Hotel Mayo - Rochester
Hello friends! We apologize for the delay in updates but we've had an eventful past week which ultimately delayed our posts. Please bear with me as this post will be longer than most.
First and foremost, the babies and I are ok. That being said I am going to take you back to last week...
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
We made it to 23 weeks ~ Adam and I were so excited yet at the same time we were filled with apprehension. This is the bubble zone. We lost Madison sometime between 21-23 weeks and found out at 24 weeks, so as much as we try not to compare the pregnancies out of fear, the apprehension was inevitable.
Size-wise the babies were to be the size of GRAPEFRUITS!! This was humorous to us as every week Adam would guess grapefruits and they finally made it. Growthwise the singleton baby site did not provide any new numbers. The growth was simply for babies in their fifth month ~ so all we could do was hope the babies were still eating and growing.
Wednesday was a happy day. I was able to splurge a little and my friend Andrea and I went for pedicures. We made sure the pedicure place knew I was not ready to go into labor so they really did not even rub my feet. However, I did get pretty new toes ~ a bright pink with a glitter overlay (trust me, it's not guady). It was a great time and we laughed so hard.
The pedicure was necessary as I was gearing up for the baby shower for the girls. My mom and sister had planned a Baby Shower for Saturday, June 22, 2013 ~ This was supposed to be the last weekend I had free travel before my restrictions (staying within two hours of the hospital) was to set in. I was beyond excited!!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
I woke up Thursday and it was just a normal day. I had some extra discharge starting Wednesday night and told Adam about it. Truthfully it was nothing to worry about ~ all pregnant women have discharge. Adam however being the wonderfully protective husband he is, asked me to call and confirm that it really was nothing.
I didn't call right away. And to be honest, I wasn't going to call but I didn't want to lie to Adam or get nagged all weekend for not calling. So I called Dr. Borowski's office (Rochester Specialist) at about 11 a.m. and spoke with Chris, our nurse. Chris agreed it probably was nothing but wanted to check with the MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) Specialist on-call (Dr. Borowski was out). Chris called back within ten minutes stating that while it was probably nothing, the Dr. wanted it checked. There was no hesitation on this and I was told to call Eau Claire and make them see me.
So I agreed and called Eau Claire, who at first acted like I was being paranoid (remember discharge is normal). However, Dr. Weber, our doctor, told them that not only did he want to see me to confirm that I was not leaking amniotic fluid, but he also wanted a cervical ultrasound!
My appointment time was scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
I was supposed to have a hearing at 3:10 p.m. that day, however I did not know if I would have enough time to make it to the doctor back to work and then back to Court. So much to my dismay, I asked a partner to cover my hearing. (I was frustrated!!).
Adam is wonderful and does not want to miss a single appointment; thankfully Scheels has been very accommodating to our appointment schedule. I picked Adam up from work and we made our way down to see Dr. Weber.
1:30 p.m.
We are checked in and they start with the test for amniotic fluid. Next we have the ultrasound. Unfortunately we have one of the newest ultrasound technicans who really does not know what she is doing. She was having a difficult time finding heartbeats, which for us was torture. Then she was trying to get the cervix and for some reason decided not to measure it.
We were told to wait in ultrasound and then Dr. Weber arrived. The last time this happened, Dr. Weber was telling us that we had lost Madison. Needless to say we were extremely nervous.
He told us good new first: I was not leaking amniotic fluid.
However, he did not like how my cervix looked. In fact, because of my cervix he required we move to exam so he take a closer look.
2:50 p.m.
The exam revealed that my cervix was open (U-shaped) already and I was dilated 1 cm. During the exam, Dr. Weber was actually able to see my water bag, which is a very bad thing.
He decided I needed to be admitted to Mayo-Eau Claire.
At this point, I still did not grasp everything he was saying. I honestly thought our worst case scenario would involve me having to spend the night and then getting a later start to Watertown than planned, meaning I would have to miss my "Get Pretty" Appointment with Jen the Fabulous. Boy was I wrong...
4:10 p.m.
Dr. Weber advised us that he had spoken with Mayo-Rochester and the MFM team and the decision was I was to be transported to Rochester. There was no question ~ I needed to go and our babies were in danger. I did not grasp this until it was said outloud. I was in pre-term labor and we were only 23 weeks 1 day. Way too early.
