Update from Ben's appointments

Not much to say, the neurologist tried 4 times to get some spinal fluid out of his back and was unable to so he has to endure the pain of it again on Monday by the radiologist so they can make sure they don't hit anything they shouldn't with the needle. Appearantly there was no findings with his MRI's either so if the spinal tap shows nothing then they will do some sort of electrode thing to see if there is nerve damage. Well, heading to Boston in the morning. Maybe we will get some pics to share this time!

Onto another week...

The weeks are going by so quickly! It is hard to believe that July begins this week. I think it is mostly because we are so busy lately, but I am not complaining, each week that passes brings us a week closer to the babies being here and a week closer to Ben being healed.

The weekend has been a good one, Ben has been looking and feeling pretty good and even went to an anniversary party last night. It has been a long time, like 6 months before he was diagnosed, since he has wanted to be around people so to me this was a HUGE milestone!

This week brings us some more appointments. Ben has a spinal tap on Tuesday morning to ensure that there is no cancer in the spine. His tingling in his feet and his walking hasn't gotten any better so they want to be sure that they are covering all their bases.

I have my weekly ultrasound, this week is in Boston so I also have an OB appointment to go to following it. I feel like I have gained A LOT this week but the scale is only saying a total of 23 lbs. Here is a picture from today. You have to forgive the slant of the picture my four year old nephew took it! He thinks he is a rock star with his new hair do and wants me to put a picture of that on here to so here it is!

Is it the weekend yet???

The past couple days have been very long and tiring. Ben is having a hard time with this round of chemo. He has been really sick and just feels plain awful. I of course feel awful that there is nothing I can do to make him feel better. Not that I am much help, we are a sad sight as I am waddling somewhere and he is limping around...LOL!

We have been playing around with the doppler a lot lately and today we were actually able to find all four of their heart beats. Usually I get frusturated and give up after two but it was nice to find them all at once. Ben is able to feel them moving a lot more now and Evan felt one of them move the other day too.

RESOLVE

Resolve is an organization dedicated to addressing the needs and concerns of people who are faced with infertility. June 25 is Resolve's Advocacy day, and hundreds of people will be descending on Congress to support legislation to help those facing infertility, including the Family Building Act of 2009 (H.R. 697). The Family Building Act amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to require a group health plan that provides coverage for obstetrical services to include coverage for non-experimental treatment of infertility that is deemed appropriate by a participant or beneficiary and the treating physician. The bill would also require coverage for assisted reproductive technology only if certain conditions are met. Additionally, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will be introducing the Family Building Act to the Senate! This bill mirrors the House version of the bill.


What you can do:

Send a letter/email thanking Senator Gillibrand for her initiative.
Contact your Senator to either co-sponsor or support this bill.
HR 697 has been assigned to committees. Contact the House Committee members directly to show your support. The 3 assigned committees are:

House Energy and Commerce
House Education and Labor
House Oversight and Government Reform
If you haven't already, contact your Representative to support HR 697 as well.

All in all a great day!

Ben's appointment went great! His MRI's showed nothing on his brain or spine. They are doing a spinal tap next Tuesday to make sure that there is no cancer inside his spine. They are pretty sure there isn't but they want to be sure so they can treat it if need be.

His blood work is showing that the chemo is working! His counts are beginning to return to normal which is giving them great hope that he will be in the 60% that are cured. After his chemo today he has been feeling pretty sick but hopefully that will subside and the medication will kick in and help him feel better tomorrow.

Ben's physical therapy is going ok, he still doesn't have feeling in his feet but the braces are helping him walk better and the excersises are helping him get strength back in his lower body.

Also today we found out the measurement was incorrect on my cervical length last week. The tech and the doctor measured it today and it is still a little over 4 cm. That was a huge relief to me! All the babies were doing great, their heartrates were between 152-164 and they were moving around like crazy. One of the boys is breach but that doesn't really matter much because I will be having a C-section anyways.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there today! I cannot wait for next year to celebrate it with Ben and the four little ones! It has been a long time coming.

We got all the arrangements made to do my ultrasounds in Dartmouth every other week and to Boston the opposite weeks for my OB appointments and ultrasounds. Ben won't be able to see them this week because the only slot they had was during his chemo so I took it. At least it saves me 7 hours in the car this week.

Ben's physical therapy is coming along well, they gave him braces to wear and they are helping him walk more steady. He has good days and bad days but he is starting to look much better to me. In another month he will have a second PET scan and that will show if the chemo is working or if they need to change the course. I think it is working, the Doctor said at the last visit that his lymph nodes have shrunk down to half the size they were when he came in.

The babies have middle names finally!
Aubrey Elizabeth
Brady Benjamin
Matthew Lucas
Cameron Jacob

Fetal Survey Take Two...

All 4 babies passed with flying colors!!! That was the best news I could have gotten. Aubrey is still measuring a little behind but she caught up some from last week. The boys are doing great too. They are thinking it is a wrestling ring in there so hopefully they are getting all the fighting out now!

My total weight gain is now at 19 lbs, they wanted to see more but I am eating the best I can. The dr wants me to start taking it easier during the day and resting laying on my left side at least 30 minutes 3 times a day. My cervix is down to 3.5 cm from 4.5 2 weeks ago so that freaked me out but the dr says it is still holding good.

