A December Update

We had a good December, much less eventful than November.  My husband's parents came for a visit at the beginning of the month and helped us so much around the house and in the yard.  They raked and moved more than 50 bags of leaves.  Something fun for me to look forward to for next year :).  It was such a treat to get to see them and spend time with them.  My mom is still here helping me.  I can not say enough how essential my mom has been to the health and well being of these babies, as well as me.  I am incredibly thankful to both her and my dad for the sacrifice and love they are showing us through their actions. 

Reports from the doctor and various tests have been very positive.  I don't have to go back and see him until the 3rd of January, that is in 2011!!!  I feel my goal of having these babies have a 2011 birthday getting ever closer.  At the next appointment I will have another ultrasound to measure the babies and also get my glucose test done.  Fingers crossed I don't have to deal with gestational diabetes too.  I continue to stay on complete bed rest and anticipate that will be the same for a while.  The babies move around a lot.  I can now see their movements on my belly, and usually I can tell which baby it is.  Baby A gets hiccups at least twice a day.

The reality of their arrival is beginning to loom in the near future.  We really could have these babies at any time.  It is scary for me to think about labor and delivery, and then how we will handle everything that will come after that.  We have started to do more research into feeding and sleeping and car seats, and have found many different ways of doing things.  It is pretty overwhelming because we really have no idea what is going to work best.  I guess in the end we will pick what we think will, and then just try it out.  Names are another topic we talk about occasionally, but have not really even narrowed down a list yet.  We are slowly making progress on getting ready for the babies while acknowledging that this is really difficult and complicated.  Hopefully we have a few more weeks to continue working on this.

One of the things that I have been doing while in bed is various crafts.  For Christmas I made my daughters stuffed rabbits out of socks.  They were very easy to make and I am hoping they will be able to go with them while they are in the NICU, if that is the case.  It was really fun to be able to make something specifically for each of them and helped me to feel like I was contributing to the preparation of their arrival.  Here is a picture.

I was also able to have my mom take a picture of my ever expanding self in a rare occasion that I was up and dressed.  Here is 28 weeks with twins.



A quiet, flat thanksgiving, a huge milestone, healthy babies, steroids, and a very tired mamma

Well, my lack of posting, thankfully, is not due to any drama or complications, but the extreme tiredness that seems to have hit me in the last week or so.  It is a physical, spiritual, and mental tiredness that I have heard come with the territory of being completely bed ridden and pregnant with two active little girls. 

We had a great Thanksgiving.  It was quiet and I enjoyed the meal on my side, but it was so tasty.  There is something about the idea of a day completely focused on being thankful that I really like.  It helps to remind me that I need to work on being thankful every day.  And really, I have so much to be thankful for this year.  That weekend my husband went and got me a three foot "table" tree that we now have on a desk in the room I stay in, and with lights and ornaments, it is very festive in here.  I have found that having something living and green to look at really helps.

That Sunday after Thanksgiving marked the beginning of week 24.  It was so great to get to that milestone.  A really huge deal that we celebrated with pizza hut pizza!  It had been what we were focused on and was so crucial to get to.  I definitely have felt some relief for getting past that point, although it is funny, because we were so focused on getting there, that now we are already in week 25, it is strange to have my goals change.  Actually having these babies is becoming more and more real. 

This last week was a surprisingly busy week for me.  We had a doctors appointment on Tuesday and got to see the babies.  It had been about six weeks since we had last had one on them, and they had gotten so much bigger!  They are both weighing right at about one and a half pounds.  They are very active and seem healthy.  That is such a relief.  Then on Wednesday and Thursday I had to go into the hospital for a couple of hours each day to get some testing done.  My doctor also decided to give me steroids, just in case the girls decide they want to make a super early entrance, but we are all really hopeful that they will stay put for a long time.

