January Recap

After our trip to labor and delivery and being put on bed rest, the remainder of our January was very low-key.  Truth be told, I was terribly uncomfortable at this point and it was a struggle to roll over, stand up, bend over, etc so bed rest was a welcome reprieve.  Although bed rest with a 19-month old at home is not much bed rest! We stayed at Nana and PawPaw's for a week, and then came home and the grandmothers alternated helping us.  At one point we even enrolled Carter in daycare 2 days a week, but when it came time for him to go neither Matt nor I could do it.  He still struggles when we drop him off at preschool and church so this would just be one more thing.

We spent a large part of our time in January watching Mickey Mouse and movies, namely Despicable Me 1 and 2.

We also had 3 random snow/ice days where school was cancelled and Matt was home with us.  They just happened to fall when we didn't have anyone here to help me with Carter, so those days were huge answered prayers for us.  One day we had a little "snow" and bundled up and took Carter outside to play.  

We took lots of naps

Carter did some driving

And spent a lot of time with our grandparents.  They came through for us this month in a huge way.  Honestly I don't know what we would have done without them.  I can't imagine how people who live far away from family do it...we call on ours for things regularly! I always tell Matt that if he takes a coaching job anywhere else it needs to either be in the Houston area or we are taking our families with us.  

29 Weeks

January 28, 2014

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 29 weeks

Size of babies: acorn squash

Genders: girls! Madeline and Molly!   

Weight gain: 22 pounds
Belly growth: 10.5 inches 

Movement: constantly.  It feels like neither one ever stops moving.  Right now Madeline is head down and Molly is head up and they both have their feet in my right ribs. 

Sleep: blah
Stretch Marks: nope

Symptoms: contractions, heartburn, restless leg, rib pain, lower back and hip pain

Cravings: I had a moment on Thursday when I HAD to have brownies.  Thankfully Matt ran out and got me some brownie mix and made them for me.
Belly button: out
What I miss: playing with Carter Man all day and sleep

Best moment this week: Matt was off work on Friday for the snow day and was able to get a lot of stuff done around the house during the 3-day weekend.  I'm feeling good now that "we" are cleaning stuff out and getting things organized! 

Best husband moment/quote: 
Notes: bed rest wasn't so bad when I was pregnant with Carter.  Now being on bed rest while Carter is home is so hard...I wish he understood what was going on.

Comparison picture to 29 weeks with Carter:

28 Weeks

January 21, 2014

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 28 weeks

Size of babies: eggplants

Genders: girls! Madeline and Molly!   

Weight gain: 22 pounds
Belly growth: 10 inches 

Movement: yes and it's honestly getting pretty painful.  They feel so squished in there that every little movement is uncomfortable.  

Sleep: almost non-existent.  Sneaking naps when I can and have been able to sleep on the couch comfortably some nights.
Stretch Marks: nope

Symptoms: contractions, heartburn, restless leg, rib pain, lower back and hip pain

Cravings: ice cold water, milk or juice
Belly button: out
What I miss: playing with Carter Man all day

Best moment this week: I got a good report from Dr P on Monday and we bought a new bookshelf for our bedroom this weekend (slightly pictured above.)  This will open up some toy storage for Carter's things and living room space for the girls' things. 

Best husband moment/quote: "You're so pleasant when you're pregnant" ;)
Notes: Dr P added a prescription med for the contractions and put me on strict bed rest for the next several weeks. 

Comparison picture to 28 weeks with Carter:

27 Weeks

January 14, 2014

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 27 weeks

Size of babies: rutabagas

Genders: girls! Madeline and Molly!   

Weight gain: 21 pounds
Belly growth: 10 inches 

Movement: all day and night

Sleep: pretty terrible
Stretch Marks: none

Symptoms: contractions, restless leg, backache, occasional heartburn

Cravings: nothing sounds good and I get really fully really fast
Belly button: out
What I miss: being comfortable

Best moment this week: the last 3 days in the hospital were pretty terrible and terrifying.  I guess the best part is that we did NOT meet our girls. 

Best husband moment/quote: 
Notes: we spent Sunday through Tuesday in the hospital trying to stop labor.  Not fun.  

Comparison picture to 27 weeks with Carter:

Labor & Delivery

On Sunday, January 5th, I woke up to get ready for church and just felt "off."  There was nothing specific that hurt, I just knew something was wrong.  We decided to stay home from church and I laid down on the couch to rest and see if I felt better.

Soon thereafter I noticed a pain in my lower left side/back that was getting stronger and stronger.  I moved back to our bed to see maybe if I could take a nap.  The pain got so bad I was finally in tears and called my doctor.  By the time the after-hours nurse called me back I could barely talk to her through my sobs.  I remember telling her "something is wrong."  She told us to head to labor and delivery so I could get checked out.

On the way there I clutched to the hand rail on the ceiling and just prayed we could get there quickly.  I kept telling Matt I couldn't make it there; I was in so much pain.  At that point we thought maybe it was appendicitis or kidney stones.

