Stuart Little

I Just love my boys!

2011-11-18T13:54:00.000-06:00

Baby Stuff

2011-03-13T14:25:00.002-05:00

My name is Lauren..and im obsessed with baby stuff.
I have a bad addiction at wanting stuff for them...and in the back of my mind I know that they will never know what I didnt get for them at this age.
My friend Katy had me loving consignment sells recently. We got lots of clothes hopefully for late spring and summer. It has been fun sorting through thier stuff and putting it in thier closet. I probably have been through thier stuff several times this week. At least the sales are now over until August.
I also need to start thinking about a walking stroller and high chairs. I just wish thier was some magic button to tell me which one is best for me. I get so many mixed opinions. There are certain things I want for my long term stroller: able to go on walks outside with it..adult and childen cup holders...and storage for the diaper bag. You would think with just 3 criteria it would be easy to find..but its not.
As for high chairs I cant decide between a floor standing one ..or table attaching kind.
These decisions are so complicated.

Our Boys @ 4 months

2011-03-09T17:31:00.002-06:00

It has been a really long time since I blogged but I dont have a lot of time on my hands these day :).
The boys had thier 4 month appointment today and it went very well.
Jackson came in weighing 10.1 lbs and was 22.25 in long. Joshua came in weighing 9.3 lbs and was 22 inches long.
Thier 3rd month was a pretty exciting one for us.
*They started smiling at us for the first time and then started cooing and laughing. They are the most beautiful sights and sounds we've ever heard.
*They have also started to sleep almost through the night.
*Jackson has finally graduated to 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers.
*Joshua is still in Newborn diapers and clothes but it trying to catch up.
*They enjoy laying on the floor more often to kick thier legs around.
*We managed to get out of the house a couple of times this past month to go to a few stores and to visit grandparents.
* They still love thier pacifiers and are enjoying the new vanilla scented ones we got them.

The doctor said this month to lay them on the floor more often to practice rolling from side to side. He also said at 5 1/2 months to start feeding them cereal. Hes pleased with thier progress just wishes they would eat a bit more.

I have found that I love shopping for them but have to quit now haha. We started going to a few consignment sales to try and get some cheap things. The upcomming purchases will have to be high chairs and a walking stroller.

We feel blessed everyday to be thier parents.

Shutterfly

2010-11-30T16:59:00.003-06:00

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.

November 9th, 2010

2010-10-21T10:25:00.002-05:00

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!!

26 weeks 1 day

2010-09-29T15:46:00.002-05:00

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.

25 weeks 3 days..10 Days Inpatient

2010-09-24T15:46:00.003-05:00

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..

Inpatient 24 weeks

2010-09-15T18:52:00.009-05:00

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

Whirlwind

2010-08-22T16:52:00.004-05:00

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.

19 weeks tommorrow

2010-08-09T13:25:00.010-05:00

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:

baby B:

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:

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!

Gender/Marvelous Multiples

2010-07-26T13:14:00.004-05:00

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.

And the Gender is??

2010-07-26T11:22:00.001-05:00

14 weeks 5 days

2010-07-11T18:37:00.006-05:00

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.

Monoamniotic factoids

2010-07-07T14:42:00.001-05:00

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

13 weeks 5 days

2010-07-04T16:17:00.007-05:00

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!

Update

2010-06-26T10:36:00.006-05:00

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.

10 Weeks and Counting

2010-06-14T15:06:00.003-05:00

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.

Our Babies @ 8 weeks.

2010-06-14T15:04:00.004-05:00

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.

2010-06-14T15:03:00.003-05:00

Its amazing how much they grew in one week! Heart rates this week were 120 and 135.

Our Babies at somewhere in 5 weeks.

2010-06-14T15:01:00.003-05:00

They are the tiny white dots that almost get cut off in the picture.

8 weeks 3 days or is it 9 weeks 3 days

2010-06-03T18:18:00.004-05:00

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.

Its been a few...

2010-05-25T16:42:00.005-05:00

Wow, so looking at the date, it has been a month since we found out we were expecting. It seems so much longer than that. A lot has happened since I wrote last.

I had my next appointment last week. And was so stoked to hear that everything looked great. They are almost definitely sure that they are not conjoined. They're heart rates also looked good. One babies was 120 and the other was 135 which are both good and much approved since last visit. Dr. Cassidy was glad to see this, as she was worried after the last week. She also brought up the past week and said she felt so bad sending us away after that visit but there was nothing she could really do at the time. It made me feel better that she acknowledged that. She still stated that this is a very serious and dangerous pregnancy but was glad that things looked a lot better this week.

She started talking about the future. She said in June she would start having me see the maternal fetal doctors (high risk doctors) along with her. She said they would be with me through the whole process with her making suggestions. I also found out that once I hit viability which is 24 weeks around Sept. 19th that I will probably be admitted to the hospital for 24/7 monitoring of the babies. They do this because of the cord strangling issue. The faster they catch it once they are viable the faster they could save them. The issue is that it could happen before that day which is scary and there would be nothing they could do about it. :(

We are glad things looked good at the last visit.

I didn't do much that weekend, I'm just soooo tired all the time and want to lay around.
Sunday, I had a pretty bad scare. I started to spot just a little. It only happened once and was very small but it was enough to turn me upside down. I thought it was over. I called the office and talked to their weekend person. She didn't really seem to be to worried but told me to rest the rest of the day. I had a horrible evening, my migraines have become horrible and the nausea is crazy.

Monday came and I went to work. Luckily I got called into the Green Hills office so I didn't have to go all the way to Clarksville. I was so exhausted and nauseated and my IBS has decided to kick my butt as well. But I made it through.

Today I had to go get blood drawn again looking at my progesterone levels. I also finally got my hair cut...it needed it bad. I also needed some color but cant do that right now.

I'm still worried about my babies every second but trying to remain hopeful. I think it has been a tad bit easier having the support of my family. I still just don't know how to go about everything. I mean they wont be safe until viability. So when should I even think about buying stuff for them...should it be after wards. I mean and even if they reach viability and have to be born then, its so early that they may not make it. Its just so hard to think about. So hard to take in, so hard to believe. I just want my little babies safe in my arms.

And just to get something off my chest. I hate when people speak without knowing what you going through and knowing the details of what is going on. I was telling someone about the the risk and complications and possibly having to be admitted in September. Well, they came back saying well my friend had twins and didn't have to do any of this. There are many kinds of different twins in this world. And why would I make up anything regarding my babies. They are my world and would never lie about them. Try having being told that your babies only have a 50% shot at being born. This also being the next to the last rarest pregnancy with conjoined twins taking last place. Please know what your talking about before judging someone else.

Okay sorry I'm just really emotional right now and even if that was a small thing it affects me a lot. To get informed and to read more about my babies here is a good website. http://monoamniotic.org/public/welcome.html

Bring you more soon...cant wait until June 3 when I can see them again and hopefully they will be okay! Thanks for all the prayers and support. Thanks to my mom for calling every single day to make sure I'm okay!
Just praying that my babies are safe and doing well and they will continue. Also praying they wont play jump rope with their cords. I love you babies with all I am.

