Praise the Lord!

We got the tests results back about an hour ago! Everything came back good on Taylor, no severe deficiencies! We can now focus on the placenta and umbilical cord issues. I will be admitted to St. V's on Saturday. I can go in at anytime, so I'm thinking early afternoon I should be there and starting to get settled in. I will be there until the babies are born. I will be using my mom's laptop to keep you all updated. I will post as soon as I'm settled in my room. I know several people want to come visit. I'm happy to have visitors, but please plan to call in advance. I will post my room number as well. We are truly relieved after today's news and feel as if a large brick house has been lifted off our backs. We are excited to move forward and to be in good hands 24/7. Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers! As I've always said, we couldn't do this without YOU! Love, Josh, Angie, Taylor and Laynie

Sorry 2 Keep U Waiting!

Today's appt with St. V's was very long, exhausting and overwhelming to say the least. We left our house at 1:20 and didn't get home until 7:20 (we ate at the hospital before heading home). I'm not even quite sure where to begin. I will just try and paint the big picture as there are too many details to spell everything out. We first met with the Neonatalogist. He was very nice and informative. Although, he had to give us mostly worst case scenarios so by the time he was done talking we didn't really know what to say or even how to make a decision. All I wanted to do is start bawling and run out of the building, BUT instead, the look I just sat there and gave him was like a deer in headlights. Our St. V's doc then joined us and started talking about how to move forward at this point. Do we admit you today and start monitoring and if so we have to make really big decisions before I'm even admitted. See, they need to know how we want to handle different scenarios before they even admit me....there has to be a PLAN. Then, an amnio came up in the conversation as we chose early on not to do one. Turns out, we really had no choice after today's discussion and proceeded with the amnio on Taylor only. The amnio is important as right now the doc can only blame his condition on the fact that he's got a poor placenta and his umbilical cord is defective. By doing the amnio we can (hopefully) rule out the only other reason he would be small and that would be if he had severe chromosonal deficiencies. The official results can be back in a week to two weeks, BUT we may not have that long to wait around, SO they sent some of the fluid right over to OHSU for a 2 day test. This test is not the full blown test, but it will give us some idea if there are severe problems or not. This all threw us off as doing the amino today was totally not in our plans. After discussions, it just came down to a no brainer that we had to do it. The 2 day results should be back by end of day Thursday. Tough decisions will have to be made if he has severe problems.

As of right now, it's looking like I will be admitted to the hospital on Friday morning. I almost was admitted today, but chose not to as extensive monitoring was done on Taylor today and everything seemed good. I will have another monitoring appt on Thursday and then head to hospital on Friday. To be honest I was a bit scared after all we heard today and needed some time to think through things. Once I'm admitted, tough decisions will have to be made in advance as we must go in with a PLAN. For example, there is a time line with the steroid shots for the babies lungs that we have to take into consideration and we have to think through the risks to Laynie if they have to take Taylor unexpectedly and of course all of the risks to consider with Taylor. Although the 24/7 monitoring is where I want to be, staying and being admitted today was just too scary. I'm choosing to trust God on this one and feel confident that Taylor will hang on for a few more days until I'm admitted.

My cervix is right on the border. Last Thursday it measured 2.8 cm and today it measured 2.5-2.6. Not a big change so doc was not too concerned, BUT it is something to watch especially if I have more contractions and they begin to get stronger.

This is all really tough stuff. Josh and I are taking it all in and trying to digest it all. We are relying on God to lead us in the right direction. We are taking this day by day, sometimes hour by hour, minute by minute. I will post again on Thursday when we get our results. My mom has a laptop that I will use while in the hospital. We know how much support we have out there and we are so blessed. We want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and for sharing this journey with us. We feel very comforted knowing that so many people care about us and our little family. We know you will continue to pray and we know God is listening. Love, Angie, Josh, Laynie and Taylor

