26 weeks and a brady

I cannot believe my boys will be 7 months old next week.  Craziness.  This time is all going WAY too fast.  And it was just about 1 year ago that we found out we were pregnant.  How is that even possible??  To have 7 month old babies only a year after learning we were pregnant in the first place??  So, I started doing the math.  The nice thing with IVF is, there is absolutely no budging on the due date.  Normally, on may be off by a few days.  Not so with us.  We knew exactly when.  And when I started counting the day, it lined right up...almost.  That's right, my due date was wrong.  I counted it again, confirmed with Andrew, and sure enough - we were told wrong.  Or I heard wrong.  Or it was just put in the computer wrong.  Not real sure exactly as those early weeks are quite a blur.  I had pain with this pregnancy from before we even saw the little guys, so I never had a carefree "normal" ultrasound.  So who knows exactly where I pulled the due date I told the OB/GYN, the one that went down on the boys records.

When they were born, they were 26 weeks and 6 days.  Now, really, this changes nothing.  They were only hours away from being a true 27 weeks.  But as I reflected on how wonderfully they are doing, that extra day makes me even more grateful.  26 weekers don't typically go through an entire NICU stay without any complications.  God was so gracious to us!  But then I was thinking about my pregnancy.  When I went into labor the first time at what we thought was 20 weeks, I was admitted to L&D for a weekend and it was stopped with meds.  Had they known I was only 19 weeks, I would have been admitted to the 7th floor women's center with no meds.  Medically, it would have been a miscarriage and they wouldn't have tried to stop it.  It's crazy that just one day made that much of a difference.  So whoever made the initial error (whether the nurse or my hearing!) I am so appreciative!  They also planned my second set of steroid shots when I hit 27 weeks, and we wouldn't have received those without the error either.  I am just in awe.  Our little miracles became even more miraculous!

We have been trying to get the apnea monitors off W & D for a while now.  I never felt like Dean needed it in the first place, and I am just tired of fussing with the wires, hauling around the monitor when we go out, tripping over cords.  Plus, they have started to play with their wires.  Neither of them have had an episode since October.  OCTOBER!  It just seemed time.  Warren still has major reflux, so I thought we'd keep his for a bit longer just to make sure.  And then, yesterday in the wee hours, it went off.  It took us a second to realize what the alarming noise was as it was the first time that's happened since they've been out of our room.  Warren's heart rate dropped somewhere below 60.  And he was sound asleep but with his face buried in his sleeve.  And our little rolly polly now won't stay on his back for a second.  In that instant, I became so grateful for the monitors and the peace of mind.  It's the only true brady he's had that wasn't when he was spitting up or eating (when we would always be right there and would notice it anyway).  So as I was lying in bed for the next 1.5 hours trying to fall asleep, I realized how much I rely on those monitors, how much better I sleep knowing there will be an alarm if anything happens, and how hard it will be when the doctor officially says they are ready to come off.  Thankfully our doctor is conservative and doesn't seem to be rushing the process.  Just another blessing we have to be thankful for.