Audrey Kate

Yesterday we visited Dr. C, a pediatric cardiologist, to check Audrey Kate's heart murmur.

We certainly didn't get bad news, but we didn't get perfect news either. The murmur is still present and for now, is not considered innocent. If you want to skip the details, you can scroll to the last paragraph.  If you'd like to know a little more, read on! :)

It's considered a ventricular septal defect or VSD, a condition more common in premature infants (which she was not). In a nutshell (according to Google), the ventricles are the two lower chambers of the heart separated by a wall called a septum. Basically, blood should flow to the right atrium, then the right ventricle, then to the lungs to get oxygen. After it leaves the lungs, it should go to the left atrium and then to the left ventricle where it is pumped into the body.

Audrey Kate has a small hole, about 2mm, in the upper muscular section of the ventricle septum. Now, before you tell me the entire heart is a muscle, let me explain. Apparently there is both muscle and membrane that make up the septum that separates the ventricles. Dr C. said that when there is a hole in the membrane or a very large hole period, it must be repaired with surgery; but when there is a small hole in the muscular part of the septum, like with Audrey Kate, it will either most likely close up or remain and cause no problems (and be considered an innocent murmur). Anyway, this means that a small amount of oxygenated blood is flowing from the left to the right ventricle instead of only out into the body, or rather oxygenated blood is flowing back into the lungs instead of only blood needing oxygen. 

In Audrey Kate's situation, all of this is occurring; but since the hole is tiny, it's on a much smaller scale. Dr. C said that she probably shouldn't run any marathons in the next 6 months, but I'm fairly sure that won't be a concern. He did say that if the hole does not get any smaller that she will have to take extra good care of her teeth (we all should though!). Apparently she will have to take antibiotics for any infection or if she does have dental work to prevent it from spreading to the VSD.

The second issue that Dr. C noted that I was not aware of is a little harder for me to explain. Really I can't explain it because I didn't ask enough questions. It has something to do with the blood flow from the umbilical cord before birth. There are two openings (the ductus arteriosus and the foramen ovaleto...I did find these on Google) that prevent the oxygenated blood coming from the umbilical cord from entering the lungs before birth...because at that point, the lungs are collapsed and not in use.  They reroute the blood directly into the left ventricle and into the body (because it's already oxygenated from the placenta...amazing, huh?). Well apparently one of these holes has also not closed up either and occurs in about 10% of babies he sees at this age. It should close up on its own, and he did not seem overlyconcerned about this either.

I may be off on a few facts, but I think I got Audrey Kate's situation straight.

So...we'll go back to see Dr. C in 6 months for a recheck. We are so thankful for the news we received. We know, without a doubt, that God's hand has been guiding these babies' formation, growth and development from the very moment of conception and protected their little bodies during my surgery! What a comfort to know that none of this or the future is a surprise to Him! Thank you for joining us in praying for all our girls!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139: 13-14

Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? 

It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. 

Ecclesiastes 1: 10

Our Little Girls

Having multiples can come with a wide range of challenges, the least of which are feeding and sleeping. We have been incredibly blessed that our girls started out a good weight. As a whole, neither of them have health issues that we have to be overly concerned about.

We went back to the doctor for another weight check last week.

Both girls are doing GREAT on their weight gain! Whoohoo!

Anne Perry (baby A) started out at 6 lbs 9 oz
At week 1, she weighed 6 lbs 1.5 oz (I had the numbers wrong on the last post)
At week 2, she now weighs 6 lbs 7.5 oz

Audrey Kate (baby B) started out at 6 lbs 6 oz
At week 1, she weighed 6 lbs 2 oz
At week 2, she weighs 6 lbs 10.5 oz

The goal is for each girl to gain at least a half ounce each day. They are both doing that and more!

Praise God!

And yes, Audrey Kate continues to out weigh, out eat, and out grow her older sister! 

Besides weight gain, there are a couple of other issues we're dealing with here. I haven't blogged about any of them because we wanted to find out more information before sharing. I've worked hard to be open with my health challenges, but it's different when it's your children. I know some of you can relate to that.

Anne Perry was breech for the majority of the pregnancy. She sat very low in my pelvis (thus explaining why I was running to the bathroom all. day. long.) in a very tight space. The new protocol for breech babies, whether they are delivered vaginally or not, is to ultrasound their hips due to the high rate of hip displasia or dislocation. We traveled to Birmingham's Children's Hospital last Monday for Anne Perry's hip ultrasound. According to the tech, her hips are immature and underdeveloped but not dislocated. So we will head back in about 6 weeks for a recheck to make sure they are developing correctly.

Audrey Kate started out a little slower than her sister. She had some retracting and slight difficulty breathing but recovered from that within the first 24 hours. She never had to have any breathing assistance, for which we are so thankful! They did, however, detect a heart murmur. I know what you're thinking: that's so common. They close up over time. Don't worry about it. They are very common, but they also typically close up within the first 24 hours of life. Audrey Kate's did not. They did an ECHO in the hospital and basically explained it to us this way: there is a small hole in between the upper and lower chambers of her heart (yes, there's a name for it but this makes more sense). When we visited the pediatrician the first week, it could not be heard; but when we visited again last week, it was quite obviously still there. Dr. B even let me hear it. Amazing but frightening. We will be visiting a pediatric cardiologist in a few weeks for another ECHO. Most likely, they will watch it for the first year and go from there.

And then there's the reflux...

So common in twins, but double the crying. Double the holding. Double the exhaustion. I knew Audrey Kate had it because she has always rattled when she breathed; but Anne Perry has it even worse now: coughing, stuffy nose, sneezing and all around pitiful! She doesn't handle the reflux as well, and Audrey Kate doesn't handle the gas as well! After holding upright, sleeping them propped up and trying anything we could, we've resorted to medicine. Two practically sleepless nights holding one or both girls most of the night in the chair, almost did us (me) in.  Thankfully my mom came to help me one of those nights! The past few nights have been better already! Whew!

We feel incredibly blessed to have such healthy baby girls. Please do not think that by sharing these health concerns that we are in anyway taking for granted these blessings. It's just the reality of things!

Overall though, I have to admit I think we're doing pretty well! The house isn't always straight, but everyone has clean clothes, clean diapers, clean sheets (for the 2.5 seconds before the little girls spit up on theirs), and clean dishes! My husband is pretty amazing (he gets up early with Addie every morning and is working 3-5 hours of overtime each night for work). And my mom is amazing too. Her calming nature always helps me put things in perspective! There's just nothing like having your mom around!

Am I tired? Sure. Do I sometimes (frequently) doubt my abilities? Absolutely. Is everything perfect? far from it!

But I can't imagine life any other way!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3: 20-21