Shutterfly is giving 50 free Christmas Cards to bloggers. I dont know when we will do cards or IF we will because it just depends on the babies. But anyway, here is what I need to share:
I think I would like a collage christmas card, they seem pretty. I've used Shutterfly in the past making photo books yearly since Adam and I got married. We also make a calendar each year. Their products always turn out so nice. I plan on making the babies birth announcements with them since they have some cute twin ones.
Here are some links below to the items we used in the past.
Cute cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
Calendars:http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars
Nicole...I borrowed some of your links :0 )....Ill see if this works.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
November 9th, 2010
Yes, November 9th, 2010 is our official delivery date at 8 am. We were excited to have it confirmed so we could officially count down.
I know I dont write on here as much as everyone would like and it will probaly will remain that way however everyone who reads this knows otherways to get information for how we are doing so please ask if you want to know something.
I have officially been in the hospital 5 weeks and 2 days and am 29 weeks and 2 days. That is beyond my halfway point and unfortunatly it recently has become harder for me. Now, I think there are several reasons for this. 1) Im sick of being in the hospital and just want my home back. 2) Its only 2 weeks and 5 days from meeting our babies yet it seems like it will never happen. I want to dig into the baby stuff. 3) Im scared now that they are so close and getting bigger that something will happen, Im worrying a lot more than I used to. I have no means to justify this worrying as everything continue to looks well. Maybe its just a mother thing. 4) The menu here is REALLY getting old. .....okay I could really go on and on. I really dont mind being by myself a lot nessicarilly even though I would rather have Adam with me all the time. I think im just sick of being here.
The babies have been doing well. We havent had another scare so that is good. Last week they did weights again and A was 2 lbs 11 oz. and B was 2 lbs 6 oz. Dr. Cassidy thinks that if I make it all the way to 32 weeks that they could be close to 4 lbs if the ultrasound is measuring accuratly (they have a 10% error rate..meaning the could weight more or less than they measure). Close to 4 lbs would be great. I talked to one of the NICU nurses who said that the hardest thing would be eating probably. Thier monitor tracings have been mostly good, every once in awhile they have a little decel but nothing consistent. Thier ultasounds have been good too. When im thinking like a smart person, Im pretty sure that they will make it all the way to 32 weeks since they have done so well...but my emotional part fears something will happen. I know one thing..Adam and I are sooo ready to meet these boys.
I have had all the steroid shots now that were needed to help with lung development. They are also going to give me a one time dose of IV magnesium before I deliver because studies have shown that it decreases risk of cerebral palsy in premature infants by 40%. I know the side effects of magnesium arent pleasent but who could turn those statistics down for thier babies. I also have been throwing contractions so im now on Procardia to help prevent them 4 x a day.
I have been making Joshua and Jacksons Christmas stockings the past few weeks. Nicole purchased a couple kits for me to do for entertainment. Two night nurses are also supposed to teach me to crochet..they bought me some yarn and hooks. They just have to find the time now haha they past few nights have been crazy out there. I had a lovely baby shower last weekend. We had a good turn out and got lots of cute things for the boys. We appreciate everyone who came out to see us.
Guess I will go for now, not making any promises but I will try and be better about updates.
And I have to say that I have an amazing husband!!
I know I dont write on here as much as everyone would like and it will probaly will remain that way however everyone who reads this knows otherways to get information for how we are doing so please ask if you want to know something.
I have officially been in the hospital 5 weeks and 2 days and am 29 weeks and 2 days. That is beyond my halfway point and unfortunatly it recently has become harder for me. Now, I think there are several reasons for this. 1) Im sick of being in the hospital and just want my home back. 2) Its only 2 weeks and 5 days from meeting our babies yet it seems like it will never happen. I want to dig into the baby stuff. 3) Im scared now that they are so close and getting bigger that something will happen, Im worrying a lot more than I used to. I have no means to justify this worrying as everything continue to looks well. Maybe its just a mother thing. 4) The menu here is REALLY getting old. .....okay I could really go on and on. I really dont mind being by myself a lot nessicarilly even though I would rather have Adam with me all the time. I think im just sick of being here.
The babies have been doing well. We havent had another scare so that is good. Last week they did weights again and A was 2 lbs 11 oz. and B was 2 lbs 6 oz. Dr. Cassidy thinks that if I make it all the way to 32 weeks that they could be close to 4 lbs if the ultrasound is measuring accuratly (they have a 10% error rate..meaning the could weight more or less than they measure). Close to 4 lbs would be great. I talked to one of the NICU nurses who said that the hardest thing would be eating probably. Thier monitor tracings have been mostly good, every once in awhile they have a little decel but nothing consistent. Thier ultasounds have been good too. When im thinking like a smart person, Im pretty sure that they will make it all the way to 32 weeks since they have done so well...but my emotional part fears something will happen. I know one thing..Adam and I are sooo ready to meet these boys.
I have had all the steroid shots now that were needed to help with lung development. They are also going to give me a one time dose of IV magnesium before I deliver because studies have shown that it decreases risk of cerebral palsy in premature infants by 40%. I know the side effects of magnesium arent pleasent but who could turn those statistics down for thier babies. I also have been throwing contractions so im now on Procardia to help prevent them 4 x a day.
I have been making Joshua and Jacksons Christmas stockings the past few weeks. Nicole purchased a couple kits for me to do for entertainment. Two night nurses are also supposed to teach me to crochet..they bought me some yarn and hooks. They just have to find the time now haha they past few nights have been crazy out there. I had a lovely baby shower last weekend. We had a good turn out and got lots of cute things for the boys. We appreciate everyone who came out to see us.
Guess I will go for now, not making any promises but I will try and be better about updates.
And I have to say that I have an amazing husband!!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
26 weeks 1 day
Well, I am definatly going stir crazy now. Its hard to stomach that theres still 6 weeks to go. I know im in the right place, it just gets hard. I miss my home and my Izzie. I miss the freedom.
Adam and I had a big scare on Saturday night into Sunday. I went on the monitor that night around 11 like every night and the boys werent looking the same. They werent showing any movement what so ever. They ended up leaving me on the monitor that night while having me drink juice and popcycles, anything with sugar. But there was never much change. That morning they called in an ultrasound tech and had L&D and NICU on hold just in case. It was crazy to think about this all. They told me if they saw anything negative in the ultrasound that I would go straight to L&D. All I could think about was Im only 25 weeks. But then it also made me realize this is why I am here. I got to ultrasound and thankfully everything ended up being okay. They left me on the monitor that day most of the day to make sure it didnt reoccur. Our parents both came down that morning for support. I think considering everything Adam and I held it together well and were ready for whatever was to come. We knew at that time it was out of our hands and were very strong for eachother. They believe what happened was.. that night I ended up with a severe migraine and they had gave me some medicine for it, well usually if it is a medicine that makes you sleepy then it makes the boys sleepy too. So they think the medicine just made them extremely sleepy and it just stayed in thier system for a long time. Its not harmful to them just makes them tired. Since that day the boys are looking great and have shown no signs of distress. I pray every night that the nurses and doctors taking care of me know what to do and will do what is best for my babies and I felt they did this weekend. I have some incredible nurses and doctors.
I had an ultrasound today and they both passed pretty fast and thier tracings still have been great. Im not able to get pictures today because thier heads are too low in my pelvis. (Makes things real comfortable.) Im glad the boys are still where they need to be and hopefully something like that doesnt happen again and if it does hopefully they will be at least 28 weeks so they have a better chance.
Other than the craziness I mentioned above nothing much has been happening. Ive been really tired since that day since it was emotionally and physically exhausting and I didnt sleep that night. Today I took at pretty long nap.
Im excited for my brothers family to come Friday, it has been giving me something to look forward too!!
Until next week....hopefully it stays quite here.
Adam and I had a big scare on Saturday night into Sunday. I went on the monitor that night around 11 like every night and the boys werent looking the same. They werent showing any movement what so ever. They ended up leaving me on the monitor that night while having me drink juice and popcycles, anything with sugar. But there was never much change. That morning they called in an ultrasound tech and had L&D and NICU on hold just in case. It was crazy to think about this all. They told me if they saw anything negative in the ultrasound that I would go straight to L&D. All I could think about was Im only 25 weeks. But then it also made me realize this is why I am here. I got to ultrasound and thankfully everything ended up being okay. They left me on the monitor that day most of the day to make sure it didnt reoccur. Our parents both came down that morning for support. I think considering everything Adam and I held it together well and were ready for whatever was to come. We knew at that time it was out of our hands and were very strong for eachother. They believe what happened was.. that night I ended up with a severe migraine and they had gave me some medicine for it, well usually if it is a medicine that makes you sleepy then it makes the boys sleepy too. So they think the medicine just made them extremely sleepy and it just stayed in thier system for a long time. Its not harmful to them just makes them tired. Since that day the boys are looking great and have shown no signs of distress. I pray every night that the nurses and doctors taking care of me know what to do and will do what is best for my babies and I felt they did this weekend. I have some incredible nurses and doctors.
I had an ultrasound today and they both passed pretty fast and thier tracings still have been great. Im not able to get pictures today because thier heads are too low in my pelvis. (Makes things real comfortable.) Im glad the boys are still where they need to be and hopefully something like that doesnt happen again and if it does hopefully they will be at least 28 weeks so they have a better chance.
Other than the craziness I mentioned above nothing much has been happening. Ive been really tired since that day since it was emotionally and physically exhausting and I didnt sleep that night. Today I took at pretty long nap.
Im excited for my brothers family to come Friday, it has been giving me something to look forward too!!
Until next week....hopefully it stays quite here.
Friday, September 24, 2010
25 weeks 3 days..10 Days Inpatient
I could say that these 10 days have gone fast and when looking back they have but each and everyday has its periods when it feels like it will never come. Does that make sense?
I got a new room, it is where I will still the remainder of my time. It is a little bit bigger, has more seating, and a much nicer view. Before, I was staring at a parking garage watching people smoke there who really arent supposed to be haha. Now, I have a good view and can see some of the buildings downtown from my window. I also get to see what it actually looks like outside which helps my sanity.
My nurses have been great! I do have my favorites who I get majority of the time but at least I dont feel like any of them at all are imcompitent. And there is only a hand full of them who work this floor so its not like I have to have someone new all the time.
Adam has been great and has even stayed every night with me thus far. He tries to keep me sane. I look forward to my wheel chair rides every night with him for my change of scenery. We also play Uno and are enjoying the new start start of the fall tv shows. We all know I cant say enough about him :).
I have been doing okay. The first few days everything was going beautifully besides being stuck in a room all day. I have been having a few contractions that show up on the monitors but nothing to much or to consistnent that they are worried about as of yet. Mainly just my uterus being irritable which is common with twins. I crazily got diagnosed with gestational diabetes this week. I had my first breakdown that day. I even refused to see people haha. I think is was the cumuliation of everything: the diagnosis, being stuck in a hospital, the whole pregnancy itself not being easy..so forth. But yea I think I cried a lot that day. Since then my blood sugars have been really good each day, so today they decided that instead of 4 times a day that now I can go down to being stuck 2 times a day. That is a lot nicer. I even think if they remain really good that I can go to 3 times a week but that is still in the distant future. Since, I received steroid shots and so forth those effects could have still been lingering in my system and results in higher results. But I cant change anything and I just have to keep doing what is best for the boys. Being stuck every 3 days also isnt fun for my blood type and screen they have to keep current incase I have the emergency c-section, I have bruises galore.
I spend my day waiting on doctors to visit, doing word searches, writing down my events of the day, getting on the computer (weirdly not as often as before I was admitted)...I have also been working on a little cross stitch project of a frog which is cute. I also have received several magazines to look at. I have several projects pending in the future as I finish other ones. Some Titans players came to visit, we took pictures and they gave us posters and such. Two of everything in fact since we are having twins. Too bad they dont give away tickets haha ..guess I wouldnt be able to go anyway.
The babies are doing pretty well. They too the first few days were performing beautifully but since then they have had just a few heart decelerations. Nothing serious because they arent happening consistent enough or in a pattern (kind of like my contractions). The doctors dont have any worry at this time. They get on the monitor 3 times a day, sometimes they behave other times they like to hide hah. They also like to start kicking the monitors like crazy when they are on there. Thier ultrasound this week was good. Baby A was practicing breathing a lot and moving a lot, his heart rate was 144, and he now weighs 1 lb 11 oz. Baby B finally practiced breathing after being pushed and buzzed through my stomach, however he was moving well...his heart rate was 150 and he weighs 1 lbs 9 oz. They are moving up on the growth chart which is a good thing. I love these boys and its still hard to believe that when I leave here they will be born.
Adam and I have finally completed our registries which was fun to do for them. I also think my shower will be at the hospital since after thier born Im not going to want to go anywhere. At least I got a new room with more seating haha.
I would like to thank everyone for thier continued support and prayers. They mean a lot to Adam and I. I would also like to think my wonderful visitors: Heather, Katy and Buster, Christi, Becca, Adams parents, my parents and Teresea, Jennifer, Carly, and Aunt Gail! Also thanks for all the phone calls.
Time for me to go on the monitor..
I got a new room, it is where I will still the remainder of my time. It is a little bit bigger, has more seating, and a much nicer view. Before, I was staring at a parking garage watching people smoke there who really arent supposed to be haha. Now, I have a good view and can see some of the buildings downtown from my window. I also get to see what it actually looks like outside which helps my sanity.
My nurses have been great! I do have my favorites who I get majority of the time but at least I dont feel like any of them at all are imcompitent. And there is only a hand full of them who work this floor so its not like I have to have someone new all the time.
Adam has been great and has even stayed every night with me thus far. He tries to keep me sane. I look forward to my wheel chair rides every night with him for my change of scenery. We also play Uno and are enjoying the new start start of the fall tv shows. We all know I cant say enough about him :).
I have been doing okay. The first few days everything was going beautifully besides being stuck in a room all day. I have been having a few contractions that show up on the monitors but nothing to much or to consistnent that they are worried about as of yet. Mainly just my uterus being irritable which is common with twins. I crazily got diagnosed with gestational diabetes this week. I had my first breakdown that day. I even refused to see people haha. I think is was the cumuliation of everything: the diagnosis, being stuck in a hospital, the whole pregnancy itself not being easy..so forth. But yea I think I cried a lot that day. Since then my blood sugars have been really good each day, so today they decided that instead of 4 times a day that now I can go down to being stuck 2 times a day. That is a lot nicer. I even think if they remain really good that I can go to 3 times a week but that is still in the distant future. Since, I received steroid shots and so forth those effects could have still been lingering in my system and results in higher results. But I cant change anything and I just have to keep doing what is best for the boys. Being stuck every 3 days also isnt fun for my blood type and screen they have to keep current incase I have the emergency c-section, I have bruises galore.
I spend my day waiting on doctors to visit, doing word searches, writing down my events of the day, getting on the computer (weirdly not as often as before I was admitted)...I have also been working on a little cross stitch project of a frog which is cute. I also have received several magazines to look at. I have several projects pending in the future as I finish other ones. Some Titans players came to visit, we took pictures and they gave us posters and such. Two of everything in fact since we are having twins. Too bad they dont give away tickets haha ..guess I wouldnt be able to go anyway.