We are going to speak with the chief of OB in Dartmouth tomorrow about doing my cervical checks every two weeks on the day Ben has chemo to eliminate some travel and to allow Ben to have a peek at the babies. He hasn't seen them since 12 weeks other than in pictures so if that can be arranged that will be great!

Weekends go too quickly!

Actually time is passing far to quickly all the time lately. I guess that is both good and bad. As much as I want these babies here there is so much that still needs to be done before they come. Ben had his first of two MRI's yesterday, the other is scheduled for Tuesday. We won't get his results until his appointment in another week but hopefully he will know what is going on with the tingling in his feet.

Sam came over today and helped me do all the dust ruffles for cribs. It was a good thing she came because I would have never figured them out on my own! She left me with one seam left to sew and I screwed it up and had to tear it apart and redo it! LOL! Anyways they are done now all that is left is the diaper stacker and curtains. THANKS SAM!

Also, a big accomplishment this weekend...the babies have names, well first names that is. Aubrey, Brady, Matthew and Cameron.

Fetal Survey Take One..

Yesterday was the babies fetal survey and it was nice to see the babies for over an hour on screen. The fetal survey assesses the heart, spinal cord, liver, stomach, kidneys, the bones in the arms and legs. Baby boy B and Baby boy D passed with flying colors. Baby boy A was face down through most of the u/s so they couldn't get a great view of his heart so they needed to check him out again in a couple weeks. Baby girl C was passed with everything except her output valve of the heart. They couldn't get a clear view but assured me that just because it wasn't visable did not mean that it wasn't there. That didn't make me any less worried about it but I am hopeful that in 2 weeks A and C will pass with flying colors too.

There was no change in my cervix so still no bed rest! YAY! I talked with the doctor about the pressure I have been having and he told me to listen to my body and slow down a little bit and that should allieviate the pressure I am feeling.

So on to pictures!

Chemo #2 done!

Ben's appointment went well yesterday. The doctor thinks that the first round was a huge leap in recovery so that in itself was a huge relief. We spoke about the general weakness and the doctor recommended some physical therapy to help gain back the muscle coordination. He said that for every day a person is in a hospital bed it takes 5-7 days to regain your strength so that means almost 2 months of being home before he is back to himself. As for the tingling in his feet that makes it difficult for him to walk they do not think that is related to the chemo or to the cancer. His doctor had him meet with a neurologist about that and they are keeping a close eye on that. If in 2 weeks it has gotten worse or hasn't gotten any better they are going to run some tests to see what is causing that.

Ben had no immediate side effects to his chemo this time. Last time he was having convolsions which were really scary and they released him as soon as it was done so I was really hoping that wouldn't be the case this time. Hopefully he will be feeling much better than he was after his treatment last time and there won't be a return trip to the ICU.

Pictures of the bedding

The week ahead...

Ben's appointment for Monday has been rescheduled to Tuesday and he will be having his chemo directly after. It has been a week of many ups and downs but he pushes himself too hard sometimes and is wiped at the end of the day. I think he forgets that he is not Superman!

Wednesday is my appointment and the babies fetal survey so hopefully I will have some awesome pictures to share on Thursday with you all. During this ultrasound they will be checking all the organs and such and hopefully there will still be a girl in the pack!

I have finished 2 of the blankets, I have 2 that just need the trim and then it is time to do the dust ruffles and curtains! I actually feel like something is getting accomplished! Hopefully by the end of the week all these babies will be named too. :)

We want to say thanks to the Styles Family for the beautiful garden! We can't wait to eat the fresh veggies! And the pedi was just the relaxing touch I needed. Also thank you to everyone who has given thier support either emotionally, physically or financially. It is terrific to live in such a small community at times like these.

Home again!

Ben was released this morning and is looking great! His counts are up alot and he has an appt on Monday for a follow up in Dartmouth then if all looks good there he will be doing chemo that day too. I hope that he will be able to do it Monday so he doesn't have to make an additional trip down for that.

Good news Wednesday

Ben's counts have come up considerably since yesterday and they are talking about letting him come home tomorrow if they are still good tomorrow! His pain has been managed today with pain medicine so he got lots of rest and is looking really good tonight. His appt was cancelled today due to him being in the hospital but we are rescheduling for Monday and hopefully he will be up for chemo that day too.

My appt went great today too. All the babies are growing great and my cervix is holding strong so another week with just a few limitations! All in all it was a fantastic day!

Trip to the ER take 2...

Last night we ventured into the ER and let me tell you I think I am more educated than some of the doctors they have working there. After sitting in a room for almost an hour and a half someone decided blood work would be good so we got that then a chest xray and the decision to be admitted happened about 3 hours in. Thankfully the doctor upstairs was someone who didn't just get their license off the internet or something. She came down and looked him over and figured out that the site of his picc line was infected and set him up with some fluid and antibiotics.

He spent the night and I think at this point they are just keeping him for observation and to keep an eye on his levels and infection. I will find out more this morning.

Evening in the ER

Yesterday was not such a good day for Ben. He was very week all day and couldn't eat or drink because of a sore throat. He didn't have a fever so we waited it out then went to the ER. They drew his labs, gave him a couple bags of fluid through his IV and some meds and we were able to come home after a couple hours.