Archive for the ‘General News’ Category

Last night we made plans for our first date night in a long time.  A trip to Wasabai (our favorite sushi restaurant) for some take out, a board game and maybe a movie if we hadn’t worn ourselves out by then.  As boring as that may sound to some, we were both very excited for our evening together.  We were already tasting those shrimp tempura rolls as we approached the intersection of University and Farley St. in Madison.  The light turned yellow so I slowed down because it was clear I wasn’t going to make it through the intersecton.  We came to a complete stop for a nano second and WHAM, we were hit from behind by a black Chevy pickup.  Frustrated, scared but not apparently injured we pulled off to a nearby parking lot and called the police.  Thankfully, there was witness there who observed that the driver of the Chevy clearly would’ve ran the red light had we not been there.  The witness stayed and reported this take on the accident to the police.  The driver was apologetic and quick to provide us with her name and all the relevant information we needed.  Our Trailblazer has a tow package which seems to be the only part of our car that was damaged.  The hitch receiver is at least 3 inches closer to the front of the car.  We will be taking it in to the shop on Monday.  The other driver was given a citation and we were on our way to the hospital obviously very concerned about Madison and Ruby.

When we arrived at Meriter labor and delivery triage, we were happy to see that our doctor was in on call.  We all looked at each other and shook our heads as Dr. Stewart said “What now?”  She reassured us that based on what we told her of the accident there was almost no chance that the girls had been affected.  However standard procedure called for Allison and the girls to be watched for at least 4 hours.  Back in the hospital on a Friday night.  As you can see by the picture we got our sushi and made the most of our time together.  We were home in bed at 1am.

As frustrated as we were we know God protected all of us.  We were thankful that we weren’t hurt or in a more serious accident.  The goodness of God is evident in the good times and the challenging times as well.

Allison has been home for a week now.  The long Labor Day weekend couldn’t have come at a better time.  We enjoyed lots of down time together which was what we needed.  We continue to grieve the loss of Olivia and are finding our relationship deepen as we support each other through this process.  As you can imagine we both are dealing with the loss differently.  It’s comforting to us to know what the Bible says about Jesus’ love for children.  We find peace knowing she is with him.

We’ve had two doctor appointments this week.  The first, on Tuesday, was with our lead MFM (maternal fetal medicine) doctor.  We had ultrasounds/Doppler’s done on both girls and the results were both in the normal range.  Praise God.  We will be in weekly for ultrasounds/Doppler’s and every other week the ultrasounds will focus on the growth of the babies.  The second appointment was today and was a check up on Allison.  Everything checked out great.  She will be in every 3-4 weeks for this type of appointment.  We’re fortunate our home is only 15 minutes from the hospital.  We hit 26 weeks this Wednesday.  We’ve been told that the rest of the pregnancy should proceed like a normal twin pregnancy. As I sit here typing,  I realize that I’m thankful for how little I have to say medically this week and it’s all good news!  God is good!

Today, after Allison spent an uncomfortable night in the hospital, our doctors were able to conduct a successful blood transfusion for Madison.  They first confirmed that she did have anemia and in doing so, learned that her anemic condition improved a bit since yesterday.  They said they “topped her off” with the transfusion and believe that over the next week her bone marrow will kick in to help increase the hemoglobin levels in her blood.  We praise God for this positive result and anticipate good numbers as we go forward.

The Doppler’s did show a concerning finding as well.  It seems that the flow number relative to the hematocrit levels suggest that the chance Madison suffered some type of stroke when Olivia passed away is higher than the doctors had thought.  We originally thought 20% and now the risk may be as high as 50%.  Obviously, a concern.  We share this not to paint a doom and gloom picture but rather to give you specifics to pray about.  Pray that these findings will improve and that as the days turn into weeks and months, we would continue to have more confidence that Madison will do well.

Allison will be getting on a plane to come home tomorrow.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to have her here.  We’re trusting God for favor as she travels and that all will be smooth, on time and comfortable (as comfortable as it can be).