Update: 5/27/10, My progesterone level came back normal again so I can continue on one pill instead of two. I get my levels checked again on Tuesday.

Thursday is nearing closer...

2010-05-18T17:09:00.004-05:00

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 :).

Fatigue

2010-05-16T11:47:00.005-05:00

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.

Progesterone

2010-05-14T21:33:00.004-05:00

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.

Today my life changed.

2010-05-13T18:34:00.004-05:00

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.

May Flood

2010-05-04T13:43:00.016-05:00

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.

A Week of New Things.

2010-04-27T10:31:00.003-05:00

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.

April Maddness

2010-04-19T15:25:00.002-05:00

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.

Great Week.

2010-04-11T18:13:00.005-05:00

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!

A week in Review

2010-03-28T14:15:00.004-05:00

We have had a pretty busy week. It is amazing how fast it went by.
Nothing to much happened at the beginning of the week. Wednesday, however, was a busy one for me. We actually didn't leave work until almost 6 pm which is a late day for me. Then, our friends Buster and Katy had a friend of theirs in town who is a songwriter. At the Commodore Lounge in the Holiday Inn at Vanderbilt host songwriters several times a week and their friend was playing there. So we went out there and ate dinner with them and listened to all the music. It takes a lot of guts to get up their to let your songs be heard. There were several really good people though. We also heard some pretty weird songs especially in the last set. The food was pretty good too. So it was nice to actually get out and do something different.
Thursday, I didn't do to much but clean some around the house.
Friday, Adam and I both worked half days so we went to Opry Mills and did a little shopping. Then did the usual grocery shopping.
Saturday was good. We went down to McEwen and celebrated our birthdays and Easter. It was nice to all gather out at Pa's house. Good to see him back home too. It was funny to see the boys all hunting Easter eggs in the grass. I brought back memories of doing that at Maw Maw and Pa Pa's house back in the day. I'm excited to see Charles hunt eggs next week. Izzie and Romeo as usual didn't get along haha. Poor Romeo was just trying to play with Izzie and she wasn't having it. Romeo is Adams brothers family's dog. He is a cute long haired dachshund (sp). Maybe one day they will be friends. I will have pictures later of this, if I remember.
We have another busy week ahead of us. We have my birthday Tuesday. Work. Thursday I have to go to Clarksville for Neurology appt and probably taking Izzie to the vet. And Clarksville this weekend...cant wait to see Charlie, Nicole, and Charles and Brinkley of course.
Bye.

Not much Goin on!

2010-03-21T16:12:00.003-05:00

Hi.
Not to much has been going on over the past few weeks.

The previews for the Last Song is on the TV right now, I'm going to get Adam to take me to see it for my birthday :). It looks really good.
I have had the great privilege to collect my urine over the past 24hours. I have to send it too a lab in Virgina that analyzes it. It was really odd taking a package with my urine in it and putting it into a Fed Ex box. Weird. But hopefully they will figure the stone thing all out.

Last night we had Buster and Katy over. We grilled out at their house. The boys were so proud of their huge manly sausages they cooked. Katy and I just ate a regular hot dog. Then we watched the first two Twilight movies. Its amazing to me just watching the movies how it makes me feel their intense connection, very powerful. Then I just couldn't stand it and made Adam tell me everything that happens in the next book. For some reason I just cant get in to reading. I always feel guilty about reading books at night before bed bc I could be using that time to read the scriptures. So I have this constant battle in my head hah. We are excited for the 3rd movie to come out this summer.

Today, I wanted to make this orange pineapple bunt cake but my lunch has made me have another bad GI spasm.. so my wonderful husband is making it for me right now.
It smells good too.

Adam and I are both turning older over the next few weeks.

Im going to Time Out for Women in Memphis in April, which i'm very much looking forward too.

Adam is still applying to schools to do nursing again. I hope this makes him happy this time. Hes applying the Cumberland University, Belmont, and APSU. Each have there benefits. Cumberland has a night and weekend program and Belmont has a fast track program for people who already have degrees and it cuts several months of off the school. And APSU is close and I have experience with them. Either way, I will be happy to help him study. It will probably be good to refresh my self with it considering im working in dermatology and so begin to forget some things that don't relate to skin.

I had a nice day of letter writing. Since I missed church bc I had to collect my urine in a jar. I thought it would be nice to write my grandparents a hello letter.
Also, I'm still looking for any cool ways to save money if anyone has suggestions.
Thats all for now! Bye.

A change in the way I blog.

2010-03-07T08:27:00.004-06:00

Hi!
So I have not made a blog in awhile and I will tell you why. In the last few post, I have told you about my numerous doctors visits and before that you read about my surgeries and so forth. Then in Feb. I got a kidney stone and was sick after that and now I still may have several small kidney stones. I'm going to a urologist on Tuesday for that.
Well, the reason I haven't wrote about any of this is because I feel like all I blog about seems to be about me being sick. What some don't understand is that I don't like being labeled "the sick one" or "she's just always sick". I know some people say this jokingly but it really hurts me inside. I don't choose these things. I wait and pray for a day where I don't have to struggle with chronic almost daily migraines, IBS, and spontaneous things such as kidney stones, etc. I would give almost anything to get rid of these burdens. I don't choose to have these, I don't like being sick. I want to be a productive, happy, healthy, full of life person who doesn't have to leave the house making sure she has medication in case she gets a headache. I don't want to have to worry about "if I eat this will I get sick" before everything I eat. But a lot of people unfortunately don't see the struggle I have on the inside wondering what happened, why am I like this? Most people are like ohh..shes just sick again go figure. So until you know in my body what im going through don't judge me...i'm trying everyday to fight for me..to fight for my health. I also understand a lot of the people who read my blog that I know of, aren't the people who are judging me..they are mainly my biggest supporters and cheer leaders and for that I thank them. But from now on I wont write or attempt not to write about my struggles in the health dept. If I need to vent about how i'm feeling that day I will do so with my husband and if not him then someone else I count on. If anyone else wants to know what is going on at any time then you can contact me directly.
Now, I'm glad I got that off my chest. Sorry.

Not much has been going on except everyday life.
Adam and I got a new work out video by the "So You Think You Can Dance" dancers and its awesome. Well, we just started it yesterday and only made it through the warm up. Haha I guess you have to start somewhere. I love it though because they are a lot of the same warm ups that I would do in dance class. It is also very entertaining to watch Adam do this. Hmm...I see a funniest home video haha.

Adam has been applying to nursing schools. Yes, you read that right. He's had a mind change and while he likes his current job and would like to stay with Vandy, he would like to be at home a little bit more whenever we decide to have a family and those jobs make a little more and are def. more stable. So, we'll see what happens.

We have a busy up coming months ahead. We both will be aging another year haha. We also are going to Memphis so I can go to Time Out for Women with Nicole. So excited that John Bytheway will be a speaker now.

