We were counting weeks since the 24th week when we learned that Laura was at risk for pre-term labor. She was immediately put on bedrest. Laura was hospitalized at ~28 weeks for pre-term labor. We thought the babies would join us that weekend. We met the neonatologist from the neotanal intensive care unit (NICU), Dr. Mah. He was a very comforting doctor who told us what to expect if we were to deliver a 28 week old babies. Our perinatologist, Dr. Jadali, had already told us that at 28 weeks there is a 95% chance that each baby could be born and have no long term effects. We also knew that at 32 weeks (the next major milestone), the chance of long term problems were equal to that of full term babies. We were both relieved when we made the 32 week milestone and we were looking forward to 34 weeks. We would expect the babies to have coordination to manage breathing at eating at the same time at 34 weeks. In addition, their lungs would be developed enough to breath without a respirator. The babies did not quite make this milestone.Bedrest was extremely challenging for Laura. Grammy Evans came out to take care of her for over 1 month. Without her, the babies would not have stayed inside as long as they did. The story to come would have been a lot more painful. Grammy also prepared the nursery after Aunt Lynn painted the jungle. Many thanks to Dianne for keeping Laura well fed and helping keep the house and the baby preparation manageable during this very stressful time.
Grandma Brown also came out early during Laura's bedrest to let me to celebrate Grandpa Brown's 70th birthday heli-skiing in Canada. She was also a key to keeping the babies inside.
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