Weeks 21-24

At the 21 week mark when we were admitted to the hospital, the doctors gave us a pretty grim outlook. They informed us that our pregnancy was not considered viable at 21 weeks and that they could not do anything for the babies if they were born before 24 weeks. This was a very tough conversation and day but we knew that whatever happened was completely out of our control at that point. We kept a positive attitude and focused all of our energies on making it to week 24.

On September 4, 2008 (22 weeks) we had a sonogram to measure the babies growth as well as the blood flow in their placentas and to measure April's cervix. The sonogram showed that April's cervix continued to shorten and at that point the specialist and OB doctors determined that she would stay in the hospital for the foreseeable future.

The sonogram also showed that Baby A (our boy) weighed 9 ounces and Baby B (our girl) weighed 13 ounces which was a decent amount of growth since the previous sonogram. Unfortunately, the sonogram also picked up some blood flow issues for our little boy. The technical term is "absent end diastolic" which basically means that their is restricted blood flow from the placenta which in turn does not allow him to get enough nutrients and restricts his growth.

The restricted blood flow is a concern to the doctors and to us and this will be monitored closely. There is nothing that we or the doctors can do to change the restricted blood flow.

During this time April was given bathroom privileges and allowed to take a quick 3 minute shower every day but besides that it was all bed, all day. She spent a lot of time on the Internet, watching TV, talking on the phone and catching up with all of the visitors that would stop by to see her.

The weeks between 21 and 24 were very tough but by the power of GOD and prayer we were able to make it to 24 weeks and viability. We realize that this is just the beginning but at least we hit our first major milestone.

At the 24 week and 1 day mark, another sonogram was performed and the blood flow for the babies was status quo meaning that Baby A (Boy) still had restricted blood flow, however, it did not worsen. They also attempted to measure April's cervix, however, it was determined that there was no measurable cervix at this time and once again she was placed on complete bed rest and this time it was for the remainder of the pregnancy.