And I think I'll wrap this up. However, we are looking for ways to save money and live more simply. The things we know off of the bat are eating out way less frequently and going down to basic tv stations of just 2,4,5 and Fox to cut down on TV expenses. If anyone has any other suggestion please let me know. Also, any saving tips you have as well.

Have a good day!

Doctors Done!

2010-02-16T15:58:00.003-06:00

First of all I would like to dedicate this blog to Laura Richards who always gets such humor out of my blogs. :).
So, these past few weeks I finally finished all my appointments. I thought id recapture these special moments. First was the dentist, how ironic is it that right after I posted my last blog my great friend Nicole informs me she had gone to the dentist I had chosen and has had horrible experiences there. Well, I sucked it up anyway and went. I actually had a pleasant experience there. They informed me I had a wonderful smile haha and nothing was wrong and they'd see me in 6 months. I actually learned more about my double tooth as well. I always find it curious to what new people will say about it. He actually gave me some statistics on how rare it is and how it happens, so it was so interesting.
Second, I went to the OBGYN. After waiting an hour in the waiting room, I was finally seen. It was a normal annual appointment with all its glory. Enough said.
Thirdly, I went to meet my new PCP today. Everything was fine and the staff was nice and before I knew it she had talked me in to getting the H1N1 vaccine. So now all I have to say is OUCH! MY arm is freaking killing me. To add to it Ive had this horrific migraine the whole day that wont go away no matter how much medicine im taking. If there is anyone out there who knows how to do head transplants let me know bc these headaches are just spiraling out of control. Thanks. (Maybe I should just take two aspirin and go to bed , right LeAnne :)) Haha.
Anyways, my Valentines day was nice and special. I love my husband and I cant imagine a life without him. He is my heart and soul. We've been through a lot over the past year and I think we've come out stronger for it.
On a more serious note. I have a couple of friends who are having a real hard time right now. I just want them to know if they are reading this, that I love them lots and you can call me for whatever no matter when.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAVIS! Hope you have a good day.

Doctors!

2010-02-02T16:22:00.002-06:00

Doctors.
I just felt like complaining about all the doctors I have to see this month. We have been on Cobra insurance the past 3 months because of Adams new job and I didnt really feel like going to the doctor while I was on it. I really dont know why but whatever. Well, now it is Feb. and we have our new insurance so I made some must needed appointments.
Thursday, I have a dentist appointment. I am so nervous to go. I used to LOVE going to the dentist because I never seemed to have any problems and everyone would gloat saying I had the most beautiful smile and eww and ahhh over my double tooth :). Well, my last experience was negative...I didnt like the people at all and they didnt seem to know what they were doing. They said ohh some of your gums are receeding in the back but dont worry about it. (That doesnt sound right). Well, so I didnt go back for awhile because I didnt want to go back to them and was discouraged trying to find someone new. So finally I sucked it up and found somone. So yes instead of 6 months its been more like 10 months since ive been. But now I just get to hear how my gums are bad and Ill probaly lose all my teeth. Haha, maybe im exaggerating but whatever. :).
Now, on the 11th I have to go the ObGyn for my yearly appt. SO EXCITED. I mean havent I seen her enough over the past year hah. And not to mention the fact everytime I have scheduled this appt. since then, I always gets cancelled because she has to go deliver a baby. I guess I should be thankful that one day far away when im pregnant she'll cancel clinic to come deliver mine. Still not looking forward to this appt.
Then, finally after a year and a half of living in Nashville I also still never got a PCP. Thanks to some great doctors I work with I finally scheduled with someone whom they all really like for the 16th. Plus I got strings pulled bc she wasnt accepting new pts but because I worked for her friend I get lucky. Well, I am dreading this. I guess with some medical groups they schedule you a meet the phycian appt. I really dont know what this is going to consist off but im pretty sure she going to tell me im very unhealthy and fat and I need to lose a 100 lbs. But my mom tells me thats what doctors are for.
I was going to add and eye appt to this but Dr. Loden the only doctor I have been going to doesnt except my insurance. So not sure what to do because I have the special eye surgery and want to make sure they know what to look for if there were ever problems.
Sheesh. Ive had enough with doctors after my 2009 multiple problems.
Glad I complained...wish me luck this month.
Now, I just need to get Adam and new PCP and new dentist. His old dentist is not covered on our new insurance. So I guess if I like mine he can just go there. And as for a PCP he never gets sick but one day he may so it would be nice to have someone to take him to.

Winter 2010

2010-01-31T12:34:00.008-06:00

YEA! for SNOW!

Adam and I are so thrilled that we finally got some good snow. Its not fluffy though because of all the ice mixed in. So you kind of just step and then fall in. We have had fun watching Izzie though. At first on Friday the snow was softer so she was hopping around like a bunny but now she stays on top and slides around. We took advantage of taking pictures though because who knows when well see this much again.

Friday I thankfully left work an hour and half early in the morning so I wouldnt get in to much trouble on the roads. It was messy but not to severe at the time. But by noon it was crazy out there. Adam got home late for work due to the weather but at least he got to come home. We just stayed in that night and watched TV and played games. We found one place who was delivering pizza still and ordered. Jets pizza is only a few miles up the road so didnt feel to bad. :)

Saturday, we went outside some but it was just sooooo cold to stay out to long. We had our neighbors Katy and Buster come over and hang out. Adam cooked Chili for dinner. Then Katy and I watched Miss America and they played games. It was a fun night. The people who lived behind us are very rude though. They have a dirt bike and they were riding it in the empty lot next to them since the streets were ice. Well, for some reason they thought they could ride in our lot too. Made us so mad but we never said anything because I hate stirring up trouble.

Today, churches were cancelled. We decided to walk to the entrance of the neighborhood and take pics. McrCrory has seen better days. You couldnt even see the road. Makes since that we have only seen SUV's leaving the neighborhood. Even though we saw a van fishtailing as it was making its way up the hill to leave. It didnt make it.

I think we are going to get back out and play a little more this afternoon since the sun is making it atleast feel a little warmer out there.

Adams parents bought us a space heater for our house and have been so thankful for it these past few days. With our vaulted ceilings the heat rises up and leaves us still cold so the space heater is nice to sit beside you and warm you up. Hopefully, it will make our gas bill look a lot better.

We havent been up to, to much else. Today is Adam and I's 1 year and 6 month anniversary haha! And tommorrow is Izzie birthday. I wasnt able to get her a present yet since we are stuck in the snow. so sad.. but she turns 3.

Here are some pictures:

This is McCrory Ln. above. Its the road we have to get on to go to the interstate.
Our deep foot steps on the road.

OUR HOME!

Does anyone know an easier way to put pictures on here. They always take a lot of work for me to work in...

Lately...

