Snow Storm in Texas

   I spent my first two days of bedrest inside...in bed...with Mason and it was snow storming outside!!!! GISD closed Monday and Tuesday because the weather was so yuck...I would like to say I got some photos but I didn't even think about it.
   We did venture out on Monday to celebrate Justin and Melissa's anniversary. We ate at the Cotton Patch...exciting life we lead!  We sure love Justin and Sissa...they are our family first but truly our best friends too. 

  

  

  

  

   I have Dr. Rhinehart tomorrow and then Lindsey's WEDDING WEEKEND begins Friday!!!  Rehearsal on Friday, bridal luncheon, and Rehearsal dinner...up Saturday for hair and makeup and then the big moment at 4:30!!!  We are looking forward to it but also crossing fingers that this winter weather stays away!!!!

Maternity Leave Here I Come...

   Today is a big day!!!!!  It's my last day of work until Owen and McKenna are born and its sonogram day with Dr. Rhinehart. I spent the day trying to tie up loose ends, get everything ready for my sub, make my desk presentable, and make sure people know where important things are while I'm gone. My boss couldn't have been better about the news I was going on bedrest.  She sent out a sweet email to our staff that just warmed my heart and further made me believe Luna is the right place for me.  1:30 rolled around and I said my good-byes and gave my hugs and I was headed to Rhinehart. 
   When I arrived it wasn't very crowded which was great.  I only waited about 15 minutes and then the nurse came and called me...along with several other ladies.  I remember thinking, wow, they must have just had an influx of techs come off lunch but then I realized they were sending all of us into the same room. I came into the room last and it was 4 recliners with a woman in each chair and the nurses were attaching monitors to everyone's belly.  I was immediately panicking.  I kept asking what was happening and all these women I had never met are just lifting up their shirts and they all seemed clearly aware of what was going on.  Finally, one of them looked at me and said "they are just monitoring your baby for movement...it happens everytime you are here after 32 weeks." They were all 37 weeks or more so we chatted for the 6-7 minutes of monitoring and the nurses came in and started unhooking everyone and I was left there on my own...again, panicking. But the nurse came in and told me they always monitor twins for a little longer because its harder to track 2.  Finally, I was unhooked and in a room. I got the sweetest technician, I have had her before and she is a sweetheart!! This was the first time I was ridiculously uncomfortable on the table...like, I had to stop midway to sit up and breathe because I was getting lightheaded. They both looked wonderful and weighed in at.....4 pounds 9 ounces (Owen) and 4 pounds 6 ounces (McKenna)!!!!  Chunky monkeys!!! Owens head is still large and McKenna's belly is still fat. She also said she could see hair on Owen and then McKenna decided to roll into PERFECT position for her to get some 2D pictures.  She immediately switched wands and started doing close ups of McKenna's face...
                       

Look at that button nose!  Those fat cheeks! Those lips!!!!

   I think she looks like her daddy!!! It was so nice to see her face....I feel like she has always been hiding or facing the wrong way and we have tons of pics of Owen but finally, my baby girl!!! Even the technician kept saying how adorable she was....proud mama moment!!!!  She took a zillion photos of her and recorded the sonogram for me and went to get Rhinehart.  He came in and was wonderful as usual...his first words were "whatcha worried about right now...whats on your mind?"  and I said, "well, paying for two college educations"!!!!  We laughed but I told him that I am not really worried about anything at this point, I'm just anxious. We discussed that I was starting bedrest and he said it was very important for me to really listen to my body and not do anything that my body told me not to.  Especially in regards to my back..that a lot of moms wrench their backs at this time in pregnancy because of not truly understanding what kind of weight they are carrying around.  He also told me they look wonderful and that if something were to happen and I were to go into labor at this point he sees no reason why they would have any long term issues or complications. He said that they have to do three things to determine when they leave the hospital.  They have to be able to regulate their own body temperature, breathe on their own, and know how to suck/eat. He said that body temperature and eating are very size contingent and since I am carrying baby elephants I am already ahead of the curve. (He didn't say the elephant part...that was from their mama!)  He helped me up and he also wants to see me every week from here on out...I made my next appointment and I was out of there! 
   So, I;m officially on bedrest and heading to the doctor weekly now.  On my way home, I stopped at the bank and went in to make a withdrawal. This is my normal bank so the tellers are all familiar with me and the lady helping me asked me when I was due.  I said "I have about 5 more weeks" and she said "you look very large to still have that much time left..." and I said "oh its twins..." and I wanted to follow up with "but thanks for telling me I am the most gigantically, enormous thing you have seen all day...preciate it"...
   33 days.....