I got up to L&D, into a room, and hooked up to the monitors (difficult with my back pain and twins.)  I kept telling them that I just needed something for the pain...like, NOW! They wanted to see if I was having contractions and do a full work-up before talking to the doctor.  They called for an ultrasound and it was the worst 30 minutes of the entire day.  I had to sit up in a very uncomfortable position while he just pushed right over where my pain was located.  I cried through the entire thing.

Finally I got some pain meds! Turns out I had some fluid building up around my kidney which was causing the pain.  In the meantime the monitor was picking up some "uterine activity" that the nurses were concerned with and wanted to give me some terbutaline to ensure they didn't turn into real contractions.  At this point in my pregnancy I was 26 weeks so the twins were viable but very small.  I knew my body like to contract from my pregnancy with Carter so I didn't argue with them when they suggested the terb.  I was so happy to have my pain meds I would have agreed to anything at that point.

Over the next two hours I got two more doses of terbutaline as my "uterine activity" turned into contractions.  And then got stronger.  I wasn't feeling anything and tried to explain to them that my body just has contractions all throughout my pregnancy.  Of course, they were concerned with the fact that I was pregnant with twins and had a cerclage in place.  If I did start to dilate my cerclage would tear and if it turned into real labor they couldn't support such micro-preemies at our hospital in Katy.  They finally decided to put me on magnesium to really stop any sort of contractions.  Magnesium is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad medication that has awful side effects.  I was so confused as to why we were so concerned with contractions when I originally came in for a pain in my back!

So they started the magnesium and I started burning up and throwing up.  I kept contracting so they upped my dosage.  At this point I was pretty out of it and they started to talk to me about transferring downtown because they couldn't stop my labor.  Matt said they were even debating having me life-flighted downtown instead of waiting for an ambulance.  I ended up signing all of the paperwork for a c-section, in case they needed to deliver the babies.

Finally around midnight they loaded me and Matt into an ambulance and transported us downtown to Children's Memorial Hermann.  I don't remember much at this point since the magnesium really had me loopy, but I do remember all the bumps we hit in the road on our way to the hospital.  My back was still hurting, plus I had an IV and catheter in at this point and was very uncomfortable.

When we got downtown I was placed in triage in the emergency room while they prepped an OR for my c-section.  This was when Matt and I really started to get scared (I'm sure Matt got scared way before this but I was too out of it to worry much.)  I re-signed all the consents for an emergency c-section.  They said while the OR was being prepped they wanted to try a different medication on me to see if it slowed my labor.  Guess what...it did! They moved me to a room on the labor and delivery floor and said they would continue to monitor me.  By 5am my contractions had completely stopped! (I tried to tell them this would happen but no one would listen to me!)

The next day, Monday, Matt stayed with me and we were visited by a ton of different doctors.  I was assigned a Maternal Fetal Medicine team that would come up with a protocol to keep me pregnant as long as possible.  We had an hour-long ultrasound where they measured everything on the babies (that was the first time Matt had seen both babies on ultrasound) and re-checked my kidneys.  By this point my pain was completely gone.  They told me I was on permanent bed rest and would stay in the hospital until the babies were delivered, hopefully around 36 weeks.  A 10 week hospital stay! We spent the rest of the day trying to come up with a plan for what we would do about Carter and Matt's work.  I figured I would leave there on bed rest but I never thought I would have to stay in the hospital that entire time.  That evening Nana and Carter came to see me and take Matt home.

The next day, Tuesday, my MFM team rounded in the morning and said I could go home! What?!? I was just told the day before that I would be staying throughout my pregnancy.  Now they were saying I could go home?!? They explained that everything looked good on ultrasound (my cervix was still long and strong, showing no evidence of dilation or effacement) and my monitoring look good.  My contractions had not come back at all and there was no reason for me to stay.  They even said I didn't have to be on bed rest when I got home, I just needed to be careful not to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk.

So PawPaw came to pick me up and I spent the rest of the day in bed.  I followed up with Dr P on Wednesday and she disagreed with their statement that I didn't need to be on bed rest (as did I.)  She placed me on strict bed rest with the possibility of switching to modified bed rest if I could make it to 30 or 32 weeks.

I'm thankful everything ended up being okay, the babies stayed put, and I was at home.  I know Daddy was there looking out for us and made sure the girls kept baking for awhile longer.  I'm also thankful that this didn't happen until January when Matt was done with football and was able to be home more often.  I was terrified something like this would happen during football season and it would have been a disaster for us.  I was put on bed rest at 22 weeks with Carter and I made it to 26 weeks with the twins.

Carter: 19 Months

Carter Man,
You are NINETEEN MONTHS old today! Officially closer to being a two-year old than a one-year old.  Wow!

Buddy, this month has been hard.  Some of the trouble can be attributed to your mama being huge and pregnant, but most of it is due to your own stubbornness.  You know what you want and you know when you want it, and you won't take "no!" for an answer.  Although I'm thankful that you are hard working and passionate, (two traits I prayed over constantly while pregnant with you) this has proven to be almost impossible to deal with in a toddler.  I can tell you are frustrated with your communication because you clearly know what you want, we just cannot always understand what you want.  90% of the time I can understand your body language, "words", and gestures, but the other 10% of the time we both end up very frustrated.  I'm praying your language skills progress over the next six months so we can return to having easy days.

