In Memoriam: Carter Edward Hurtado (Feb. 24 – 26, 2009)

Words cannot express how deeply saddened we are by the passing of our son, who despite his strong will to live left us a few hours shy of 2 days old. He had a Stage 4 blood clot (the worst stage) in his brain, which eventually caused all his systems to shut down. He is survived by his twin brother Tyler, who other than being a preemie has been doing very well.

I apologize that many of you are finding out via blog (especially those who live far away), but we were too crushed to make many phone calls and have a very hard time talking about all the details. We initially just called one family member on each side and a friend to spread the word locally. The past few days have been the most emotional and heartbreaking days that either Michael or I have ever experienced.

I have journaled the events of this week, but we do not want to post them on this public blog due to their very emotional nature. Family and friends who wish to read this journal are welcome to e-mail me and I will be happy to send you a copy of the journal.

Tyler has been doing really well in the NICU. He just needs time to continue growing under the care of the doctors and nurses until he is closer to his original due date before he can come home. I will try to update you on his progress as I have time.

Week 31- Day 7

The babies came close to needing to be delivered last night around 9 pm. Twin A had a few heart decelerations within a short time period. Essentially this means he was either playing with or getting tangled in his umbilical cord and reducing his oxygen supply. But he figured it out and recovered and looked pretty good, except for a few sporadic decelerations, the rest of the night. It has been the same throughout today. His decelerations typically occur when I have a Braxton-Hicks contraction and thankfully I have been having less contractions since I went on medication. Of course Twin B is a show-off and hasn’t had any problems. According to the doctor as long as Twin A keeps recovering and doesn’t have long or frequent decelerations it could be another week or two until we deliver. I can’t wait to see how much the babies have grown during tomorrow’s ultrasound as it will have been almost 3 weeks since the last growth measurement.

Week 31- Day 6

Twin A had a few minor heart decelerations during the night, but otherwise is looking really good. Twin B continues to show off and always looks good on the monitors. My mom flew back to Houston today, but will be back when the babies are born when we are really going to need the most help. She did finish painting the nursery yesterday and we are so grateful! It was also nice to have her keep me company at the hospital!

Michael and I think our childbirth class must be jinxed. We started our weekly 6-session childbirth preparation class in January and it runs through March 2. Including us there were 6 couples. We only made it to the first 2 classes. Earlier this week Michael ran into one of the guys from our class whose wife (32 weeks along) is also here at St. V. on bedrest because her placenta started to detach. Today Michael ran into another guy from our class whose wife (33 weeks along) gave birth on Thursday after her water broke early. What are the odds?

Week 31- Day 5 (Friday)

The medication is working stop my Braxton-Hicks contractions. Both babies' heart rates have been looking so good that they did a quick ultrasound just to verify. Twin A didn't have any heart decelerations, which is very hopeful.

They started having me use "pressure booties" yesterday. They alternately apply pressure to each of my feet to improve my circulation and prevent blood clots. They never thought I would be on bed rest this long or they would have started me using them sooner.

Week 31- Day 4

Today's ultrasound showed that the reverse diastolic blood flow to Twin A is back, which explains why he was having a few heart decelerations yesterday. According to the monitors, the heart decelerations typically occur when I have a Braxton-Hicks contraction, which I don't even feel. The doctors are now giving me medication to relax my uterus and hopefully stop the contractions and the associated heart decelerations. In the meantime they are going to keep monitoring continuously to see how things go. If they keep going well the next ultrasound will be Monday and they will check the placenta blood flow and check the growth of the twins.

The ultrasound tech said that Twin B currently looks like he is resting his head on Twin A's butt. The nurse joked that this should earn Twin A the right to the top bunk when they are older.

Week 31- Day 3

They put the babies back on continuous heart rate monitoring today to be on the safe side. During the afternoon monitoring Twin A had a few small heart decelerations where his heart beat rate dipped lower than normal a few times (e.g. 40 seconds, 10 seconds). While this is not totally abnormal, it is something then nurses and doctors want to keep watching for. I am hoping he was just having an off day. I am also hoping he has my stubborness and keeps hanging in there as long as possible.

Week 31- Day 2

Not much new to report... both babies' heart rates continue to look great. One of the doctors told me she is amazed how well they have been doing considering the blood flow issue to Twin A's placenta.

I have actually been doing some work for the office during the day while my mom works on painting the nursery. It sounds like she is getting close to finishing. Moms rock!