A Busy Beginning to Bed Rest

The first week of bed rest at home Paul and I set up a routine for me to take care of myself while he was gone on his rotation. He left my lunch easy for me to get up and get and quickly heat up if needed. I would wake up with him and get situated for the day making sure everything was within reach before he left, and still does. Paul did/does a great job of taking care of the house and cooking dinner. He's becoming quite the cook and house cleaner since I have been on bed rest. Thankfully, though my older brother and his family had planned earlier that summer to come down the next week (last week in July/beginning of Aug). Paul was grateful, because then he had some help around the house, and didn't' have to worry about me when I was alone all day. I was excited to see my brother and his family and not have to entertain myself the whole time.

It was nice having family around and definitely lifted my spirits. My brother and his family would go out and have fun around the area in the early afternoon and be back that evening. I loved hearing about their day, and all the fun they were having. Plus it was nice spending time with my niece and nephews in the mornings and evenings. Kids definitely know how to lift your spirits. My sister-in-law helped get me lunch and breakfast some days, and even took me to a doctors appointment. Talking with her helped calm some nerves I had about child birth and labor too. The first few weeks of bed rest I was very nervous, but having family visit helped take my mind off of what was happening.

Addelynn and Tyler hanging out at the beach.

Trevor playing in "his ocean" at the beach.

Dolphin sightings on the ferry.

Enjoying some Rita's

Yum

Having fun at Salsas

Addelynn got a real oyster with a pearl in it to put in a necklace for her souvenier. Here they are opening the oyster to see the pearl.

Addy with her necklace

Dasher really enjoyed having people stay with us. He loves being around people and is so good with kids. In fact, having my niece and nephews around was good practice for Dasher. Trevor seemed to love him and we think he even learned how to say Dasher or "Da" while he was here. In fact, Trevor not only broke Dasher in for the girls, but helped test out their cribs, the baby monitor, and some of their toys too. I was so proud that Dasher only bothered Trevor a few times he was on the floor, and that he would let Trevor "pet" or hit him in the face and only lick him back. He also would let Addy wrestle toys away from him pretty easily too. He's such a good puppy. I can't wait until the girls are old enough to play with him.

Trevor and Dasher engaging in parallel play

Trevor cutting his teeth on a teething ring and Dasher imitating him.

Trevor wanting to play with Dasher's toys. Dasher didn't really like sharing, but he didn't get protective he just picked up his toy and moved away from Trevor.

Addelynn having Dasher do tricks.

Tyler having Dasher show off his dancing skills

My mom and 3 of my younger brothers were able to come down and hang out with us mid week, and they stayed a few days after my older brother left.  My mom was a life saver. Not only did she clean the house after my older brother and his family left, but she spent most of her time in the kitchen making meals to put in the freezer so Paul wouldn't have to cook as much. The meals were a life saver when Paul had long days and didn't get home until 7:00 or 8:00pm. My mom spent all her days at home with me and we watched some movies, decorated the nursery, went to a fun glucose test, and a doctors appointment. She didn't really get to vacation on her vacation. My brothers were able to go to the beach with my older brother and his family before they left, play some disc golf (apparently some of the courses in our area were not that great) and then Paul took them fishing on Saturday when he was done with his rotation for the week. I hope they had a good time. I know it helped out having them here. Especially my mom since I really only got up to go to the bathroom and help her catch a lizard at one point. Dasher loved having my mom and little brothers stay with us too. He got so excited when they walked in the door, because he already had visitors and now he was getting more. Plus when he sees my mom he knows he is going to get tons of bites of human food from her. She spoils my fat puppy.

The lizard my mom and I had to get out of the bathroom sink.

Steven skim boarding

Steven skim boarding with mark and nick looking on

Mark with the catch of the day.

I was sad to see my family have to leave that Monday early afternoon. It was nice having them around for a while. I definitely wish they lived closer, but I am so grateful they are able to visit as often as they can. I am not sure without their support I would have made it through those crucial first weeks of bed rest.

