Our Flight Has Been Delayed

Hello again! We thought we would take a minute and update everyone on our status.

We had an ultrasound this morning and the doctor did an Amnio Test to determine the maturity of the babies lungs. The results suggested that the lungs were almost mature, but not quite. This means we will not be delivering the babies tomorrow morning as we had hoped and instead will have to wait a while longer to meet our little ones.

We now have a new plan, but don't go marking your calender just yet because if we have learned anything during this experience it is that it doesn't really matter what you have planned, THINGS CHANGE!!! As of this minute we are scheduled to go in on the morning of Oct. 7th to deliver the babies. This strategy has been laid out with the assumption that the babies don't decide sometime between now and then to cut their stay short. Guess we don't have to wait to see who rules the roost at our house. They aren't even here yet and they are already calling the shots.

The good news is that the computer is estimating that both boys are weighing around 5 pounds 2 ounces. It is very exciting that they have grown that much. Diane agrees with these estimates!!! She has gotten very uncomfortable over the past couple of weeks. It seems like one of them is headbutting her in the ribs or kicking her tailbone all the time. If the estimates are right Diane will be delivering close to 11 pounds of baby.

I am really hoping that we make it to the 7th. I don't think I could come up with any better birthday present for me!!!!!! That is right, the boys and I would have the same birthday!!! Just in case though, you might want to keep checking back regularly over the next week to see what the boys decide to do. We will try to update the blog as soon as we get a chance after they arrive.

Take care,
Curt and Diane

On The Move

Hello Again! Things have been very busy around here today. We now have a new baby growing headquarters. The doctors felt that with the reduced risk of complications, now that we are past the 34 week mark, Diane might be more comfortable at "local housing". So we took them up on the opportunity and have now taken up residence at the Ronald McDonald House right down the street from the hospital. It is a very nice facility and we will be here until Diane gets the urge to go back to the hospital. We will trek back over to the hospital a couple times over the next couple of weeks for checkups, but for the time being we are free. Diane and I are now in charge of getting her her medicine every two hours. Diane's mom purchased us a digital kithen time to remind us. I looked for one, but they didn't have any timers that would make the sound of a crying baby, it would have been perfect practice for Diane to wake up and for me to sleep through!!!

That is about it for now.

Thanks for keeping up with our journey,

Curt and Diane

Diane The Antepartum Queen

We just got back from having an ultrasound done and thought we would take a moment to update everyone. We aren't experts but the boys seem to be growing good. They are estimating their weights at around 4 pounds a piece, which seems big compared to what we were looking at a month ago. It is really big if you consider that little ole Diane has 8 pounds of baby inside of her. I don't know if you are watching the calender along with us but tomorrow will be 34 weeks which is a huge milestone. According to one of are doctors, Dr. Grey (Angela not Meridith), after 34 weeks most all of the important development has taken place and all that is left is some growth. The plan, as of now, is to keep Diane on her medication but if the contractions flare up, they will not try to stop it.

This is going to be quite a change in mindset for all of us. We have been so focused on keeping the babies from coming and now we are able to look forward to them with anticipation. This is what I assume most "normal" expecting parents do. We would sure like to see them stay put a few more weeks, but after all this hard work we are finally looking forward to meeting them.

The nurses on the high risk floor have an Antepartum Queen award that they put on the door of whoever has been at hospital the longest without giving birth and Diane was supposed to be given the award a little over a week ago. She refused the crown as a matter of superstition (it seems the last few gals who got it gave birth shortly afterward), but none-the-less has more than earned it. I feel confident enough to at least share this news with you now, but just in case we aren't going to be hanging it on the door anytime soon!

We are very excited to get to this point and want to thank all of you for your support and prayers. All those positive thoughts running through the atmosphere have done amazing things.

In other news we are down a doctor around here. Yesterday morning Dr. Tara Becker came in to do her daily rounds and she was on crutches. She tore her achilles tendon while running yesterday morning. She was a trooper though and even had to do a C Section yesterday afternoon. I don't know what it would be like to see your doctor wheeled into the OR in a wheel chair, but you can't say she isn't dedicated.

That is all the news for now but check back in a couple of days. If you haven't already done so please vote on what color the babies' eyes are going to be. GO HAZEL! Also please leave us a comment we really enjoy reading them.

Thanks,
Curt and Diane

Still Waiting!

Welcome to our first attempt at blogging. We thought this would be a good way to keep everyone informed about what is going on with our little family in waiting and then give us a place to show off our new additions once they finally get here.

Diane and I are currently residents of Presbyterian St. Lukes Hospital (PSL) in Denver. One month ago today, 29 weeks and 1 day into the pregnancy, Diane started having preterm contractions and was admitted to the hospital in Casper. After trying a variety of different treatments during what we would both consider to be 3 of the longest days of our lives, the doctor believed that the contractions had subsided and sent Diane home to begin what we hoped to be 8 weeks of bed rest. Unfortunately the next morning Diane began to feel contractions again so back to the hospital we went.

Upon arriving the doctor examined Diane and determined that the best coarse of action was to send her here (PSL) where they are better prepared to accept our early arrivals. The trip down here seems like a blur but from what we can remember it went something like this.

The nurses strapped Diane down to what we can best be described as an ironing board fastened on top of a gurney, wheeled her through the hospital and slid her into an ambulance. Our driver, Stephen (don't ask me why I remember his name), then took what had to be the bumpiest route possible to the airport, where they moved Diane and the ironing board into an Air Life jet and in no time had us in the air. It took 55 minutes to fly down here, which included a fly by of Investco Field at Mile High, which the one of the flight nurses pointed out to me. Like I cared at the time.

We landed and they moved the ironing board and its passenger into a helicopter. On the flight from Casper I was informed that there would not be room for me on the helicopter but they would have a taxi waiting at the airport to take me to the hospital. If you can believe it this is where my trip got interesting. The taxi driver was a nice Russian gentleman who kept stirring and sipping on a clear liquid he had in his large translucent convenience store drink cup. Vodka anyone? Being Russian it didn't seem to affect his driving and as it turns out I almost beat Diane to the hospital.

Since arriving at PSL we have had quite a ride, but luckily the doctors have been able to find a combination of medications to minimize the contractions and keep the kiddos where they belong.

Diane's mom is staying in Denver and comes in everyday. We have had an number of different visitors and we really don't have time to get bored. Nurses come in every 2 hours to give Diane her medicine and we put the babies on a monitor 3 times a day for an hour. Diane gets to go to the PT pool once or twice a day for an hour if she wants and we have even been able to sneak her out for a couple of short wheel chair rides around the block.

Now that you are caught up on all the happenings of the past month we will try to update you on any new developments on a more frequent basis.

Thanks for visiting,

Curt and Diane