The babies are doing pretty well. They too the first few days were performing beautifully but since then they have had just a few heart decelerations. Nothing serious because they arent happening consistent enough or in a pattern (kind of like my contractions). The doctors dont have any worry at this time. They get on the monitor 3 times a day, sometimes they behave other times they like to hide hah. They also like to start kicking the monitors like crazy when they are on there. Thier ultrasound this week was good. Baby A was practicing breathing a lot and moving a lot, his heart rate was 144, and he now weighs 1 lb 11 oz. Baby B finally practiced breathing after being pushed and buzzed through my stomach, however he was moving well...his heart rate was 150 and he weighs 1 lbs 9 oz. They are moving up on the growth chart which is a good thing. I love these boys and its still hard to believe that when I leave here they will be born.
Adam and I have finally completed our registries which was fun to do for them. I also think my shower will be at the hospital since after thier born Im not going to want to go anywhere. At least I got a new room with more seating haha.
I would like to thank everyone for thier continued support and prayers. They mean a lot to Adam and I. I would also like to think my wonderful visitors: Heather, Katy and Buster, Christi, Becca, Adams parents, my parents and Teresea, Jennifer, Carly, and Aunt Gail! Also thanks for all the phone calls.
Time for me to go on the monitor..
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Inpatient 24 weeks
Well, we have made it here. What a crazy and stressful last few months we have had. It sometimes seems like just yesterday at 6 weeks we found out about these miracle babies. I still remember the emotions as they never really left. We felt like yesterday was never going to come, as it was a milestone to reach. But yesterday I moved into the hospital and now we are just moving on to our next milestones and feeling blessed for each day they remain in me. Ill come back to this, let me catch you up on where I left off on my last post.
Instead of waiting the full 2 weeks to check Joshua's heart, they actually checked it the week after. Now, it was a different ultrasound tech and different doctor there that day but they didn't see the defect at that time. However, I remember asking doctor Collins if since it is so hard to find that it could possibly be missed the next time and he said their was a chance. But, we cant worry about that now. If it is present, its not going to be changing anything I'm currently doing and wont be detrimental to his health right away after birth. Adam and I plan to take them both to the cardiologist after they come home to make sure there is nothing there. But until then...as far as we know its not and that is good news.
The babies are similar in size again which is a good thing but still measuring pretty small but they don't seem to concerned with that at the moment. They are hoping me being on bed rest now that they will start to fatten up. I don't see how this is going to happen since they like to fight all day in my stomach. :)
So, that is really all that has gone on since blogging last that I feel is important in letting people finally know.
I had to say goodbye to my favorite thing ever, Izzie, on Sunday. She went to live with my parents while I'm in the hospital. I'm not going to lie, it was extremely hard to do and I miss her all the time. But, I know she will be happier there instead of waiting at home wondering when her mommy is coming back. I know she is in excellent hands so that helps ease my pain. :)
Well, I moved into the hospital on Tuesday. I love visitors because it can get boring being by yourself all day. So if you want to come see me, message me and ill let you know where I'm at. I currently get non stress test every 8 hours ranging from 20-40 minutes at a time. So far the have looked good. I had an ultrasound today and will have one every Wednesday until 28 weeks and then twice weekly thereafter. Sadly as I do not have a scanner I wont be able to post any of their cute pictures but I do have some from the last few weeks that I will post at the end of this blog. One picture today had Joshua sucking on Jackson's hand, pretty funny thing to see. I'm on bed rest but luckily its not to strict, I can sit in a chair if I want and if I need something in the room I can get up and get it and I can take showers which is GREAT. My room is really nice and big and apparently when one becomes available I get an even bigger one which I cant imagine since this one is bigger than any rooms I have ever worked in. My bed is pretty bad, its like sleeping on a cement slab haha. So I think I'm going to put an egg shell pad on it.
I have made the room my own, I brought my own blanket and pictures and so forth to make it more homey.
Adam has been great, poor guy has like 3 jobs. His real job, still taking care of the house, and being here for me and the babies. He is doing excellent though and the one thing I miss more than anything, besides Izzie and a comfy bed :), is him holding me at night. What a lame thing to say haha but it is true.
We still have a long road a head of us, we are at 24 weeks but it would be very scary still for them to be born this early even though it is possible. My goal of course is to make it to 32 weeks but I will start to feel a little more comfortable after 28 weeks. So that is still awhile away. But I am where I need to be and know that whatever happens is what is meant to be. I have had to lovely steroid injections to boost their lungs and I'm done until 30 weeks at which time I will receive a booster.
I have a lot of time on my hands now so I will try and be a better poster. Thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts and kind words. They have gotten us to this point for which we are so grateful but like I said we still have hurdles to get through to get both babies safely here. Bad things could still happen like during when I'm not monitored a cord accident could happen, but I cant dwell on this and can only think of the positive of getting both babies here safely and staying in the womb as long as possible.
I also want to say congrats to Nicole Barney who is having her baby tomorrow and wish her the best of luck!! Love you girl.
Baby A: Jackson 21 weeks
Baby B: Joshua 21 weeks
Feet:
Baby B: Joshua 22 weeks
Baby A: Jackson 23 weeks
Instead of waiting the full 2 weeks to check Joshua's heart, they actually checked it the week after. Now, it was a different ultrasound tech and different doctor there that day but they didn't see the defect at that time. However, I remember asking doctor Collins if since it is so hard to find that it could possibly be missed the next time and he said their was a chance. But, we cant worry about that now. If it is present, its not going to be changing anything I'm currently doing and wont be detrimental to his health right away after birth. Adam and I plan to take them both to the cardiologist after they come home to make sure there is nothing there. But until then...as far as we know its not and that is good news.
The babies are similar in size again which is a good thing but still measuring pretty small but they don't seem to concerned with that at the moment. They are hoping me being on bed rest now that they will start to fatten up. I don't see how this is going to happen since they like to fight all day in my stomach. :)
So, that is really all that has gone on since blogging last that I feel is important in letting people finally know.
I had to say goodbye to my favorite thing ever, Izzie, on Sunday. She went to live with my parents while I'm in the hospital. I'm not going to lie, it was extremely hard to do and I miss her all the time. But, I know she will be happier there instead of waiting at home wondering when her mommy is coming back. I know she is in excellent hands so that helps ease my pain. :)
Well, I moved into the hospital on Tuesday. I love visitors because it can get boring being by yourself all day. So if you want to come see me, message me and ill let you know where I'm at. I currently get non stress test every 8 hours ranging from 20-40 minutes at a time. So far the have looked good. I had an ultrasound today and will have one every Wednesday until 28 weeks and then twice weekly thereafter. Sadly as I do not have a scanner I wont be able to post any of their cute pictures but I do have some from the last few weeks that I will post at the end of this blog. One picture today had Joshua sucking on Jackson's hand, pretty funny thing to see. I'm on bed rest but luckily its not to strict, I can sit in a chair if I want and if I need something in the room I can get up and get it and I can take showers which is GREAT. My room is really nice and big and apparently when one becomes available I get an even bigger one which I cant imagine since this one is bigger than any rooms I have ever worked in. My bed is pretty bad, its like sleeping on a cement slab haha. So I think I'm going to put an egg shell pad on it.
I have made the room my own, I brought my own blanket and pictures and so forth to make it more homey.
Adam has been great, poor guy has like 3 jobs. His real job, still taking care of the house, and being here for me and the babies. He is doing excellent though and the one thing I miss more than anything, besides Izzie and a comfy bed :), is him holding me at night. What a lame thing to say haha but it is true.
We still have a long road a head of us, we are at 24 weeks but it would be very scary still for them to be born this early even though it is possible. My goal of course is to make it to 32 weeks but I will start to feel a little more comfortable after 28 weeks. So that is still awhile away. But I am where I need to be and know that whatever happens is what is meant to be. I have had to lovely steroid injections to boost their lungs and I'm done until 30 weeks at which time I will receive a booster.
I have a lot of time on my hands now so I will try and be a better poster. Thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts and kind words. They have gotten us to this point for which we are so grateful but like I said we still have hurdles to get through to get both babies safely here. Bad things could still happen like during when I'm not monitored a cord accident could happen, but I cant dwell on this and can only think of the positive of getting both babies here safely and staying in the womb as long as possible.
I also want to say congrats to Nicole Barney who is having her baby tomorrow and wish her the best of luck!! Love you girl.
Baby A: Jackson 21 weeks
Baby B: Joshua 21 weeks
Feet:
Baby B: Joshua 22 weeks
Baby A: Jackson 23 weeks
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Whirlwind
Sorry, I have gotten more than my share of messages with people worrying about me because I havent posted. Sometimes I cant think of what I need to say or how to say it or Im coping with something new I've learned.
So I have had 4 appointments since last posting. Adam and I met with a neonatologist at Baptist a couple weeks ago. She was very nice and went over several statistics with us. We got a tour around the NICU again and saw some really small babies. It's pretty amazing how small 1 pound looks. She went over everything we could possibly think of asking. Its way to much to go into detail but from what I thought would be a negative experience ended up a positive one. Also, a girl I graduated with works at that NICU and has offered to sign up to be the babies nurse when they come. I thought that was really nice and she is one that I would trust with my babies.
Later that same day, I went to see Dr. Cassidy. We went over my high risk notes that had been sent over and also talked about what the neonatologist had said. We decided that I would be admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks as discussed before and at that time I would start my steriod shots and so forth. She also informed me at that time I would be on bedrest with bathroom privledges. Wasnt expecting that much restriction but what ever is best for them. She was happy with everything else and decided she would see me every two weeks until I go into the hospital.
That Friday, I went and saw the high risk group and it was just my ultrasound day. Everything was fine.
Well, this past Friday I had my 20 week appointment with the high risk group. I had my ultrasound. Baby A whom is Jackson, was right on target. He is weighing 12 oz which is normal for 20 weeks and measuring well. There were no visible anomolies with him. He looked like a normal baby which is always good to hear.
Then, we start to look at Baby aka Joshua. He is still a little bit smaller, he is weighing 10 oz. However, the doctor is not concerned about this, he said it is expected for one to be a bit smaller and he is no where near being concerned about twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. However, they did after close examination by the ultrasound tech and the doctor himself find that they are suspicious of a heart defect. The defect is a VSD (ventricular septal defect.) This is a hole between the left and right ventricles of the heart. There are two types: muscular and membraneous. Ours he belives is membraneous, which is the most commmon, but not the most easily treated. Apparently, if it was the muscualar kind, a lot of them heal in on thier own. Dr. Collins said this type of defect is rarley found before birth because it is so hard to locate. He said that he doesnt want to label him with a defect yet and would like to recheck it in two weeks, to see if they still see what they think they see. He didnt seem suprised however, as he said that identical twins in general carry a high risk of having some kind of defect. He was very positive and said that kids with this defect go on to have normal lives pending treatment. Therefore, if this VSD is still visible in two weeks we will be reffered to pediatric cardiology at Vanderbilt.
This finding could basically change everything.
A. Hopefully, its not there in 2 weeks. Then we can move on with our original plan of admission at 24 weeks at Baptist.
B. If it is there, then hopefully the cardiologist will think it can be evaluated after birth because hopefully it is small and not critical. That way we can still be a Baptist and deliver there and possibly transfer him after that.
C. The cardiologist could determine that this baby will already be delivered prematurley with a heart defect and therefore would need to be born into the Vandy NICU for close observation and treatment. If this is the case, I have to be admitted to Vandy and deliver there. I wouldnt know any of the doctors as the physcians currently caring for me do not have practicing privledges at Vanderbilt. So I would basically be admitted right away into a place I wasnt preparted to be, with doctors I have never met. That is scary.
This has been incredibly stressful. One for that fact is in two weeks I will be 22 weeks and am supposed to be admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks. So, are they really going to be able to get me into the cardiologist before that time to evaluate and make a decison. Adam and I have to think about both babies and will not except me not going into the hospital at 24 weeks, so they would have to figure something out. A heart defect is serious but not as serious as cord strangulation and them not surviving inside of me. So, we will demand I am in a hospital at 24 weeks. Also, through the monoamniotic website forum, I have read horror stories about Vanderbilts antepartum unit (the unit where I will be living until babies are born) and about them not paying close attention to the monitors and therefore having a pair of monoamniotic twins die. That is scary and unacceptable in my eyes. I have complete faith in the Vanderbilt Childrens but I dont have complete faith in the maternity part, which is the part that could save thier lives to begin with. I feel so comfortable with my doctors and Baptist with the care they can offer me. I just feel like this journey has been so stressful with not knowing how our babies are at any given second and feeling ok that we at least had a plan we felt comfortable with and now it is all up in the air. This all happening 3 weeks before viability. Also, the internet has freaked me out because in some articles about VSD's it can be associated with syndromes such as Down's. That scares me a lot. It wouldnt change anything in my mind or heart but it is still very scary. Now, the doctor said nothing about this, it was all internet, and me being who I am freak out about it.
All I can do right now is pray that Joshua's heart is completely fine and take each day as it comes. Because Jackson and Joshua still arent promised to me and we still have a long road ahead to get to viability and then NICU. My heart just is all over the place because all that really matters to me is that they make it hear and I get to hold them in my arms forever.
Adam and I are doing okay right now. I have had a few breakdowns since this news but I realize there is nothing I can do to change anything that is happening so I just need to look toward the positive side. I do have to say I love to feel them move in me even though sometimes it catches me of gaurd when they kick hard. It of course worries me to death when I dont feel them as often as I think I should be.
We have see Dr. Cassidy again this week and just a fast scan on Friday. Then the determining scan of the heart the following week.
Thank you so much for caring and praying for us. I think the only thing that gave me the courage to post today was the outpour of messages worrying about us since I havent posted. Thank you for your support.
So I have had 4 appointments since last posting. Adam and I met with a neonatologist at Baptist a couple weeks ago. She was very nice and went over several statistics with us. We got a tour around the NICU again and saw some really small babies. It's pretty amazing how small 1 pound looks. She went over everything we could possibly think of asking. Its way to much to go into detail but from what I thought would be a negative experience ended up a positive one. Also, a girl I graduated with works at that NICU and has offered to sign up to be the babies nurse when they come. I thought that was really nice and she is one that I would trust with my babies.
Later that same day, I went to see Dr. Cassidy. We went over my high risk notes that had been sent over and also talked about what the neonatologist had said. We decided that I would be admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks as discussed before and at that time I would start my steriod shots and so forth. She also informed me at that time I would be on bedrest with bathroom privledges. Wasnt expecting that much restriction but what ever is best for them. She was happy with everything else and decided she would see me every two weeks until I go into the hospital.
That Friday, I went and saw the high risk group and it was just my ultrasound day. Everything was fine.
Well, this past Friday I had my 20 week appointment with the high risk group. I had my ultrasound. Baby A whom is Jackson, was right on target. He is weighing 12 oz which is normal for 20 weeks and measuring well. There were no visible anomolies with him. He looked like a normal baby which is always good to hear.