Not only were we blessed by family visiting, but friends would call and text to check in on me. It was nice to know I wasn't alone through the whole process. Our dear friends Rachel and Jordan even sent multiple packages of items we hadn't yet been able to get for the babies so that we were more prepared for their arrival.  I could not feel more blessed or lucky to have them as friends and take care of needs we didn't fully realize we had. Bethany even bought us some preemie clothes so the girls would have outfits to wear; however, since I am trucking along well at 32 weeks now I am hoping we will keep passing the weeks by and we can take back some of those outfits even if they are super cute.  And most recently the Altendorfs even stopped by and brought some of our shower gifts from Oklahoma. Ms. Altendorf also brought several yummy meals right on time as we were running out of the meals my mom made. The timing was perfect, and we are lucky to have them so close. They are definitely a source of comfort to know they are there if we need them.

As I said before I feel so blessed through this whole process. God has used our family and friends to show Paul and I that we are not alone and to calm our fears. Any fear I have is answered and relieved almost immediately by a family member or friend fulfilling a need or calming a fear without me even asking. I am not good at asking for help, and luckily our close friends and family don't wait for us to ask they just see or anticipate a need and fulfill it. This whole process has been surreal and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I have learned so much about the hearts of our family and friends. Hopefully one day I will be able to repay them all for their kindness.

Just a "Routine" Ultrasound

On July 18th I went in for a routine ultrasound that ended up being anything, but routine.  Paul's mom drove down for this ultrasound since twin pregnancies are high risk even if everything is going fine, and Paul couldn't go due to his rotation schedule. He was working in the newborn nursery/nicu that week and the 18th was his late night where he was supposed to work until 7:00pm that evening. Anyway, since it was summer it worked out that his mom could come down and go to the ultrasound so that I wouldn't be alone "just in case it didn't go as routine as we thought it would".  This made Paul feel a lot better about missing the ultrasound. This was the first ultrasound he has missed.

Paul's mom arrived that morning and we had enough time to get some lunch and make "plans" for the rest of the day to work in the nursery a little and go shopping after the ultrasound before heading to the ultrasound. Prior to the ultrasound I was feeling great! I had just gotten home from my shower in Oklahoma two days ago, and unpacked all our goodies. I had no pain, no discomfort, no signs or warnings of anything and the girls had been moving like crazy. However, I always get nervous for ultrasounds. When this one started I could tell that something was wrong right away. The ultrasound tech spent a little longer looking at my body structures than she did the twins, and she took a lot of pictures. She didn't say anything, but when the doc came in to see a live video I knew this ultrasound wasn't going to end as smoothly as the others. First came the good news...the babies looked great!! They were growing as they should, and as the doctors said multiple times "couldn't be any healthier if we wanted them to be". That was the best news of the whole day. The bad news was that it appeared my body was preparing for labor at only 26 weeks and 2 days. I texted Paul constantly the whole time trying to see if he could step out from what he was doing, and get on speaker phone with the doctor so that he could hear from the doc and not me what was going on and have a chance to ask questions I may not think to ask. Unfortunately and ironically, he was in the delivery room suctioning a newborn baby and examining him at the exact same time and couldn't answer his phone as soon as I would have liked. He did call and get to talk to the doc before we left the office though. 

Picture of the girls at the ultrasound. Baby A is on the left and Baby B is on the right.

When we left the MFM office they walked me over to labor and delivery to "get a shot" and then go home on bed rest.  Boy was I surprised when they hooked me up to countless monitors and told me I was having contractions 1 1/2 to 2 min apart. I couldn't even feel them and felt so stupid that I didn't know that I was in labor. I kinda just sat in shock while they explained I would be staying over night at least and hooked me up to an IV of magnesium and covered my belly in gel and monitors. I got my first steroid shot, and they did a fetal fibronectin test. The test would tell them how likely it would be that I would deliver in the next two weeks. If it came back negative it meant it was unlikely I would have the babies in the next two weeks. Unfortunately, mine came back positive which didn't mean I was for sure having the babies within two weeks, but it made it a greater possibility. At the time I didn't realize until later that the doctor was thinking I would deliver any minute now and they just wanted to stop labor long enough so I could get the two steroid shots 24 hours apart. The steroid shots were to speed up lung development in the girls.

