to come and get us (Sam and I) for the appointment. Sam was thrilled as usual to cross the 'tunnel bridge' over the 'sippi-sippi' river, as he calls it. He also entertained us with a lot of American flag sitings, which is a game we play in the car to keep him occupied, and to save us from having to listen to his favorite nursery rhyme CD ad naseaum.

We were able to get a wheelchair, and Mark gave Sam and I quite the adventurous ride, as we were running tight with time. I'm not sure why we hurried so fast to get to our apppointment, since we weren't seen for another HOUR.

Anyway, we FINALLY got to see our doctor, and were thrilled to get to see yet another ultrasound of the twins. They still looked great and had 'two strong beating hearts and two fluffy placentas' according to the doc. I mentioned it must be the 'fluffy' placentas making my belly so large, to which the doc replied, "Oh you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Gulp.

Anway, all in all, doc thought things were progessing nicely, and he was hopeful that the bleed will continue to heal. So he's 'modified' my bedrest to a more forgiving level: I can be up and about more at home and drive short distances. He still doesn't want me doing any lifting, long-term walking/standing, or anything to cause physical exertion. We'll reassess my ability to go back to work in two weeks.

So there you go...we're were very encouraged by our visit today! Take care all!!!!

Kuckuck is German for 'Cuckoo Bird'

2009-10-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

The pictures are all out of order and are supposed to be at the end of this post. Grrrr. Call it a visual representation of my pregnancies (all messed up and uncooperative). So, hi. Here's my new blog, and yes, I'm serious. Kuckuck really IS German for 'cuckoo bird'. Fitting for us, don't you think?

Of course, those of you related to us on the Kuckuck side already know this. But anyway, that is why I decided to name the blog as such. I had a couple people suggest that I start a blog as a way to update friends and family on how things are going with the pregnancy. It has always been my intention to have a blog to update our little family adventures anyway, so I guess this is as good a start as any.

So, here we are. Mark and Sam are at a birthday party, while I'm stuck in bed. My only request was a leftover piece of birthday cake....because I love me some cake! And cake is a good way to pass the time when one is on bedrest.

I'm pretty sure I'm restating the obvious here, but here's the general summary of where things are in the Cuckoo's Nest:

We did our first IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle in August.

Out of that cycle, we got 4 little embryos: we transferred two, and froze two.

To our surprise (maybe mine more than Mark...he's always more optimistic), we became pregnant!

Our first ultrasound (u/s for short) showed one little gestational sac.

Our second u/s showed not one, but TWO babies with beating hearts (I think Mark and I were equally shocked about this one).

At 8.5 weeks pregnant, I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma (SCH for short), after cramping and bleeding.

I've been on bedrest since then and am now 10.5 weeks pregnant.

So, there we are. The only 'treatment' for an SCH is rest. So that's what I've been doing, with the help of many friends who have been watching and transporting Sam for me during these past two weeks. This week, I'm hoping to be a little more independent and see how my body reacts.

We had an u/s this past Friday and saw both twins looking great! Twin A just slightly smaller with a heartbeat in the 170s (great!) and Twin B is the bruiser of the two and has a heartbeat rate in the 180s (great again!). They saw my bleed, which is in between both babies, and doesn't seem any bigger than it did two weeks ago.

I go to see my perinatologist this Tuesday for a two-week check-up. Hoping to get to hear the babies' heartbeats through doppler if possible and get a clearer picture of where my activity level should be.

And as for the pictures, well pic #1 is our BIG surprise when we saw TWO babies instead of one on our second u/s! Pic #2 is an upside-down (sorry, oops) picture of THE pregnancy test. And pic #3 is our twins before they were even transferred into me! Talk about an early baby picture!!!!

Talk to you soon!