Speaking of language development, we have a meeting set later this month to get your speech evaluated.  Daddy and I aren't concerned, but talking to Dr K, your preschool teachers, and some speech therapists it sounds like getting you started in some speech therapy can't hurt.  And with two little girls coming so soon I'd rather you be ahead on the language curve than behind!

Just the other night I looked at your daddy and told him how big you suddenly seem to me.  Somehow in the last month you have just turned into a true little boy and are erasing all signs of being a toddler.  I love to see you grow and mature, but I long for you to stay a baby for as long as possible.  Thankfully you LOVE to cuddle and rock with us, which will always be my favorite part about you.

I've officially declared you a picky eater, but I can't be too surprised because you likely get that from me.  We have a pretty set breakfast and lunch menu, and dinner you just pick at small things.  If I let you you would eat cereal, bread and crackers all day.  Boy after my own heart! And you have fallen back in love with milk after a short hiatus.  We're currently going through 3 gallons of milk a week for you!

And somehow over the last month we have returned to the land of awful naps.  We were doing so good there for awhile (something you have always struggled with) but this last month takes the cake.  You are hard to put down, wake up early and try to always end your nap after only an hour.  It's exhausting! We also think you experienced your first night terror this month when you woke up in the middle of the night in a pure panic.  It took awhile but we were able to get you back to sleep and just pray that it doesn't happen again.  Poor baby!

Your favorites this month include stacking toys, riding toys, any type of truck, reading books and being outside.  You are a typical boy and love anything that makes a lot of noise or plays music.  You are getting better at playing independently but still always want us to be within eyesight of where you are.

Sugar dumpling, we love you so very much.  You truly bring so much love and laughter into our home and I'm so excited to spend these last few weeks with you as an only child before your sisters get here.  I'm so happy to watch you turn into a little boy and so proud to call you mine.  I love you forever.

19-Month Stats:

Weight: 25 pounds

Length: 32 inches

Eating: sippys of milk, combo of baby and table food, and one snack

Bedtime: around 7:00pm

Awake: around 7:00am

Nap: around 12:30 

Diapers: size 5 Huggies

Clothes: 18-months

Shoes: 5 wide

Favorites: playing outside, anything with wheels, your paci, books, videos on our phones, Cooper
Dislikes: seeing one of us hold another baby

Development: running, climbing, communicating

Words: mama, dada, nana, dog, uh oh, night night, what is that, outside, bye bye, hi, hey, hello, deer, duck, who is that, Nemo, cup, up

26 Weeks

January 7, 2014

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 26 weeks

Size of babies: heads of lettuce

Genders: 100% both still girls  

Weight gain: 24 pounds
Belly growth: 10 inches 

Movement: all day, but it's still not too uncomfortable (besides the rib head shots I'm taking from Baby Girl B).  You can see big movements from the outside so it's fun to just sit and watch them dance.  Baby Girl B hangs out more to the right side whereas Baby Girl A likes to stick straight forward so the shape of my belly is very lopsided most of the day.  

Sleep: pretty terrible...my restless leg and leg cramps are keeping me awake
Stretch Marks: none yet

Symptoms: inability to stand for long periods of time, occasional heartburn, restless leg

Cravings: steak and mashed potatoes! Hoping Matt can bring home some Saltgrass one night this week.
Belly button: out
What I miss: Diet Coke and cocktails 

Best moment this week: finally getting started on baby stuff! Nursery has been 1/4 painted, bedding is purchased, clothes have been washed and sorted, and baby shower invites are out! It's getting real! 

Best husband moment/quote: "If I had a time machine I would go back to this summer when we walked into Dr H's office and walk straight back out." while discussing how close in age our kids will be.
Notes: got my steroid shots last Thursday and Friday and experienced some pretty severe contractions Thursday night.  They were expected with the shot and thankfully we were able to stay at home and manage them without medication.  Friday night I was up until 6:30am! 

Comparison picture to 26 weeks with Carter:

Christmas break

Carter and I were SO excited for Christmas break because it meant we got DADDY BACK! It was a looooooong football season, and we missed having Daddy around.  During the season Matt works 7 days a week (about 105 hours a week) and most of the time leaves before Carter wakes up and comes home after Carter goes to bed.  So to have 2 entire weeks with Dad 24/7 was wonderful!

We started off the break with our trip to Dallas for the State game and to see Emily, Eva and Ella

Then we headed to Pine Prairie, Louisiana to celebrate Christmas with Poppa and Granny

We took lots of naps

Horsed around with Daddy

Played with our Christmas gifts

Picked out paint colors for the nursery

Mama and Daddy went on a date!

Stayed up until midnight on New Years Eve

Got THREE carseats in the car

Accidentally wore the same shirt one day (he later changed)

Worked on the nursery

Started new fashion statements

We had such a great time with Daddy off of work for two entire weeks.  We are already counting down the days until Spring Break!