Hi Everyone,
It's a beautiful day in Tokyo. We still can't see cherry blossoms from our window but they are blooming.
Sonia finally made it to sleep last night but the pain from her IV never went away. So after breakfast this morning we informed the nurses that the IV needed to be placed in an other location.
We took the opportunity between IV removal and new IV insertion to get Sonia cleaned up and showered which seemed to make her feel better in addition to the shooting pain in her arm having subsided.
Knowing how hard it was going to be to find another vein, and how badly the magnesium sulfate made Sonia feel, we weren't in any hurry to have the doctors comeback for another attempt.
owever, tTheir first attempt came just before lunch during Sonia's exam. While I am happy to inform everyone that this time they agreed to wheel chair her to and fro and that they weren't able to see Rachel's hand, this doctor wasn't really looking and was simply focused on the washing. I think they now just assume. That's ok, at least Rachel's hand wasn't blocking the speculum from going in this time. While we were in a hurry to get Sonia back to bed to relieve the pressure on her cervix, this guy (I think he's a resident) wanted to try and stick the IV back in in the exam room while she was still vertical. No luck, after a couple of pokes and numerous subcuteneous shots at a vein, our young buck gave up after we quickly suggested that we should try again later (hopefully with another doctor).
Just after lunch came, a nurse and the same doctor came to our room to give it another try. As we weren't very confident that our friend would have any more success this time, we asked to postpone the poking around until after lunch.
A few minutes ago, the nurse and another doctor came by to give it another shot. This time it turned out to be a Dr. Adachi who apparently is the head of ob-gyn here at Aiiku! Putting pieces together, this is the same Dr. Adachi to contacted our Dr. Sakamoto about potentially moving Sonia to another hospital. In any event, Dr. Adachi quickly concluded also that Sonia had no adequate veins left in either forearm so she went for the same location that just had a catheter and was causing Sonia so much pain but on the other hand! Thankfully, Dr. Adachi must be a pro at this sort of thing as she nailed it the first time and it is much less painful.
We haven't measured anything today and Rachel and Isaac seem to be less active. We did have a scare earlier today during a baby check. When the nurse first tried to measure Rachel's heartbeat, it registered only in the 120s and 130s. After a few seconds, it went back up to the 140s but I suspect that Rachel is having a harder time with all of the jostling and increasingly tight space. Isaac's was also in the low 140s but we're hoping it is just because Sonia was pretty calm and a little sleepy.
I'm so very thankful that Sonia feels a lot better today because of the shower and a new IV location. Sonia shared with me that she felt a little ashamed for being so vocal about her pain yesterday because she had forgotten how much Christ had suffered before and on the Cross for us and how yesterday was really nothing in comparison. That being said, I sometimes forget that Sonia is my little baby and I need to be more sympathetic when she isn't feeling good.
We had a couple of other blessings today. The hospital lunch was awful but Sonia's mom made some great chinese food that we both enjoyed. Good food always makes things better, doesn't it?
Overnight we also received some encouragement via email. I might have mentioned earlier that I had sent a few emails out to some specialists in the U.S. Our version of a hail mary if you will.
Well, I received one amazingly kind reply from a Dr. Ruben Quintero. This is amazing as the guy is a pioneer in all sorts of high risk pregnancy surgical procedures. For those of you who know a few things about twins and pregnancy complications, he was the first to use lasers to remedy TTTS in identical twins. In any event, he replied saying that he would be happy to discuss our case with me and Dr. Sakamoto (Dr. Sakamoto doesn't know that I've been trying to contact these folks so please pray that he takes it the right way). I also received an email from a doctor whose nonprofit foundation Sonia and I are involved in. It turns out that both he and one of these super experts are medical doctors / professors at the same university in Colorado! Through a mutual friend, this doctor friend found out that the expert had received my email but blew it off because he receives so many. However, after speaking with our friend, the expert at least agreed to reply to us on Monday. Finally, there was a private hospital group that called me the other day who thought the best approach would likely be to try and deliver Rachel now and then keep Isaac inside Sonia for as long as possible and then deliver him later.
While we aren't going to be able to fly over to their clinic (also in Colorado), the nurse sent us a really kind and thoughtful email. She also followed up with the doctor with whom I spoke and they sent us some medical research that I will definitely show Dr. Sakamoto.
True, none of the emails have solved anything except one: Sonia and I totally believe that these email responses are a direct answer to our prayers and those who have been praying for us. We totally didn't expect any responses as our prior attempts had been so futile. I especially hope that Sonia can take this encouragement to heart.
