31 weeks - Back in the hospital :(

So... we went in for our routine dr. appt on Tuesday (I might add this was the one time I did not bring my hospital bag) and first thing they do is check my cervix. Sadly, I was down to a measly 8mm :( It's really scary to think about how little 8mm really is - and that is all that is holding these babies in. I was so frusrtated to say the least. On a positive note, they did measure the babies and baby boy weighed in at 3 pounds 5 ounces and baby girl was 3 pounds 3 ounces and the fluid and heart rates on both were excellent.

Needless to say, Dr. Garner admitted me back in the hospital for bedrest. As soon as they got me upstairs and hooked up to the monitor - sure enough I was contracting about every 5 or so minutes. They gave me a shot of terbutaline which stopped the contractions - and surprisingly wasn't quite as bad as the last time. I did however spend the next day in a sad and scary place, pretty much crying all day wondering if there was anything I could have done - and feeling like a failure. On Thursday, they did another ffn test (which if you remember from my previous stint in the hospital - is a test to see if I am in danger of going into labor in the next 2 weeks) thankfully, the test came back negative -whew! After that and not having any contractions - I felt much less scared and releived that they would at least stay put for another 2 weeks. My goal is to get to at least 35 weeks - idealy 37. Hopefully being in the hospital and the close monitoring will allow me to reach my goal and have healthy chunky babies (welll as chunky as twins can be).   
Last night (Friday), I had about 3 or 4 contractions in a half hour (you shouldn't have more than 6 in an hour) - so my nurse was a little concerned and had me down a ton of water to see if that would do the trick - luckily it did! I hate to think about what could have happened if I were still at home and contracting without knowing it - since that is what is causing my cervix to shorten. This morning my monitoring was good - just a little bit of irritability. They are going to check on the babies and my cervix again on Monday - but Dr. G said that he was going to release me from the hospital in a few weeks (33/34ish weeks) - so by the end of the month I will get to go back home and just let nature take its course. I am very thankful to have the option to go home before the babies get here - I know some doctors make you stay for the duration.
This has been one crazy week to say the least. In addition to all this going down on Tuesday - Jason also started his new job! He is now a senior sales engineer for an IT company called ABP International. He is getting to work along side one of his previous bosses. The poor guy has really been stretched thin this week. As soon as he gets off work at 6 - he comes home, feeds the dog, picks up whatever I might need from the house, picks up something to eat, and comes to hospital - then he usually leaves here around 10:30, and starts it all over again the next day. I really am lucky to have such an amazing hubby - I don't know what I would do without him.
In other news, the other day was pretty exciting as hospital bedrest goes... we had a code black at the hospital. Since there were so many tornados touching down in Dallas, they had all of us move out of our rooms and into conference rooms without windows. We were only there for about 15 minutes before they canceled the code black - but my nurse said that she has been working here for 16 years and this was only the second time she has had a code black! It also seems that I will have to relocate my church baby shower to the hospital - which should be interesting :) Poor Jason is going to have to be the one to take care of buying all things we don't get from showers, wash all the clothes and sheets, put everything away, do my nesting for me, AND find and buy a new car (tahoe) - that's quite the honey do list - I really wish I could do something to help :( And poor Lucy, she's already getting the shaft and the babies aren't even here yet! I wish I could cuddle with her and love on her since I know it will likely be a while before she gets any attention again. Jason is actually going to bring her up here next week - I hope she doesn't wig out! I'm also really looking forward to seeing our maternity pics - maybe next week - I sure hope they turned out good!
For now, I am spending the day relaxing with my love and watching some college football! Can't wait to watch my horns play tonight! Hook 'em horns!

Belly and Baby Shower Pics

30 1/2 weeks today and the kick off of college football - hook 'em horns! What a beautiful weekend - wish I could actually go out and enjoy it - stupid bedrest! We had our maternity pics done today - I hope they turn out good :) Happy Labor Day!


gotta love it when you can't tell where your boobs end and your belly begins!


Jason reluctantly took the longhorn pics!


not sure when exactly it happened - but man my belly got big!


no stretch marks, but you can see every vein on my belly!

Pickles and Ice Cream themed baby shower

Shawnte, Amanda and Kasey

My mom had to help me with the gifts since I couldn't bend over!




I love anything with a ruffle butt!

They had a whole ice cream sundae bar set up - super cute and yummy!



The guests gave the babies books instead of cards to stock up their library so we can read to them everyday :)

Me, Amanda, and Kasey

The hostesses with the mostesses! Gina, Misty, (me), Jessica, Miss Harper, and Charlotte!
Since they did such an amazing job on my shower - I had to shower them with a little something too :)

When it was all said and done - we ended up with what I like to refer to a "Mount Baby"! It took a while to weed through, but we've got most of it put away - but you sure run out of room fast when you have a baby x 2!



