So much to be thankful for…

Even though, I wrote the babies a clear cut letter on what I wanted them to do, they decided they were ready to come out on Thursday night. (Is this a sign of the future?) I went to bed not feeling so well, but that was not too unusual for me. It was the night of my sweetie’s “Fantasy Football” draft and there are no words to describe how much this man loves football. He was up late strategizing with his “FF” cohorts and luckily two of them spent the night at our house. The heartburn I felt was nothing new, but the back pain was a new complaint. At 2:00 am I woke up with contractions. I woke up my sweetie and he thoughtfully remarked, “ Can’t you just sleep through it?” It was so funny--he did not even remember saying that the next morning. I thought he might have a point, so I drank some water, took a bath and tried to go back to sleep. The pain got worse! I was timing the contractions which were now 3 minutes apart. I called my doctor (who was up organizing his photo collection at 3:00 am—who wouldn’t love this guy) and he told me to go to the hospital. Once I got there and hooked up to all the monitors, they verified that I was in labor. I started to panic. 33 weeks is too early for delivery, so I was given a steroid shot to boost the baby’s lung development and medication to stop labor. Praise God 3 rounds of the milder medication worked and the contractions stopped. I spent all day at the hospital and even though I did not have any more contractions, the doctor wanted me to spend the night to monitor the babies and me some more after my second steroid shot. I am now thankfully home on an oral medication and strict bed rest.

My sweetie has been so helpful. I am so lucky to have him. He slept on a uncomfortable couch so I would not be alone. I guess slept is not the right word when you are awakened every few hours by nurses checking vitals etc. He has gone to the store, waited on me hand and foot and taken excellent care of Princess and Gameboy. My mom has also been such a blessing. She is staying with me and helping finish the baby’s room, cleaning my house, doing laundry and keeping me company. I think I would go crazy if I was all by myself. Please pray that these babies will stay in and cook a little longer.

32 Weeks

Dear Baby A and Baby B,

As your mother, I am already going to start telling you what to do, and I would really appreciate it if you would cooperate. I have made a nice home for you in my belly and I would like for you to stay put and grow a little more. In return, I promise to drink lots of water, eat lots of good food and stay off my feet. I won’t climb the stairs, clean my messy house, or go shopping. I am going to read lots of good books and maybe watch some movies, and I need you to stay in the comfy womb I have made for you. I know it is crowded, but I have read that you like that and it makes you feel safe.

Thank you very much.

Love,

Mommy

PS. Please stop pressing on my bladder so I can sleep a lot better.

Stats from yesterday’s doctor visit

Baby A’s heartbeat 152 Baby B’s heartbeat 156

Approximate weight 3.5-4 lbs

I am 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.

First Day of School

I am a little teary eyed this morning after sending my baby boy to kindergarten. Gameboy was so excited about his day and ready to go. I think it helped him so much to have Princess there with him. They woke up to their alarm and got ready all by themselves. I was so amazed to see them ready to go before 7:00 am. We ate breakfast together, packed lunches, and took a few pictures. Then we were off to the bus stop. This is the first year for Princess to ride the bus. With the arrival of the twins and the fact that they are together, I am finally brave enough to let them ride. Now I am praying it goes ok.

Gameboy doesn’t really like to have his picture taken, but we tried to get a few.                                                                                                    Princess loves to pose for the camera and tell Gameboy how he should pose. She really is a good big sister and loves her brother very much.

 

This is my favorite one from the morning.

I can’t believe how grown up she is getting.  Especially when I compare her 3rd grade picture to her kindergarten picture.  

Dear Lord,

I pray a special prayer for Princess and Gameboy today. I pray that they will love school and learning.   Please give them ears to hear instructions and that they will respect and obey their teachers. I pray that they will be a light in the classroom. Give them kind words to speak to others and bring Godly friends to them.  Protect them and keep them safe.

We reviewed the bus number, our address, and phone number while waiting for the big yellow bus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gameboy said, “Mom, I’ll see you at 3:00. Don’t be sad while I am gone.”  The house is so quiet. As per doctors orders, I will have my feet up until they get home hoping to keep the babies in a few more weeks.

 

 

 

Thank you Lord for giving me these two precious gifts! I can’t believe how fast they have grown up. Help me to treasure each moment I have with them.

So you're having twins

As my stomach gets bigger and I waddle through life, I am getting lots of questions and comments from both friends and strangers.

• Wow you’re really big! When is your due date?
• You look so small for carrying twins!
• Mom your stomach is ginormous. Thanks sweetie. That’s a really big word. I know I looked up some words for huge in a thesaurus. Which one is your favorite?

Huge: behemothic, bulky, colossal, cyclopean, elephantine, enormous, extensive, gargantuan, giant, gigantic, great, gross*,hefty, humongous, immeasurable, immense, jumbo, leviathan, lusty, magnificent, mammoth, massive, mighty, mondo, monster*, monstrous*, monumental, mountainous, outsize, oversize, planetary, prodigious, stupendous, titanic, towering, tremendous, vast, walloping, whopping

• Can you send me a picture of your belly? Ah no, I really don’t want to remember what I look like. Ok maybe one picture at the very end. That is the one I am going to use to justify taking money from the kids college fund to pay for plastic surgery.
• Do twins run in your family? My dad’s mom is a twin and my mom’s sister had twins.
• When and how did you find out you are having twins? At about 12 weeks, my doctor thought I was measuring large so he did an unplanned ultrasound. I was alone at the doc, because this was baby #3. I hear my doc say uh-oh and I start to panic. He says, I see two heartbeats and I hear nothing else. He spoke to me for 30 minutes about twin pregnancies and I heard nothing. My husband and children’s reactions were so funny they may be worth their own blog post.
• Are you ready to be a mom of 4? Ready? What? No, I am scared to death! I know that God has a plan for our family and I am really trying to rest in Him.

This summer a friend of mine at http://www.penelopespitstop.net/ gave away worship CDs called seeds. They are really cool and help you memorize Bible Verses. Well, I won the giveaway and I am totally hooked. I thought I’d close by sharing one of our family’s favorite.

Let the journey begin

Welcome to our blog! This is our first blog entry. My hope is that this will be a way for us to document our journey as we expand from a family of 4 to a family of 6. We wanted a place to record our thoughts, prayers, concerns, and desires for our growing family. I am 31 weeks pregnant with twins and my ever expanding waistline is just the beginning of changes for our family.

We have had a wonderful summer together trying to soak up as much time with the kids before the twins arrive. This is our final week before school starts and we’ve spent lots of time by the pool, playing with friends, going to the movies, and shopping for last minute school items. Enjoy some pictures from our fun filled week.