My 28 wk update - kind of long

Went in for my 28 week update. Boy did I have a lot of questions for my doc
:-) I felt like it has been FOREVER since I had seen him (reality it has
been a month, I saw a different doc at my last appointment 2 weeks ago).

The ultrasound showed that the babies are doing GREAT. They are now 2 lb 3
oz, 2 lb 9 oz, and 2 lb 13 oz. The doc said that my babies are in the 40th,
60th, and 70th percentile in their size. (thinking about it, I am carrying
around 7 lbs of baby right now, plus 3 placentas, 3x extra blood, 3x
amniotic fluid, 3x etc etc.) I have gained 44 lbs (Yikes. Doc doesn't seem
to be concerned.) We have new ultrasound pics we will put up on our website
sometime in the next few days.

I had been swelling pretty bad this past week, with the swelling going all
the way up my legs. On Monday you couldn't even tell that I had knees. He
told me that I can only work 4 hours per day now, but since I can no longer
fit behind the wheel of our car, that meant I have to quit/go on leave. This
is a relief. I've been ready to quit my job for a while, but finances
demanded I keep working as long as I could. I am SO thankful I got to work
as long as I did. The doc told me originally that I would be on bed rest at
around 20 weeks.

Oh and that weird skin I had on my stomach, the doc said was called (some
French word) that means Skin of the Orange because that's what it looks
like, and it's caused by my swelling, so not to worry about that.

The fact that the babies have dropped, because I am not experiencing
contractions or spotting, etc. Then it's nothing to worry about.

SO he blew all my worries out the window, which I knew he would, but needed
his reassurance to put my mind at ease.

We also took a tour of the NICU at the hospital. The charge nurse took us
around and showed us all of the babies that were born at the same stage my
babies are now. They are SO TINY, but most of them seemed to be doing well.
The only thing that was a disappointment in a way, the nurse said that they
provide everything for the babies (blankets, clothing, etc) W hich isn't
too bad, except I also received a box in the mail today from my mom who went
out and bought a bunch of Preemie clothes with snaps in the front (for the
monitors), she said I'm also supposed to be expecting a package full of
preemie clothes from my SIL soon. . . so I'm going to have a ton of preemie
clothes, that the babies may not even wear. (this is including the few items
I have already bought.) Maybe they will be developed enough that they will
be able to come home soon, despite the fact that they would be so small. If
they go the full 34 wks, they should be around 4 1/2 lbs a piece. Which
gives me a few pounds of weight gain to work with before the clothes no
longer fit. :-)

Anyway, I guess that is it. Thanks for listening.

--
Thanks,
Rob & Gayle Huwe

Thanks for giving us an update. That is great that everything is going so
well and the babies are all nice and big. I'm so excited for you both.

So are you now on bedrest, or just taking it easy until delivery day? Now that
you're not working the swelling should improve with you being off your feet.

Don't worry about not being able to use the preemie clothes. I think my girls
were 6 or 7 pounds before they outgrew their preemie outfits. They also had to
be changed about 4 times per day when they were newborns because they kept
wetting their clothes, so the extra outfits may come in handy for you.

I hope things continue to go well for you. Kepp us posted on your progress.

Andrea
twin girls-Jordan & Madison
3 yrs. old

Went in for my 28 week update. Boy did I have a lot of questions for my doc
:-) I felt like it has been FOREVER since I had seen him (reality it has
been a month, I saw a different doc at my last appointment 2 weeks ago).

The ultrasound showed that the babies are doing GREAT. They are now 2 lb 3
oz, 2 lb 9 oz, and 2 lb 13 oz. The doc said that my babies are in the 40th,
60th, and 70th percentile in their size. (thinking about it, I am carrying
around 7 lbs of baby right now, plus 3 placentas, 3x extra blood, 3x
amniotic fluid, 3x etc etc.) I have gained 44 lbs (Yikes. Doc doesn't seem
to be concerned.) We have new ultrasound pics we will put up on our website
sometime in the next few days.

I had been swelling pretty bad this past week, with the swelling going all
the way up my legs. On Monday you couldn't even tell that I had knees. He
told me that I can only work 4 hours per day now, but since I can no longer
fit behind the wheel of our car, that meant I have to quit/go on leave. This
is a relief. I've been ready to quit my job for a while, but finances
demanded I keep working as long as I could. I am SO thankful I got to work
as long as I did. The doc told me originally that I would be on bed rest at
around 20 weeks.

Oh and that weird skin I had on my stomach, the doc said was called (some
French word) that means Skin of the Orange because that's what it looks
like, and it's caused by my swelling, so not to worry about that.

The fact that the babies have dropped, because I am not experiencing
contractions or spotting, etc. Then it's nothing to worry about.

SO he blew all my worries out the window, which I knew he would, but needed
his reassurance to put my mind at ease.