The ambulance arrived and I was loaded up to travel to Rochester ~ without Adam. Adam was required to stay behind, get stuff for me to spend the night in Rochester and take care of Gus. Poor Adam ~ I have no idea how he handled this and managed to stay so calm. He deserves a medal.
7:30 p.m.
I arrived in Rochester, was admitted and hooked up to more monitors than I thought possible. The fear was I was going to deliver that night!
10:45 p.m.
Adam arrived and I was able to calm down a little bit. The babies calmed down and decided to stay put.
Friday, June 21, 2013
We made it through the night. We are now at 23 weeks, 2 days. We have met with more doctors - MFMs, OBs, Fellows, Neo-Natalogists; nurses, and team members than you can imagine. We were forced to have conversations that no parent should have to consider. And we had to come to terms with potential worst case scenarios.
The doctors eventually felt we had reached a stable enough point and moved me from Labor and Delivery to "Anti-Partum." Anti-Partum is basically like a waiting area to see how long we can keep the babies in. This was good news for us.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Today was supposed to be the girls' first baby shower ~ not happening. Instead, we celebrating making it through another night and reaching 23 weeks, 3 days.
Unfortunately, a quiet day was not to be had. Around 2/3 p.m. I started to not feel great and went into labor again. This time I knew it was labor as I was having painful contractions and they were coming one on top of another. I was immediately moved back to Labor and Delivery.
Thankfully the doctors were able to stop my labor and we had a quiet night. I stayed in Labor and Delivery until Sunday Morning.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Another day ~ yey. 23 weeks, 4 days! I am in Anti-Partum and my mom came today. She brought me gorgeous flowers to decorate my room with, because yes it is my room for hopefully 8 more weeks.
Poor Adam has to leave tonight. I do not want him to leave but he needs to. He needs to go back to work and it isn't healthy for him to sit in the hospital for 8 weeks worrying about us. I know he is going to worry wherever he is, but at least he can have sort sort of routine.
Our goal is to be boring! Boring is good.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Today we have a doppler ultrasound to test the flow from the umbilical cord between Runt Baby and the placenta. Turns out Runt is getting less flow but that is because she's so low in my uterus and her cord is more on the edge of the placenta than her sisters.
She's doing well but the doctors are going to watch this meaning we will probably have these ultrasounds 1-2 times per week. I'm ok with this as it means more opportunities to see our beautiful girls. And yes, I know I am bias, but they are beautiful!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
HUGE MILESTONE! A) I'm still pregnant!! and B) We made it 24 weeks!
There are huge developmental differences between 23 and 24 weeks. The girls crossed a huge hurdle today. Truthfully we celebrate every day they stay inside, but even the doctors were celebrating hitting 24 weeks.
I'm going to be in the hospital for hopefully 8 more weeks placing the girls at 32 weeks gestation. This would provide them with a huge advantage entering the world. Please keep your fingers crossed and pray for them.
Tomorrow is a huge day as the girls have a sizing ultrasound to see how they have been growing. We really need them all to be over a pound. The problem is poor Runt Baby. Right now she's only 340 grams, she needs to hit 500 grams for the doctors to breathe a little easier.
I have been warned however that the doctors realistically are pulling for 400 grams tomorrow with stready growth...As their mother, I am hoping for 500 grams! I'll let you know how they measure up!
Every day, the girls are monitored for heartbeats. If the nurses cannot find the heartbeats for a long enough period of time, differentiating between all three (all three have to be on the monitors at the same time), they bring over a portable ultrasound to confirm heartbeats. This has happened at least 3/4 times since we've been here already.
I guess the overall theme of this post is that right now, everyone is wonderful. The babies and I have to be patient and boring. I will be in Hotel Mayo - Rochester for the duration of our pregnancy. Please keep your prayers coming for our girls and know we love you all very much.
Love Always,
Adam & daneille
Cecilia Hope Skibness
Isabelle Grace Skibness
Zoe Elizabeth Skibness
The girls are defined as "micro preemies" for both their birth age and weight. By definition a baby born either before 26 weeks or weighing less than 1200 grams is considered a micro preemie. The girls were delivered at a gestational age of 24 weeks, 5 days. 
Unfortunately I was not able to meet my daughters until Tuesday, July 2, but Adam was able to go over and see them on Monday night. My parents and Adam's mom arrived Monday night and were also able to meet the girls. Adam's dad arrived Tuesday. 