In other news - Memi and Gabe had their sweet baby girl, Magnolia Elyse Link on 9/30/10 at 9:14pm weighing in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. - and she was so worried she was going to end up with a 10 lb baby! She is absolutely beautiful and has a full head of hair- perfect for bows! Here are a few pics - I just know the our babies will be best friends!


Happy Birthday Magnolia - I can't wait to meet you!

Not sure how to turn this pic around? But isn't she so cute!

Going home!

30 week appt.

So we had our 30 week appt yesterday and I was feeling really good about it since I had not done anything active all week - and was optimistic that my cervical length would reflect that. Unfortunately, things didn't go as hoped :( My cervix shortened by 4mm (from 1.8 last week to 1.4 today). I was so scared that Dr. G was going to put me back in the hospital on bedrest. I was so frustrated... I don't know what else I could have done - how is it that after a very active week of hair appt, dinner out, and a baby shower, my cervix stays the same, and then the week I do absolutely nothing... it shortens! Ugh! As we waited for Dr. G I was running through bargaining options in my head to avoid being admitted again - later Jason told me he was too! Once we got in the room with Dr. G, he was not nearly as concerned as we thought he would be- in fact he still considered my length as stable - whew! He said that sometimes bedrest just doesn't work - but we are going to continue to do what we can to keep these babies incubated as long as possible! We are also only a few days away from the magic milestone of 30 weeks - which has been Dr. G's biggest goal through this whole scare. He basically said that at this point he did not foresee putting me back in the hospital until it was time to deliver AND... he also said that in a few weeks he would take me off bedrest and just let nature take it's course. Although I will probably continue my bedrest routine, it is nice to know that I will be able to take care of any last minute returns, exchanges, etc., and go out on a few final dates with my hubby :)

In other news... I passed the 3 hour glucose test after failing the initial screening (all thanks to the steroids in my system from our preterm labor scare). It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and actually went by pretty quickly. I am up about 24 lbs and working really hard to fatten these babies up! At our appt on Monday, the babies were still lookin good - great fluid, movement, heartbeats ect. Baby boy is still head down and baby girl continues to sit in the weird awkward transverse/sideways position despite my efforts to coax her into changing positions! It's a good thing we already decided on a scheduled c-section, cause if baby girl doesn't change position, we would have to have one anyways! In the nursery, Jason installed a second rod in the closet, a cubby shelf over the dresser, and got a nightstand and lamp for next to the glider. After the shower on Saturday, we sure had a lot of stuff to fill the closet and shelves with! We have baby boy's letters for his name, we just need to find a frame for it! Baby girl's letters should come in this week - and I cannot wait to see them!!! 

In a few days (Saturday the 4th), Jason and I are going to get our maternity pics done - I hope they turn out good! Memi just had her baby girl Magnolia Elyse last night at 9:14pm after being induced at 8am that morning - she's a trooper - and baby girl is just beautiful and has a full head of hair! I cannot wait to meet her! Sorry no pics today - but hopefully next week :)

28 week appt. & baby pics!

So, I was going into today's appointment very cautious but optimistic and am very pleased to tell you all that everything went GREAT! My cervix went from 1.8 last Monday, to 1.9 on Friday, to 2.0 today!!! We are definitely moving in the right direction! It gives me that needed push to continue to power through this bedrest - knowing that I am really doing everything I can to keep these babies cookin for as long as I can. The sono tech said that the fluid around the babies was excellent, and we even got to watch them practice their breathing -so cool! Baby A is still head down and Baby B continues to hang out in this sort of sideways position looking toward my back that doesn't look comfortable at all - but I did find out that it is his/her shoulder that is jabbing me. We really haven't had any good sono pics in a while, but we hit the jackpot today (well at least for Baby A)! He/She was perfectly positioned so that we could see his/her profile and the sono tech flipped it over to 3D/4D and we got to see what our precious little baby looks like - it was SOOOOO amazing! They didn't take any measurements today, but the babies should weigh about 2 1/2 lbs each and about 15 1/2 inches long! I have finally broken the 20 lb mark and am weighing in at 22 lbs! I'm really trying to put some fat on these babies so they can be nice and healthy when they are born (in about 9 weeks) - so if anyone has any delicious (or at least not horrible) high protein, high calorie recipes - send 'em my way! 


I also had my glucose screening today - and it wasn't nearly as bad as some people make it out to be. It basically tasted like really sweet, flat orange soda. We should have the results back tomorrow, but I'm not too worried about it. I already feel like this week is going to fly by - maybe because I am really looking forward to seeing my mom and having my baby shower on Saturday! Well, I guess that's about it for now - be sure to check out the pics from today's sono!


