Your First Snow

It's not even Halloween yet and we have already enjoyed our first snowfall!! Okay "snowfall" may be a bit dramatic (being that you can't even see the snow in these pictures). BUT it was snowing...and not just that salt shaker snow, real true snowflakes! It may have only lasted five minutes or so, but you better believe I was outside celebrating in the midst of the falling flakes. Hope you enjoyed your first snowfall!

Goodbye Second Trimester, Hello Third!

Well, that was an interesting trimester to say the least! I had been told the first and third trimesters were the worst and the second the best. And while the first trimester was wonderful, I was very excited to enter the second. A week before we even hit the second trimester I felt my energy coming back and it was a fabulous feeling. I loved the feeling of having energy, being active again, yet starting to look more pregnant. I was fascinated to watch my bump rapidly grow!

During the second trimester I finally felt your first flutters which was an absolutely amazing experience. These flutters soon grew into full kicks and punches! I couldn't wait for your daddy to feel you moving around too. Watching his face light up when he first felt you move was definitely a highlight for me. We now get quite a kick out of watching my belly move from the outside too.

This trimester we found out that you were boys and were so excited to begin calling you by your names. From early on we had four names picked out: two boys and two girls, to cover all of the possibilities. The second I saw you, Baby Miracle A, in that ultrasound when they told me you were a boy, I knew which name belonged to you. And the same thing for you Baby Miracle B! I have loved knowing that you can now hear us and talk to you guys all the time. I like to even think you know your daddy's voice now too because the second he starts tickling and talking to you, you begin moving.

I was not prepared however, to spend a third of my second trimester in the hospital and on bed rest. I have to say though, just making it to the third trimester is a miracle in itself that for awhile we wondered if we would even see.

I am so grateful and blessed to open this next and final chapter of this pregnancy. While things are starting to get a little more uncomfortable and may not be going exactly as I anticipated, I keep reminding myself that this pregnancy is a miracle alone and that this may be the only time I experience this. So, through the pains and worries, I am still really trying to soak up every aspect of pregnancy and enjoy it all.

With that being said, there are still many things to look forward in the third trimester:
1. Baby showers
2.  Your first holidays (spent safely in my tummy, please!)
3. Watching the finishing touches added to your room
4. And when all is safe and you two are ready for the world, MEETING YOU AT LAST!

Wow. I cannot believe how quickly this pregnancy is passing by. Before becoming pregnant, there were definitely dark days when I doubted if I would ever even get a chance to be a mother. Knowing that I am carrying your precious lives is an honor and blessing I will not take for granted. I have cherished these past six months and am beyond grateful that God answered our cries. I thought bed rest would damper this experience and make time crawl by. Especially now that we're home and you are safe, I am back to soaking up pregnancy life (pains and all!), and it seems like time is flying now. Before I know it, this is all going to be a distant memory and we will be rushing around like crazy to get you to school, practices, you name it and this life will continue to be fabulous journey!

26 Weeks

Well doctors hoped we would at least hold on for 25 weeks. Praise God, we serve a living Savior who has much higher sights than that for us! Another week down and the 3 of us are still perfectly healthy. Praying for continued miracles that we keep proving those doctors wrong and make it so much further than they dared to dream!

Nursery Update

It has been a little over a week since we've been home from the hospital. I have loved being back in the comfort of my own home and doing things on my own schedule. However, it is definitely tricky staying "bedridden," while watching others work around you. I'm not one that typically likes to ask for help. I have always had the mentality that I can do it, and I can probably do it better than anyone else (that feels awful "saying" that aloud!). Being down for the past month, and even throughout a lot of this pregnancy, I have learned that I do have to ask for help, that others are just as capable of doing it (and doing it well) as I am, and the underlying theme of this overall journey, to let go of control!

That being said, I think I have been a pretty good patient. The doctor was pretty lenient on my modified bed rest orders: walking the stairs a couple times a day, standing / sitting for 15-20 minute periods of time, and eventually going out to eat or to the movies. However, to help appease your daddy's and Zsu Zsu's nerves, I have still pretty much been on a strict bed rest schedule. I only take the steps twice a day: down in the morning and up at night. I haven't ventured out of the house -- except to lounge on the patio. I only sit up for short periods of time and I have really listened to my body and tried not to push it.

However, Saturday afternoon, while laying on the couch, knitting, listening to music, and enjoying my cozy fire, a sight passed by me on the stairs that I couldn't ignore...

ahhh!! baby furniture going up!!

Your daddy, Grandpa, and Uncle Johnny have been working all week on the nursery (and it kills me that I wasn't able to snap daily pictures!). They finished painting the walls, put up the crown molding, and even got the base boards painted. I was amazed at how hard and quickly they got this project completed.

the one picture snapped all week: wall painted, part of crown molding up, base boards still needing painting!

By Saturday, the nursery was ready for the furniture -- I was beyond ecstatic! This was something I could not miss. So for the first time all week, I took an extra trip up the stairs! I had to be there for this and could not stand to wait until bedtime to see the almost finished product (it's bad enough that I couldn't help paint or do anything else - I was not missing this!).

furniture under window will go against opposite wall...daddy is making a window seat to go there!

