Beautiful Babies Due in 2011 (Combined Group)

[baby_blu73]

AFM -- Later today going to the horse track for the races. I won clubhouse box seats... woo hoo. Also had my 3D u/s last night. Will post a pic of my princess. I'm so in love.

She's gorgeous and looks just like you!!! Those are sure amazing pics! We had one done at a routine u/s (the techs were playing with the new machine) and the pic we got of Jaxon looked just like him. I'll post comparison pics later so you can see.

[leorira11]

thanks so much for your love!

It's true. I made it to my 24 week milestone - only to deliver that very day.

Monday night I was babysitting for a friend. I had a few minor cramps and a headache, but I assumed it was dehydration. I drank and ton of water and went to sleep.

Tuesday morning I woke up with cramps that kept coming and going. Not painful, not consistent. But I decided to use my "crazy-pregnant-lady-just-needs-reassurance" card and check in with the doctor. I went to see the on-call doctor. I had a 'contraction' while the nurse was taking my BP. She said it couldn't possibly be labor, considering I was totally calm and not in pain. The doctor recommended a transvaginal u/s to check my cervical length. That's when all hell broke loose. Just 1.5 weeks earlier, my cervix was long and closed at 36mm. Now, my cervix was 0.9mm. That's right - less than a single millimeter!

The u/s tech freaked out and called the doctor. He ordered an ambulance to take me straight to the hospital. I called David at work and he came to meet us. When we got to the hospital, I got undressed and was manually examined. The doctor was shocked that I was 10cm dilated and baby A's feet were already sticking out.

That's where we were faced with a hard decision. At exactly 24 weeks, we were told that chances are not very good. The OB recommended a vaginal delivery and opting not to resuscitate the babies (who wouldn't be in good shape after a vaginal delivery). The other option was a C-section. The OB basically said that his opinion would be to take the vaginal delivery and try again - I'm young, I know I can get pregnant, NICU is so difficult, etc. David and I decided that we just couldn't go through that again and wanted to take our chances with the NICU. They brought in the head neonatologist to explain what he thought. Dr. Gor was optimistic. He said that they would have a chance in the NICU and that we had to stay positive. We decided to go ahead with the C-section. My in-laws rushed over the hospital. My MIL called my mother, who jumped on the soonest flight and got here just 24hrs after the babies were born.

Baby A was born at 13:30 on July 19. Baby B was born just one minute later. Baby A is the chunker - weighing 640gr at birth (1lb, 7oz). Baby B is the teeny one, weighing 530gr at birth (1lb, 2oz). (No idea how long they are... hmm...) No official names yet! We're working on it!

We were told the first 72 hours were the most critical. We passed those pretty uneventfully.

Baby A was breathing on his own at birth (we heard him cry!), but he got tired and was put on the ventilator at day 2. Baby B started off on the ventilator, but is now on forced air (CPAP). Today we had a big scare with Baby A bleeding into his lungs ( he is stable now) and Baby B deciding to spit up all the breast-milk they were feeding him. Everyday, some new "adventure", but over all they are doing great.

This whole experience is terrifying and crazy emotional. I'm dealing with all the post-partum craziness on top of the NICU craziness. The C-section incision HURTS! Sheesh.

I've been pumping like crazy and my milk came in on Friday. Both babies are eating (via gavage) exclusively mommy's boobie juice! Pumping is hard (emotionally, not physically), but it's super rewarding.

Babies will be in the hospital until (hopefully) their due date in early November. It's going to be a long haul. The emotional side of this is crazy. Leaving the hospital with 2 tiny babies staying behind is incredibly difficult. Like all new parents, we were given the 'goodie bags' with diaper and formula samples... it's very sad to see them sitting on the floor, unused.

I'll be starting a blog to keep everyone updated on their progress. Pictures coming soon.

Thanks for all support. You don't know how much it means to me...

[Wishingandhoping]

I'm crashing from the IVF summer board. Leora, I just had to let you know that I am thinking about you and praying for you and your boys. I know they are fighters, and you WILL take them home in November! (((HUGS)))

[BlissfulCS]

Leora- WOW! What a harrowing experience!

I am so glad to hear from you! I know I am just one of dozens of ladies who has been obsessively checking the site over the last several days anxiously awaiting an update from you or someone else. We have been praying so hard for you and barely a moment has gone by when I haven't thought of you and wondered how you and the boys were doing. Of course we all totally understood that you were going to need time to go through and then absorb what you have been experienced before you posted. Still...its GREAT to hear from you and I am very happy that you are okay and made it safely through this experience (albeit a bruised physically and emotionally no doubt).

It is wonderful that the boys are hanging in there past the all important 72 hours and am sorry for the little scares you had. I know it is going to be a very long road and that this is not at all what you had expected or hoped for but I am THRILLED that they are stable and getting nourishment from their loving mama. How special that you can at least remain connected to them that way at a time when it must feel you have been ripped apart. I am sure that coming home without them must have been heart wrenching. But I am still so happy for you that you officially gave life to two wonderful baby boys who are fighting hard ...so CONGRATULATIONS to you and DH on your new family.

I was really surprised when I read your story to see how quickly the doctor suggested a vaginal birth knowing the odds of the babies making it. Its hard for me to believe that anyone would have the attitude that "you are young and can try again." Especially after all you have been through! It just goes to show how desensitized and clinical physicians can be. I mean seriously??? You spend 24 weeks connecting with these boys, planning, looking at ultrasounds, and feeling them move and they expect you to just give up and try again? Bah! You and DH did the right thing for those two little souls and its just the beginning of the difference you are going to make in their lives. I am so proud of you for that decision, your strength in the process, and the strength I know you will have in the coming months.

Much love to you and yours our dear cyber friend!