We also took a tour of the NICU at the hospital. The charge nurse took us
around and showed us all of the babies that were born at the same stage my
babies are now. They are SO TINY, but most of them seemed to be doing well.
The only thing that was a disappointment in a way, the nurse said that they
provide everything for the babies (blankets, clothing, etc) W hich isn't
too bad, except I also received a box in the mail today from my mom who went
out and bought a bunch of Preemie clothes with snaps in the front (for the
monitors), she said I'm also supposed to be expecting a package full of
preemie clothes from my SIL soon. . . so I'm going to have a ton of preemie
clothes, that the babies may not even wear. (this is including the few items
I have already bought.) Maybe they will be developed enough that they will
be able to come home soon, despite the fact that they would be so small. If
they go the full 34 wks, they should be around 4 1/2 lbs a piece. Which
gives me a few pounds of weight gain to work with before the clothes no
longer fit. :-)

Anyway, I guess that is it. Thanks for listening.

--
Thanks,
Rob & Gayle Huwe

WOW, everything sounds great!!! Congrats! Did you ask the NICU nurse if you
could bring your own clothes in?? I know the NICU's around here (n.cal, usa)
allow it, you just have to put your name on the label and they would keep
the soiled ones in a bag nearby so that you could take them home for
washing! Good luck!!
Gwen

The nurse said we can bring in clothing and blankets if we want too, however
because they supply everything she said that the fear is there that the
personal items would get mixed up with the hospital items. She said that if
we choose too, not to be too surprised if we find the personal items on
another baby (even if they are marked.) I'm not sure I want to take the
chance of the items getting lost that way.


"thefackrells" wrote in message
news:y%X_a.147079$Ho3.17609@sccrnsc03...
WOW, everything sounds great!!! Congrats! Did you ask the NICU nurse if
you
could bring your own clothes in?? I know the NICU's around here (n.cal,
usa)
allow it, you just have to put your name on the label and they would keep
the soiled ones in a bag nearby so that you could take them home for
washing! Good luck!!
Gwen

I washed a bunch of our premie stuff in preparation and then never used
it -- same situation with NICU dressing them til they came home at 17, 19
and 23 days and then they grew like weeds and bigger clothes were need very
fast. I think only Hanna wore premie beyond about 5-6 weeks.

Soooo my advice is not to remove any labels for now, wait til you see their
come-home sizes and what you need to use, prepare only a couple outfits at a
time, and then your family can return whatever you don't need for a refund
or exchange for larger sizes.

--Janet
Elliot (5-11.5), Hanna (3-9), Connor (5-5.5) (10/21/96)
and Holly (8-8 :-) (4/4/01)

"The Huwe Family" wrote in message
news
The nurse said we can bring in clothing and blankets if we want too,
however
because they supply everything she said that the fear is there that the
personal items would get mixed up with the hospital items. She said that
if
we choose too, not to be too surprised if we find the personal items on
another baby (even if they are marked.) I'm not sure I want to take the
chance of the items getting lost that way.


"thefackrells" wrote in message
news:y%X_a.147079$Ho3.17609@sccrnsc03...
WOW, everything sounds great!!! Congrats! Did you ask the NICU nurse if
you
could bring your own clothes in?? I know the NICU's around here (n.cal,
usa)
allow it, you just have to put your name on the label and they would
keep
the soiled ones in a bag nearby so that you could take them home for
washing! Good luck!!
Gwen

--Janet
Elliot (5-11.5), Hanna (3-9), Connor (5-5.5) (10/21/96)
and Holly (8-8 :-) (4/4/01)

Wow Janet! You grow them big! I didn't realize your children weighed
that much when they were born!

Andrea
twin girls-Madison & Jordan
3 yrs. old

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 15:53:57 GMT, "The Huwe Family"
wrote:

The nurse said we can bring in clothing and blankets if we want too, however
because they supply everything she said that the fear is there that the
personal items would get mixed up with the hospital items. She said that if
we choose too, not to be too surprised if we find the personal items on
another baby (even if they are marked.) I'm not sure I want to take the
chance of the items getting lost that way.

And trust me, they will get lost.

Sorry to barge in :-) but this is a subject that is still very sore
for me. My girls were in the NICU for 14 and 16 weeks (born @ 26
weeks), and we lost half a dozen sleepers, a stuffed animal, and two
handmade blankets due to nurses who either didn't notice the marks on
the clothes, didn't notice the big sign we put on the wall and on
their isolettes, or didn't care.

My advice is that you not take anything into the NICU that it would
break your heart to lose. I'm still so sad that I will never see those
handmade blankets again :-(

Best of luck to you!

--
Paula
Mom to Olivia and Cassie (b. 4/8/03)
^Grace^ (b. 5/16/02 d. 5/17/02) and ^Adam^ (b/d. 5/17/02)