I filled out an application online for temporary government assistance on Monday and was surprised to get a call back Tuesday from Kristy at the Department of Children & Families. They still needed some forms faxed to them (a copy of my medical insurance card, copies of Chris' pay stubs, a letter from my employer saying I am not working at this time and a doctor's note confirming that I am pregnant) but she said that we were eligible for food stamps and medicaid, though not for the cash assistance program. This should be very helpful during the time I am out of work and Kristy says that the medicaid will cover any expenses that my medical insurance does not (which could be anywhere around $1500.00 in co-pays and deductibles under our insurance plan) and will cover the twins' health care from birth up to a year.
My mom came over every day last week to help out and has helped Hannah take an interest in potty training. I have been wanting to work with Hannah on potty training for some time now but have been unable to devote the time and energy necessary. Hannah has been keeping her diaper dry (except when asleep) for the most part and each time she uses the potty emerges from the bathroom with a victorious shout of "I did it!" and claps. At this rate, she will be completely potty trained very soon! I'm very proud of her.I received a call from HR and Benefits at Crum (where I work) and they ever so casually explained that since short term disability did not begin until July 1st and I have not been with the company a year yet, unless I returned to work before July 5th, they would start processing my termination. I was not happy about this news since I have enjoyed working there but had no options available. When Chris came home, though, he said that there had been a meeting at work (Chris works at the same place) and the big shots (including the owner of the company) were trying to find a way to help us out and from the sounds of it, did not want to lose me. It's still pretty much up in the air but I'm glad to know that there are those who are pulling for us at work.
I went in to my first appointment at the new OB's office last Thursday. There are three doctors at this office: Dr. Raimer, Dr. Montenegro and Dr. Prieto. I was feeling stretched almost to the limit again and was not exactly comfortable as I waited in the waiting room for almost an hour. Another woman in the waiting room says that this long of a wait is common. I spent the time talking to a new father of twins and a woman who is also expecting twin boys but was relieved when they finally called me back.
I saw Dr. Prieto and they did yet another ultrasound to check on the twins. Dr. Prieto said that my amniotic fluid levels were very high again but the fluid was now equal between the two twins and both twins were looking healthy. The doctor said that I still couldn't return to work and needed to schedule a routine fetal echo with All Children's Hospital's cardiologist, Dr. Huhta. He said this was just routine with any twin pregnancies. Dr. Prieto also said I need to come in weekly for ultrasounds from now on to keep a close eye on the amniotic fluid levels.
I had been experiencing itching in my hands and feet since my discharge from the hospital and the itching had spread to the rest of my body. When I had asked the nurse about it over the phone, she said I could take Benadryl for the itching but it hadn't been helping so I asked about the itching again. This time, they said that it might be a sign of a condition called Cholestasis so they gave me a scrip for blood work to test my bile acid levels and told me I had to fast from midnight before the blood work. I was eager to find out what was causing the itching and to make it stop so my mom looked up Cholestasis online as soon as we got home.
It sounded exactly like what I had so I decided to go for the blood work first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, I fell asleep pretty early in the afternoon and did not wake up again until after midnight so instead of fasting from midnight, I actually fasted from about 6:00pm so when I got to the lab, I was too light-headed for them to draw the blood (I almost passed out) so they told me I had fasted too long and to try again the next day (Saturday) at the one lab that was open on Saturdays. This time I made sure to eat something just before midnight and had no problem having the blood work done but I still had to wait for the results.
My sister, Carey, flew in to town around 11:00pm from Indiana with her kids and went to my parents house. The plan was that she would come over around 9:00am after dropping her kids off at her mother-in-law's.
However, late Saturday night I began feeling the tightness in my stomache that I had felt a couple of weeks before. I tried to just keep my feet up and relax, hoping it would subside and took my Procardia but the tightness continued and I woke Chris up at 4:00am on Father's Day to drive me to the hospital. I called the doctor and he said that he would inform the hospital that I was on my way and would most likely do another amnio-reduction. This actually sounded good to me because I remembered how much more comfortable I was after the first amnio-reduction and it hadn't been a painful experience.