Profile of Baby A

Back Home... for now :)

So... I got to come home today - YAY! They stopped the contractions on Monday, and with the exception of some uterine irritability, all my monitorings came back great! Babies are doing GREAT! On Wednesday they did an FFN test to see if I was secreting the protein that would indicate pre-term labor - and thank God - it came back negative! The last hurdle was today's cervical exam - if it was stabilized then I would be able to go home and do my bed rest there. So, this morning we had our sono and I went from a 1.8 to 1.9 and the funneling had not increased, which means I was stable enough to go home!!!



Now I just have to relax at home with Lucy in the comfort of my own couch and bed for the next 10 weeks! We do go back to the doc on Monday for our reg appt and glucose test, and we were pre-warned to pack a bag just in case - but I have a good feeling we won't be needing it. In other good news, my doctor told me that I am free to go to part 2 of our child prep class tomorrow, my hair appt on Wed, and my baby shower next Sat. I am REALLY bummed that I don't get to go down to Austin to see Memi have her baby :( but know that I have a more important job of keeping these babies cookin a little while longer. I no longer need the steroid shots, but they are keeping my on the procrdia to prevent anymore contractions. I feel very blessed, things could have been very different and I am so very thankful that God was looking over us this week! I also want to thank everyone who raised us up in their thoughts and prayers and who came to visit me - it was VERY much appreciated - we couldn't ask for better friends or family! This was the last thing we ever expected, but I am just thankful that I am not working and can just relax and take care of these babies!


Here's a few pics of the nursery (new light fixture and dresser) and belly pic via hospital!

I guess it was all the meds, but for some reason it was 66 degrees in that hospital room and I wasn't cold at all, but Jason was FREEZING! This is usually what I look like curled up on the couch at home when it's 78!


27 weeks - hospital belly pic!


Not sure if you can notice or not but, the bottom line is showing no contractions!!!


Finally get to snuggle with my Lucy - she wiggled her way up through the blanket and rested her head on my belly - it was so cute!


The new light fixture in the nursery :)


new light and dresser




New dresser :)

The Wonderful Life of Bed Rest!

So, as many of you already know by now, I have been on hospital bed rest since Monday afternoon - boo :(
Monday started off like any other day, but this was a great day because it was baby appt day!! Jason and I arrived at the doctor's office for our 3 o'clock appt and went back for our standard sono (I'd like to mention that Colleen our trusted sono tech was not there today - coincidence? hmm?). So we go back and the very first thing they check each time is my cervical length. Well... apparently in the course of two weeks my cervix had shortened from 47 to 18! No bueno! At this point, your cervix should not be any shorter than a 25 :( I don't know what caused it to shorten, but needless to say, we were both very scared and unsure about what this all meant for me and the babies. The sono tech checked the babies and they were both doing great - so that was a major source of temporary relief!
We went back to the Dr. G's office and he basically told us that he and I were about to become even better friends and that I would need to go straight upstairs and be put on bedrest :( My heart was racing and I could feel the tears begin to swell behind my eyes - preterm labor was my biggest fear and worry - and everything had been going so, so well leading up to this, I was just left wondering if there was something that I did to cause this. Dr. G tried his best to reassure me and tell me that it was just so that they could monitor me and that it may just be a few days and not to freak out. So... we made our way up to labor and deliver (they didn't have any open beds in the antepardom section). They pretty much immediately hooked me up to the monitors to check on the babies and to see if I was contracting. Well... low and behold, I was contracting every 2-3 minutes and had absolutely no idea! I felt nothing! No tightening, cramps, pain, nothing! Scary! On the positive side - the babies did no seem to be bothered at all by the contractions and their heartrates were perfect! After about 20 minutes of being monitored they gave me a shot of terbutaline -  a medication to stop the contratcions. It worked like a charm, but it also made me very shaky and jittery - very strange feeling! Luckily, within about half and hour/45 min the shakiness wore off - and even better, no more contractions! They also started me on procardia which apparently also helps keep contractions from starting back up (pretty much no side effects to this one - at least not that I can tell) - which is good because that means no more of the crazy shaky medicine! They also gave me a steroid shot for the babies to aid in their lung maturity just in case (had one on Monday and one last night) - and ooohhh did it burn, but only for about a minute. They have been monitoring me twice a day, once in the morning after breakfast and once at night after dinner, and I am pleased to report that I have had no contractions - woo hoo!
Jason and I had part one of a two day child prep class designed for multiples, day two is supposed to be this Saturday when we will get to take a tour of the hospital - well I guess I can skip that one! Since being admitted on Monday, I have been in 3 different rooms, so at least I get a change of scenery! I started out in L&D Monday night, then on Tuesday they switched me to a different L&D room (because it had a window), but by Tuesday evening (10:30pm) I was being moved yet again, but this time to the antepardom section (smaller rooms). I really, really loved all of the nurses in L&D - I hope I get them again in about 10 weeks! Not that  the antepardom nurses aren't nice - but those L&D nurses were the bomb! I see some special treats in their future!
So... here's the situation now... they told me on Monday night that they would need to do a test called an FFN (fetal fibronectin test). Fetal fibronectin is a protein made by the amniotic sac that attaches the amnion/chorion layer to the uterus. It is found in the normal vaginal discharge of pregnant women until about 22 weeks gestation (I am 27 weeks today). After that point, it isn't released again until 2 or 3 weeks prior to birth. If it is present between 24 to 34 weeks it means that there is a higher chance of preterm labor. It's a pretty easy test - just a quick swab of your cervical area and then that swab is sent to a lab - but, nothing can have been in your cervical area for more than 24 hours or it can cause a false positive - so they had to wait until this morning to run the test. Through lots of prayer and the grace of God - we got the results about an hour later that it was negative - woo hoo! It's like a huge weight has been lifted! Now, the nurse said that they can often have false positives, but a negative is always a negative :) YAY!
So now we sit (or in my case mostly lay) and we wait until Friday when they will check my cervical length again. Dr. G said that it can either continue to shorten (worst case), stay the same (not good but not bad), or it can even begin to lengthen again (ideal). So, it all comes down to Friday - I am very optimistic and I know that we our in God's hands and he will take care of us. I am so very thankful for all the blessings we have received, even though I know we do not deserve them - God is so good. 
If in the event I have to stay here longer, Dr. G has told me that I will be able to get a day pass and go to my showers :) So that made me very happy! And get this... Lucy can even come and visit me! I know it's only been a few days but I really miss my fur baby! Hopefully, I will get to go home Friday or Saturday - so keep your fingers crossed and continue to send up those prayers! Thank you all so very much for all of your generous offerings of love and support - we are truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our lives, and we really do appreciate you all. I will keep you updated if anything changes! 