2010-01-19T10:52:00.004-06:00

Hi!
I havent posted in awhile. Sometimes it hard to figure out what to say.
We had a lovely Christmas. It was great to see all of our families and spend time with them. Sad though because I have seen Charles almost every month for the past 4-5 months and now it will be 4 months before we see him :(. Sadness.
Over New Years Adam and I took a trip to Gatlinburg. It was nice to get away for a mini vacation. We did a little shopping and got to eat at my favorite restaurant Johnny Carinos :). Adam was also sweet because as my family knows we used to stop in Gatlinburg EVERY year on our way to SC for Thanksgiving. And every year I wanted to go eat at the Mr. Ghattis there. Its a really big one and I love chocolate pizza haha. So Adam let me go there FINALLY! haha
Adams Pa has had a hard time. He is in a nursing home after a fall and is now having prostate problems. Please pray for his recovery.
Adam and I have been doing well. We have finally started turning our house into more of a home. We added a rug in the living room and curtains in the bedroom. We also made a list of numerous things we would like for the house haha. Its ridiculous. But we will just do a little at a time.
Adam andI have also enjoyed playing our Wii. We spend many evenings playing Super Mario Brothers. Its quite entertaining. We have also enjoyed the Wii Fit. Even though it makes fun of us.
This week we have been playing a game mom and dad got us for Christmas. Its a new version of the game LIFE. We have enjoyed it.
Our weekends have been very busy latley between vacation, Adams cousins wedding, Matthews birthday, and so forth; it seems like we just keep going on and on. Izzie even got a play date last weekend to meet my friend Sarahs boxer puppy. It was quite entertaining to see them react to eachother.
Mabye this weekend we will just hang out here. Im wanting to organize our office because it is such a mess. Adam is thinking about going back to school either in the summer or fall so I would like to get that area ready for him. He is thinking possibly another go at nursing school :).
Not to much going on over here. I have been freezing in our house lately so I think im going to go buy a mini heating blanket today. Darn vaulted ceilings.

Happy New Years Eve.

2009-12-31T16:54:00.001-06:00

Hope Everyone Has A Happy New Year! Be Safe!

Blessing!!

2009-10-27T18:47:00.003-05:00

We just found out a few hours ago that Adam was offered a job at Vanderbilt. It is contingent among his back ground check, but unless he has some skeletons in the closet then I think we will be okay. We are so blessed that it happened this fast. We have had a lot of good news this week and it is very welcomed.

We also had a good time this past weekend in Memphis celebrating Charles' 3rd birthday. He had a small party on Saturday and Nicole made a magnificent cake. Ill post some pictures at the end. It was nice my parents were able to be down at the same time. Its nice to be with family.

I am getting stonger each day which is good. I still have some work to go with building up strength and energy when walking around. Im also having a little trouble sleeping. Then on top of things I think im getting a cold. But in the grand scheme of things we have been truly blessed this week.

Thanks

2009-10-18T15:52:00.002-05:00

Thanks for everyone who has kept us in your prayers and the get wells that I have received. Im post op day 2.
I have made it through the surgery okay. It started out a little rocky, I had to stay in the post anesthesia area longer due to pain management and that fact I couldnt urinate. So I dont think I ended up leaving the hospital until around 7pm. That night before bed, I thought the recovery was going to be pretty easy because it seemed like all that hurt was the incision. Well, I woke up Saturday and it felt like my body had been through the iron man competition. I was extremely sore everywhere and was hurting though all my incisions. Adam took great care of me though. Last night, I slept with a heating pad behind my neck and shoulders the whole time and this morning they are not as sore thank goodness. I was kind of hoping the gas pains from where they inflate your stomach during surgery to see better wouldnt show up, but they seem to have started this afternoon. I think im doing a little better though. Im going about 5 hours btw pain medication. I still cant walk around or get up very easily by myself though. Its frustrating. But its only day 2!
I am greatly looking forward to next weekend though. We are planning on going to Memphis for Charles's 3rd birthday. I love visiting them. It will give me something to focus in on.
Adam has been searching for a lot of jobs of the weekend. His boss did call him on Friday wanting to set up an interview with a position in Nashville for a diffrent company. He didnt get the call until that night bc the hospital didnt have reception on our phones. But its kind of weird bc the company she is talking about told Adam before hand they were looking for someone with CT experience. But mabye she has talked with them in at least interviewing him. Either way..please pray he will find something soon. He is such a hard worker anyone would be so lucky to have him. Hes applied to other various places too so hopefully well hear something.
Kelly, my sister in law, is coming up to help out with me tomorrow while he is at work. That was nice of her, I think shes bringing us some pumpkins from Adams parents garden. We need something festive around haha.
Well, im going to go rest!!

Prayers

2009-10-15T20:39:00.003-05:00

We need prayers. We have a lot going on right now.
I am having my surgery tommorrow. From what I hear its not to easy of a recovery. Wish me luck.
Adam found out yesterday the doctor he works for has to go on hospice due to his cancer spreading. That unfortunatly means Adam loses his job. Please pray for us and if you know of anyone who needs an xray tech please pass it on, or any other job for that matter.
Also, please pray for his doctor too, Dr. Peters, its very sad and unexpected.
Thanks.

Fun

2009-10-08T11:43:00.001-05:00

I had a colonoscopy Tuesday! Enough said. Yuk. Now one week and one day until my next adventure.

Frustrated!

2009-09-25T16:23:00.003-05:00

So, I went to the GI doctor last Thursday and they did blood test and then Friday I had the upper GI series. So why is it that I have been calling them everyday since Tuesday and still don't have my results. The frustrating thing is the nurse said they were ON his DESK on Tuesday evening. So I called Wednesday and Thursday and she says he still hasn't looked at them. And now its the evening on Friday and still NO phone call. Sheesh. I mean the bad part is I know there back but I cant know what they say. Geez.
This makes me think of the office where I work at. Im glad that we have a system where we tell the patient we will call them in 7-10 days and that we call them either way with the results. But at the doctors office I just went to doesn't let you know how long it takes or if they will call you either way. Then I also like the way we schedule follow ups right when the patient leaves usually. But the past few offices Ive been to don't think of the until you ask it seems. Now I feel like a crazy patient bugging the nurses everyday. Its weird being on the other side.
Also, I had a cough today and was told to leave work. Now, I see where their coming from with all of this H1N1 going around. However, I was frustrated because I needed to work and its annoying because I just feel its a cough. Im glad though they do take precautions though. But the crazy thing is that when I worked in the hospital, I could practically be walking around with pnemonia and they still would let you work.
This is my soap box for the day.

Fun with Family

2009-09-22T14:46:00.002-05:00

We have had a great few days. Charlie, Nicole, and little Charles came up to spend a couple of days with us. We had plans for several months to go camping and canoeing. Unfortunately, it rained the whole week and the camp ground was under water. We were going to go canoeing still but to make a long story short, the waters were to rough and high for Charles to go. It was so sad.
So yesterday we went a an arcade and putt putt golf place near Opry Mills. We all played putt putt and of course Adam was the winner. I was in last :(. Then we played arcade games. Charlie dominated in air hockey. Charles was so cute playing golf. He had no clue how to hold to club but didn't want any help ha. He also got the tickets we won from the arcade and got to pick out some little toys, I think it was a lizard and a frog.
We played Phase Ten at night several times and I won every time. I was thinking because everything we did because Nicole said she never one anything and I finally figured out while we both were playing Ski Ball she made a whole lot more points than me and she was trying to contain Charles. So see Nicole you did win something.
It was so sad to see them leave. I miss having people here.