Then, we start to look at Baby aka Joshua. He is still a little bit smaller, he is weighing 10 oz. However, the doctor is not concerned about this, he said it is expected for one to be a bit smaller and he is no where near being concerned about twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. However, they did after close examination by the ultrasound tech and the doctor himself find that they are suspicious of a heart defect. The defect is a VSD (ventricular septal defect.) This is a hole between the left and right ventricles of the heart. There are two types: muscular and membraneous. Ours he belives is membraneous, which is the most commmon, but not the most easily treated. Apparently, if it was the muscualar kind, a lot of them heal in on thier own. Dr. Collins said this type of defect is rarley found before birth because it is so hard to locate. He said that he doesnt want to label him with a defect yet and would like to recheck it in two weeks, to see if they still see what they think they see. He didnt seem suprised however, as he said that identical twins in general carry a high risk of having some kind of defect. He was very positive and said that kids with this defect go on to have normal lives pending treatment. Therefore, if this VSD is still visible in two weeks we will be reffered to pediatric cardiology at Vanderbilt.
This finding could basically change everything.
A. Hopefully, its not there in 2 weeks. Then we can move on with our original plan of admission at 24 weeks at Baptist.
B. If it is there, then hopefully the cardiologist will think it can be evaluated after birth because hopefully it is small and not critical. That way we can still be a Baptist and deliver there and possibly transfer him after that.
C. The cardiologist could determine that this baby will already be delivered prematurley with a heart defect and therefore would need to be born into the Vandy NICU for close observation and treatment. If this is the case, I have to be admitted to Vandy and deliver there. I wouldnt know any of the doctors as the physcians currently caring for me do not have practicing privledges at Vanderbilt. So I would basically be admitted right away into a place I wasnt preparted to be, with doctors I have never met. That is scary.
This has been incredibly stressful. One for that fact is in two weeks I will be 22 weeks and am supposed to be admitted to the hospital at 24 weeks. So, are they really going to be able to get me into the cardiologist before that time to evaluate and make a decison. Adam and I have to think about both babies and will not except me not going into the hospital at 24 weeks, so they would have to figure something out. A heart defect is serious but not as serious as cord strangulation and them not surviving inside of me. So, we will demand I am in a hospital at 24 weeks. Also, through the monoamniotic website forum, I have read horror stories about Vanderbilts antepartum unit (the unit where I will be living until babies are born) and about them not paying close attention to the monitors and therefore having a pair of monoamniotic twins die. That is scary and unacceptable in my eyes. I have complete faith in the Vanderbilt Childrens but I dont have complete faith in the maternity part, which is the part that could save thier lives to begin with. I feel so comfortable with my doctors and Baptist with the care they can offer me. I just feel like this journey has been so stressful with not knowing how our babies are at any given second and feeling ok that we at least had a plan we felt comfortable with and now it is all up in the air. This all happening 3 weeks before viability. Also, the internet has freaked me out because in some articles about VSD's it can be associated with syndromes such as Down's. That scares me a lot. It wouldnt change anything in my mind or heart but it is still very scary. Now, the doctor said nothing about this, it was all internet, and me being who I am freak out about it.
All I can do right now is pray that Joshua's heart is completely fine and take each day as it comes. Because Jackson and Joshua still arent promised to me and we still have a long road ahead to get to viability and then NICU. My heart just is all over the place because all that really matters to me is that they make it hear and I get to hold them in my arms forever.
Adam and I are doing okay right now. I have had a few breakdowns since this news but I realize there is nothing I can do to change anything that is happening so I just need to look toward the positive side. I do have to say I love to feel them move in me even though sometimes it catches me of gaurd when they kick hard. It of course worries me to death when I dont feel them as often as I think I should be.
We have see Dr. Cassidy again this week and just a fast scan on Friday. Then the determining scan of the heart the following week.
Thank you so much for caring and praying for us. I think the only thing that gave me the courage to post today was the outpour of messages worrying about us since I havent posted. Thank you for your support.
Monday, August 9, 2010
19 weeks tommorrow
Sorry, yet again I haven't posted again in a a few.
So at 17 weeks we went to the high risk doctor and it was measurement day. They do measurements every 4 weeks to see how things are going. Everything seemed to look good except baby B's stomach was smaller almost by a week. We saw a new doctor that day and not sure I liked her as much. She didn't seem to worried about the size difference as of yet. She did some math equation about when they start to worry about it when they are 1% different and ours are like .9% different. In my head, I'm like that's awfully close. But she was kind of awkward to talk to her so I didn't bother. I will wait until we see one of the other ones. They each weighed 6 oz and something. Its crazy to think of how small that is. So other than that size difference everything looked okay. We will wait for the big scan which is a 20 weeks to see if there is any difference.
Adam and I also celebrated our anniversary on July 31st! Its been an amazing 2 years and now we are expecting 2 babies. I cant imagine loving a man more than I love him. He is my rock and strength and I love him so much. He also had this past week off which was nice to have him at home. We finally had a closet built in our upstairs bonus room which will be nice to have extra storage. He worked hard at painting the closet all week but it turned out nice. Now we just need to add some shelves and it will be complete. He also finished planting in our yard. We had dug up plants we didn't like on one side of the house and it had been bare for months. So, it finally has flowers in it and looks really nice. It was sad because I couldn't do very much. So we stayed home majority of the time but that can be nice in its own way.
Adam and I went back to the doctor on Friday. The tech who was doing the ultrasound this time was the same as last weeks. She is a bit odd but she loves looking at our twins. She will just sit their and wait to get a good picture of them, its so funny. Unfortunately, they always don't look as good printed though. We leave with like 15 each time though, we are getting tons of pictures. That's not bad though. The babies looked good and their heart rates were good. So that was nice. There was a clump of cords off to the side however but she didn't seem to think they were in a knot, she just seemed to think they were clumped there. They were moving around a lot and very active.
I would also like to thank all of those people who having been reaching out to me. They come from places I didn't expect and I really appreciate it. It sometimes saddens me when I don't here from the people I thought I was closest too. But I also realize that some don't understand exactly what is going on and don't know how to respond to the situation and that's okay. I'm overwhelmed by the support I have gotten from my first nursing job at 8 South! I just have gotten the sweetest messages from them and it means a lot to us. I'm also grateful for everyone who responds on here, just seeing positive words gives me more hope. Its getting harder the further I get along knowing that we are so close but that something could still happen at any second. It is the most emotionally challenging thing I could ever go through. But I'm trying my best.
We have 3 appointments this week. Wednesday we go back to Dr. Cassidy's and we meet with a neonatologist. Then Friday I got back to the high risk group. So it will be a busy one.
baby A:
.jpg)
baby B:
.jpg)
And!!!
Adam and I have finally named our two precious boys. They are Jackson Luke and Joshua Logan!! Whoever comes out first will be Jackson. We asked what the babies thought and this is what they showed us:
.jpg)
We thought it was so neat that we got one of them giving us a thumbs up! We also saw them sucking thier thumbs this week. We love our little ones!
So at 17 weeks we went to the high risk doctor and it was measurement day. They do measurements every 4 weeks to see how things are going. Everything seemed to look good except baby B's stomach was smaller almost by a week. We saw a new doctor that day and not sure I liked her as much. She didn't seem to worried about the size difference as of yet. She did some math equation about when they start to worry about it when they are 1% different and ours are like .9% different. In my head, I'm like that's awfully close. But she was kind of awkward to talk to her so I didn't bother. I will wait until we see one of the other ones. They each weighed 6 oz and something. Its crazy to think of how small that is. So other than that size difference everything looked okay. We will wait for the big scan which is a 20 weeks to see if there is any difference.
Adam and I also celebrated our anniversary on July 31st! Its been an amazing 2 years and now we are expecting 2 babies. I cant imagine loving a man more than I love him. He is my rock and strength and I love him so much. He also had this past week off which was nice to have him at home. We finally had a closet built in our upstairs bonus room which will be nice to have extra storage. He worked hard at painting the closet all week but it turned out nice. Now we just need to add some shelves and it will be complete. He also finished planting in our yard. We had dug up plants we didn't like on one side of the house and it had been bare for months. So, it finally has flowers in it and looks really nice. It was sad because I couldn't do very much. So we stayed home majority of the time but that can be nice in its own way.
Adam and I went back to the doctor on Friday. The tech who was doing the ultrasound this time was the same as last weeks. She is a bit odd but she loves looking at our twins. She will just sit their and wait to get a good picture of them, its so funny. Unfortunately, they always don't look as good printed though. We leave with like 15 each time though, we are getting tons of pictures. That's not bad though. The babies looked good and their heart rates were good. So that was nice. There was a clump of cords off to the side however but she didn't seem to think they were in a knot, she just seemed to think they were clumped there. They were moving around a lot and very active.
I would also like to thank all of those people who having been reaching out to me. They come from places I didn't expect and I really appreciate it. It sometimes saddens me when I don't here from the people I thought I was closest too. But I also realize that some don't understand exactly what is going on and don't know how to respond to the situation and that's okay. I'm overwhelmed by the support I have gotten from my first nursing job at 8 South! I just have gotten the sweetest messages from them and it means a lot to us. I'm also grateful for everyone who responds on here, just seeing positive words gives me more hope. Its getting harder the further I get along knowing that we are so close but that something could still happen at any second. It is the most emotionally challenging thing I could ever go through. But I'm trying my best.
We have 3 appointments this week. Wednesday we go back to Dr. Cassidy's and we meet with a neonatologist. Then Friday I got back to the high risk group. So it will be a busy one.
baby A:
.jpg)
baby B:
.jpg)
And!!!
Adam and I have finally named our two precious boys. They are Jackson Luke and Joshua Logan!! Whoever comes out first will be Jackson. We asked what the babies thought and this is what they showed us:
.jpg)
We thought it was so neat that we got one of them giving us a thumbs up! We also saw them sucking thier thumbs this week. We love our little ones!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Gender/Marvelous Multiples
Hi!
Sorry I didn't post last week, sometimes I'm just to lazy honestly. First, we saw Dr. Cassidy on that Thursday. She did a scan and the heart beats were fine. There wasn't much to discuss at this point in time. She agreed with the plan to visit the MFM group weekly. She had a different attitude this visit. We have always liked her but I guess you could say she was a lot my genuine this time and liked looking at the babies and so forth. I will see her again in 3 weeks. At that time I believe I will be 19 weeks and so we will probably discuss the future at that time.
That Friday, I went back to MFM and had my mom go with me since Adam couldn't. Everything looked fine again.
So, a week later, the Friday I went back. Everything looked good again. Their heart beats were like 150 and 147. They seem to have stayed in basically the same positions for the past few weeks. One of them is above the other but head to foot. Actually, at one point the top one was using the other one as a seat which was funny. It was just a brief scan to check for viability. At next weeks appointment, they I believe are supposed to measure again and so forth. So that will be nice to see if they are growing well.
Also, that night was marvelous multiples, a class geared just for multiples. It was interesting because a lot of the ones there were first time moms to having twins. Their were several identical and fraternal twin boys in the group and two pairs of boy/girl fraternal twins. I thought that was crazy. No twins like mine though of course. The class was good though, it encouraged a lot especially about breastfeeding saying it is perfectly possible. It also gave you a bunch a lenghty phamplets and stuff about it and recommendations. That was nice. They also gave you a bunch of tips: such at schooling (same class or different), photos separately when their born (so that in high school when they need a picture, they have an individual one), choosing a color pattern for each so that when you look back on photos you know who is who according to what color pattern you gave them. Just tons of useful information and lots a things to read. It gave me a sheet of must haves and the amounts to survive the first 3 months. We toured the NICU which was a neat experience. The teacher also let me see the antepartum unit which is where Ill stay for a lenghty period of time before the babies are born.
Last night, I was going to post as usual since it was Sunday but I was pretty ill all day yesterday. I'm not going to go into details in what was going on but I was miserable. I also had this pain start running in my L groin area down my leg. Its so weird and at times I have to limp. It worries me when I start feeling so horrible. I know my body was stressed yesterday and my reactions such as crying and so forth just added to it. It worries me not for myself but that somehow I'm harming my babies. I know they know when your stressed or your body is. I just hope I didn't harm them in anyway because their environment is stressful enough.
Its crazy the further you are in this pregnancy the more you have to start looking at the future and the more it scares you that something could still very possibly happen. I have trying to work on the more positive side such as looking at baby stuff and making plans. But sometimes the other side just comes in and its hard.
Some of you already know this but it was confirmed that we are expecting: BOYS!
So that means 98% of us were wrong haha. Its crazy we started learning of this possibility last week but was confirmed this past one. They were not shy about showing their business. We are very excited. NO we don't have names as of yet. We like several but none are completely convincing us yet. We had the girls names picked out because that was easy haha but boys names seem to be harder. Its turning out the Stuart side of the family is just going to be a bunch of boys hehe. And we will have to wait and see what Nicole is having for the Borders side. At least Charles will be excited for boys :).
Well, yet again another appointment on Friday. Thanks again for everyone who is praying and thinking of us each day. It means a lot.
Sorry I didn't post last week, sometimes I'm just to lazy honestly. First, we saw Dr. Cassidy on that Thursday. She did a scan and the heart beats were fine. There wasn't much to discuss at this point in time. She agreed with the plan to visit the MFM group weekly. She had a different attitude this visit. We have always liked her but I guess you could say she was a lot my genuine this time and liked looking at the babies and so forth. I will see her again in 3 weeks. At that time I believe I will be 19 weeks and so we will probably discuss the future at that time.
That Friday, I went back to MFM and had my mom go with me since Adam couldn't. Everything looked fine again.
So, a week later, the Friday I went back. Everything looked good again. Their heart beats were like 150 and 147. They seem to have stayed in basically the same positions for the past few weeks. One of them is above the other but head to foot. Actually, at one point the top one was using the other one as a seat which was funny. It was just a brief scan to check for viability. At next weeks appointment, they I believe are supposed to measure again and so forth. So that will be nice to see if they are growing well.
Also, that night was marvelous multiples, a class geared just for multiples. It was interesting because a lot of the ones there were first time moms to having twins. Their were several identical and fraternal twin boys in the group and two pairs of boy/girl fraternal twins. I thought that was crazy. No twins like mine though of course. The class was good though, it encouraged a lot especially about breastfeeding saying it is perfectly possible. It also gave you a bunch a lenghty phamplets and stuff about it and recommendations. That was nice. They also gave you a bunch of tips: such at schooling (same class or different), photos separately when their born (so that in high school when they need a picture, they have an individual one), choosing a color pattern for each so that when you look back on photos you know who is who according to what color pattern you gave them. Just tons of useful information and lots a things to read. It gave me a sheet of must haves and the amounts to survive the first 3 months. We toured the NICU which was a neat experience. The teacher also let me see the antepartum unit which is where Ill stay for a lenghty period of time before the babies are born.
Last night, I was going to post as usual since it was Sunday but I was pretty ill all day yesterday. I'm not going to go into details in what was going on but I was miserable. I also had this pain start running in my L groin area down my leg. Its so weird and at times I have to limp. It worries me when I start feeling so horrible. I know my body was stressed yesterday and my reactions such as crying and so forth just added to it. It worries me not for myself but that somehow I'm harming my babies. I know they know when your stressed or your body is. I just hope I didn't harm them in anyway because their environment is stressful enough.