Alisa

P.S. I love the new ticker...too soon...but still wonderful to see.

[mellow4]

Leora, I am sitting here pumping and typing with one hand right now...yes pumping is rewarding but sooooooo very tiring. Glad to hear from you. Please know that I will be praying for you, and your boys, and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. We have been doing this NICU business for exactly 11 weeks today. It's long, it's tiring, and it's a roller coaster everyday. Get your rest, it will help you tremendously, you really need a clear mind, especially during these first few weeks. You are in my thoughts, and constant prayers. Sending you love and a great big hug!

[katieb1231]

Leora!!!! Oh I am so happy to read your post, although you had some scary moments I am so relieved that you & your boys are OK! Seems like all the prayers worked I put you on everyone's prayer list at every church I could think of so you are all covered on my end. Sounds like the first Dr. didn't really understand or know your story so he didn't really know what he was saying when he suggested to just let nature take it's course. But it sounds like the Neo Dr. is optimistic and sometimes that is all we need just a teensy amount of optimism miracles do happen....my Mom sent me this during one of my pregnancy's and it gave me some hope it is a beautiful story of a baby born at 24 weeks....Leora you and your family will be in my thoughts & prayers every second of every day and I will be thinking of you and your wee ones & giving them my will for life so that they will be home with you in November and this will all just be a distant memory....oxoxo my IVF sista!

The Smell of Rain

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the Doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10,1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24 weeks pregnant, to Danae Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. I don't think she's going to make it, he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10 percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one." Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on. "No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.

Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live, and live to be a healthy, happy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable. David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements. Diana remembers, 'I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen, I couldn't listen. I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say; Danae is not going to die! One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"

As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her miniature body could endure. But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's under-developed nervous system was essentially raw, the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger.

But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later-though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero. Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She shows no signs, what so ever, of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more-but that happy ending is far from the end of her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet, it smells like rain. Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with the other children.

Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

[LYD10]

Leora - i am so glad the babies are doing well - considering everything. it looks like its going as well as it can. oh my gosh - fingers crossed they will get stronger and stronger every day!!
i am not surprised the Israeli OB recommended "to try again". Israelis are very tough and practical people, as you very well know yourself. but in your case you definitely made the right decision!!!

good luck good luck!!!!

[anton]

CRASHING FOR LEORA-
I am SO happy to hear from you my friend!!!! Congratulations on your twin rainbow boys!! I am sorry you had to go through all this but seeing your boys I am sure you are telling to your self that its all worth it! you took the best decision ever having that C-section and I wish you with all my heart that your boys get stronger day by day! there is no doubt that they are fighters like their mama!!!! I am so proud of you!! you did it!!! ...I will have you in my prayers until those boys get home safe! ((hugs))
xoxoxo


anton

[DandMe]

Leora I was so anxious scanning for an update. I could not believe it when I heard the boys had arrived. Thank God they are fighters and so are their parents. Please send photos of your precious miracles when you can. Congratulations to you and DH.... you have a long road in front of you but we are used to long roads as IVF parents! Huge hugs across the world to you and your new family.

[deftonesmo]

Leora: So glad to hear from you! So happy that the boys are hanging in there!!! Keep us posted, mama!

[klinger13]

Leora - I'm so glad to hear from you and know that you're ok. Wow, what a scary experience you went through! It makes me shiver just thinking about it. I'm so thankful that neo doc was willing to give your boys a chance. Your little guys sound like fighters and just like Mellow's little Marlo, I think we'll be reading about their great progress in the weeks and months to come. Get as much rest as you can and know that you've got tons of thoughts and prayers coming from all around the world.

Lou - Those pics you posted of your little girl are so darn adorable! They are probably some of the clearest u/s pics I think I've ever seen.

Kelley - Looking forward to you posting pics from your 4d u/s! Too funny that Hunter wanted to hog the screen.

Rio - so glad you got to hold your little girl. And gosh, her NICU stay sounds just like Maribel's with her coming off the O2 but still being on the IV and antibiotics. The NICU nurses kept telling me "you don't have to come down every 3 hours to feed her if you want to get some sleep." But heck, I waited so long for her to come into our lives there was no way I was staying away. Hope you and your little princess are both recovering well!

Stephanie - Your story about Jaxon's hair cracked me up. Sounded just like my Uncle Lenny's hairdo LOL. You must post a pic of the latest 'do when you can.

Karen(scorpio) - Gemma is just perfection! What a sweet little darling you have there and I just know you're loving every minute of mommy-hood.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend and staying cool (if you're part of this latest heatwave.)

[kjm1824]

Leora - That is an amazingly scary story. I am so glad to hear you and the boys are fighting and passing all the tests. I know that all of us are praying and sending so many positive thoughts your way. I know it must be so hard to go home without them but it sounds like you are doing all you can by giving them your breast milk. Thank you so much for the update during this difficult time. It sounds like your boys are true fighters and were just too anxious to meet there wonderful mother. They will continue to fight to go home with you in November. Take care and get plenty of rest - they need you.

[Sunshine1576]

Crashing for Leora...I'm glad you followed your instincts and went to the doctor when you did. So thankful that the 2nd doctor came in and lead you with optimism and hope because we know that can make the world of a difference! My eyes are glistening with tears as I type this, it must be hard emotionally and all you can do is take it "one day at a time" praying for the strength of those precious babies. Thank you for updating us, because everyone is pulling for you and we now believe in miracles!

[leorira11]

nothing like a night in your own bed, with your husband (and dog) and then a shower at home the next morning to make you feel human again!

Off to the hospital to visit them - but first, some pictures!

Baby A:



Baby B:




(am I a bad parent already for not remembering whose adorable little foot this is?)

[mellow4]

Leora, they are perfect. I will keep them close in prayer. I pray they both stay strong. May you all be blessed.