There is a park outside of our hospital window and while spring has come enough for the cherry blossoms all of the trees in front of our window are still barren. My prayer is that we are blessed enough to stay in this room to watch each and every one of those branches sprout with new green life. I don't have a clue what tomorrow will bring including my conversation with Dr. Sakamoto about potentially changing hospitals and speaking with Dr. Quintero but I'm not that worred anymore. I'm sure some of this has to do with my fatigue but I think God is really helping me find peace with this situation and to give up my cross to him as I certainly was crumbling under the weight alone.
Thanks as always for your prayers and support. They sustain us. Thanks also for the really thoughtful posts on our blog and hannahsprayer.org.
God bless,
Jong
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5 comments:
Lifting you and your sweet babies up in prayer.
-From another mama of an Isaac in Monterey, CA.
Please don't give up hope! I had PROM of twin A at 20.3weeks. Unfortunately, his cord prolapsed on Christmas Eve when I was 21 weeks 5 days. I delivered him, and our baby Beckam blessed our lives for 2 1/2 hours. They did a high ligation of his cord, and my labor stopped on its own. My pregnancy continued until 27 weeks 4 days until I went in to preterm labor and delivered Jackson via C-section. He was in the NICU for 8 weeks. He is now almost 26 months old and doing fantastic!!!! Our whole story is on our website. We have been in the same situation as you all are in, and I know that hopeless feeling you are feeling. I had a hard time understanding why I lost one of our babies, but even though he is not with us anymore, he still blessed our lives just as much as our other children have. He changed our lives forever, and we will never forget our child "with wings. When people ask how many children we have, we say, "3 children, 2 with feet and 1 with wings." Trust in our Lord, and he will give you the peace you crave.
Jong and Sonia
Thanks for another update. Saturday evening is hear and I am so thankful for another day for your precious babies.
When I was reading about your pain Sonia and how hard you were struggling to cope yesterday my heart just wnet out to you. It was a completely different situation, but I also had an experience with thsi pregnancy which I felt gave me some insight I'd never had before into how Jesus must have felt. In the early early days of this pregnancy when I was having HCG monitoring to see whether my numbers were increasing I was wiating the final hour or so for the call form my nurse - it was a Monday afternoon and I'd been in that same position of wiating on 2 prior Monday afternoons with 2 previous pregnancies - and both had resulted in bad news. Anyway I was so lonely, I wanted someone to just wait with me. I wanted time to pass quickly. I wanted God to remove the burden from me. I accepted his will - I truly wans't fighting it, but teh pain of wiating for it to be revealed was agaonising. I turned to teh account of jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke and it really hit home - suddenly I had this understanding for the first time, of what it was like for Jesus in the garden as he waited for the soldiers to come and take him.
There are os many things I'm praying for for you guys - for Sonia's Mum, for Sonia's veins, for your work situations, for the NICU nursery and guidance about that, for wisdom for the drs, for protection from infection and contractions and most of all for continued miracles - that Rachel and Isaac will both live.
Thank you for keeping us so well informed - it is so much easier for me to pray when I know so much. I cna't believe its been a month. Praying for at least another month - but praying for that one day at a time.
Praying tonight that God will comfort and sustain you, that he will flood you with your peace and give you Sonia restful sleep.
Love Rae
I heard of your struggles and I hope that Sonia can recover and have two healthy babies. Keep your spirits up!! Your babies need it.
I just wanted to let you know that I had a 28 weeker/ 2lb3oz boy in July and he was on IV's until he could start taking my milk. He didn't gain much until he got my milk, and boy did that make a difference. He is 9 mo old now and doing what a 6 month should be doing. He is on medicine for really bad reflux, and just got off oxygen 2 mo ago, but got a cold so the oxygen had to come back on, other than that he is doing great!
I also wanted to tell you that while in the NICU I met a mother who had twins. One died at 20 weeks, but she carried both until 26 weeks. It was a twin to twin transfussion. Anyways, the surviving twin had a rough start, and was really tiny for a long time, and still has hard time gaining weight. She is also 9 months old now and she is also doing so good like a 6 month would be doing.
Hang in there, I know it is very hard, and you are going to have up days, and down days with everything, but it does get better!!!! My son only spent 62 days in the hospital, and now I look at him 9 months later, and think to myself how hard those 62 days were, but now it is barely a blurr. Video tape and take as many pictures as you can, because you will hardly remember how tiny your little guy was when he is bigger, stronger.
My prayers are with you and your family.
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