Wicked! Florida!

2009-09-20T09:43:00.004-05:00

So this week has had its good and bad moments.
Monday and Tuesday were work as usual, nothing special.
Wednesday I got the morning off so was glad to sleep in. That afternoon work was steady especially since one of our docs is out on maternity leave. But that evening after work Sarah and I went to get manicures after work. We have decided to do this once monthly. It funny because this place is nice and if you come with a friend you get seated with them and they give you a drink and everything. Sarah and I spent forever picking out our colors, I think they got frustrated with us. :) Then we both got a coke and soon realized why we bothered because how are you supposed to drink while getting a manicure. Anyways, this was our second time going and it seems like the two people who are doing our nails are always in a race with eachother. For some reason Sarah always beats me. Sheesh.
Thursday was my day off. I went and got Subway for lunch and it was down hill from there. How does someone get sick off of Subway. My body is so confused. This sickness lasted all day. I had my first GI doc appt. that afternoon. All I could think about was it would be sad if I had to miss my GI appt bc of my GI problems. Sheesh again. Well I sucked it up and made it there. Luckily Adam was able to go with me. This guy was so good compared to my last failure of a GI doc. He actually is running test. He took some blood to look for certain disorders. Then he set me up for an upper GI series. All I hope is that they find something.
Well that evening I was still SO sick and guess what, it was the night my work was taking us to WICKED. Well, I managed to suck it up and go. It was such and awesome show, I'm glad I went. You seriously will never think of Wizard of Oz the same again. I almost am hesitant to ever watch that movie again bc it just wont be the same haha. But the cast was very talented and sure could sing. I loved it. Im just sad Adam wasn't with me. He had a man date over at Busters house though and they played Playstation and ate wings. haha.
Well, Friday I woke up not feeling any better and had to go get this Upper GI test done. My nice mom was so kind to come take me. Only did she know that she would be getting to enjoy me getting tortured. I had to drink this nasty Barium stuff that was the consistency of chalk so they could better see my insides on the xrays. We were there for 3 or 4 hours and it was no fun. This stuff only made me feel worse. It was awful that whole day. We had plans with our neighbors for that night but there was no way, I just stayed and laid on the couch.
Saturday, Poor Adam had to do all of the grocery shopping. We did enjoy the Florida vs Tennessee game though. Of course im sure everyone knows we are Florida fans. We expected them to do better than they did but at least they one. I miss Percy Harvin. We had Katy and Buster over after that we watched a movie. I wasn't feeling to well and had to take medicine so I actually slept through the whole movie. I'm such a great hostess.
Today, still not so well but im just over it. My excitement for Charlie, Nicole, and Charles coming today is making me pull myself somewhat together. Im trying to feel better so I can enjoy camping and canoeing tomorrow. I'm so so excited to see little Charles.

Im Back!

2009-09-10T13:03:00.003-05:00

Wow! So yeah it has been a long time since I have wrote. Hmm... since March im sure a lot has happened but I will just mention of few things of importance.
We moved into our house and have met some great neighbors. Buster and Katy have become some of our closed friends. We met them at a neighborhood gathering before moving into our house and Adam happens to go to church with them as well. We have enjoyed getting to know them. Lately we have been enjoying games even though for some reason they always beat us. Adam has even been running almost every night with Buster. Ive walked once :/ .
Adam and I also celebrated our one year anniversary. We went to the Melting Pot that night. So Yummy. I also got some pretty flowers. Our cake also still tasted pretty good. Mom did a great job at storing it.
We had a lovely trip to Texas. It was so good to see the family. I wish we could see them more often. We had a nice time a huge water park. It was a Six Flags one called Hurricane Harbor. I even drug my poor aunt there who had just had surgery. But hey, she had a great time even if she was sore the next day. I love you Laura hehe. We also went to the StockYards. I love it there and its nice shops. Even though it was scorching hot we had a nice time with everyone.
While we were there we also went to see some nice friends that used to live here. We miss Nathan...ohh and I mean Nicole and Jake too hehe. (Nathan is their baby.) I think all we did mainly with them was eat...a hot dog place, cup cakes, and Italian. Geez thanks Nicole haha. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone.
We also stayed with Charlie and Nicole before and after. I love going to see them and Im looking forward to our camping trip. Adam and I just bought a tent to go camping. We are also excited to go canoeing and seeing how Charles enjoys it.
I am also getting to go see "Wicked" with my work on September 17th. They are so sweet to take everyone. Adam is a little sad he cant go. I am still enjoying my job and have made some good friends.
Some unfortunate news. Well as my last blog said I had my gallbladder out. I had a tough time recovering from it. Unfortunately, I really don't think it helped. Bummer. Well I had sworn off doctors for a long time bc I was so frustrated. Well I finally went to my OBGYN and she believes that I have endometriosis. With all my symptoms she thinks they correlate. Therefore the only confirmation would be to have another surgery. I'm having surgery on October 16th which includes a laproscopy, hysteroscopy, and E&D. She also wants me to consider a drug called Lupron. This medication simply freaks me out though. It basically tricks your brain into think you body is in menopause. Therefore you get all of the symptoms of menopause. The other scary thing is that they use it in prostate cancer patients because it is a derivative of a chemotherapy medication. I told her I don't think im on board with it. I guess will make sure I actually have this disease first. This may sound crazy but I really hope they find something. I almost dont care what but I just have forgotten what feeling good feels like. I feel like a burden half the time because I just feel sick. I want to feel healthy again and know what the heck is wrong with me. They are also sending me to a GI doctor for a colonoscopy to make sure everything is okay there. Im just scared that at the end of all this I still be right where I started. That is literally an awful feeling that they wont find anything.
I still have a lot to look forward to over the next few months as well. Im looking forward to mom comming down this weekend! Izzie is still as cute as ever except for her barking. She has even taken to Buster and Katy pretty well. And shes super excited to see Charles soon.
I will also try to write more in here as well!!!

Birthday Day

2009-03-30T22:27:00.004-05:00

Hello!

Today has been a busy day. This morning we had the final walk through of our house. It went well. There was hardly anything we could find. Majority of the stuff was just little paint or dry wall issues. So I think every things great. They will fix all of the stuff we pointed out today and then tomorrow we will go back through and make sure they fixed everything.

Well, then Adam and I had sometime to kill so we went to the post office to yell at them. Ha ha. We have been having issues with the postal service. I don't want to go into detail about it bc it will just stress me out again. But basically our mail is lost and its been so frustrating bc I don't want to miss my bills or anything. So it had been about a week since we received any mail and both our postal offices were telling me two completely different stories about what was going on. Then I talked to Charlie and he said neither one of those were correct. Geez! But them tonight after complaining all day I get a few pieces of mail which included some cheerful birthday cards! Thanks guys. So maybe this should teach me a lesson about complaining and stressing out over seemed to be big things but in the light of it end up not so big in the big picture. We will see if the mail straightens itself out over the next few days.

