The countdown has begun!

I have been in the hospital for one month and 4 days now. Surprisingly, I am still sane and feel like there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel! They have officially scheduled my c-section for next Wednesday, October 15th, at 10:30am. I will be exactly 34 weeks at that point - which has always been our goal to reach (that is the farthest the doctors will let me go with this type of pregnancy). Rob and I are so proud of the girls for growing and doing so well on the daily NST (non-stress tests) monitors. We can hardly wait for the big day! I have been in-patient at Prentice Women's Hospital in downtown Chicago and I have to say that the staff and accomodations have been wonderful. I have a very nice private room and around the clock care. Here are a few pictures of my room:

flat screen TV!

Where I spend most of my day

My view

looking into my room

And here is me at 33 weeks

Introduction

Rob and I were married on January 20, 2007 and found out the most exciting news - that we were expecting twin girls this fall! We have been doubly blessed by this miracle, but it certainly has been an emotionally stressful journey. From the first ultrasound when we were surprised by the news that there are in fact TWO babies, we were told that there was not a membrane present between them. Naturally, we had absolutely no idea what that meant for us. But as time went on and we were officially diagnosed as having Monoamniotic-Monochorionic twins, we have had to come to terms with the many many scary facts and risks that come along with this type of pregnancy.

Monoamniotic twins are twins in the same chorionic and amniotic sac. That means that they share the same placenta, plus their bag of water. This rare condition happens in just 1% of all twin pregnancies. It is very difficult pregnancy complication, because the two babies are in the same amniotic sac, or living space, with nothing keeping them from getting their umbilical cords tangled and knotted up. There is no treatment for this type of condition.

I was admitted to the hospital at 29 weeks gestation, originally for pre-term labor symptoms, and was kept inpatient for the duration of the pregnancy to be constantly monitored for cord compression and entanglement. We are confident that we will beat the odds and cannot wait to meet our precious baby girls!