Its crazy the further you are in this pregnancy the more you have to start looking at the future and the more it scares you that something could still very possibly happen. I have trying to work on the more positive side such as looking at baby stuff and making plans. But sometimes the other side just comes in and its hard.
Some of you already know this but it was confirmed that we are expecting: BOYS!
So that means 98% of us were wrong haha. Its crazy we started learning of this possibility last week but was confirmed this past one. They were not shy about showing their business. We are very excited. NO we don't have names as of yet. We like several but none are completely convincing us yet. We had the girls names picked out because that was easy haha but boys names seem to be harder. Its turning out the Stuart side of the family is just going to be a bunch of boys hehe. And we will have to wait and see what Nicole is having for the Borders side. At least Charles will be excited for boys :).
Well, yet again another appointment on Friday. Thanks again for everyone who is praying and thinking of us each day. It means a lot.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
14 weeks 5 days
Hello,
So, back to the doctor I went on Friday. We had an ultrasound first which was supposed to be just a limited one, meaning checking for a heart beat and such, but it still was like 20 minutes. The babies were moving around but not as crazy as last week thank goodness. Thier heart rates were 148 and 150, so similar to last week. They were all streched out from thier head to their toes. Thier legs looked so long, it was the first time we had really seen them because they are usually bent. It was neat to see. For the first time ever the doctor didnt come in during the ultrasound so we were put in an exam room. We saw the same doctor as last week which was good because it makes things a little bit more consistent. It still amazes me how little a physcian doesnt want to sugar coat anything. I figured since this is the first time sitting down with him, instead of before when they are just staring at the ultrasound, I would take advantage of it and just start asking tons of questions. Poor guy, it probably was 30 minutes of my questions when all he needed to tell me was everything looked fine this week. But listen to these questions and some of his responses. (We do really like him and all of our doctors, they are just very to the point.)
1. So, is the reason you want to see me weekly mainly to make sure that thier hearts are still beating? (He had just told us to make the next 3 appointments so the schedule wouldnt fill up.)
Response: Yes, we feel that we need to make sure they are viable each week because if something were to happen we would like to take care of it as soon as possible so you can move on with your lives and try again.
Ouch, like I said straght to the point..now you know why im nervous btw each ultrasound.
2. If one baby dies, will the other one?
Response: In this situation, in most cases yes. They share all vascular systems so when one passes it influxes to the other killing it as well. (This could vary after the babies are viable, but for now that is the scenario.)
3. Have you seen many successes?
Response: Yes, I have seen successes but on the other hand I have seen failures as well.
(Did I ask about your failures?)
4. Is there ever a point when Im any safer?
Response: No. This is a complicated situation. Right now the babies are so fragile and so cord problems happen a lot but on the other hand once the cords are knotted and they are growing, as the cords grow and get thicker, the tighter the knots get causing restriction. Its really a day to day thing and one week they could be fine and the next not. There is just not good research with how rare these kind of multiples are to suggest otherwise at this time.
I asked lots of other questions too. But you can kind of see why I leave feeling emotional at times. He made good suggestions like meeting with a neonatologist prior to making a hospital admission date ranging from 24-28 weeks. That way we can learn about the differences in the weeks and so forth. But like I said we do really like them but man do they really hold nothing back. He did in confidence give us some information about what would be different at Vanderbilt which made since from Adam and I working there. (He only did this because I kept prying into why his whole group left.)
I have been trying to be more positive and I think I have been somewhat better but when you really think of them its so hard when you feel like natures forces in the body are against the situation.
I asked many other numerous questions and at least I felt like he was trying to answer them honestly and I didnt feel like he was trying to rush out on me. Which means a lot.
I cant bring myself still to do anything for them. (i.e, registry, thinking about the nursery) I dont know how I even feel about a shower at this point. I hear about some people doing them after the babies are born in certain situations or even during my hospital stay. But who knows, right now things are just so early and everything is scary.
My migraines have been going absolutly crazy. I mean the worst ever I think. I went and got nerve blocks recently but they prove to not be working. They left me in bed all day Saturday and most of today.
Well, I see Dr. Cassidy on Thursday and back to the high risk group on Friday.
So the picture below is of baby A. You cant see the head very well but u can see how the legs are all the way streched out. So cute.
This is baby B. Much better picture than last week.
So, back to the doctor I went on Friday. We had an ultrasound first which was supposed to be just a limited one, meaning checking for a heart beat and such, but it still was like 20 minutes. The babies were moving around but not as crazy as last week thank goodness. Thier heart rates were 148 and 150, so similar to last week. They were all streched out from thier head to their toes. Thier legs looked so long, it was the first time we had really seen them because they are usually bent. It was neat to see. For the first time ever the doctor didnt come in during the ultrasound so we were put in an exam room. We saw the same doctor as last week which was good because it makes things a little bit more consistent. It still amazes me how little a physcian doesnt want to sugar coat anything. I figured since this is the first time sitting down with him, instead of before when they are just staring at the ultrasound, I would take advantage of it and just start asking tons of questions. Poor guy, it probably was 30 minutes of my questions when all he needed to tell me was everything looked fine this week. But listen to these questions and some of his responses. (We do really like him and all of our doctors, they are just very to the point.)
1. So, is the reason you want to see me weekly mainly to make sure that thier hearts are still beating? (He had just told us to make the next 3 appointments so the schedule wouldnt fill up.)
Response: Yes, we feel that we need to make sure they are viable each week because if something were to happen we would like to take care of it as soon as possible so you can move on with your lives and try again.
Ouch, like I said straght to the point..now you know why im nervous btw each ultrasound.
2. If one baby dies, will the other one?
Response: In this situation, in most cases yes. They share all vascular systems so when one passes it influxes to the other killing it as well. (This could vary after the babies are viable, but for now that is the scenario.)
3. Have you seen many successes?
Response: Yes, I have seen successes but on the other hand I have seen failures as well.
(Did I ask about your failures?)
4. Is there ever a point when Im any safer?
Response: No. This is a complicated situation. Right now the babies are so fragile and so cord problems happen a lot but on the other hand once the cords are knotted and they are growing, as the cords grow and get thicker, the tighter the knots get causing restriction. Its really a day to day thing and one week they could be fine and the next not. There is just not good research with how rare these kind of multiples are to suggest otherwise at this time.
I asked lots of other questions too. But you can kind of see why I leave feeling emotional at times. He made good suggestions like meeting with a neonatologist prior to making a hospital admission date ranging from 24-28 weeks. That way we can learn about the differences in the weeks and so forth. But like I said we do really like them but man do they really hold nothing back. He did in confidence give us some information about what would be different at Vanderbilt which made since from Adam and I working there. (He only did this because I kept prying into why his whole group left.)
I have been trying to be more positive and I think I have been somewhat better but when you really think of them its so hard when you feel like natures forces in the body are against the situation.
I asked many other numerous questions and at least I felt like he was trying to answer them honestly and I didnt feel like he was trying to rush out on me. Which means a lot.
I cant bring myself still to do anything for them. (i.e, registry, thinking about the nursery) I dont know how I even feel about a shower at this point. I hear about some people doing them after the babies are born in certain situations or even during my hospital stay. But who knows, right now things are just so early and everything is scary.
My migraines have been going absolutly crazy. I mean the worst ever I think. I went and got nerve blocks recently but they prove to not be working. They left me in bed all day Saturday and most of today.
Well, I see Dr. Cassidy on Thursday and back to the high risk group on Friday.
So the picture below is of baby A. You cant see the head very well but u can see how the legs are all the way streched out. So cute.
This is baby B. Much better picture than last week.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Monoamniotic factoids
Hey,
I found thses on another blog, so I thought I would share. My next appointment is Friday and im already getting anxious, so pray for us. I also signed us up for a class on July 23. Its Marvelous Multiples.
Monoamniotic factoids
*Monoamniotic twins are always identical
*Monoamniotic twins are the result of a late splitting egg; one that split around 8-12 days after fertilization
*Monoamniotic twins only occur in 1% of twins
*Monoamniotic twins share a placenta and amniotic sac which means they have skin to skin contact
*Monoamniotic twins are considered extremely high risk because of the risk of cord compression leading to fetal death as a result of umbilical cord entanglement
*Monoamniotic twins are always delivered by C-Section
*Monoamniotic twins are usually delivered between 32-34 weeks gestation because the risks of staying in utero are greater than the risks associated with a premature birth
*75% of monoamniotic twins are girls
*inpatient monitoring at viability yeilds the greatest success rates
I found thses on another blog, so I thought I would share. My next appointment is Friday and im already getting anxious, so pray for us. I also signed us up for a class on July 23. Its Marvelous Multiples.
Monoamniotic factoids
*Monoamniotic twins are always identical
*Monoamniotic twins are the result of a late splitting egg; one that split around 8-12 days after fertilization
*Monoamniotic twins only occur in 1% of twins
*Monoamniotic twins share a placenta and amniotic sac which means they have skin to skin contact
*Monoamniotic twins are considered extremely high risk because of the risk of cord compression leading to fetal death as a result of umbilical cord entanglement
*Monoamniotic twins are always delivered by C-Section
*Monoamniotic twins are usually delivered between 32-34 weeks gestation because the risks of staying in utero are greater than the risks associated with a premature birth
*75% of monoamniotic twins are girls
*inpatient monitoring at viability yeilds the greatest success rates
Sunday, July 4, 2010
13 weeks 5 days
Hi,
So it has been a rough few days for me. I guess I will have my good days and my bad days.
We went back to the doctor on Friday. They babies were doing OK. They were moving around everywhere and flipping like crazy. Normally, this would be cute but this only means they are getting their cords tangled. They confirmed that there is defiantly no membrane now. They spent some time looking for the cord insertion into the to placenta. They ended up being right on top of each other which isn't ideal. Its better if they are further apart. I don't know all of the reasoning behind this. He again talked about some of the risk which is really getting old. And I don't know how many times I have to hear, "We just have to hope that a higher power has a plan for them." It never feels reassuring when a physician says something like that and yet I've heard it from all of them. It makes me feel like, its going to take a miracle to get through this. Which I know it is but its another thing to keep hearing it from your doctors. I mean I guess I don't want them to sugar coat stuff either. We had also asked him about the referral thing and was very nice about it but he said that Dr. Cassidy would have to be the one to make it because they just act as her consultants. That made since to me, so I guess I will just have to wait and talk to her. I'm on nerve everyday but its worse going into the appointments. You can just see me, I'm sitting there not doing anything, shaking my legs, palms sweaty, heart pounding, my IBS starts to flare....and finally I see their heart beats and I calm down some. Its nice being seen every week but the co pays really start to add up, but its worth it to see them. I go back again Friday to see them and then I may start alternating each week with them and Dr. Cassidy. I posted two pictures below. On the bottom of each picture it will say A or B. They are too big and move to much to be in the same shot anymore. I had several good shots of baby A but baby B didn't have to many. B was moving around a lot though so that probably why s/he didn't put on a good photo shoot. A's heart rate was 150 and B's heart rate was 147. They were lower this week but still normal. So now Adam thinks their boys because the heart rates are lower.
I don't know what happened but right after the appointment and still today I have had the roughest time. Its like hearing what they say, it doesn't really make me feel better. I got into the feeling like I already felt doomed. And I don't want any criticism about this. I read the MoMo boards and have realized people who are going through exactly what I'm going through go through the same emotions. I know its not over till its over but when you see them getting so big on the screen and changing, it gets REALLY difficult to think you may have to part with them. I have just been really tearful the past few days and just not wanting to do anything. I didn't want to go anywhere because I felt like a lose cannon who could just explode with emotion at any second. I wish this feeling would pass. Its so hard. I hate more than anything in the world having these negative thoughts. I guess it makes it harder when you cant feel them. Maybe once I can feel them and know there in there, it can give me some relief. I have even been on the MoMo boards (they have different categories in which you can post in) and was looking at the loss forum thinking its already happened to me. This is horribly sad I know and I feel crazy. But like I said please don't post a comment beating me up about that, I already feel bad enough.
I can only hope for a better next few days and another okay report on Friday.
I continue to thank you for your support and prayers. I thank heavenly father every night for the support I have.
I love my babies more than anything in this world and I want to be a stronger person for them!
So it has been a rough few days for me. I guess I will have my good days and my bad days.
We went back to the doctor on Friday. They babies were doing OK. They were moving around everywhere and flipping like crazy. Normally, this would be cute but this only means they are getting their cords tangled. They confirmed that there is defiantly no membrane now. They spent some time looking for the cord insertion into the to placenta. They ended up being right on top of each other which isn't ideal. Its better if they are further apart. I don't know all of the reasoning behind this. He again talked about some of the risk which is really getting old. And I don't know how many times I have to hear, "We just have to hope that a higher power has a plan for them." It never feels reassuring when a physician says something like that and yet I've heard it from all of them. It makes me feel like, its going to take a miracle to get through this. Which I know it is but its another thing to keep hearing it from your doctors. I mean I guess I don't want them to sugar coat stuff either. We had also asked him about the referral thing and was very nice about it but he said that Dr. Cassidy would have to be the one to make it because they just act as her consultants. That made since to me, so I guess I will just have to wait and talk to her. I'm on nerve everyday but its worse going into the appointments. You can just see me, I'm sitting there not doing anything, shaking my legs, palms sweaty, heart pounding, my IBS starts to flare....and finally I see their heart beats and I calm down some. Its nice being seen every week but the co pays really start to add up, but its worth it to see them. I go back again Friday to see them and then I may start alternating each week with them and Dr. Cassidy. I posted two pictures below. On the bottom of each picture it will say A or B. They are too big and move to much to be in the same shot anymore. I had several good shots of baby A but baby B didn't have to many. B was moving around a lot though so that probably why s/he didn't put on a good photo shoot. A's heart rate was 150 and B's heart rate was 147. They were lower this week but still normal. So now Adam thinks their boys because the heart rates are lower.
I don't know what happened but right after the appointment and still today I have had the roughest time. Its like hearing what they say, it doesn't really make me feel better. I got into the feeling like I already felt doomed. And I don't want any criticism about this. I read the MoMo boards and have realized people who are going through exactly what I'm going through go through the same emotions. I know its not over till its over but when you see them getting so big on the screen and changing, it gets REALLY difficult to think you may have to part with them. I have just been really tearful the past few days and just not wanting to do anything. I didn't want to go anywhere because I felt like a lose cannon who could just explode with emotion at any second. I wish this feeling would pass. Its so hard. I hate more than anything in the world having these negative thoughts. I guess it makes it harder when you cant feel them. Maybe once I can feel them and know there in there, it can give me some relief. I have even been on the MoMo boards (they have different categories in which you can post in) and was looking at the loss forum thinking its already happened to me. This is horribly sad I know and I feel crazy. But like I said please don't post a comment beating me up about that, I already feel bad enough.
I can only hope for a better next few days and another okay report on Friday.
