29 weeks

YAY!!!!!!
29 weeks:
Approximately 90-95% of babies born in the 29^th week of pregnancy will survive. Babies born at this gestation will typically weigh about 1.1 kg. The 29 weeker has accumulated enough baby fat to account for nearly 3.5% of their overall body weight. They have started to shed their lanugo, the fine hair that covers a preemie’s body.The eyes can now blink and respond to light and to dark. Their retinas are still developing (making them at risk for retinopathy of prematurity) but their eyes can form images. Although the 29 weeker can hear your voice, loud noises are often too much for their underdeveloped neurological system and they will startle easily. The bright lights may also be too much for them to handle and they may tire easily. Keeping their space dimly lit will help them get the rest they need to learn and grow. By 29 weeks, premature babies are also starting to develop more coordinated sleep-wake cycles and are starting to have periods of REM sleep. They enjoy being swaddled and nesting helps with feelings of security. The 29 week preemie’s stomach is still growing and maturing and the intestines are beginning to mature. They will not be ready to nipple feed but allowing the preemie to suck on a pacifier while being fed will help develop the muscles necessary to eat when the time comes. In addition to the noticeable outside maturity of a 29 week preemie, the brain also goes through a period of rapid growth as well. Their brains are starting to look wrinkled and grooved, and are mature enough to begin to control their own body temperature. Premature babies born at 29 weeks gestation will still require long NICU stays but may not have some of the more complex medical issues that come with being born at an earlier gestation. (www.peekabooicu.net/2012/02/your-growing-preemie-week-by-week/)

We made it this far. We are officially not extremely premature. We are moderately premature. This is HUGE because 29 weekers do better. Of course they are still below 30 weeks so they will require a lot of nicu time, more time than I would like, but at least if I go back into labor now they will have a better chance  at survival with no lasting medical issues. Yay babies! I go on the monitors about 4 times in 24 hours and I've maybe contracted 5 times out of all those monitoring times which is great. Still in the back of my head I wonder how long I can go at 4cm and 80% effaced. It wouldn't take much to put me into a hard labor that can't be stopped.

As for the fun stuff, I failed my 1 hour glucose test. I failed BAD. So tomorrow I take the 3 hour. At least I'm in my hospital room and so it's not like I will be wasting precious time sitting in a lab. I'll just be doing what I do best here, laying in bed. I'm going to take another Ambian tonight and so maybe I will sleep through the whole test since I have to do it at 5am. Say a little prayer I pass cause these girls will have enough issues when they come out, they don't need gestational diabetes on top of all that. And plus the highlight of my dinner is the chocolate cake. Nothing else here tastes good, so if I have to give that up I may just cry.

Speaking of crying, Jared went back to school today. I realized how much I depend on him when I got cold at night and I needed someone to pull the covers up since I'm technically supposed to be laying back in bed and not moving much. I just stared at the covers that I couldn't get and started crying because in that moment I realized I was alone. Things did get better as the day went on and I realized that I can pass the day by sleeping. I also had a good friend come up and we watched a movie so that helped pass the time also.

My doctor came in to give me a final say on what the plan is. Until now I've been talking to doctors that can give me a guess on what will happen, but my doctor has the final say. So the official plan (for now) is that I am here until delivery. He said normally he would let me leave at 32 weeks, but with my heart condition he wants me here. He said that at 34 weeks we have pushed our luck enough and he wants to deliver. I do question the 34 week thing, but I guess 34 weeks is when things get to the point where the benefits of leaving them in is the same as getting them out. I know they will require nicu time and I'm not happy about that, but we are also looking at my health. So 5 weeks. The countdown is on till I get to meet these lil pipsqueaks. Oh and the best part of all is that since I'm already so dialated and almost fully effaced he thinks that a vbac is safe and wants to try that first. I'm so happy because I want to experience a vaginal birth at least once, and vaginally giving birth to twins!!!! How awesome. I'm just hoping Aubree doesn't come out easily and then Avalee will require a csection. But if that happens that just means more time in the hospital to recover and a chance of taking them home with me instead of leaving them here.

Again, sorry for no belly pics. I'm not allowed to stand up except to go to the bathroom. I even have to shower sitting down. My belly isn't that interesting anyway, the babies have dropped so instead of looking bigger my belly is just sagging more from the weight. I will try to take some pics of my lovely room and get some of Mason. Maybe I can sneak a belly pic in real quick before I rush back to my bed.

At this point every week is a new goal so my next goal is 30 weeks.