May 17th - May 30th
May 17th
We have now made it to 23 weeks with the twins, and there's no new bad news this week, just more information for what situation we’re in. But hey, another week with no bad news is great news all in itself! Baby A is great on all counts as usual. Baby B has good heart rate and more improvement in fluid levels of the amniotic sack. We already knew baby B is small and that there is no diastolic blood flow through the umbilical cord (placental inefficiency) but this week we got more clarification on that. Apparently this doesn't cap the baby's growth at a certain rate, it just reduces whatever growth would have otherwise happened. This is actually good news because it means B can still experience a growth spurt, which is desperately needed. If everything stays this way we'll continue to delay birth and improve their odds of survival and health. Our survival outlook is as follows: This week B has a 15% chance (we had to extrapolate data since his weight wasn’t even on the NIH chart), next week 29%, the following week 38-49% depending on growth. If we can get three more weeks beyond that we go to 90%, and another two weeks beyond that it's about 100%. That would be seven weeks from today, which the doctors say is unlikely. Baby A's survival outcomes are 35% this week, 55% next week, and so on, way better than his little brother's.
A final two bits of good news: these probabilities are based partially on old data. Current numbers are better, but we don't know how much. Secondly, I analyzed the date we've gotten on B's growth rate and blood flow, and it appears that we've been in this situation for the last 8 weeks, and that it isn't getting worse. The doctors all agree with my analysis and also confirmed that if it continues this way, we can continue to hold off delivery. They're still nervous based on general statistics and the fact that this can all change suddenly, but our case shows reasons to hope that we will have the babies at a much safer level of development. And, as we've been doing this whole time, we're trusting in the God who made them to finish His job! He doesn't owe us anything, but it looks like His plan might be to let us get to enjoy raising them! If that's the case we will be overjoyed. If not, we'll look forward to seeing them in heaven with our little Gaby and focus on enjoying the family God's already given us. There are no bad outcomes here.
May 22
Not quite 24 weeks, but we had an extra ultrasound today. No big news though. Everything continues about the same as last week for both babies. There's a slight chance baby B grew a little faster than previously. We're getting close to having a decent chance of survival, so the plan is now to admit Laura to the hospital on Friday. That will allow them to monitor the babies' heart rates several times per day so we can keep them in there as long as possible while having peace of mind that we'll notice quickly if anything starts to get worse. We're almost to a much safer spot for the babies, so please keep praying for their protection and health.
May 30
We are now just 1 day shy of 25 weeks! Baby A has I'm about a 70% survival probability and baby B is up to about 40%. They're being frequently monitored in the hospital at ST Joseph hospital where Laura is now residing on the 14th floor. Our goal is still to go till at least 32 weeks when the babies viability will be about 100% with low odds of bad complications. We'll see if we get there, but all indications now are that everything is still the same. Not good, but stable. Laura is confident enough to "move in" a bit more, buying some small furniture for her room to make her next two months (hopefully) a bit more pleasant. She would love to have visitors. Best times are after 10am and before 7:30pm to avoid the morning and evening heart monitoring of the babies. Please text Laura before coming to make sure she's available. Day of is fine, and she can probably also plan ahead. She'd love to have some encouragement from the people who've been praying for us over these last 10 weeks. Please keep praying that we can go another 7, or even that God will see fit to heal more completely so Laura is stuck in here even longer! We're very thankful for all of you!