I continue to thank you for your support and prayers. I thank heavenly father every night for the support I have.
I love my babies more than anything in this world and I want to be a stronger person for them!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Update
Well, I know it has been awhile. It is hard to get to typing about everything when your already telling several people by mouth as it is.
At my second appointment with Dr. Cassidy last week everything was fine. She checked the babies heart beats real fast and both were in the 160's again. I had also asked her about what the ultrasound tech had said previously and she stated that it is their job to do those screenings so probably just wanted to know if I would be seeing her the next week and give me some information. Then she said but there is still the false positives with twins and your young so I am at really low risk. So Adam and I decided against any testing at this time. I'm worried enough, I don't need false positives. She also checked my progesterone levels and they came back great. So therefore she took me off the progesterone pill. I thought this would help with my nausea and so forth but it almost seems to have gotten worse. Odd. She said she wouldn't need to see me for 4 weeks since during that time I would be evaluated by the high risk doctors.
So, I also saw the high risk doctor on Wednesday this week. They do stuff differently, they ultrasound the whole time and the doctor is in the room watching and talking. Its hard to watch the ultrasound though when your trying to talk to the doctor. She had to go over all the risk with me again. This was a bummer to here all over. She still gave the 50% chance of making it but reported that she has fortunately seen more successes than failures. It is just unfortunately out of their hands until they are viable. She said most of the deaths that she sees are before 20 weeks. She said this is due to the cords still being flimsy and therefore making them easier to bend and tangle because they are not as durable. She said they will continue to thinking as they age and eventually become durable kind of like a water hose. She said also since they get bigger their is less room for them to move around in and so less problems occur. She said she admits at 26 weeks to the hospital instead of 24 because if in the off chance I went into labor at 24 weeks a lot of neonatologist are less likely to save the babies do to long term problems and issues. She also said she wanted to see me at least once a week from now on. The babies heart rates were still in the 160's so maybe that is where they are going to level out at. They were also fighting. It was so funny they were just punching at each other in my stomach. It was hard to believe it was going on inside of me. On the down side I lost another 4 lbs. She also is charting me at 12 weeks so Im going to go with that. I puts me a few days further along. And I should agree with what she says because she will be basing my care off of my due date. So that makes me happy.
I'm glad to have gone to them especially since Dr. Cassidy only wanted to see me every 3-4 weeks. And now they want to see me every week now. I'm glad for that. The doctor was so good because she said please feel free to write down questions and bring them with you. Now that I left I have several.
I'm also struggling with possibly having to switch to Vanderbilt High Risk doctors. I was good and tried to call and set up a consultation and they said my high risk doctor had to refer me over. I think this is stupid if you are just wanting to meet with the doctor and here what they have to say. I mean it sounds silly to me to say to my brand new doctor, Can I have a referral somewhere else and I may possibly still come back to you if I don't like what they have to say?...That's lame. I'm at a loss. This is stressful.
Unfortunately, Ive been sick.. hense me still losing weight. Its getting pretty annoying especially the middle of the night sessions. My migraines have gotten horrid too. I think I will try to see my neurologist in the upcoming weeks.
In other news I had a nice outing with my mother in law and sister in law. It was nice to get out for a little bit. Thanks for everything!
Well, I see the doctor again on Friday so I will be in touch.
We still thank you for everyone praying for us, it means so much.
I love you my babies.
At my second appointment with Dr. Cassidy last week everything was fine. She checked the babies heart beats real fast and both were in the 160's again. I had also asked her about what the ultrasound tech had said previously and she stated that it is their job to do those screenings so probably just wanted to know if I would be seeing her the next week and give me some information. Then she said but there is still the false positives with twins and your young so I am at really low risk. So Adam and I decided against any testing at this time. I'm worried enough, I don't need false positives. She also checked my progesterone levels and they came back great. So therefore she took me off the progesterone pill. I thought this would help with my nausea and so forth but it almost seems to have gotten worse. Odd. She said she wouldn't need to see me for 4 weeks since during that time I would be evaluated by the high risk doctors.
So, I also saw the high risk doctor on Wednesday this week. They do stuff differently, they ultrasound the whole time and the doctor is in the room watching and talking. Its hard to watch the ultrasound though when your trying to talk to the doctor. She had to go over all the risk with me again. This was a bummer to here all over. She still gave the 50% chance of making it but reported that she has fortunately seen more successes than failures. It is just unfortunately out of their hands until they are viable. She said most of the deaths that she sees are before 20 weeks. She said this is due to the cords still being flimsy and therefore making them easier to bend and tangle because they are not as durable. She said they will continue to thinking as they age and eventually become durable kind of like a water hose. She said also since they get bigger their is less room for them to move around in and so less problems occur. She said she admits at 26 weeks to the hospital instead of 24 because if in the off chance I went into labor at 24 weeks a lot of neonatologist are less likely to save the babies do to long term problems and issues. She also said she wanted to see me at least once a week from now on. The babies heart rates were still in the 160's so maybe that is where they are going to level out at. They were also fighting. It was so funny they were just punching at each other in my stomach. It was hard to believe it was going on inside of me. On the down side I lost another 4 lbs. She also is charting me at 12 weeks so Im going to go with that. I puts me a few days further along. And I should agree with what she says because she will be basing my care off of my due date. So that makes me happy.
I'm glad to have gone to them especially since Dr. Cassidy only wanted to see me every 3-4 weeks. And now they want to see me every week now. I'm glad for that. The doctor was so good because she said please feel free to write down questions and bring them with you. Now that I left I have several.
I'm also struggling with possibly having to switch to Vanderbilt High Risk doctors. I was good and tried to call and set up a consultation and they said my high risk doctor had to refer me over. I think this is stupid if you are just wanting to meet with the doctor and here what they have to say. I mean it sounds silly to me to say to my brand new doctor, Can I have a referral somewhere else and I may possibly still come back to you if I don't like what they have to say?...That's lame. I'm at a loss. This is stressful.
Unfortunately, Ive been sick.. hense me still losing weight. Its getting pretty annoying especially the middle of the night sessions. My migraines have gotten horrid too. I think I will try to see my neurologist in the upcoming weeks.
In other news I had a nice outing with my mother in law and sister in law. It was nice to get out for a little bit. Thanks for everything!
Well, I see the doctor again on Friday so I will be in touch.
We still thank you for everyone praying for us, it means so much.
I love you my babies.
Monday, June 14, 2010
10 Weeks and Counting
Hi!
So, the past week has been so busy. I have been feeling sick a lot. I think my doctors nurse is getting sick of me calling haha. I call her all the time. But, I have these horrible pains that just don't seem to be right. I know you are supposed to feel some stuff but they have been really bad and really stressing me out. I even post on the MoMo forum and no one reports having these same pains as me, so I think that scared me even more.
Last night, I started feeling horrible again. So this morning I insisted on going to the doctor. Everything turned out OK but its just I guess a bit overwhelming. I almost feel like I cant trust my own instincts about something being wrong. Even though I'm ecstatic that things are fine. I'm not sure how I feel about the ultrasound tech at the office. During, the scans she goes from being nice to a bit well odd. She is the one insisting that I do not have a membrane and its not possible. And today after she told me everything is looking fine, she out of no where asked if I was having the nucheal scan done on the babies at week 12. I thought that was odd because it came out of no where. I guess Ill ask Dr. Cassidy on Thursday if I should be concerned about that. For those who don't know that test scans for Down Syndrome and is performed by an ultrasound as well. So now I am paranoid about this. I'm just a paranoid person.
I'm trying to also figure out when to call Vanderbilt. Do to the fact I may have to spend months in the hospital, we may have to switch all of my care over to them. I don't want to do this until I know for sure that I like and trust them, so I would need to meet them first and see if their game plans match up. I will hate to switch everything in a pregnancy like this but since Adam works there it will be cheaper. Has anyone delivered there or have any words of advice? I see Dr. Cassidy again on Thursday and then I meet with the high risk doctors at Baptist for the first time next Wednesday.
I'm trying to remain positive. I talk a lot more about the future and them being here with us. I love them so much already, its so unreal. Its still hard to believe that the pictures or video shown on the screen during the ultrasound is growing and beating inside of me.
On the other hand! I had a wonderful weekend watching Charles. He was a good distraction for me and so well behaved. Adam and I took him to the park at the Red Caboose park and let him stand on the real caboose they have there. He had a good time even though he wouldn't play with the little boy following him around everywhere. It was so sad haha the little boy was trying so hard to play with him. I think I watched Cars 10 times this weekend. It kind of reminds me of my cousin Whittaker at that age when he would memorize the whole Toy Story movie. When Charlie and Nicole came back we went to eat along with my parents at the Loveless Cafe. It was good. Then we played the Wii some. I wish they were closer by!
I'm so glad that so glad that I get to experience this process with Nicole. I think it will be so wonderful that we will have kids the same age and watch them grow together. I think it makes things so special. I love my family.
Adam was such a good support this weekend even if I don't always tell him because I'm to busy freaking out. He sent me a text message this morning before my ultrasound. He wrote, I love you. I'm scared, but I'm hopeful too. Just remember that they are our miracle babies. ...Hes amazing and these are our miracle babies and I cant wait to hold them in my arms. Below is the picture I got today. Kind of funny since on of the babies faces is resting on the others bottom. Today the heart rates were 164 and 167. Until next time.
So, the past week has been so busy. I have been feeling sick a lot. I think my doctors nurse is getting sick of me calling haha. I call her all the time. But, I have these horrible pains that just don't seem to be right. I know you are supposed to feel some stuff but they have been really bad and really stressing me out. I even post on the MoMo forum and no one reports having these same pains as me, so I think that scared me even more.
Last night, I started feeling horrible again. So this morning I insisted on going to the doctor. Everything turned out OK but its just I guess a bit overwhelming. I almost feel like I cant trust my own instincts about something being wrong. Even though I'm ecstatic that things are fine. I'm not sure how I feel about the ultrasound tech at the office. During, the scans she goes from being nice to a bit well odd. She is the one insisting that I do not have a membrane and its not possible. And today after she told me everything is looking fine, she out of no where asked if I was having the nucheal scan done on the babies at week 12. I thought that was odd because it came out of no where. I guess Ill ask Dr. Cassidy on Thursday if I should be concerned about that. For those who don't know that test scans for Down Syndrome and is performed by an ultrasound as well. So now I am paranoid about this. I'm just a paranoid person.
I'm trying to also figure out when to call Vanderbilt. Do to the fact I may have to spend months in the hospital, we may have to switch all of my care over to them. I don't want to do this until I know for sure that I like and trust them, so I would need to meet them first and see if their game plans match up. I will hate to switch everything in a pregnancy like this but since Adam works there it will be cheaper. Has anyone delivered there or have any words of advice? I see Dr. Cassidy again on Thursday and then I meet with the high risk doctors at Baptist for the first time next Wednesday.
I'm trying to remain positive. I talk a lot more about the future and them being here with us. I love them so much already, its so unreal. Its still hard to believe that the pictures or video shown on the screen during the ultrasound is growing and beating inside of me.
On the other hand! I had a wonderful weekend watching Charles. He was a good distraction for me and so well behaved. Adam and I took him to the park at the Red Caboose park and let him stand on the real caboose they have there. He had a good time even though he wouldn't play with the little boy following him around everywhere. It was so sad haha the little boy was trying so hard to play with him. I think I watched Cars 10 times this weekend. It kind of reminds me of my cousin Whittaker at that age when he would memorize the whole Toy Story movie. When Charlie and Nicole came back we went to eat along with my parents at the Loveless Cafe. It was good. Then we played the Wii some. I wish they were closer by!
I'm so glad that so glad that I get to experience this process with Nicole. I think it will be so wonderful that we will have kids the same age and watch them grow together. I think it makes things so special. I love my family.
Adam was such a good support this weekend even if I don't always tell him because I'm to busy freaking out. He sent me a text message this morning before my ultrasound. He wrote, I love you. I'm scared, but I'm hopeful too. Just remember that they are our miracle babies. ...Hes amazing and these are our miracle babies and I cant wait to hold them in my arms. Below is the picture I got today. Kind of funny since on of the babies faces is resting on the others bottom. Today the heart rates were 164 and 167. Until next time.
Our Babies @ 8 weeks.
They started to look like humans this time. They were so cute and look to be holding hands! There heart rates were 170 and 171.
Our Babies about 6 weeks.
Its amazing how much they grew in one week! Heart rates this week were 120 and 135.
Our Babies at somewhere in 5 weeks.
They are the tiny white dots that almost get cut off in the picture.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
8 weeks 3 days or is it 9 weeks 3 days
Dates regarding pregnancy can be so confusing. We will get to that in a little bit.
Adam and I had our follow up appoitment today with Dr. Cassidy. I have been so sick and scared the past week. It has seriously been an awful time for me..my emotions have been everywhere. I unfortunatly have been extremly negative and fearful for my up comming apointment. I think the closer they get, the crazier I become. I have also been a lot sicker over the past week...the nausea has turned in the vommiting and my headaches and IBS have escalated. Sounds like fun huh?
I had also been totally diving into the internet which I really shouldnt do because it has scared me to my wits end.
But anyways, to the appointment. I had my ultrasound first. Our little babies now look like humans. Its crazy. They have little finger buds and everything. They were sitting right next to eachother and almost look as if they are holding hands. There is definatly NOT a membrane inbetween them as you could clearly see the membrane around them and not inbetween. There heart rate for both of them was 170 and 171. I got 6 new pictures and even a CD of part of the ultrasound. It was so cute to see them jiggle around! I love the CD because you can see thier little hearts beating too..it so unreal that that is going on inside of me.
I then had my appointment with Dr. Cassidy. She said everything was looking go so far. We then went over all of our family histories. I got a nice bag full of goodies too. Magazines and vitamins and a nice journal. She said the fearfulness and anxiety I had been feeling is normal considering the type of pregnancy im having and was really understanding. I have lost 6 lbs but she was okay with that because I started out on the heavier side. My progesterone levels were still normal but I think im going to stay on the one pill a day until my first trimester is over. I also am referred to the Maternal Fetal Doctors (high risk doctors) and am tentively scheduled with them on June 29th. I will see her again in 2 weeks. I got a ton of blood work done today as well.
Back to the date thing as listed in my title. I pretty sure I am 8 weeks and 3 days but if your looking at my ultrasound pictures they say a week ahead so im unsure. All I know is that they are viable in mid-September and thats the most important part.
We still need all the prayers we can get as we are not near out of the clear yet.
I love you little babies.
Adam and I had our follow up appoitment today with Dr. Cassidy. I have been so sick and scared the past week. It has seriously been an awful time for me..my emotions have been everywhere. I unfortunatly have been extremly negative and fearful for my up comming apointment. I think the closer they get, the crazier I become. I have also been a lot sicker over the past week...the nausea has turned in the vommiting and my headaches and IBS have escalated. Sounds like fun huh?
I had also been totally diving into the internet which I really shouldnt do because it has scared me to my wits end.