Next, our loan officer calls me and tells me she was having some problems because my last few pay stubs at my new job didn't add up to 40 hrs a week. Well, various things have caused that such as the first week of march the docs went to San Fransisco for their annual dermatology conference. Then I'm not working as much as I will be when fully trained bc I haven't started doing call backs to patients. So I have got to leave early some days. So when she first called she said she was going to have to fax and sheet to my employer asking my hours and will I truly work 40 hours when I'm trained and so forth. Then she would have to overnight it to the underwriters of the contract. All of this seemed pushing it to me since we close tomorrow at 11am. By now I'm having a heart attack pretty much. Well, then she called me back saying I needed to send a letter of commitment that I would be working 40 hrs and such and then she would also need one from my employer. She finally called me back later saying she received everything and we should be good. Geez, talk about last minute stress.

Sunday Adams parents called us and let us know that Adams grandmother had died. It was a very sad thing to learn about. We were expecting it soon but it never makes it easier. Her funeral will be tomorrow at 2. His grandfather is having a hard time. Id appreciate your prayers for him during this time.

Today was my birthday, what a day of stress it brought on. It ended with a good note though. We started celebrating on Saturday. Adam and I are actually doing a duo since his birthday is April 9th. So Saturday we went down to Clarksville to see my parents. They took us to eat at Olive Garden. YUM! And then we had to cute little cakes which were very yummy. We had a great time with them. Thanks guys. Then Sunday we went to McEwen to Adams families house. We celebrated at his Pas house since he was as expected very sad. It was nice and I hope it helped him to have everyone over. We brought Izzie with us and she was so jealous of Adams brothers families new dog. He was a miniature dachshund and was so cute. Every time I held him though Izzie would get so mad at me. We've thought about getting her a friend but now I'm beginning to second guess myself. We had a nice sandwich tray and his mom made a strawberry cake which was awesome. Thanks to you too. Then today we went to dinner at PF Chang's with some great friends. It was a nice time to get our minds of the stress surrounding me. I'm so glad we got to do that. Then Adam surprised me and took me to Gap to pick out some things. I was excited. Of course, I shopped of the clearance rack though but I found some amazing things. Thanks Baby. Then we got home and he surprised me with the third and fourth seasons of Greys Anatomy and some running shorts. (were going to start a healthier lifestyle moving into the new house). So the day ended great getting cards from my brother and grandma. They were so sweet and left me with a smile.

On April 8th I'm going to have surgery to remove my gall bladder. Its been a long time coming so I'm hoping this will solve a lot of the pain Ive been having. I'm a little nervous but I know I will be OK. Our friend Jake is going to give me a blessing so I know that will provide me a lot of comfort. We are cancelling our Comcast service on Saturday bc they don't have the hook up places yet at our new address so we will be without for awhile but that's ok. Adam said that's why he bought me the new seasons of Greys Anatomy. I think he was just trying to get out of the 8 seasons of Gilmore Girls I told him we were going to watch. What a smart boy huh. So I will be watching lots of movies while I'm off work for the surgery.

Sorry to have layed all this stuff out here but it helped me get all of my stress out some what.

Tomorrow we have post final walk through, house closing, funeral, and then move some stuff out to the house. We will be pretty busy!!

Thanks for listening!

One Week in Counting!

2009-03-22T18:12:00.011-05:00

Well, the house is finished except for a few touch ups. I just love the landscaping in the front yard! Well I love about everything about it. I have to say we have the most perfect lot. I would say the best one in the neighborhood. Im so excited that next week we actually get to move in. It will be great.

Well these will be the last pictures until we actually move stuff in. We will both be celebrating birthdays in the upcomming weeks so that will be fun too! Adams going to turn the old age of 26 haha and im just hitting 24. Izzie isnt looking forward to the move I dont think. Everytime we go over to the house she just whimper..mabye she thinks were going to leave her there or something. I think she will love running in the backyard once we get a fence. Mabye one day she will have a little friend too. I look forward to everyone comming to visit our new home.

2 weeks left!

2009-03-15T15:18:00.014-05:00

Hello!
Well, another week brings more pictures. Lots of exciting things as you will see below. On the outside of the house they finished the stone around our entry way. They put the mailbox up! The sidewalk and driveways are in and most of the trim around our house is done. Inside a lot has been done as well. Our security system is hooked up, the carpet is layed, the vinyl in the kitchen in bathroom is down, the fixtures for the bathrooms and shelves for closets were put in. Also most of the light fixtures have been put in! So as you can see they were very busy this week. We still cant believe there is only 2 weeks left. We have packed a little bit more in the apartment but there is still a lot to be done and figured out. I hope everyone has a great week!

More Photos

2009-03-08T21:47:00.015-05:00

Hey!

So the house is moving along as you can see below. Some exciting news is on March 30th (my birthday) we will have our final walk through. Then on March 31st we will CLOSE! So we are really excited and very stressed out at the same time. Who new buying a house could be so stressful :).

1st bedroom

a hallway

The Bedroom

The great room!

So thats the house so far.

My new job is going great in other news. I am really enjoying it. Everyone is so friendly and nice and I get to go home at night with a lot less stress on my shoulders A lot of the stress right now is just learning all the new stuff thats totally diffrent from what im used to. But its expected and like I said Im so blessed to have this job. Adam is doing well too. We have been busy trying to figure everything out for the move. We just started packing some stuff this week.

A funny note is that we usually stay on top of things before they start running out. Well the other day Adam mentioned we were low on dog food. Well usually when he says that we have a few days to get some more. Well I woke up one morning and looked in Izzies dog bowl and Adam had put like 10 milk bones in there because we didnt have any food left. Izzie looked like she was in dog heaven haha.

Well I hope everyone has a good week and well post more pictures as new things go up in the home.

Insides!

2009-02-25T21:39:00.012-06:00

Warning Lots of Pictures!

So we thought you might like to see the insides of the house before drywall happens. Our house now has all the brick on it and roofing is done. However , I dont have a picture of that yet. They are going to start drywall on Monday and from there it is usually 30 days until move in. Yes, that means we get to move in the first or second week of April!!! We couldnt be happier. And now that it has a roof finished they can work in it rain or shine! I hope to have a picture with brick and stuff soon but for now heres the inside layout.

Below is our bonus room!

Below are the stairs to the bonus room.

the master bath

the master bedroom

the sitting room in our bedroom

this is the guest bathroom

below is guestroom1

Below is the Kitchen

Below is the Living Room

Below is the garage.

It Looks Like a Home

2009-02-18T19:17:00.007-06:00

Our Home! So we are so excited our house is finally looking like a home! There will be a lot of work going on this up comming weekend as well. The electric, plumbing, interactive (alarm system), the brick layers and so on will all be out there this weekend. So its comming along and we cannot wait. It seems like forever we had to wait.