When I got to the hospital, they set me up in a broom closet of a room. They had to move the bed in order to get the ultrasound equipment into the room! My dad and sister met us at the hospital and sat with us while we waited. I wasn't having very strong contractions according to the monitor and the nurse said that my cervix was closed but when the doctor arrived, he went ahead and ordered the amnio-reduction since the fluid levels were so high on both twins.
This time, the amnio-reduction was far from comfortable and I had to last through almost another 5 liters being withdrawn and this time they did a tap on each side to reduce fluid from each twin since the twins were even in their amounts of fluid. The doctor went ahead and ordered a chromosome analysis on the amniotic fluid from each side since they were removing the fluid anyway. The doctor said that I could most likely be discharged just a couple of hours later and I was happy to hear it, but shortly after the amnio-reduction, I started having rather intense and consistent contractions. The nurse checked my cervix again and said that I was dialated 2 cm so I was not going home that day.
They moved me to a regular labor/delivery room and started me on another medication to relax the uterus. I was still taking the Procardia but the Indomethacin can help stabilize the amniotic fluid as well as preventing contractions. They even put me back on the Magnesium Sulfate again. Shortly after they started the drip for the Magnesium Sulfate, the contractions stopped and things were looking better. My sister stayed with me at the hospital so Chris could go home and rest for work the next day.
The next afternoon, I was discharged after more ultrasounds since I was no longer contracting but they gave me a prescription to continue taking the Indomethacin for one more day and they told me to start taking the Procardia once every four hours instead of six. I was able to schedule the fetal echo at All Children's for Tuesday afternoon.
My friend, Lauren, came and picked up me, Carey and Hannah to go to my appointment Tuesday afternoon. It was a nice change getting to ride in a car with air conditioning. During my appointment (which ended up taking over two hours), Lauren and Carey took turns watching Hannah in the waiting room and sitting with me during the echo. It probably wouldn't have taken so long if the twins weren't so active. They kept dodging out of sight just when the tech was getting a good read on their heart.
Once Dr. Huhta had a chance to look at the results from the echo, he asked what prescriptions I was on and told me to stop the Indomethacin immediately - not to even take the one dose left. Turns out, Indomethacin can cause complications with the fetus heart and both twins were showing one chamber constricted. Dr. Huhta called Dr. Prieto's office to inform them that he was ordering me not to take the last dose of Indomethacin and had me schedule another echo for Thursday to verify that it was just the medication causing the problem.
Wednesday evening one of the ladies from our church came by with a delicious meal enough to feed all of us (me, Chris, Hannah, Carey and Caleb) and still have leftovers to eat the next night.
Yesterday (Thursday), as soon as my mom arrived to watch Hannah, my sister and I took off for All Children's for the follow-up echo. Dr. Huhta said that both hearts were looking much better now but they may schedule me for another echo later in the pregancy just to follow up. After the appointment at All Children's, Carey and I killed some time until my appointment at Dr. Prieto's office.
After yet another ultrasound, Dr. Prieto said that the twins look healthy and the fluid is even between the two twins and almost down to normal levels. I asked about the possibility of returning to work and he said that I can't yet but we'll see how I'm doing at next week's appointment.
They had the results back from the blood work and it confirmed that I do have Cholestasis so they gave me a prescription for Urso. He said that it's not a severe case and I should be fine since they'll be seeing me once a week anyway and can keep a close eye on my condition. Luckily, they say the only concern with this medicine is that it sometimes causes decrease of amniotic fluid so I shouldn't have any problems with this one. I'm looking forward to the itching stopping since it's been keeping me awake and driving me up the wall.
Who knows? Maybe I can make it to next Thursday's appointment without any trips to the hospital and maybe they'll let me return to work. This whole bed rest thing is not my cup of tea and is definitely making things tight financially.
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