But anyways, to the appointment. I had my ultrasound first. Our little babies now look like humans. Its crazy. They have little finger buds and everything. They were sitting right next to eachother and almost look as if they are holding hands. There is definatly NOT a membrane inbetween them as you could clearly see the membrane around them and not inbetween. There heart rate for both of them was 170 and 171. I got 6 new pictures and even a CD of part of the ultrasound. It was so cute to see them jiggle around! I love the CD because you can see thier little hearts beating too..it so unreal that that is going on inside of me.
I then had my appointment with Dr. Cassidy. She said everything was looking go so far. We then went over all of our family histories. I got a nice bag full of goodies too. Magazines and vitamins and a nice journal. She said the fearfulness and anxiety I had been feeling is normal considering the type of pregnancy im having and was really understanding. I have lost 6 lbs but she was okay with that because I started out on the heavier side. My progesterone levels were still normal but I think im going to stay on the one pill a day until my first trimester is over. I also am referred to the Maternal Fetal Doctors (high risk doctors) and am tentively scheduled with them on June 29th. I will see her again in 2 weeks. I got a ton of blood work done today as well.
Back to the date thing as listed in my title. I pretty sure I am 8 weeks and 3 days but if your looking at my ultrasound pictures they say a week ahead so im unsure. All I know is that they are viable in mid-September and thats the most important part.
We still need all the prayers we can get as we are not near out of the clear yet.
I love you little babies.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Thursday is nearing closer...
Monday 5/17/10
I had to work today. I woke up and really didn't feel like the long drive in. Work was okay. I felt better then I thought I would, its just standing on my feet without a break for a period of time that I start to get all crampy. I also told the people in the Clarksville office what was going on. They seemed really excited which made me excited. I'm glad for the extra support. Work helped keep my mind off of the negative stuff.
Adam was sweet, he said if I was too tired to drive home that he would come pick me up. The thought was sweet but just thinking of having to wait an hour for him to get there energized me enough to get home. With everything on my mind I do tend to go off in la la land and then I realize I'm driving. Scary, I know.
There have been a lot of fundraisers around Nashville lately do to the flooding. So tonight they were having and Eat out for Nashville night where several restaurants were participating. O Charley's was the only one close by so we went there, the restaurants donated 50% of your ticket to the flood relief. I have decided I really don't like O Charley's. We have eaten there a couple times over the last few months and I really just don't like it any more. Weird considering I lived there in high school and college.
Afterwards, I came home and surprise just wanted to go to bed. I felt HORRIBLE, it was odd it just hit me all at once. And I really don't know how to explain what was wrong but oh well.
5/18/10
I got to sleep in this morning. Always a plus. I probably woke up off and on as usual but stayed in bed til 10 which was nice. I was going to take a shower and get ready but then I really just didn't feel like it. I ended up however meeting Becca at the park and hanging out. It was nice to again have someone to talk to. She informed me that our ward apparently likes to create identical twins as she has known several sets. I thought that was funny.
I keep thinking about stuff regarding the babies. And sometimes it really upsets me that my OBGYN scared the crap out of me at our last appt. I mean I thought it was nice at the time that she said the best thing we could have was hope. But now thinking about that ...that is still negative...like I feel like she almost feels this pregnancy is doomed. This could all be because of the emotions I was feeling that day. I will see how all goes Thursday. I have been thinking about seeing a specialist like a high risk OBGYN since they deal with twins a lot more. Not sure if I should bring this up at the appointment or not. I'm really honestly scared to death about my appointment on Thursday. It is really starting to upset me. I'm scared we will get to the ultrasound and something will be wrong. I'm scared there hearts wont be beating or something. I almost don't care at this point if there conjoined or not as long as their hearts are both beating and beating stronger.
Well, tomorrow I work and hopefully I will feel okay. I'm excited about telling Dr. Kantrow. I know at least tomorrow will go by fast since I'm at work and it will keep me distracted. Most people are excited about going to see there babies and I'm terrified..how sad. I also figured out some dates in my head. So if my babies are viable at 26 weeks even though it will be scary for them to be out of the womb that early, that date would be the 3rd week of September. Crazy huh.
Okay, I will go for now...I'm nervous right now because my back hurts. I'm telling you every little thing freaks me out.
I LOVE YOU babies.. today is the first day since I heard the news that I let myself get really excited about you. Ive tamed my self back down into fear now but I did feel so connected to yet for a time there. I love you and I will get to see you Thursday. I'm going to fight for you and get you the best care. Your hearts better be beating strong for me :).
I had to work today. I woke up and really didn't feel like the long drive in. Work was okay. I felt better then I thought I would, its just standing on my feet without a break for a period of time that I start to get all crampy. I also told the people in the Clarksville office what was going on. They seemed really excited which made me excited. I'm glad for the extra support. Work helped keep my mind off of the negative stuff.
Adam was sweet, he said if I was too tired to drive home that he would come pick me up. The thought was sweet but just thinking of having to wait an hour for him to get there energized me enough to get home. With everything on my mind I do tend to go off in la la land and then I realize I'm driving. Scary, I know.
There have been a lot of fundraisers around Nashville lately do to the flooding. So tonight they were having and Eat out for Nashville night where several restaurants were participating. O Charley's was the only one close by so we went there, the restaurants donated 50% of your ticket to the flood relief. I have decided I really don't like O Charley's. We have eaten there a couple times over the last few months and I really just don't like it any more. Weird considering I lived there in high school and college.
Afterwards, I came home and surprise just wanted to go to bed. I felt HORRIBLE, it was odd it just hit me all at once. And I really don't know how to explain what was wrong but oh well.
5/18/10
I got to sleep in this morning. Always a plus. I probably woke up off and on as usual but stayed in bed til 10 which was nice. I was going to take a shower and get ready but then I really just didn't feel like it. I ended up however meeting Becca at the park and hanging out. It was nice to again have someone to talk to. She informed me that our ward apparently likes to create identical twins as she has known several sets. I thought that was funny.
I keep thinking about stuff regarding the babies. And sometimes it really upsets me that my OBGYN scared the crap out of me at our last appt. I mean I thought it was nice at the time that she said the best thing we could have was hope. But now thinking about that ...that is still negative...like I feel like she almost feels this pregnancy is doomed. This could all be because of the emotions I was feeling that day. I will see how all goes Thursday. I have been thinking about seeing a specialist like a high risk OBGYN since they deal with twins a lot more. Not sure if I should bring this up at the appointment or not. I'm really honestly scared to death about my appointment on Thursday. It is really starting to upset me. I'm scared we will get to the ultrasound and something will be wrong. I'm scared there hearts wont be beating or something. I almost don't care at this point if there conjoined or not as long as their hearts are both beating and beating stronger.
Well, tomorrow I work and hopefully I will feel okay. I'm excited about telling Dr. Kantrow. I know at least tomorrow will go by fast since I'm at work and it will keep me distracted. Most people are excited about going to see there babies and I'm terrified..how sad. I also figured out some dates in my head. So if my babies are viable at 26 weeks even though it will be scary for them to be out of the womb that early, that date would be the 3rd week of September. Crazy huh.
Okay, I will go for now...I'm nervous right now because my back hurts. I'm telling you every little thing freaks me out.
I LOVE YOU babies.. today is the first day since I heard the news that I let myself get really excited about you. Ive tamed my self back down into fear now but I did feel so connected to yet for a time there. I love you and I will get to see you Thursday. I'm going to fight for you and get you the best care. Your hearts better be beating strong for me :).
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Fatigue
So yesterday (5/15/10) I yet again slept a lot. I feel like I could sleep all day long or at least stay in bed. Adam went outside and mowed the grass. When he came back in he made me get out of bed and at least sit on the couch. Later on, he made me get ready again because he said I needed to get out of the house. Against my will I got ready and we went to a movie, "Letters from Julliet." It was a good movie, it distracted me for a little bit. We then went to the grocery store for a few items. FYI: Never buy Publix brand of ginger ale. It taste AWFUL. Also, the morning before when I was going to put crackers in a baggy I opened the bad and there they went every last one of them on the floor. Sheesh.
I had unfortunatly a more negative day today. I just feel so awful, my body is just so tired and achy. And I know they dont usually have a correlation but I associate feeling horrible with something being wrong with the babies. I have this horrible fear of going into my next ultrasound on Thursday and my babies hearts not beating anymore.
Adams nephews now know. Im not quite sure how I feel about that yet because if something were to happen it will be hard for them. However, Noah said if we were to have 2 boys that we should name them sausage and biscuit.
I pretty much went to bed soon after we got home.
5/16/10
I wanted to get up this morning, I REALLY did, and I needed to but I didnt. I just wish I had the energy to do stuff. I want to start planning stuff but I just get stopped by my stupid head.
Adam is still amazing, I think he has enough optimism for the whole world. I know he truley believes with all his heart that these babies are going to make it and be healthy and everything will be okay. He is getting really mad when I say something negative and makes me apologize to my stomach after wards. Im glad I have that to lean on.
I hope I can liven up some more today, I hate feeling like a dark cloud.
I love you babies, please stay with me. Please be healthy.
I had unfortunatly a more negative day today. I just feel so awful, my body is just so tired and achy. And I know they dont usually have a correlation but I associate feeling horrible with something being wrong with the babies. I have this horrible fear of going into my next ultrasound on Thursday and my babies hearts not beating anymore.
Adams nephews now know. Im not quite sure how I feel about that yet because if something were to happen it will be hard for them. However, Noah said if we were to have 2 boys that we should name them sausage and biscuit.
I pretty much went to bed soon after we got home.
5/16/10
I wanted to get up this morning, I REALLY did, and I needed to but I didnt. I just wish I had the energy to do stuff. I want to start planning stuff but I just get stopped by my stupid head.
Adam is still amazing, I think he has enough optimism for the whole world. I know he truley believes with all his heart that these babies are going to make it and be healthy and everything will be okay. He is getting really mad when I say something negative and makes me apologize to my stomach after wards. Im glad I have that to lean on.
I hope I can liven up some more today, I hate feeling like a dark cloud.
I love you babies, please stay with me. Please be healthy.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Progesterone
So, today is the first full day of knowing what is going on inside of me. I chose to be optimistic this morning when I got to work. I decided I was going to tell people now because it is a lot harder to keep a secret of this magnitude. My co-workers were extremely compassionate and were very optimistic that these babies would be fine. I was glad it was my half day though because I have just been emotionally drained. On my way out of work, Dr. Cassidy's nurse called and said that my progesterone levels were indeed low and she would going to start me on a supplement twice daily. She said the studies have been controversial about wether the pill works or not but reports it is never a bad idea to have faith it will work. Progesterone is responsible for thickening the uterine walls to maintain a pregnancy. I hope this brings up the babies heart rates and hope protect against a miscarriage.
All of our families know now and have been supportive. I know its hard for them to find the words to say and I know they are praying that everything will be fine. I on the other hand, I came home and started looking up material on the babies. I came across an article that said these babies usually only have a 50% chance. There went my optimism right out of the window. I was devastated and even more emotional now. My brain is not comprehending all of this.
When I got home I was already cramping quite a bit so I laid with the heating blanket. I was also exhausted so I came home and slept until 430. Its funny though because I feel as if I haven't slept in days. I suppose its the load of information Ive been getting. I have also just felt distant from the things I like. For example, I hate being on this computer now and don't really want to look at the TV, so I just usually have it on in the background and I just lay there motionless because I don't want to do anything else or move because I'm so tired. I'm also cramping so bad I don't want to leave the house.
Adam was very sweet today, he said he is more excited now for our babies then he was before we knew anything. What a great man.
I love you my precious miracle babies and I wont give up hope for you. (No matter how sick you make me feel). I love you.
All of our families know now and have been supportive. I know its hard for them to find the words to say and I know they are praying that everything will be fine. I on the other hand, I came home and started looking up material on the babies. I came across an article that said these babies usually only have a 50% chance. There went my optimism right out of the window. I was devastated and even more emotional now. My brain is not comprehending all of this.
When I got home I was already cramping quite a bit so I laid with the heating blanket. I was also exhausted so I came home and slept until 430. Its funny though because I feel as if I haven't slept in days. I suppose its the load of information Ive been getting. I have also just felt distant from the things I like. For example, I hate being on this computer now and don't really want to look at the TV, so I just usually have it on in the background and I just lay there motionless because I don't want to do anything else or move because I'm so tired. I'm also cramping so bad I don't want to leave the house.
Adam was very sweet today, he said he is more excited now for our babies then he was before we knew anything. What a great man.
I love you my precious miracle babies and I wont give up hope for you. (No matter how sick you make me feel). I love you.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Today my life changed.
It was April 25, 2010 when we found out. It was a Sunday morning and then I knew my life would never be the same. I was so excited to tell Adam. I went and made a sign on our piggy bank that read "Baby's college fund: Only 18 years and 9 months left to save." Adam didn't get it. He just thought I was telling him that we need to save money. So then I had to pull out the pregnancy test so he would know what I was talking about. He was speechless and excited at the same time. We didn't really know how to react yet.
We decided not to tell anyone until after the first trimester so we knew our baby would be safe. I had already seen so much pain with the two babies who didn't make it in my family. I didn't want to have to put anyone through that.
The first person I ended up telling was Nicole Barney. I needed someone to talk to and since she was pregnant I knew she could help. Plus, I got a prompting that I should talk to someone and she was the first person who came to my mind. She was very excited for us. I miss her and her wonderful support being close by.
I have been such a worrier through this whole process. I'm always thinking negatively but what else is new, I have tended to do that through my whole life. I have this horrible idea that if I expect to much then I will just be let down. I don't know why I'm like that because I certainly wasn't raised that way. And Adam has been about to beat me because I constantly am worrying if our baby would make it or not.
The last few weeks at work were crazy too. People tend to notice if you went from planning a family to not talking about it at all. So some would ask questions like, are you pregnant yet?..Hows the baby coming along? and it is all I can do to keep my mouth shut and change the conversation before they would find out. See I also had this thing where I would never deny I was pregnant, I felt that was bad luck. So I would just change the subject. Well, there are some people I couldn't hide it from at work. Its funny some even recognized I wasn't drinking coke as much and I had replaced it with Ginger Ale and crackers.
Yes, this was all before telling my own parents. What a daughter I am! But I had my reasons, I wanted to tell them in person. So, on Mothers Day I told my mother and father. They were thrilled. Dad had been asking for awhile when I was going to give him a grandchild. I was glad they were so excited and happy.
I have had lots of morning sickness and let me tell you, it defiantly isn't just in the morning. I have also had a bout with headaches. But the cramping was the most worrisome. My first appointment wasn't scheduled until 5/20/10. But with all of the worrying I decided I needed to see them sooner. That leads me to today.
Today is 5/13/10 and this was the new day that changed my life. My appointment was at 1:30 and Adam was able to get off to be with me. I was excited and nervous. For some reason I thought they might get in there and that nothing would be there. Yes, I told you I was a worry wart.
I went to have my ultrasound and the technician already isn't to personable and she was very serious. Well, she gets in there and starts asking me weird questions like, Did you do any fertility treatments?, I'm like no, I'm a little young for that. And she just kept getting a surprise look on her face or yet worse a worried look.