This is the side below.

This is the back of the house below.

So I dont start my new job until tommorrow so wish me luck! I really hope its a good fit. I was supposed to start on Monday but health problems kept me away. Well this is a short post but I wanted to show yall new pics.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We love you!

Job, House, Valentines

2009-02-14T18:24:00.005-06:00

I got a job finally! I'm so excited. I start Monday. Its at Nashville Skin and Cancer and I really hope it was what I am looking for. It will be normal hours so I wont have to work weekends or holidays. It also just four days a week instead of five. I also heard my brother got a new job the same day as me and never called like me like mom said he was supposed to. But Congrats to him too.

So I have been awfully sick for about a week now with a nasty stomach something. But Adam wants to make steak for us tonight, so it will be my attempt to eat something other than bread and soup. Last night when he came home he brought me the prettiest flowers and a stuffed animal dog that Izzie wanted really bad. Today he brought me a nice watch since I didn't have any nice ones to wear. It was a great grab though because the Macy's right next to us is going out of business so everything is 60% off. We looked at some other jewelry but besides a nice watch I don't really need or wear anything else. There was a time when I was obsessed with jewelry but that's when I made it. The only pieces of jewelry I would want down the line would be some diamond stubs and a plain wedding band to wear at work since my ring likes to poke through gloves. We also got cards for each other which is my favorite thing to get. We always mark the date in them and save them. I'd rather have a card than anything. After reading Nicole's blog on Valentines Day, its funny how different we are. I don't think I would make Adam take back a piece of jewelry he picked out for me :). I think its nice to pick out a nice gift for the one you love every once in awhile. By the way Nicole, Adam loved his Valentines card from Charles hah. And Adam when you read this I LOVE YOU MY STUDMUFFIN!

On to something else. Look our house is finally coming along. About three days ago its was a slab of rocks and now look its growing. Its finally starting to feel real. It looks so small compared to the bigger houses surrounding us but it will be our comfy cozy home. Of course here our the pictures.

The picture below is from the 11th.

The picture below is from today!

6 months and Izzie is 2!

2009-02-02T12:13:00.009-06:00

Hello!

Well several people have told me I need to post a blog, so here I am.

Saturday was indeed Jan 31st, therefore Adam and I have been married 6 months. I cant believe how time has flown. We decided to go to the Melting Pot. It was so amazing. For those of you who dont know it is a fondue restaurant. We had a four course dinner with a cheese, salad, entree, and then chocolate fondue. You would think that we wouldnt be able to make it to the fourth course but we sure did. I wish we could go there more often but it was way expensive. Our waiter told us we got the most prized booth in the restaurant and sometimes it even goes on a wait list. It was a pretty romantic and seclusive booth. Adam even had a single rose waiting on the table for me, so sweet.

Then Sunday was Izzie's second birthday. I cant believe shes growing up haha. What is that like 14 years in dog time. Shes going to be older than me soon. She did get spoiled with some presents and treats. I think shes a happy puppy.

Our house is supposed to get started building this week. They started some other houses last week so its nice to finally see some stuff comming up. I am becomming so anxious.

Thats about all thats going on right now!

Holidays and Birthdays

2009-01-03T17:52:00.002-06:00

Hello! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We had a great holiday season and enjoyed being with family. We are so thankful for all of our family and friends. We are blessed. Christmas Eve I got off a couple hours early from work so we did our own little Christmas that evening. We spent Christmas Day between both families and had tons of fun visiting with them. That weekend we spent the night at my parents and enjoyed our time with Charlie and Nicole. Then Matthew, Adams nephew, had his birthday party, so we saw the movie Bedtime Stories with them. It was a really cute movie. I would recommend it. We also later on saw the movie Seven Pounds and it was good but I couldnt ever watch it again because it was depressing haha. Well, the before we new it, it was New Years Eve. Adam and I went out to eat then just went back home to celebrate. We stayed up but barley haha. That day was also one year ago that he proposed so it was special. Now this weekend is Kelly, my sister in laws, birthday. So it seems to just keep going and going haha.
Ohh and we finally saw Twilight. I was pleasently suprised how much I enjoyed it. That will definatly be a purchased video later on.
Theres not to much else going on right now. They are going to be start building our house this month so we are starting to get more excited. I just cant wait. I have a job interview this Wed. for a job I think I would really enjoy so Im really hoping I get it. Wish me luck. I hope everyones year is off to a great start!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T19:25:00.002-06:00

Hello All!
This week has been a busy one. I was off for six days in a row and I feel like I never sat down. I had to finish all of my Christmas shopping, then I spent hours baking and its was crazy. I ended up making all of the receipes that I mentioned in my previous blog. The peppermint bark turned out great and was the easiest to make but the first attemp I was melting chocolate in my bowl and I smelt something burning. Well I opened it up and my plastic bowl, my only bowl, melted. CRAZY!!! So then your supposed to chop up peppermints for mix in the chocolate and so I was using the food processer. So it worked the first time but the second time I think I broke it. So I ended up chopping each individual peppermint by hand. Thats commitment. I also dont think my coca cola cake turned out very good. And my caramel brownies were a little bit runnier than usual. I think its because I added to much caramel. But hey I tried and thats all that matters. I just dont think I will be baking for a bit, it wears you out hah.
Friday night we went to McEwen and stayed the night with Adams parents. By the way Aurora, they appreciated you card. Neways we played game and Saturday we went to the Stuart family christmas and had a good time. Then that evening we had Christmas with just his parents and brothers family. It was really nice.
Monday it was back to work and today I worked. Adam and I are going to be doing our Christmas tonight where I have to read Adam the night before christmas or his mom will hurt me haha. then tommorrow we go to McEwen for his moms side of the family Christmas and then to Clarksville for my family. Busy Busy but I know were not the only ones and im grateful to have family close by. Charlie and Nicole got in today and im so estatic to see them. I hope everyones Christmas is filled with as much love as mine is.

Odds and Ends

2008-12-14T11:22:00.003-06:00

Hello! I realized I havent written on this blog in awhile. So its a Sunday and Im working :(. Im very tired because I didnt go to sleep at a decent hour and the typical head cold is making me tired. I keep thinking I get to sleep in, in the morning but then I remember that I have to take CPR in the morning. But after Tuesday I have 6 days off to catch up on everything.

I stayed up late talking to Charlie. It was good to talk to him because he made me feel not so alone on the whole job situation. It was like I finally found someone who understood. But today is going pretty well, I have this kid I would just love to take home with me. SO CUTE. And I think Adam is going to come eat with me, so that will be nice.

We went to Clarksville yesterday to visit. It was nice to see everyone. Thier Christmas tree is so pretty. Were going to have to go look for one that is bigger after Christmas when they are on sale.