Thankfully, Paul's attending doctor let him leave at 4:00pm that night and come see me at the hospital. I think he was a little surprised that I was doing as well as I was; however, I really had no idea what was going on and was in too much shock to be scared or break down until the next day. Plus, I was just happy he was there. His mom ended up being able to stay until Saturday, and Bethany (Paul's sister) was able to visit each night and all day Saturday. That helped out a ton because Paul still had to report to his clinical rotation every day that week and on Saturday. So thankfully I didn't have to be at the hospital all alone and someone could go check on Dasher periodically too.

I don't look my best, but here I am all hooked up and chilling at the hospital.

Thankfully, they were able to stop the contractions with the magnesium, and after I got my second steroid shot the next day they pulled me off the magnesium hoping that the contractions wouldn't come back and I could go home. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The contractions came back with a vengeance early the next morning, and I still couldn't feel them. Later I found out that was a good thing and might mean that labor is not progressing as much as they thought. So they checked my dilation and I was dilated to a 1. Not a bad deal, but not great. Anyway, my doctor didn't want me to be put back on magnesium since it's not safe to be on for long periods of time so she switched me to an oral medication that I possibly could take at home if it worked. So I started taking that and slowly it began to work. It didn't stop my contractions completely, but it did slow them down and space them out. I was grateful it seemed to be working. After spending some observation time in the hospital for a few days my doc came back by on Sunday and since my dilation hadn't changed she said I could go home on bed rest taking the prescribed medications. Apparently the contractions I was/am still having weren't significant to progress labor.  I was sooo happy, and scared at the same time. I couldn't wait to be at home where it was more comfortable, and I know Paul was tired of going to his rotation and immediately coming to the hospital and sleeping on the most uncomfortable chair/convertible bed ever. He was such a trouper, and even ended up getting a good review from his supervising doctor for that week!!  However, since I never felt the contractions I was nervous I wouldn't make it back to the hospital in time to stop the contractions again. Then my doctor explained that we wouldn't stop the contractions again, but that my next trip to the hospital would be to deliver the girls. While that was a scary thought since it was so early still, it made me feel better about going home and judging my symptoms on my own.

While in the hospital I had tons of phone calls (my mom really wanted to be there, but since she was coming in two weeks anyway, and I felt confident I would still be on bed rest I told her to wait; it's times like these I hate being so far away from family), special deliveries, and a few visitors. God definitely has been taking care of me and the girls through this whole pregnancy, and I could feel his presence, reassurance, and peace all around me from the support from family and friends to the wonderful nursing staff and doctors that took care of me and the girls, and continue to take care of us. As much as I don't like being on bed rest, and it was not in my plans; I feel a huge sense of peace and know that God put me on bed rest for a reason, and that He will guide us through this process.

The nurses loved Paul and one day he came in talking about how hungry he was even though he ate a big lunch. The next thing we knew one of my amazing nurses came back with a sandwich box filled with a sandwich, chips, apple and a drink. Yes Hailey and Hadley this is what your dad did while we lied in the hospital bed hooked up to crazy machines.

Friends from work Anne and Holli came to visit me at the hospital, and brought presents! I sure am going to miss them when I start back to work since Anne took a new job in the medical center and Holli moved all the way to Dallas.

Many thanks to all of those who have been praying for us. Keep praying for us. As I sit to write this I am 32 weeks, and could not feel more blessed by God for making it this far. We are leaps and bounds further along than anyone anticipated or dared to hope, and I firmly believe that it is only by the grace and desire of God we are where we are today.