Well, she then proceeds to tell me that I am pregnant with TWINS. She reports that they both have a heart beat. However, she said they are really close together. She then proceeded to say she was going to have a physician come in to see the ultrasound. She came in and reported the babies are from the same egg and look to be sharing an amniotic sac that hasn't pulled apart yet. She said they are still very very early to tell much of anything at this point but will probably need to be followed closely.
My heart sinks...first two babies..and now they are too close together for comfort. I then go and meet with my OBGYN. She confirms that there are two babies and that they are the rarest form of twins that happen next to conjoined twins. She reports they are really early to tell much at the moment but that she would like me to have an ultrasound weekly for the time being. She said this would look for viability and positioning. I learned that I was now a very high risk pregnancy. She said there is a high risk of miscarriage and pre term labor ..along with other factors. She said I wouldn't be safe until the babies reach viability. My heart sank and I burst into tears. I automatically just felt like I was doomed. She then pointed out that I should be hopeful that they do both have heart beats right now and I'm showing no other signs of complication. She also said," The best thing you can do for your babies is have hope." This is so hard, I went from being worried before this appointment to a load of worries that now things were serious. My babies will have to thrive and grow in one little area, sharing everything. This terrifies me. All, I can think about is how am I going to make it through this, my heart truly ached inside and I feel like I'm drowning.
I came home and had to call my mom and my brother and sister in law to let them know what what going on. My mom is an amazing support, she told me she was going to be optimistic all the way and very supportive. My brother had something great to say, he said there is no reason to be sad because nothing has happened to be sad about yet. Isn't that such a marvelous and brave way to look at the world. I want so bad to have nothing but hope for these babies, I don't want them to feel like I have already given up. Its going to be a long and hard road but I need to make it through.
My husband is truly an amazing man. I don't know what I would do with out him. He is my rock and keeps me sane. He has such optimism that everything is going to work out and has already started planning stuff for the two babies. He is an amazing person with such good hope and faith that things will be okay. He said these are our two little miracle babies. I love him.
I'm going to have to take things day by day. I will do my best to have hope and faith. I don't want to give up on my babies. I will see them again next Thursday, and I hope there hearts will be stronger and they will have more definition in between them. Pray for us!
I love you my babies, already with all my heart. I promise I will fight to the end for you and not give up. I promise I will have HOPE.
We decided not to tell anyone until after the first trimester so we knew our baby would be safe. I had already seen so much pain with the two babies who didn't make it in my family. I didn't want to have to put anyone through that.
The first person I ended up telling was Nicole Barney. I needed someone to talk to and since she was pregnant I knew she could help. Plus, I got a prompting that I should talk to someone and she was the first person who came to my mind. She was very excited for us. I miss her and her wonderful support being close by.
I have been such a worrier through this whole process. I'm always thinking negatively but what else is new, I have tended to do that through my whole life. I have this horrible idea that if I expect to much then I will just be let down. I don't know why I'm like that because I certainly wasn't raised that way. And Adam has been about to beat me because I constantly am worrying if our baby would make it or not.
The last few weeks at work were crazy too. People tend to notice if you went from planning a family to not talking about it at all. So some would ask questions like, are you pregnant yet?..Hows the baby coming along? and it is all I can do to keep my mouth shut and change the conversation before they would find out. See I also had this thing where I would never deny I was pregnant, I felt that was bad luck. So I would just change the subject. Well, there are some people I couldn't hide it from at work. Its funny some even recognized I wasn't drinking coke as much and I had replaced it with Ginger Ale and crackers.
Yes, this was all before telling my own parents. What a daughter I am! But I had my reasons, I wanted to tell them in person. So, on Mothers Day I told my mother and father. They were thrilled. Dad had been asking for awhile when I was going to give him a grandchild. I was glad they were so excited and happy.
I have had lots of morning sickness and let me tell you, it defiantly isn't just in the morning. I have also had a bout with headaches. But the cramping was the most worrisome. My first appointment wasn't scheduled until 5/20/10. But with all of the worrying I decided I needed to see them sooner. That leads me to today.
Today is 5/13/10 and this was the new day that changed my life. My appointment was at 1:30 and Adam was able to get off to be with me. I was excited and nervous. For some reason I thought they might get in there and that nothing would be there. Yes, I told you I was a worry wart.
I went to have my ultrasound and the technician already isn't to personable and she was very serious. Well, she gets in there and starts asking me weird questions like, Did you do any fertility treatments?, I'm like no, I'm a little young for that. And she just kept getting a surprise look on her face or yet worse a worried look.
Well, she then proceeds to tell me that I am pregnant with TWINS. She reports that they both have a heart beat. However, she said they are really close together. She then proceeded to say she was going to have a physician come in to see the ultrasound. She came in and reported the babies are from the same egg and look to be sharing an amniotic sac that hasn't pulled apart yet. She said they are still very very early to tell much of anything at this point but will probably need to be followed closely.
My heart sinks...first two babies..and now they are too close together for comfort. I then go and meet with my OBGYN. She confirms that there are two babies and that they are the rarest form of twins that happen next to conjoined twins. She reports they are really early to tell much at the moment but that she would like me to have an ultrasound weekly for the time being. She said this would look for viability and positioning. I learned that I was now a very high risk pregnancy. She said there is a high risk of miscarriage and pre term labor ..along with other factors. She said I wouldn't be safe until the babies reach viability. My heart sank and I burst into tears. I automatically just felt like I was doomed. She then pointed out that I should be hopeful that they do both have heart beats right now and I'm showing no other signs of complication. She also said," The best thing you can do for your babies is have hope." This is so hard, I went from being worried before this appointment to a load of worries that now things were serious. My babies will have to thrive and grow in one little area, sharing everything. This terrifies me. All, I can think about is how am I going to make it through this, my heart truly ached inside and I feel like I'm drowning.
I came home and had to call my mom and my brother and sister in law to let them know what what going on. My mom is an amazing support, she told me she was going to be optimistic all the way and very supportive. My brother had something great to say, he said there is no reason to be sad because nothing has happened to be sad about yet. Isn't that such a marvelous and brave way to look at the world. I want so bad to have nothing but hope for these babies, I don't want them to feel like I have already given up. Its going to be a long and hard road but I need to make it through.
My husband is truly an amazing man. I don't know what I would do with out him. He is my rock and keeps me sane. He has such optimism that everything is going to work out and has already started planning stuff for the two babies. He is an amazing person with such good hope and faith that things will be okay. He said these are our two little miracle babies. I love him.
I'm going to have to take things day by day. I will do my best to have hope and faith. I don't want to give up on my babies. I will see them again next Thursday, and I hope there hearts will be stronger and they will have more definition in between them. Pray for us!
I love you my babies, already with all my heart. I promise I will fight to the end for you and not give up. I promise I will have HOPE.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
May Flood
Friday,
Adam and I both worked half days this day! We finally went to Lowe's to plant some new flowers and plants for our yard. They look so pretty. We still have a lot more work to do. Adam's dad also came down that evening to spend the night so he could help put shelves in our garage. So Friday night we went back to Lowe's to buy some shelve materials.
Saturday,
Adam and his dad woke up early to start building the shelves. It was nasty and rainy but luckily they were only having to stand in the garage. At this point, im just more worried about tornado warnings. Most people who know me are aware that tornados are one of my biggest fears. Well, the storms had lots of thunder and lightening but man, the rain was pouring and pouring to the ground. It was about noon and they were done with the shelves. Adam's dad decided he needed to get back home. (Thank you so much for the shelves, they look awesome.)
Well, we were starving so Adam and I drove up the road to Las Palmas. It was only mildly raining at this point. The water was definatly rising at this point however. Some peoples yards on Hwy 100 look liked the mini Harpeth river. We ate and hurried home. The rain kept comming and comming. I never really thought twice about Flood Warnings in the past and at this point still didnt. I mean from our neighborhood we couldnt even see the river. At this point, the large green field in our neighborhood had a good amount of water on it but wasnt to suprised about it.
Later, Buster and Adam braved the water and went to the grocery store since we were pretty sure we wouldnt get out for awhile. Adam came home with mainly refridgerator and freezer items. Thats what we mainly eat so thats what we got. The rains continued and the storms were strong. Still at this point I was only concerned about tornado warnings. The water was comming up pretty high on the other side of the U shape we live in. I was worried about those houses, but not mine because I lived far away from it. Below are pictures from Saturday.
Below is the lake that was now part of Avondale.
Below is me standing on my back patio. The zoom on the camera is enforced. Remember this fence for future reference.
Sunday,
We woke up with several text messages from Buster saying "The River is Huge." It is about 8 in the morning. We look outside and water is starting to form around the fence. I thought this was normal, they made that little ditch for the purpose of having water run down there instead of standing in people's yards. It was poring down rain lots of rain at this point. It wasnt stopping. And then at 9 am the power went off.
Well, 11 came around and everyone was blocked in the neighborhood. So when there is a flood in the neighborhood what does everyone do. We all go outside. My new saying is, "There is nothing like a flood to bring the neighborhood together." I met tons of new people. Well, the rains kept comming and this is what the water was looking like in the neighborhood now.
Remember the fence:
Well, after it settled down again everyone comes back outside. Still no power. We noticed something different. Yes, yes it was a COW. Apparently, a cow floated down into our neighborhood and was hanging out. He ran around some scaring people when he came out of no where and pretty sure saw him run across our yard. Then he settled in the empty lot from across the street. He became the Avondal mascot.
Quite a site. In our down time, we sat on the couch and just would read books. Yes, I was reading. We watched the waters keep rising. It was amazing seeing houses around me completly surouned in water. Luckily, it was basements and crawl spaces. But still lots of damage. The river even started going over the interstate. I at this time really felt the warning of the floods. I couldnt believe all of this that was happening right before our eyes and everone around us. No one unless they are in our condition can possibly know the fear we were having. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the river would rise this much and terrorize all of our area that was not even in a flood zone. And the fact the no one over here had flood insurance.
Then, our roof starts to leak...adding fire to the fear in my eyes.
Mom had also called stating she saw our neighborhood on the TV. I think she knew at that time how bad it actually was. We did feel very grateful however because we knew that just on the other side of the interstate a lot more devistation was going on. With houses compleltly flooded.
This was now the site directly out our window.
This was the houses just across the yard from us.
That evening we grilled out since that was the only option with no power. Buster and Katy ate with us. I was so scared the river would rise over night and get into our house. I went to bed in fear that night. Adam and I and everyone in the neighborhood couldnt get to work the next day. Everything was flooded. And the cow kept us up all night mooooing. Poor thing.
Monday,
We woke up that morning, still no power, but blessed because the water did not rise, it was still very high but it did not rise. The interstate was still flooded and other roads. We were able to make it to Publix to get a few supplies..they were only letting us buy non frozen or refridgerated items. We were lucky to get there because the road was flooded directly after Publix. Then Adam had to get rid of three bags full of food. It was depressing. Our fridge is empty besides drinks that are in the fridge that wouldnt go bad. The water kept going down and down it was great. We went about our day basically the same as before without power but at least today we wernt fearful about water getting into our house. And as we were going to bed around 8 pm our electricity came back on. We felt it was a miracle because we had been hearing it was going to be much longer.
Im am completly grateful. I have been completly humbled. We feared for the worst and got more than I could ask for. We had a leaky roof, no power, and neighbors with flooded basements and crawl space. But some lost everything. I have never been so close to a natural disaster like this and it makes me so blessed that I came out of this okay. I pray for the ones who have lost it all. We have had a hard weekend of the unknown but it is nothing compared to some.
Food for thought:
1. When people are going through rough times as were people in this neighborhood and other areas, dont go driving through our neighborhood in clusters looking at the destruction. That was my number one pet peive. People who didnt belong here were driving around in packs. I couldnt believe it.
2. I want to think everyone who kept checking up on us. It means a lot to us. But it amazes me how some in other parts of Nashville who had nothing happen but some rain didnt even think about what some of us were going through. They have no idea what was going on with everyone unless they were going through it themselves. It really amazes me how people dont think about that.
3. I really wonder what happened to the cow. It was just gone Monday after hearing it mooooo all night.
4. These pictures above do not do the real thing justice AT all.
Today, I have been waiting on people to look at my roof. But has anyone responded to me..noooo. I have been trying to get the house back in order now that im able to see. And now everything moves on...like it didnt happen..
We went through a once in a 500 year flood.
Adam and I both worked half days this day! We finally went to Lowe's to plant some new flowers and plants for our yard. They look so pretty. We still have a lot more work to do. Adam's dad also came down that evening to spend the night so he could help put shelves in our garage. So Friday night we went back to Lowe's to buy some shelve materials.
Saturday,
Adam and his dad woke up early to start building the shelves. It was nasty and rainy but luckily they were only having to stand in the garage. At this point, im just more worried about tornado warnings. Most people who know me are aware that tornados are one of my biggest fears. Well, the storms had lots of thunder and lightening but man, the rain was pouring and pouring to the ground. It was about noon and they were done with the shelves. Adam's dad decided he needed to get back home. (Thank you so much for the shelves, they look awesome.)
Well, we were starving so Adam and I drove up the road to Las Palmas. It was only mildly raining at this point. The water was definatly rising at this point however. Some peoples yards on Hwy 100 look liked the mini Harpeth river. We ate and hurried home. The rain kept comming and comming. I never really thought twice about Flood Warnings in the past and at this point still didnt. I mean from our neighborhood we couldnt even see the river. At this point, the large green field in our neighborhood had a good amount of water on it but wasnt to suprised about it.
Later, Buster and Adam braved the water and went to the grocery store since we were pretty sure we wouldnt get out for awhile. Adam came home with mainly refridgerator and freezer items. Thats what we mainly eat so thats what we got. The rains continued and the storms were strong. Still at this point I was only concerned about tornado warnings. The water was comming up pretty high on the other side of the U shape we live in. I was worried about those houses, but not mine because I lived far away from it. Below are pictures from Saturday.
Below is the lake that was now part of Avondale.
Below is me standing on my back patio. The zoom on the camera is enforced. Remember this fence for future reference.
Sunday,
We woke up with several text messages from Buster saying "The River is Huge." It is about 8 in the morning. We look outside and water is starting to form around the fence. I thought this was normal, they made that little ditch for the purpose of having water run down there instead of standing in people's yards. It was poring down rain lots of rain at this point. It wasnt stopping. And then at 9 am the power went off.
Well, 11 came around and everyone was blocked in the neighborhood. So when there is a flood in the neighborhood what does everyone do. We all go outside. My new saying is, "There is nothing like a flood to bring the neighborhood together." I met tons of new people. Well, the rains kept comming and this is what the water was looking like in the neighborhood now.
Remember the fence:
Well, after it settled down again everyone comes back outside. Still no power. We noticed something different. Yes, yes it was a COW. Apparently, a cow floated down into our neighborhood and was hanging out. He ran around some scaring people when he came out of no where and pretty sure saw him run across our yard. Then he settled in the empty lot from across the street. He became the Avondal mascot.