In other news... I am 27 weeks today and am officially in my third trimester - woo hoo! And even better - the nursery is almost complete! I would post pics but the camera cord is at home - Jason is going to bring it tonight - so I will post pics tomorrow :)

25 Week Update & Nursery

We had our weekly appt today, and everything is fantastic! Luckily, we got Colleen as our sono tech and she measured the babies! Both babies are about 1 lb 8 oz each and 12 inches head to toe and are right on schedule! Their fluids are great and my cervix is continue to hold strong. So well in fact that Dr. G was quite impressed and told me that he doesn't think he needs to see me every week and that we can go back to every two weeks! Unfortunately, the babies did not want to cooperate today and were both facing my back - so sadly no face or profile shots today :( although it wasn't without a lot of trying by Colleen :( Hopefully next time. It does appear that a foot has been jabbing me in my upper rib region, but I guess it could be worse cause apparently the other foot is busy kicking sister in the face! Poor baby girl! They have sure been active lately, doing summersaults and kicking like crazy! Jason is finally able to feel them kick now that they are packing quite the punch! Overall, Dr. G said everything is perfect and great - and it never gets old hearing those words - I feel so very blessed and grateful!

The nursery is really coming along... our bedding finally came in!!! And we decided to get an upholstered glider instead - so we sold the old one. We also bought some blackout curtains that seem to work as an accent wall since the windows cover almost the entire wall. We still need to get the dresser, which we may get this weekend, and the cute brown and cream zebra rug I found on overstock.com, and Jason is going to install some crown molding (with the help of his dad) - and then it will pretty much be complete (with the exception of a few wall decoration items)! Lucy seems to really like the nursery - I often find her just chillin in there - it's so cute!

In other news... I have definitely been packin on the pounds lately! It was such a slow start, but the last few weeks I have gained a lot - I am up to 20 pounds now! But luckily (for now) it is all boobs and belly! The last few weeks have taken a toll on my right ribs - there just doesn't seem to be enough space in there for babies and organs! My liver and diaphragm have been shoved into my ribs causing them to be pushed out of place and causing searing pain from my back all the way around to the front. Fortunately, I happen to know an awesome chiropractor who has experience working with pregnant women. I went to see her today so that she could hopefully help free up some space and relieve this constant pain. She said it may take two visits to really feel any effects, and apparently I fall into that category - cause it's still there :( But, I go in again on Thursday and am praying that it works! I don't want anyone to think I am complaining, b/c there is absolutely nothing that I can complain about in this pregnancy! The pool really seems to help, so if I have to spend everyday in the pool between now and D day - I think I can handle that - it'll be tough but I think I can do it :)

Here are some picks of the nursery and belly pics (24 weeks 4 days) - hope to have more baby pics in 2 weeks, if they cooperate!