Minco, OK Baby Shower

On July 14th, three of my best friends from college threw me a baby shower in my hometown. I flew in a few days earlier and was able to spend a whole day with my grandparents which was lots of fun and always entertaining. It was also good to hang out with my brothers, sister-in-law, niece and nephews that weekend too.  I also was able to spend Saturday night and Sunday morning with Kendra, Beth, and Bethany who threw me the shower.

Paul had started rotations for his third year of medical school at this time, and wasn't able to come with me much to his disappointment. Right before I left, Paul got the results of his first board score (Step 1) and he did wonderful, as I knew he would. I am so very proud of him, and how he manages balancing school with taking care of his family. Somehow he manages to never neglect either of them. The twins and I are very lucky. He received a score well above what he needed to get into a good residency program for pediatrics. Throughout his first two years of medical school Paul had decided he wanted to be a pediatrician, and eventually specialize in something. Unfortunately, he got his scores the day I left so we didn't really get to celebrate, but I was able to sneak away and surprise him when he got home with a few presents before I had to leave that evening. He also played golf with a friend of his that Saturday to celebrate and have fun since I was away.

Paul with a season of House (I thought it was fitting, and he likes the show) and a funny card that described his emotions perfectly. Excuse his look, he was tired from his rotation and about to take me to the airport.

Even though I prepared meals for him while I was away, Paul also couldn't pass up a free meal at Chick-fil-a no matter how ridiculous he had to look to get it. The Friday I was gone it was dress like a cow and receive free chick-fil-a day.  He was quite proud of himself and how he managed to put the costume together on his own with a few tips from my friend Beth and me.

My cow of a husband

 
 On Saturday, I got ready for the shower at my grandparents house so that I could spend more time with my niece and nephews. The shower was lots of fun, and I was honored to be surrounded by so many family and friends on that day. We even had to get out more chairs because more people than we expected came!

Addy and I painted our toenails the same for the shower

Diaper cake my friend and co-hostess Kendra made

Gift Table decorations

Yummy cupcakes my friend Kendra's mom made

Cute bootie candy holders

Some of the shower guests

Kourtney and Addy filling out the advice sheets for the girls. Addy's advice was great!

Addelynn was a great helper with opening the girl's gifts.

cute diaper babies my friend Brenna made. Addy loved them.

Quilt my grandma made one for each of the girls. I have one just like it that she made me when I was little.

Before the shower I teased Addelynn that I was going to steal her stuffed giraffe because it was purple and the twins love giraffes and purple. Little did I know she had gotten the twins giraffes of their own to match hers! She's such a good secret keeper.

Pretty plaque from Kayla to go above the girls cribs

Kayla and I with the basket she put together for the twins.

Me and my friend Brenna from High School

My friends from high school Monica and Timber. It was so good to see them again.

With my mom and Grandma. I am my mom's only daughter and my grandma's only granddaughter. I can't wait to take a picture with us and the girls when they come.

My wonderful hostesses: Kendra, Beth and Bethany (Paul's sister)

The shower was beautiful and more perfect than I could've imagined. We got so much stuff I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get it back home, but thanks to Kourtney, my mom and Mallory and 6 vacuum bags, 4 suitcases, and a car full of the bigger items (thanks Beth and Mr. and Mrs. Altendorf); we somehow managed to get it all back home and in the nursery.

It was a great super long weekend home, and was definitely what I needed. I missed Paul and Dasher of course, but I have a feeling this was just the beginning of many trips I will take without Paul. I think medical school is finally kicking in for him as he is busier now than he ever was the first two years. At least he is enjoying being in the clinic. He is doing his pediatric rotation this first 8 weeks, and thankfully it has reaffirmed his desire to be a pediatrician. Now he just needs to decide on a specialty.

Oh and Dash even got a present at the shower. He is such a spoiled puppy. Thanks to Kourtney and Addy for thinking of him.

Dasher with his present.