Quite a site. In our down time, we sat on the couch and just would read books. Yes, I was reading. We watched the waters keep rising. It was amazing seeing houses around me completly surouned in water. Luckily, it was basements and crawl spaces. But still lots of damage. The river even started going over the interstate. I at this time really felt the warning of the floods. I couldnt believe all of this that was happening right before our eyes and everone around us. No one unless they are in our condition can possibly know the fear we were having. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the river would rise this much and terrorize all of our area that was not even in a flood zone. And the fact the no one over here had flood insurance.
Then, our roof starts to leak...adding fire to the fear in my eyes.
Mom had also called stating she saw our neighborhood on the TV. I think she knew at that time how bad it actually was. We did feel very grateful however because we knew that just on the other side of the interstate a lot more devistation was going on. With houses compleltly flooded.
This was now the site directly out our window.
This was the houses just across the yard from us.
That evening we grilled out since that was the only option with no power. Buster and Katy ate with us. I was so scared the river would rise over night and get into our house. I went to bed in fear that night. Adam and I and everyone in the neighborhood couldnt get to work the next day. Everything was flooded. And the cow kept us up all night mooooing. Poor thing.
Monday,
We woke up that morning, still no power, but blessed because the water did not rise, it was still very high but it did not rise. The interstate was still flooded and other roads. We were able to make it to Publix to get a few supplies..they were only letting us buy non frozen or refridgerated items. We were lucky to get there because the road was flooded directly after Publix. Then Adam had to get rid of three bags full of food. It was depressing. Our fridge is empty besides drinks that are in the fridge that wouldnt go bad. The water kept going down and down it was great. We went about our day basically the same as before without power but at least today we wernt fearful about water getting into our house. And as we were going to bed around 8 pm our electricity came back on. We felt it was a miracle because we had been hearing it was going to be much longer.
Im am completly grateful. I have been completly humbled. We feared for the worst and got more than I could ask for. We had a leaky roof, no power, and neighbors with flooded basements and crawl space. But some lost everything. I have never been so close to a natural disaster like this and it makes me so blessed that I came out of this okay. I pray for the ones who have lost it all. We have had a hard weekend of the unknown but it is nothing compared to some.
Food for thought:
1. When people are going through rough times as were people in this neighborhood and other areas, dont go driving through our neighborhood in clusters looking at the destruction. That was my number one pet peive. People who didnt belong here were driving around in packs. I couldnt believe it.
2. I want to think everyone who kept checking up on us. It means a lot to us. But it amazes me how some in other parts of Nashville who had nothing happen but some rain didnt even think about what some of us were going through. They have no idea what was going on with everyone unless they were going through it themselves. It really amazes me how people dont think about that.
3. I really wonder what happened to the cow. It was just gone Monday after hearing it mooooo all night.
4. These pictures above do not do the real thing justice AT all.
Today, I have been waiting on people to look at my roof. But has anyone responded to me..noooo. I have been trying to get the house back in order now that im able to see. And now everything moves on...like it didnt happen..
We went through a once in a 500 year flood.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Week of New Things.
This week has been a week of new things.
Tuesday, I wake up and go to the computer as always to check my email. Well, it came on but I sure couldnt see anything. Bummer. We were always planning on buying a new computer like this summer but had always counted on having some use out of the old one too. Well, that idea was cracked. So we headed to Best Buy. I usually back up my stuff on my computer but this particular time I hadnt in about a month. Well, there was several things I needed. Luckily, at Geek Squad desk he was able to hook our computer to his big screen. That way I could see the screen to remove my materials I needed. And he didnt charge me because I did it myself. However, he told me the computer would be $900 bucks to fix the screen. NO THANK YOU! So we marched right on to the back of Best Buy and bought a new one. It was painful to do but much needed.
Nothing else much happened during the week but Saturday brought new and FREE stuff to my house.
My house is officially full of furniture. Isn't it sad we still need more, though but have no idea where to put it. Thanks to my lovely parents my bonus room is now furnished. They were able to give us several pieces of furniture recently and so that was great news to us and my brother. We all made the big move on this past Saturday. (what a messy day). Thanks to the help that came to my house. Adams parents were a huge help and Buster too. And of course my family as well.
Adam's parents and Travis ended up staying later than they planned that day because of the horrible weather. Thankfully, my fears didnt come true and we didnt get a bad storm really at all. And im glad my parents made it safley to Memphis and nothing bad ended up really happening in McEwen.
In GREAT news, Adam back seems to be doing much much better.
This week I believe Adams dad is going to help put shelves up in our garage which will be nice.
And thanks to Nicole Barney for being there to talk to like everyday this week haha!! I miss you. You will never know how much of a valuable friend you have become to me.
Tuesday, I wake up and go to the computer as always to check my email. Well, it came on but I sure couldnt see anything. Bummer. We were always planning on buying a new computer like this summer but had always counted on having some use out of the old one too. Well, that idea was cracked. So we headed to Best Buy. I usually back up my stuff on my computer but this particular time I hadnt in about a month. Well, there was several things I needed. Luckily, at Geek Squad desk he was able to hook our computer to his big screen. That way I could see the screen to remove my materials I needed. And he didnt charge me because I did it myself. However, he told me the computer would be $900 bucks to fix the screen. NO THANK YOU! So we marched right on to the back of Best Buy and bought a new one. It was painful to do but much needed.
Nothing else much happened during the week but Saturday brought new and FREE stuff to my house.
My house is officially full of furniture. Isn't it sad we still need more, though but have no idea where to put it. Thanks to my lovely parents my bonus room is now furnished. They were able to give us several pieces of furniture recently and so that was great news to us and my brother. We all made the big move on this past Saturday. (what a messy day). Thanks to the help that came to my house. Adams parents were a huge help and Buster too. And of course my family as well.
Adam's parents and Travis ended up staying later than they planned that day because of the horrible weather. Thankfully, my fears didnt come true and we didnt get a bad storm really at all. And im glad my parents made it safley to Memphis and nothing bad ended up really happening in McEwen.
In GREAT news, Adam back seems to be doing much much better.
This week I believe Adams dad is going to help put shelves up in our garage which will be nice.
And thanks to Nicole Barney for being there to talk to like everyday this week haha!! I miss you. You will never know how much of a valuable friend you have become to me.
Monday, April 19, 2010
April Maddness
March and April have been sooo chaotic. I feel as if we haven't been home at all on the weekends. I'm not complaining to much though because it has been great to see family.
This weekend we went home to Clarksville. Adam had a test he needed to take at Austin Peay at 730 in the morning on Saturday, so we went up Friday and stayed the night. (Adam did good on his test.) I thought it was weird however because the test had nothing to do with nursing. It almost sounded like an easier version of the GRE.
Well, then we all went out for our birthday lunch at Red Lobster. I also had to convince Teresa to go with us because she hates fish. I don't like fish either but oddly I love clam strips and they have great chicken. But had to make sure she came because what is a birthday lunch if you don't have someone there to pick on you.
Then we went back home and opened some presents. I got a new toaster oven that is family size. Its amazing. I have already used it several times. My old one didn't heat things properly. And the one I had growing up at my parents house didn't work as good as this one either. My example: When we have left over pizza..at the parents I would toast it and then put it in the microwave to warm it the rest of the way up. Well, this one the toaster part warmed it perfectly. It's some of the simplest things that get me excited haha.
I also got the prettiest ring..a blue sapphire. I think its gorgeous and have had many compliments on it as well.
That night we headed down to McEwen for Noah's 7th birthday. Adam was glad to get some real home cooked meals :). It was nice to see everyone. Pa was doing so much better it seemed too...seemed in better spirits than the last few times we saw him.
This weekend were heading back to Memphis. Busy, Busy.
I have been getting nasty headaches the last few days. I had some occipital nerve blocks put it and it seemed to help at first. I'm thinking I may want to try some more after today's experience. (You don't want to know).
Izzie has been throwing up a lot lately so she had been to the vet. So I spent last night using a pill cutter so I could cut these little Pepcid pills into 1/4ths. Its hard to do with a small pill to begin with.
Adams back has been really bothering him. It concerns me because back problems are not a good thing at all. He said he thinks it started by bending over to lock a wheelchair. I told him he must not have been using good ergonomics. We went to a walk in clinic and told him to take muscle relaxers and NSAID's. But he doesn't seem to be getting better. And he wont rest..he has been lifting and moving all kinds of stuff. I tell him to sit down and rest but he doesn't listen. Sheesh.
Talk to ya later.
This weekend we went home to Clarksville. Adam had a test he needed to take at Austin Peay at 730 in the morning on Saturday, so we went up Friday and stayed the night. (Adam did good on his test.) I thought it was weird however because the test had nothing to do with nursing. It almost sounded like an easier version of the GRE.
Well, then we all went out for our birthday lunch at Red Lobster. I also had to convince Teresa to go with us because she hates fish. I don't like fish either but oddly I love clam strips and they have great chicken. But had to make sure she came because what is a birthday lunch if you don't have someone there to pick on you.
Then we went back home and opened some presents. I got a new toaster oven that is family size. Its amazing. I have already used it several times. My old one didn't heat things properly. And the one I had growing up at my parents house didn't work as good as this one either. My example: When we have left over pizza..at the parents I would toast it and then put it in the microwave to warm it the rest of the way up. Well, this one the toaster part warmed it perfectly. It's some of the simplest things that get me excited haha.
I also got the prettiest ring..a blue sapphire. I think its gorgeous and have had many compliments on it as well.
That night we headed down to McEwen for Noah's 7th birthday. Adam was glad to get some real home cooked meals :). It was nice to see everyone. Pa was doing so much better it seemed too...seemed in better spirits than the last few times we saw him.
This weekend were heading back to Memphis. Busy, Busy.
I have been getting nasty headaches the last few days. I had some occipital nerve blocks put it and it seemed to help at first. I'm thinking I may want to try some more after today's experience. (You don't want to know).
Izzie has been throwing up a lot lately so she had been to the vet. So I spent last night using a pill cutter so I could cut these little Pepcid pills into 1/4ths. Its hard to do with a small pill to begin with.
Adams back has been really bothering him. It concerns me because back problems are not a good thing at all. He said he thinks it started by bending over to lock a wheelchair. I told him he must not have been using good ergonomics. We went to a walk in clinic and told him to take muscle relaxers and NSAID's. But he doesn't seem to be getting better. And he wont rest..he has been lifting and moving all kinds of stuff. I tell him to sit down and rest but he doesn't listen. Sheesh.
Talk to ya later.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Great Week.
Hi!
We have had a very busy last few days. This week Adam and I went to Memphis to see Charlie and Nicole. We both took off on Friday so we could get down there a little bit earlier.
But first Thursday night Adam and I ....finally made time to see friends. Adam went and hung out with Buster (Katy was out of town). They ordered take out from Buffalo Wild Wings and played PlayStation or x box..which ever. I called it their man date. Haha.
I went to P.F. Chang's with Leslie and Heather from nursing school. It was SO good to see them. Its so great when you haven't seen certain friends in several years and you can pick up like there was no time wasted. It was nice to chat with them about different work stories and life. I hope we will make plans to get together more often.
Friday, we left for Memphis and got there around 2. Charles was just so cute but isn't he always. The main reason for going to Memphis was to go to Time Out for Women. Nicole had asked me to go several months ago and the day finally came. Friday night we actually got to here from John Bytheway. How cool is that. Those are some of the very few books I actually read as a teenager. They didn't seem to give him much time to speak though. That night we came home and were going to celebrate Adams birthday. It was so funny..so as most know Nicole made Charles a dinosaur birthday cake for his birthday, so Adam jokingly asked Nicole if she was going to make him a dinosaur birthday cake. Well, Nicole had a key lime pie and had bought a dinosaur sandwich shaper. So she had punch a dinosaur figurine out of the middle of the key lime pie and put a candle in it. It was hilarious and Adam got his dinosaur cake :).
Saturday, Time out for Women was all day basically. We had some AMAZING speakers. A lot of their messages were very special. The singer, Hillary Weeks, was amazing and probably one of my favorite parts. She was so much more than a singer but an amazing person with great stories and messages for us to here. I also really enjoyed Amanda, one of the speakers, her message probably touched me the most. The theme this year was about having Infinite Hope. I think it was very important for me to here some of the things that were spoken. Life gets very hard sometimes and it seems like most of the time we want instant gratification about what we want or we end up discouraged. I think this applies to me. I need to learn to have hopes but realize if I don't receive them now or ever ..that the Lord is with me and everything will be OK.
It was also great to be able to spend time with Nicole. She is such a very special person and I'm am so glad she is my sister in law. She shared some encouraging thoughts with me as well. And yes this will be a shocker but I bought a couple of books to read. Crazy huh! But I will read them haha.
That night we went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and went home and hung out and played games. I wish we lived closer together. It would be nice to see them more often.
My parents had some more excited news this weekend. But not quite sure I should share that yet.
Have a great day!
We have had a very busy last few days. This week Adam and I went to Memphis to see Charlie and Nicole. We both took off on Friday so we could get down there a little bit earlier.
But first Thursday night Adam and I ....finally made time to see friends. Adam went and hung out with Buster (Katy was out of town). They ordered take out from Buffalo Wild Wings and played PlayStation or x box..which ever. I called it their man date. Haha.
I went to P.F. Chang's with Leslie and Heather from nursing school. It was SO good to see them. Its so great when you haven't seen certain friends in several years and you can pick up like there was no time wasted. It was nice to chat with them about different work stories and life. I hope we will make plans to get together more often.
Friday, we left for Memphis and got there around 2. Charles was just so cute but isn't he always. The main reason for going to Memphis was to go to Time Out for Women. Nicole had asked me to go several months ago and the day finally came. Friday night we actually got to here from John Bytheway. How cool is that. Those are some of the very few books I actually read as a teenager. They didn't seem to give him much time to speak though. That night we came home and were going to celebrate Adams birthday. It was so funny..so as most know Nicole made Charles a dinosaur birthday cake for his birthday, so Adam jokingly asked Nicole if she was going to make him a dinosaur birthday cake. Well, Nicole had a key lime pie and had bought a dinosaur sandwich shaper. So she had punch a dinosaur figurine out of the middle of the key lime pie and put a candle in it. It was hilarious and Adam got his dinosaur cake :).
Saturday, Time out for Women was all day basically. We had some AMAZING speakers. A lot of their messages were very special. The singer, Hillary Weeks, was amazing and probably one of my favorite parts. She was so much more than a singer but an amazing person with great stories and messages for us to here. I also really enjoyed Amanda, one of the speakers, her message probably touched me the most. The theme this year was about having Infinite Hope. I think it was very important for me to here some of the things that were spoken. Life gets very hard sometimes and it seems like most of the time we want instant gratification about what we want or we end up discouraged. I think this applies to me. I need to learn to have hopes but realize if I don't receive them now or ever ..that the Lord is with me and everything will be OK.
It was also great to be able to spend time with Nicole. She is such a very special person and I'm am so glad she is my sister in law. She shared some encouraging thoughts with me as well. And yes this will be a shocker but I bought a couple of books to read. Crazy huh! But I will read them haha.
That night we went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and went home and hung out and played games. I wish we lived closer together. It would be nice to see them more often.
My parents had some more excited news this weekend. But not quite sure I should share that yet.
Have a great day!
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