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Update: Babies and I still doing well. No signs of infection and no contractions. Just hanging out in the hospital bed.

We had a scheduled consult with the nicu dr to just meet them and go over what to expect if the babies were born now at 28 weeks and the next big hurdle 32 weeks. Definitely want them to make it to 32-34 weeks, but being born now will be okay. I could go over the risks of being born at 28w, but let's think positive and hope they'll stay in there longer.

What I did learn that was good to know in advance was when the babies are delivered, they will definitely go to the nicu... Even at 34 weeks. They tell parents to expect the babies to be in the nicu until their scheduled due date... October 16th. (It is possible that babies can be approved to go home earlier if they pass all of their growth requirements and such.) So when I (hope to) deliver at 34 weeks, I will leave most likely leave the hospital with both babies in the nicu. So after I recover from the vaginal or c-section delivery (whatever happens), I will be released to go home. Which I've heard is common.

It will be rare that both babies will be going home at the same time so I was told to expect to bring one baby home and the other baby home when he or she is ready. So I expect lots of trips to and from the nicu to drop off breast milk and take care of the baby if one is home. Luckily, home is only 10-15 min drive.

Emotionally I'm fine. No signs of infection and contractions make me hopeful that they are staying put for a while. DH seems to be okay. Prior to talking to the nicu doc, we were getting offers from family back east to fly out to help with the nursery prior to the babies being delivered. DH and I are so happy they have offered but with the info we learned, it sounds like the babies will be in the nicu for 6 weeks (released earlier if the babies do well.) So the stress of getting things done at the house, nursery and loading up on premie gear is not a huge priority. I'm told when the babies are released they may even fit in newborn clothes. We should have time to get that stuff if and when the babies are delivered and they can give us an estimate when they might be released.
Until then, we will use local help from friends, coworkers to help DH get things around the house while I'm in the hospital. As you some know, DH does have asthma and it can be bad at times. So we are making sure DH doesn't push himself too hard. Last thing we want is for him to get put in the hospital, too. So, we'll employ house cleaners and hire movers to help with some of the moving of furniture that we would like done. (We hired movers to help when we moved from our apartment into our house, so these movers are a great resource to have.) We are fortunate that financially, we are fine with hiring out to get things done.
I also am a part of a mother's of multiples group and they have a premie closet and meal coordinator. I've also been getting tips about what things I should buy now or wait. Like I said earlier, we will wait on the premie gear. The FB group is a swap group, too, so I'm able to get used multiples gear at great prices. I'm able to slowly check off stuff I don't have to buy new.

DH will pick up some gear this week and this weekend.

I'm keeping busy this week trying to semi work from the hospital but as some of you know HR doesn't want you checking email while on leave. Since I'm using sick days until my leave kicks in, I'm trying to still get things done.

I have things that I can get done at the hospital to kill time. Work on the baby book. Do some crafting like painting wood letters with acrylic paint for the alphabet art I want to make. Dr and nurses say acrylic is safe (which I knew) so I'll paint one or two letters a day.
We had plans for maternity pics to get done within the next few weeks but I got some great suggestions to have a photographer come to the hospital and take pictures in one of the gardens of the hospital. I'm not on complete bed rest. I can move around my room to go to the bathroom and such. Anything outside my room, they'll let me be wheeled around. My Dr did say that I could get outdoor privileges. I'll need her to confirm that and put it on my chart. So I should be able to be wheeled out to the garden/court yard and take maternity pics.

Oh, I need to get some more details from other nurses but since there are gardens around the hospital, DH might be able to bring my two dogs and I could meet them outside of the hospital. This makes me so happy that I should be able to see them. DH and I facetimed last night and I could tell my dogs were confused and trying to look for me.

Anyway, things are good so far. We are definitely taking advantage of local help and far away help will most likely be told to wait til the babies are born when one baby may be home and the other in the nicu. I think that would be the best use of their time and money.

Oh, we do have a doula and we are having our first meeting (after we hired her two weeks ago) on Friday. We'll discuss how she will support us. These two visits were supposed to be home visits but one of them will be in the hospital (Friday). I asked her about the home visits/meetings and she likes to walk our house to see how things are laid out and offer suggestion. I think this will help DH out tremendously! She can go through some of the baby gear we got through the baby shower and things I've gotten over the years and help DH think about where it would go. We are planning on trying cloth diapers so she'll help DH with some of the stuff I've purchased. I am paying for 1-2 months of a diaper service so we don't have to worry about the extra laundry. We took an 'expecting multiples' class and in this area cloth diapers are fairly common. The success rate is about 50% even with multiples. At our expecting multiples class, we got to put a cloth diaper on a baby doll so it is possible. And DH is still on board on trying them out for a few months. Like breastfeeding, my plans are to try to succeed but it's ok if things don't work out. Just like having a vaginal or c-section. I'm hoping for a vaginal birth but I'm totally okay with a c-section. Just going with the flow. I did have hopes of trying to cut one of the babies umbilical cord (if born vaginally) but since they will be whisked away to the nicu, that will most like not happen. It's okay. Sounds gross but placenta encapsulation is done in this area (I've decided not to do it because my adversion to pills will probably make the money I spent on it a waste. I will be doing other things like acupuncture to help with Post partum mental help.)

---warning stop reading now if blood and placenta talk gross you out. --
Anyway, I was looking forward to having the ability to experience cutting the umbilical cord so I could ask my Doula to have the hospital save my placenta and I could cut the cord later. Sorry, probably grossing most of you out but I'm a scientist and blood never really bothered me. My sister took photos of her placenta and it was amazing to look at.

Ok, so I should have ended this updated without talking gross placentas. Sorry!

Yay! Just spoke to my OB and she approved outdoor privileges! I'll need to be wheeled out but if the nurses aren't too busy they should have time to take me. (Still in the planning stages so my nurse suggested asking my nurse if it's a busy day and maybe waiting for a less busy day to bring the dogs... Which is totally fine and I understand. I wasn't planning on doing it today or tomorrow so I'll make sure my nurse is ok with taking me outside at a planned and scheduled time in the future.) So maternity pics and dog visits (as long as they stay outside of the hospital) should be fine!! Woohoo!

@agold: yeah, definitely not vacation being stuck in the hospital. Sorry.