Allison went in today for what we expected to be one more ultrasound/doppler in Cincinnati.  We all expected it to be good and that she would be preparing to come home.  Unfortunately, the test showed that Madison’s MCA (blood vessel in her brain) had abnormal flow.  The doctors took Allison to the University Hospital for monitoring all day.  They also did more echo’s on Madison’s heart.  They think that Madison has anemia due to Olivia passing away.  The condition is treatable with a blood tranfusion via a minimally invasive procedure.  This procedure will occur tomorrow morning.  If all goes well, Allison should still be able to come home on Friday.  Please pray with us that the doctors assessment is correct and that all will go well tomorrow.

We met with our physician team today in Cincinnati.  We were encouraged to learn that we could make plans to bring Allison home to Madison.  We’re in the process of doing that right now.  The doctors were optimistic about Madison’s (and Ruby’s) overall health.  We will continue to pray that the cardiomyopathy completely goes away and her heart develops normally.  Also, that there was no neurologic damage down to her when Olivia went to be with the Lord.  Thank you for praying with us.

We learned this morning that the baby we lost Saturday was Olivia.  Her name means “Peace” and “Walks with God” and knowing that she’s enjoying ultimate peace gives us comfort.  As you can imagine we’re grieving today but are thankful that we are together and God is with us.

Ruby and Madison’s ultrasounds looked real good today.  We don’t have any new information on the condition of Madison’s heart.  The doctors are going to call us back later today to discuss our case further and the plan for the days to come.  Our prayer is that Ruby will continue to do well and Madison’s heart will be completely healed.  Please agree in prayer with us.

On Friday, August 28th, we had two appointments.  The first was the ultrasound/Doppler and the second was for the echocardiograms for all three girls.  I was able to travel down here for the weekend after leaving work on Thursday night.  The ultrasounds were the same as Wednesday, that being Ruby and Madison normal (“5”) with Olivia in absent/intermittent reverse flow or “3/4” as we’ve talked before.  We praised God for that good news.

We then went to our scheduled echocardiograms at 1pm and waited for the results and meeting with the surgeon at 5:30pm.   We were both exhausted so we got comfortable and rested.  We knew there had to be a good reason for the echo’s but my gut feeling was that we were meeting with the surgeon as a “wrap up” since we had decided that any surgical option was no longer being considered.  Wrong answer.  What we got neither of us expected.  We learned that Madison had advanced cardiomyopathy, as a result of twin-twin transfusion syndrome.  While Olivia’s Doppler’s and below average growth were major concerns, Madison’s heart was quietly getting sicker.  We had done echo’s when we first arrived and then again a week later and the doctor’s had noted some abnormality in Madison on the second test.  The second abnormal test coupled with the doctor’s knowledge that we weren’t “out of the woods” for TTTS was what necessitated the follow up exam on Friday.   Our surgeon communicated our options with clarity and kindness.  We could re-consider the surgery and face the risk imposed to everyone, Allison included or let “nature take its course” as he put it.  When we left the hospital we both quickly realized that surgery was off the table.  In the previous cases similar to ours, the doctors had been successful in separating the placenta’s but all four sets of twins eventually passed away.  Again, the reason for this is the cord insertions for the babies were too close (<2cm) and there were too many major vessels that were taken out in the process of separating the placenta.    It seemed to us that the benefit of the surgery wouldn’t be there, so taking all the extra risks made no sense at all.  Our choice was expectant waiting.  We went and got some dinner and talked about the implications of the day.  It seemed medically that the doctors felt like we were going to loose two of our three girls and that we were fortunate to have the third be doing so well.  In their minds while they understood our pain, their experience told them we should also have grateful hearts, given that they had seen many other family’s deal with TTTS and lose the whole pregnancy.  We struggled, cried and prayed our way through Friday night.  We told God we believed He was able to heal them all with one touch and asked Him to do it and that we believed he was “working this all out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).”