Today's Appt

Monitoring today was long....Laynie and Taylor took their time with the practice breathing, but finally both did it just in time. Laynie passed the stress test and Taylor got an OK from the doc. There was issue with his heart rate. Not to the point where he was stressed (which if he's ever stressed I go straight to hospital), but there was some concern and the nurse had to call my doc at St. V's for her opinion before I could leave. The St. V's doc wants to see us tomorrow and she's having us talk with the Neonatalogist tomorrow instead of waiting until August 7th. They are going to discuss with Josh and I our options for delivery planning and possibly admitting me to the hospital for 24/7 monitoring. Although I'm not looking forward to being in the hospital, this may be a blessing. If we don't watch Taylor 24/7 we may miss out on saving him IF things progressed to worse case scenario with his cord. At this point, I will do anything I have to do to keep him in me as long as possible. I also go in tomorrow to get my cervix checked, so we'll know more about that then. My appt with St. V's is at 2:00 and I'm assuming will be a long one. I won't be able to post until late tomorrow. I'm hoping if they decide to hospitalize me, I will be able to come home first to get all my ducks in a row. Then, I don't know how I will post. I can have my mother-in-law update you. Anyway, I'm jumping ahead. We'll know more tomorrow! We love you!

St. V's Appt

We did not get the news we were hoping for today. There are several new issues. First, my cervix is starting to shorten, which is a sign of pre-term labor. I will go in early next week to be checked again and if it continues to shorten, they will give me steroid shots to help boost the babies growth and they will have to take them shortly after (not sure exactly how soon after). The second and more concerning issue is that Taylor's umbilical cord is not functioning properly. It's hard to explain, but right now he's not getting all that he needs as far as blood flow goes. So, not only is his placenta poor, but now this. Doc says that this condition may progress to a point where he will not be getting any blood flow from the cord and therefore, they will need to take the babies right away. It's a waiting game....will it be the cervix that goes first or his cord? The most concerning out of all of this news is that in a 3 week period Taylor only gained 4 oz which is very poor growth. He's now only 1 lb 10 oz. He's well below the 10th percentile. To compare, Laynie grew a whole pound in the 3 week period and she's in the 50th percentile. She's at 2 lbs 7 oz.

Basically, on any given day I could be admitted to the hospital to either take the babies or to be monitored 24 X 7. We have an appt with a Neonatologist (they are the ones who take care of the preemie babies in the NICU) on August 7th. If we make it to that date we will learn a lot more about survival rates for our babies, length of stay in the hospital and what options we have. Otherwise, I'm sure when I'm in the hospital I will talk with them.

My doctor also took me off work full-time. I need to get as much rest as possible and get prepared for the long road ahead of us.

At this time, I'm pretty overwhelmed. I will try and write more later. Just wanted to get something out so you all know what's going on and what we need to pray for.

We love you!

Yesterday's Appt Went Fine

Both Taylor and Laynie passed their tests, getting us out of the doc office within an hour again. We did end up getting a pretty good shot of their heads next to eachother and Taylor is still looking to be very small. We really won't know for sure until Thursday's appt as measurments were not taken at the appt yesterday. It's just something we noticed and the RN made a comment about. PLEASE keep those prayers coming our way. We really don't know what to expect on Thursday. We love you!

All Still Looking Good!

Yesterday was our best monitoring appt yet. These typically last 2 hrs and we were out of there within 1 hr. Both Taylor and Laynie passed all the tests right away! We are very hopeful that this is a good indication that our BIG appt on the 24th at St. V's will bring us some positive news. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement, prayers and endless support. Love, Josh, Angie, Taylor and Laynie

All Went Well....

Today we had another monitoring appt. All went well. We'll go again on Thursday. Love you all! Ang

Remaining Hopeful!

Hello Everyone! My first monitoring appointment went really well. In a nutshell, I go in and they hook me up to 3 monitors; 1 for Laynie, 1 for Taylor and 1 to see if I'm having contractions. The appt lasts about 2 hours and they are running tests during this time. Basically, they give points to each baby for certain things and by the end of the appt the babies need to pass the test. Points are given for the number of movements, their heart rate, breathing (well, it's called practice breathing...you can see their chests go up and down) and I think there's one more thing and it has slipped my mind. I go back tomorrow afternoon so I will post after that appt. Anyway, Taylor ended up passing before Laynie and he stayed right with her the whole time as far as heart rate goes. Unlike the St. V's appt, I left there with some reassurance that Taylor is still doing good!!