On Friday my husbands parents made the journey down to spend some time with us and help out.  I am so thankful for the support of our parents.  It has really made this experience easier.  I continue to pass the time with the food network, books, puzzles, crocheting, phone calls, internet searching (it is getting time, I think, to start looking into various baby things we might need), and emailing.

I am now off to a doctors appointment and plan to thoroughly enjoy the fresh air, different views, and chance to wear real clothes.  Have a wonderful week! 

I never thought that...

I would be so thankful for a couple of pieces of nylon thread.  I am still pregnant, and we are closing in on the 24 week milestone.  Only five days till we get there.  At my doctors appointment today ultrasound confirmed that the stitches are holding, the only things, holding the babies in.  But the positive is that they are holding and we are making it.  While the days and nights are long, I hold on to hope and am relying on my faith.  I keep encouraged by the people who are supporting us in incredible ways. 

That is how things are right now.  As the weeks go on I hope that things will just get better and better.

Things are the same

We had a good report from the doctor yesterday.  Things look the same, so I continue to be confined to bed and anxiously wait for the weeks to pass.  I guess it is good that I don't have more to report.  Babies continue to be healthy, do well, and move around a lot.  I head back to the doctor on Friday.  Everyday that we get through is another one behind us.  Thank you for all of the prayers and support.  I will keep you posted.

UGGH!

I wasn't sure what to name this post.  Some ideas included "Things are not good, but they are not horrible either" "We are hanging on by a thread" and "How will we make through the next couple of weeks?"  I settled on uggh because that is just how I am feeling right now. 

Needless to say, things are not going great.  Last Sunday I started having regular contractions, so away to the ER we went.  I spend over 24 hours on some heavy duty medicine that stopped my contractions.  We stayed in the hospital until Thursday morning.  I am now on medicine that I can take at home to keep the contractions from starting again.  I was feeling hopeful as we left because they had gotten everything under control.

That was until my doctors appointment on Friday where we found out that I had lost about a centimeter of cervix in 5 days.  My doctor feels that the contractions where due to the cervix opening.  The good news in all of this is that it is holding closed below the stitches and that as of right now I am still pregnant.  I am at 22 weeks, so I have never been this pregnant before.  The doctor sent me home on strict, do not get up except for 10 minute shower sitting down bed rest.  I will leave it to your imagination on how we are managing other things.  These next two weeks are the most crucial.  We have to make it to 24 weeks, so hopefully we can keep this up with a lot of success these next two weeks.  I have another appointment tomorrow, and we are going to find out how things have gone this weekend.

I don't usually feel comfortable asking others to pray for me, but we are in some desperate need of prayer.  So if you could, that would such a comfort and so appreciated.

On a lighter note, here is a picture my husband took from his blackberry of how things are now that I am on strict bed rest.  It usually involves cat helpers.

I've Been Restricted!

The time has come for less activity and more resting.  The doctor has seen a little bit of change, and so to be proactive, my modified bed rest has turned into complete bed rest.  I really didn't know how good I had it until now.  Thankfully my mother is here and taking very good care of me.  She is also good about making sure that I am sticking to the guidelines and not doing to much.  This next month is the really critical point, and after that I am hoping that I will be able to do more.

18 Weeks!

It is hard to believe but we have already reached the 18 week mark.  I had an appointment with my specialist this week.  We got to see a lot of both babies.  The doctor had lots of positive things to say and doesn't need to see me again unless my regular doctor thinks I need to.  Every day with these babies is such a blessing.  While my anxiety has been rearing its ugly head lately, I also am so thankful to be at this point too. 

Here are some profile pictures of the girls.  Oh wait, I didn't tell you?  We are having two GIRLS again.

                                                    Baby A

                                              Baby B

 The resolution on the scanned pictures are not that good, but you can see the sweet noses and outline of their profiles.  I plan to write more about my thoughts on having two more girls and how I am doing in general, but I wanted to make sure to share these pictures with you.  And now I will leave you with a picture of me at 18 weeks.