So I just thought I would share some thoughts about grocery shopping. Its really a love hate relationship. I hate going but I like it at the same time haha. I really love the clipping coupons part, I love getting a deal. Recently, we signed up for this online system called the grocery game. Its at the grocerygame.com. It bascically looks at the grocery stores around you and compares them with the coupons that are circulating and finds you bottom out prices in the store. So it allows you to stock pile items when they are at the lowest price theyll be in a 6 week period. It also finds deals that are free are even earn you a little change. I have enjoyed doing this and looking at the savings each week. We have also been able to stock pile on items which is good for storage purposes. It is time consuming at first but then you get the hang of it. Its funny when I try and let Adam take over because we spend twice as long at the store trying to find items haha. But its sweet he tries.

At the store this week I bought a bunch of stuff to start my baking projects for the holiday. Im going to make caramel brownies which are Adams favorites. Im going to make a coca cola cake. And while watching Talk of the Town I got some good peppermint recipes. I will be attempting to make made from scratch peppermint cookies and peppermint bark, one with white and one with milk chocolate. I wanted to do dark chocolate but I didnt see any dark baking chips. Oh well. I need to do a bunch of wrapping and sorting. I also need to start addressing my Christmas cards to night. If you want one let me know.

I guess I will go. Have a good day.

Go Gators

2008-12-07T16:54:00.004-06:00

Yeah! All of my finals are done. Well at least I hope so. In my assessment class I have to videotape myself doing an assessment. So we have to wait until the teacher grades all of them to get our grade. If we dont do all of the requirements we have one chance to make it up. So hopefully I met them all because I sure dont want to do it over. It takes almost one hour to do and I think I redid mine 3 times, so you can only imagine the time it takes.

We had a good weekend. We were both estatic that the Gators beat Alabama on Sat. It was a really good game. This means they go to the championship which is great. We were both pretty nervous about that game. We ate at Chilis with one of Adams friends later and Im pretty sure I got food posioning. I was sick all night long and still feel pretty puny. Adam just got a stomach ache, not nearly all the yuckiness I went through.

Not much else exciting happened this week. It will be nice hopefully not having to worry about school for the next few weeks. I will leave you with a picture of Superman.

Monday....

2008-12-01T17:02:00.004-06:00

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Adam and I had a great time in SC. Its nice to see all of the family. It was sad Charlie and Nicole could'nt be there with us though. I cant believe its December. One of the toughest things Adam and I had to deal with thus far is what we could afford to spend on people. We both want to spoil our friends and families but thats just not the practical thing to do when your first married. I think Adam has had the hardest time with this because we see so much stuff thats reminds us of our family and stuff we would like to get them.
My job search is getting frustrating. Ive applied to several and havent heard anything yet. I have been applying to clinic jobs but still at Vanderbilt Childrens. I believe I would be able to lower my stress levels by working in a clinic and having more normal hours. I want to be able to have my weekends back to spend time with my husband since that is the only time we really get to see eachother. Also I learned by being in the critical care unit that its not somthing I want to be around every day. It gets hard seeing kids like that after a while and that kind of stuff sticks in your head. I do absolutely love working with children though and want to continue doing that in a diffrent capacity. I am grateful also to have amazing coworkers. I am thankful to have a job though and that I am helping people get better.
I also am considering changing my masters program from nurse practicioner to nursing management. It wouldnt require any more time but I think would be less stressful in the long run. I havent totally made up my mind yet though. I am just searching for ways to lower my stress levels since I have had trouble with that lately.
I had to do some online shopping today because Adam always insist on going to the malls with me when Im going. So this seemed to be the only ways to get him some things. I took part in free shipping since it was cyber monday and also got some discounts.
Hope everyone has a Happy Monday!

What A Week

2008-11-26T18:12:00.002-06:00

This has been a crazy week. Im just glad now I get to go on a mini vacation.
So you know that we are building a house. It is frustrating work. It was supposed to be finished in late Feb/March but now its being pushed back another month. I was very angry. The city apparently is being lazy and has been putting off checking on the water lines. So it pushed everything back with recording the land for addresses. Then we have to wait for them to get permits, then they can build. I guess im not a patient person because Im just getting annoyed. The neighboorhood is going to be in three parts as of right now. The Groves, The Landings, and the Estates. They are diffrent in the prices and square footage. The Groves is the lowest section and thats where we were but they just found out that our house was the big to go onto that lot. Its had more house on the ground because it a one story where as the other plans for that community are more two story so they dont cover as much land. So now we get to go to the Landings. So we got a lot more land for free and we chose a coldesac lot. So at least something good comes out of it.
Also, last night I had the joy of spending most of my time in the emergency room. I beleived I was having another kidney stone. They sent me home on some pain medicine and hopefully will be able to pass it. It was the first time I had been to Vanderbilts ED. It was nicer than Gateways for sure. My room was big and had a TV. I got back within 10 min of arriving. The doctors were promt and took time to sit down and listen to everything you had to say. So over all I was immpressed. They did have to stick me 3 times to get an IV, I was dehydrated.
Today I spent most of my time laying around although I did get some present wrapping down which was nice.
Tommorrow we leave for SC. Im excited but just not looking forward to the long car ride.
Well, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Stress

2008-11-20T19:53:00.006-06:00

Today I have started to realize that time is comming way to fast. Thanksgiving is next week and I work everyday except for one. In that amount of time my teachers have planned all thier finals. Monday I have a final test and in my assessment class I have a final write up and comprehensive assessement I have to video tape before next weekend. I just realized all this tonight and I am squeezing a trip to SC in for Thanksgiving which is worth it because I havent been in 2 years. My job has been stressing me out lately too. Im looking for more of a clinic type job so I can be at home with Adam on the weekends. Mom has been calling me and leaving me voice mails telling me to be happy and stay positive, its pretty funny. But hey, it can take my mind of things for a second. I asked Adam if there was anything he was stressed about. He said that work stresses him to right now. They have him doing xrays, labs, and bone density testing all at the same time it seems at work. He also said he wants a Lab. haha
So Adam and I went to McDonalds tonight. There was a new one that opened up around the corner from us today. You would think that none of those people had ever eaten at McDonalds before. It was crazy. But I guess we joined in on the madness.
We put up our Christmas tree the other day. I finally convinced Adam. Tonight we will decorate it while watching Greys Anatomy. We went and bought some stockings today as well. Its sad because we have no other decorations though. I told Adam we will have to go after the holidays and purchase some stuff on sale. I guess thats all on my mind today!

New Blog

2008-11-19T16:49:00.000-06:00

So I just love reading Nicoles blog so I thought I would follow her footsteps by creating my own. I will probaly be lazy in writing on here but at least people will get an update everyonce in awhile.

So Adam and I have been married 111 days today, thats crazy to think about. Its amazing how fast time goes by. Things are great but there has been a lot of learning to do thats for sure. We have bought a house to be built. Hopefully they will start building in December. It was a big step but we cant wait. Another question I get asked a lot is about kids. NO! Well eventually but not for a few years. Its amazing especially at work whenever I feel bad all of a sudden they think your pregnant. I mean does this ever stop. haha. Izzie is our baby for now. I think shes become more spoiled since we have gotten married too.

Well there is a brief update! Im sure Ill think of somthing later I could have said!