When Are you Due...Tomorrow?

    Said the lady to me at the 7-11 as I was trying to get back into my car after stopping to buy ice cream and candy bars. "No...5 more weeks" I replied as she looked on horrified, "but its twins..." and she responded, "ohhhhhhh". Translation....I am HUGE.  
   Anywho, today was 32 week Dr. appointment day with Dr. Richards.  I was very interested to see what he was going to say after my contraction trip to L&D the other day.  My blood pressure was fabulous and no protein in my urine.  I was waiting patiently in the room and as he walked in and looked at me, he said "I think its time to stop working." I was really very shocked but I will not lie...I was relieved as well.  He just said that with my body going into those contractions its telling me to sloooooow down. I mentioned that the only way they really stop is if I will lay down when they hit me.  So, he put me on "modified bedrest" which is code for taking it easy, putting my feet up, and if I start contracting sit down and stop.  He told me that he would like for it to be today but I explained I had several loose ends to tie up and two meetings towards the end of the week so we decided on Monday...that it would be my first day of official bedrest. I went about getting all the paperwork to DeLana and he told me he wants to see me every week from here on out.  
   I will not lie...as I drove away I was worried.  I was relieved because I am tired and the routine of getting up, driving to work, and seeing my groups all day exhausts me but this will be quite a hit for us financially.  I have worked the "maternity leave" plan several different ways on paper and never did I account for being out anything but the day before my csection.  Things have just been going so well I refused to allow myself to go there.  BUT that still hasn't changed.  Things are still going well!  They are growing and healthy and the worst that's happened is that afternoon of contractions that were stopped almost immediately with medication.  The reality of it is though, my body is tired and I need to rest it as much as possible so they can stay put for as long as possible. I have faith that the money will work itself out....So as of February 23rd, my only job is cooking babies until they are born!!! I leave a 32 week belly shot...

                                   

Clearly, I will no longer be wearing stripes around!!!

Contractions

    SO, Braxton-Hicks contractions are supposed to be these "painless" practice contractions for your body to get ready for labor.  First of all, I find this unfair seeing as I am having a c-section and I have no need to practice for labor, secondly, my nurse told me they are painless but "they will definitely take your breath away"...she was NOT kidding.  Sometimes, I have had to lean back in my chair and try to steadily control what little breathing I have left while they pass.  So, last night I woke up several times in the night with this tightening/breathless feeling in my belly and in my back.  I just attributed it to all the wonderful other pains I have been having and tried to go back to sleep.  As today has worn on, the pains have been more frequent, a little longer, and breathless is an UNDERSTATEMENT.  Around 2:30 I went to my Assistant Principal and told her the situation and that I wanted to head to Labor and Delivery JUST TO BE SURE...she sent me on.
   I arrived at L&D at about 3 and there was no one in front of me.  I signed in and was back in a room and a gown by about 3:30.  I got a very sweet nurse, Jo, and she came in and told me she would be taking care of me.  Now, here's the thing about Jo.  She was MUCH older and she was wearing a mask over her mouth and nose so I was immediately alarmed but she quickly explained she had jaw surgery.  I told her I had the same surgery when I was 12 but it became increasingly clear that I wasn't understanding Jo.  Anyway, both babies monitored fine and I was, indeed, having contractions and they were decently close together but they were "small and short".  I kept asking what that meant, was that a cause for concern etc. and Jo just kept saying "we will keep watching and I will let the doctor know".  Ughhhhhhh...finally, she comes back to me with a pill and some water and says the doctor wants me to take this pill, Procardia, and see if that doesn't "calm things down".  She also said the doctor wanted her to check my cervix...I will spare you the full details of that experience.  Let's just say, her last words to me before she started were "I will be gentle..." well, I would hate to feel what rough was like. Whew. After my roto-rootering, she found that I was NOT dilated which was great news. After about 45 minutes on the monitors and 459845 solitaire games on my phone, Jo came back and looked at the paper and sure enough, contractions had slowed to nearly nothing.  She brought me back my discharge paperwork and it was time for me to make the million hour trek home in the Dallas traffic.

Pink for McKenna, Blue for Owen, and Blue for Mommy's contractions!

   I consider it a successful visit...I got to hear both babies (although my active son moved around so much that the monitor lost him...twice) and I was not in any sort of active labor.  I go back to the doctor on Tuesday and I intend to ask him if I need to continue taking the Procardia at home if this continues to happen. I hope and pray the next time I go back to that hospital its to have my healthy, full term babies....so I will keep on praying!