Not that my expanding belly and your tiny (or not so tiny anymore) kicks don't make it that much more real, but there was just something about seeing your cribs side-by-side that made me giddy with excitement. I squealed, "Ah! It's perfect, we just need two babies....but not yet!" (We so want you here, but keep growing for several more weeks, please!)

I cannot believe that in a short period of time you two will be laying in these cribs. I cannot wait for that day and cannot wait to see what this crazy life has in store for our sweet family of four! I am so blessed that I will get to be your mommy and can't wait to hold you in my arms, Little Ones. I love you so much already!

25 Weeks

so happy to be back in our home and at our wall for the weekly pic!

Fantastic Follow-Up, Fabulous Fall, and Furniture Friday

19 days. 19 days ago was the last time I had felt the sun or breathed fresh air. I had been given the okay to take ten minute wheelchair rides outside two Fridays ago. But just rolling down the hall to the nursery had me exhausted and sore. Going outside for my own selfish wants just didn't seem worth it. I wanted to stay in my bed where my body was most comfortable and I felt you were most safe. All week though, we had decided that if Friday's ultrasound went well, I would finally go outside. Who would've guessed all that our day had in store...

We had no idea when our appointment would be, but I anticipated before 10. Zsu Zsu planned on arriving at 8 so that she wouldn't miss anything. At 7:50 she texted me that she was stuck in horrible traffic and was afraid she wouldn't make it. I tried to reassure her that all seemed to be moving slow today: my breakfast was 40 minutes later than usual and my nurse was an hour later than usual. Maybe it was a sign that the ultrasound would be later too. 

Well, just 30 minutes later she rolled in and we all enjoyed breakfast together. Not long after my wheelchair from downstairs arrived and it was time to go back to the second floor for the ultrasound. (Side note: elevator ride #2 in 12 years was a success! Christmas carols blaring in my headphones and eyes squeezed shut, but I did it...again!)

First on the ultrasound agenda: measure the results of the surgery. "Okay. Good," the technician said while taking measurements on the screen. "Looks like we at 1.5 centimeters." I was instantly sick to my stomach. Why was this good news?? Wasn't it 3 centimeters after surgery? If after 2 weeks it was already cut in half, that would mean I only had two more weeks until I delivered. I was sure it was back to the catheter, an upside down bed, and the magnesium drip. I was ready for them to start the steroid shots for you two. I was just devestated that it didn't work. All I could do was squeeze your dad's hand and pray I was wrong.  

From there she began checking on you two. You had both made tremendous progress and continued to look great. You had gone from 1 pound 4 ounces and 1 pound 2 ounces to 1 pound 12 ounces and 1 pound 11 ounces! Great news!!

It was around this time during the ultrasound that Dr. Weeks popped in to review the results of the surgery. This was it. Moment of truth...

"We consider anything over 1 centimeter successful, 1.2 great, and 1.5 fantastic! In fact, I don't see any reason why you can't go home this morning!" I was shocked. The room was instantly filled with gasps and cries of joy (I even snuck your daddy tearing up - he was beyond ecstatic). Turns out what the technician had measured had just been what the surgery created, not the entire length. Nothing had changed in two weeks! The surgery was officially a success! The doctor was even encouraged that he could see this pregnancy making it full term!

From there our Friday just got better and better. Zsu Zsu took me home where your all's furniture was then delivered. She then put up my fall decorations which I had been so sad to be missing. And then, later that night, your dad cooked me a delicious home cooked meal which we enjoyed outside on the patio with the fabulous cool fall weather. 

I cannot believe all of the turn of events Friday had for us. To think that just three weeks ago doctors were preparing us for the worst and now I'm laying on my couch typing these words. God is truly amazing, Little Miracles! I am so thankful that you, my boys, are still perfectly healthy. 

Tricks and Treats Thursday

Today was a much better day than yesterday! For starters, I was able to sleep -- uninterrupted by nurses -- until 7:55! That hasn't happened since my stay here began. Hallelujah! Once enjoying a casual, slow start, I even got dressed in "real" clothes today (jeans and all!). What a fabulous feeling.

real clothes and a growing belly!!

Today's tricks:
Once Zsu Zsu and Aunt Aubrey arrived, we spent most of our day on a ridiculous, incredibly entertaining app: Akinator. Let me tell you, it was worth every penny of that $1.99! You think of any fictional character and it asks you yes or no questions. Simple enough. But good golly did it provide hours of entertainment! We were thinking of the most absurd, minor characters we could...and he was getting them all!

how did it know the Indian from the Indian in the Cupboard?!

even Paka was amazed

Today's treats:
Sleeping in
McDonald's for breakfast
Paka showed up for lunch (and got just as much entertainment out of the silly app as we did)
Real clothes
Homemade chili for dinner!
Yummy fruit from the fresh market
A nurse that actually read my chart BEFORE coming into my room to meet me
Candy corn
A phone call to my hospital room from our fabulous fertility doctor who heard we had been admitted....calling to see if there was anything she could do!
Your dad singing to you two and seeing his face light up when you guys respond to his voice and begin moving and kicking like crazy!

I'm so thankful for a better day and happier spirits today. We prayerfully await tomorrow's ultrasound and trust God has more good news for us.