Saturday came and we rose again with heavy hearts.  We had a good breakfast with the Davenports and made plans to go put our feet up and hang out at Barnes and Noble which is 10 minutes from the Davenports’ home.  We stopped and had lunch at Panera and while there, Allison and some severe gastrointestinal pain from restriction (you pregnant ladies know what I mean).  The scary part was while she was dealing with this she saw spots and almost blacked out.  She laid down on a bench but after the symptoms only mildly subsided we decided we better call our doctors.  They suggested we come in so she could get GI relief and they could take a look at the babies and make sure everything was ok.  So we did.  Thankfully one of the doctors from the team that’s been treating us was on the night shift.   Upon viewing the babies through ultrasound he gave us the sad news that he only had two heartbeats.   We had lost one of our girls.  We will find out Monday which one it was for sure, as he said he wanted to consult with his colleagues before making the determination.   Obviously this has all kinds of implications on the pregnancy and we expect to find out more at our appointment on Monday.  While we didn’t expect this, we both felt like we had begun grieving on Friday.  As believers, we believe to be absent from the body here, is to be present with Jesus in heaven and it comforts us to know our little girl is there.  Please pray with us that the other two little girls do well and everything about the pregnancy will be successful and blessed by God.

Just got off a conference call with Allison and the medical team in Cincinnati.  Olivia is moving well, has good amniotic fluid volume and her Doppler is unchanged.  Praise God.  Next appointment will be Friday and I will be back in Cincinnati for it.   Be encouraged, our prayers are making a difference!

There have been so many you that have encouraged us in so many ways.  We are so grateful for all of the generosity, encouragement and love we’ve felt.  We look forward to the opportunity to give back as much we are able to in the months and years to come.  Th Bible says, “The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.”  (Prov. 11:25)  Our prayer is that you are all made rich (in every way) and watered in the dry areas of your life.

The Davenports

Kimmie and Allison

This is Darren, Kimmie, Carsen and Parker Davenport and they have been amazing hosts for us as we’ve been in Cincinnati.  Our friends at Metro Believers Church in Madison all know (and miss) them but we thought it would be fun for the rest of you to meet them as well.  Allison and I first arrived arrived at their home on August 4th, returned on August 11th and Allison has been there ever since.  Along with being such gracious hosts and awesome friends, Kimmie has taken Allison to all of the appointments that have been necessary while I’m here in Madison working.  We’re so fortunate to be able to come to THEIR home after hours at the hospital dealing with the challenges of that particular day, and have it feel like OUR home.  Kimmie truly has the gift of hospitality that has allowed us to feel so comfortable all of the time.  Please pray that they “would be made rich and watered” as they have been such awesome friends!

I just arrived in Madison after a full day in the hospital and the drive home.  Here’s an update from today and some perspective on the road ahead…

The ultrasounds went pretty well.  Ruby and Madison continue to do really well.  Olivia was the same today as she was Saturday, which is a very good thing.  The doctors were encouraged to see that she hadn’t worsened.  Praise God.  Along with the good news today, we made a significant decision to take any surgical option off the table.  The main reasons are:  (1) we’re about to reach 24 weeks which automatically rules out one of the options and (2) even though we would be candidates for the laser procedure to separate the placenta’s of the twins, we fall into a small subset (we’re the 5th of over 500 cases of twins and the first with triplets) where the surgery hasn’t been effective.  It turns out that Olivia and Madison’s umbilical cords each insert into the shared placenta less than two centimeters apart.  The other procedures this group of doctors have done to separate the placenta in twins with the cord insertions so close have not been successful.  With the decision to not do any surgical intervention the choice we’ve made is expectant waiting.  What this means is ultrasounds M,W,F to be sure Olivia continues to hang in there.  If at any point she starts to struggle, Allison will have to go inpatient for monitoring or prepare to deliver.  At 24 weeks they all have a chance to live.  We hit 24 weeks this Wednesday.  At 28 weeks the chance goes up significantly.  Our prayer is to get to at least 30 weeks and get Allison home as soon as possible.  Obviously, we’d love for her to deliver here in Madison.  Each day is crucial and as days turn into weeks that they all stay in the womb, their chance to do well goes up.  We spent some time with the staff neonatologist as well today.  We got to look at some “26 weekers” in the NICU and interact with the nurses as well.  The doctor told us that each day in the womb means at least 3 less days in the NICU.  We’re glad we spent the time getting familiar with this area of the hospital and with the idea of possibly spending some time there.  We both feel like we need to be prepared for what could come our way but with that continue to believe God for the best.

That’s the medical update.  As Christians we choose to see this circumstance through the eyes of our faith (Hebrews 11:1), very similar to when we were trusting God to become pregnant in the first place.  Thank you for believing with us.  God is faithful and we thank Him for the lives He’s knitting together in Allison’s womb right now (Psalm 139:13,14).