Everything Hurts....I mean, we had a busy weekend!

    Yes, its getting to where I don't know that I have lots of positive things to say about this pregnancy at this very moment EXCEPT that I really do:

1) My babies are big and healthy!
2) We have made it to 30 weeks and 5 days and if they were born tomorrow the likelihood of long term birth defects or difficulty is very, very low.
3)  They are growing similarly which means that one is not getting more nourished than the other...also wonderful signs.
4)  I am still "complication free" (knock on wood)...no pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure (took it in the nurse's office today 122/62) and everything is still locked up tight down there.
5)  We are about 90% ready for them...and I am not entirely sure we will ever get 100% ready so maybe I should be pumped for 90%!!!
6)  My sister's wedding, which has been my goal attend/be matron of honor this entire pregnancy, is in 18 short days and its gonna happen...I'm gonna waddle up that aisle and be there to see her big day!!!!

   I am sure there are more but the pain radiating from my rib cage down into my belly and wrapping around into my lower back keeps me from continuing to surf the positivity wave.  Ok, now I will write my list of things I don't love...

1)  I.cannot.breathe....I am out of breath CONSTANTLY and I think its starting to freak Mason out. Seriously, mid-conversation it will become clear that I have spoken more words than the babies are happy to allow and I start panting like a dog who hasn't had water in a year.  Sexy, I tell you.
2)  I am never NOT in pain.  There are positions that "ease" the pain, namely, laying back in the recliner in the nursery and laying flat on my back in bed.  However, once I lay flat on my back I begin to stop breathing so I have to nix that plan.  But pain, pain, pain, pain, all the time.  In my ribcage, my back, my belly, my legs, my hips, my knees...you get the picture.
3)  I now require a stool in the bathroom to sit on to dry my hair, brush my teeth, or do my makeup (hahahahahahahaha...that's funny).  The stool then moves to the kitchen in order for me to assist with cooking dinner, reading the mail, or eating dinner with Mason.
4)  My belly button is about to pop and it freaks me out. Mason, however, thinks its hilarious and takes every opportunity possible to poke at it. I also itch constantly and no lotion has proven capable of taking the itch away.
5)  I can't eat as much as I want to because there is no more room for food, babies, AND air.  So I have taken to eating a pint of Blue Bell every night...slides down just fine!
6)  The production that has become bedtime and trying to sleep is actually somewhat comical but nonetheless, obnoxious.  I have to lay two pillows vertically on the bed, then one horizontal for my head, then another down towards the end of the bed to go between my feet and legs.  I throw back the covers once all the pillows are in place, then I climb up on the bed on my knees and literally fall/flop/drop into the pillow nest I have made.  Then I tuck another pillow behind my back and have to have Mason cover me up...by this time, I am usually breathing like a 60 year-old man who has smoked 3 packs a day for the past 50 years.  This position lasts 4 minutes until the hip I am laying on hurts and its time to flip over.  Repeat above.

    I don't like to be slow, I don't like to have people help me with things, and I don't like that if I want to get things done I have to evaluate whether I will have the physical or BREATHABLE capability of completing all tasks.  So anyway, end of rant....I am sure I will be posting a similar post again in the next ten days or so.

    This past weekend we knocked out SEVERAL things on our baby-to-do list and we only raised voices maybe once...ok, twice!  Mason got the carseats installed and then tutored me on how to work them.

   Mason hung me an old Elfa shelf on the door of the nursery closet to help with some organization of diapers and bath supplies...

  We also worked on our hospital bags and they are about 90% packed after a run to Wal-Mart for travel toiletries, slippers etc. 

   I am also now pre-registered at the hospital, I have submitted my claim to the insurance company for my FREE Medela Breast pump (covered by insurance) and it has already been approved and is on its way to me!!! We also worked in the guest room closet cleaning and moving things around because that is going to be the overflow for whatever doesn't fit in the kids closet.  My wonderful mama is coming over this weekend and next to help me organize their dresser and closet and sort through some more wonderful clothes that were given to me and get them put into bins and stored away. 

   My wonderful sister-in-law and Owen and McKenna's Aunt Sissa spent WAY TOO MUCH and purchased us lots of little things we were still lacking.  Exciting stuff like butt cream and hangers...but nevertheless, she pretty much set us for supplies. 

   So to wrap up...pregnant with twins is hard, we are pretty close to being ready, I need a nap....