We truly believe in the power of prayer and know that Taylor has made it this far because of that. Our prayers are working and we so much appreciate all the love and support we have. This whole journey has been a blessing/yet at times a struggle and we wouldn't have been able to do all of this without YOU!

I have 3 more monitoring appts at Kaiser until the next St. V's appt. So, one tomorrow, then on Thursday, then on Monday. Thursday the 24th we head to St. V's to get the news on whether or not Taylor has grown. Just to clarify as this can get confusing. The monitoring appts are for precautionary reasons. IF for some reason Taylor shows any kind of stress and doesn't pass at any of these appts, we'll be sent straight to St. V's to talk about options. The appt on the 24th will tell us if he's grown over the past 3 weeks or not. If not, we'll have some decisions to make regarding options (as outlined in my previous blog). We must pray that he remains stress free and that he's made some progress growth wise by the 24th. If he has, then I will probably go back to being monitored until the next milestone to doc sets. Again, our goal is 32 weeks which is only 4 weeks away (August 15th). Of course, the longer the better and who knows, I may just prove all these docs wrong and carry them all the way!

Also, many people have asked if I've been put on bed rest. I'm currently on partial be rest. So, I work 8-Noon, then I go home and lay down/nap for the afternoon.

Thank you to everyone for all of your love, prayers and support. Our babies are truly miracles and gifts from God. We have strong faith that we will hold them both soon and they will be healthy. Love, Josh, Angie, Taylor and Laynie

News from St. V's Visit

After a 3 hour appt., we have some information to share. They believe that there's a placenta issue with Taylor. He's probably not getting everything he needs to thrive. There's not much we can do other than pray for him. Remember, he's our little peanut and he started off with a small sac and we didn't know if he would make it. Well, since his sac started off poor, they believe that's why he's having issues at this point. The doctor was very honest is saying that he may not make it to the milestone we need him to. They are going to monitor him at the Salmon Creek Clinic twice per week, so every Monday and Thursday and then I go back to St. V's on July 24th to see if he has made any significant progress.

We were given several scenarios: 1 - he continues to grow the way he is now and we can get him to the milestone of 32 weeks (I'm now 26 weeks and 3 days) then they can take both babies and provide for him. 2 - He stops growing and they take the babies right away (preferably not until at least 28 weeks), but there's a lot of risk for both babies taking them this early, so hard decisions will have to be made. 3 - He doesn't make it to either milestone.

We really need Taylor (and Laynie for that matter) to make it to AT LEAST 32 weeks. He will be stronger and his lungs are the biggest issue any sooner than this milestone and he would have to be in the hospital for a lot longer. Please continue your prayers and support. We know Taylor is a fighter and he has been since day 1. He's made it this far, he just has a little further to go (which will seem like an eternity for us).

In a nut shell, carrying these babies to term is not going to happen. The docs will take them as soon as it's safe to do so. The further we get them the better. This also means that the babies will be born at St. V's and not Southwest WA Medical Center.

Thanks to everyone for sending us emails and for praying for us. We love you! We trust God with our precious babies and will patiently wait to see what the outcome is. Love, Josh, Angie, Taylor and Laynie

We Need Your Prayers!

On Monday we went to an ultrasound and found out that Taylor is not growing properly. He is much smaller than Laynie now. Their weight doesn't seem too drastically different; Taylor is 1 IB 2 oz and Laynie is 1 IB 9 oz, but Taylor's measurements were pretty far off from hers. The biggest concern is that his femur bone (from hip to knee) is very short and this can be a sign that something genetically is wrong. We have been referred to St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, so we will be in good hands with the high risk doctors there. Our appointment is on Monday at 2:00.

This is our little peanut. He's been a fighter since day one and we know he will continue to fight. Chances are, I will go on bed rest after Monday's appt. Which, I've already taken the week off of work so I can get lots of rest and focus on eating healthy, before Monday's appt. There's a high possibility that if Taylor continues to not grow properly, they will take both babies very early. The first goal would be to get them to 28 weeks. I'm now 25 weeks and 5 days. We'll know much more after Monday. Josh and I are going through many emotions and really focusing on God's comfort at this time. Please pray for our little family. We are facing such an uncertain, scary situation right now and really need all the support we can get. Love, Josh, Angie and Twins