The Update

We had our ultrasound and appointment with the perinatologist this morning at UW. She specializes in high risk obstetrics and preterm birth prevention. It was a little overwhelming and we are still processing but hopefully I can make it sort of make sense...

The Good:
My cervix hasn't changed! It is still open a little and shortened, but it hasn't changed since our appointment last week. Also, the amount of the fluid the babies have hasn't changed either! They said we are in the early stages of twin twin transfusion, Baby A has the upper level of fluid that is "acceptable" and Baby B has the lowest level of "acceptable". But since it hasn't changed since our last appointment that is a good thing also. And, I don't have to be on bedrest!!! YAY! While I dont have to be on bedrest, I do have to stay at home and rest. I am done working until after the babies are born, they don't want me on my feet very much but I am allowed to putter around the house.

The So-So:
While nothing has changed so far, it could change any time. We are going to be checked weekly. They are trying to decide if they want to see us at UW every week or if we can do one week at UW and one week in Bellingham so that we only have to go to Seattle every other week. My mom will be taking me to the next appointment on Monday so that Danny can still go to work. Since going to Seattle is going to be a regular thing we want him to keep working as much as he can so that he can hopefully get time off when the babies are born. I am still having contractions throughout the day which they aren't too worried about unless I am having 5-6 an hour. The Dr basically said the babies will be early, it just depends on how early. Needless to say, we want as late as possible! They also went over treatment options for if the babies fluid changes anymore. They either go in with a big needle and take some of the fluid out of Baby A's bubble, or there is a laser ablation where they go and zap some of the blood vessels that the babies share.

While there wasn't any terrible news (yay!), they did go through all the worst case scenarios with us which was pretty terrible. One of the things we were told to think about was if something changes quickly and the babies are born by 23-24 weeks we have to decide if we want them to try and keep the babies alive. When babies are born that early there is a low survival rate and a high chance of them having significant other problems. This is the point when I lost it, I don't like that is a decision any parent should ever have to make. We are hoping and praying that its something we don't ever have to decide, its awful enough to even have to think about making that decision. These babies seem to be fairly good at causing trouble, so we are hoping they are stubborn and will just keep on hanging in there until its time for them to come out! They don't to notice how much stress they are causing their parents, they are just in there bouncing around as usual. Baby A is still head down on my left, but Baby B is now feet down and thinks its fun to jump on my bladder.

So anyway, that was kind of lengthy. For now, its kind of a wait and see game. Thank you all for your prayers, emails, offers to help, and for stopping by to visit :) We really do appreciate it! Please continue to keep the babies in your prayers!

Bedrest Day 3

Well, not a whole lot goes on while on bedrest! At some in point in my life I probably would have thought laying in bed having all the time in the world sounded pretty good. However, its boring, and when everyone is at work there is no one around. And also, when it involves the possible well being of two baby boys, then its not so fun. I am still having some contractions, but not as many or as strong as before so we will see what they say about that at our appointment. I know having some once in awhile is normal, but I guess I am just a little nervous still at this point. For now, we are trying to stay as positive as we can for the babies (who I THINK we have officially named). I am just trying to count these days as each day that passes the babies are that much older and hopefully stronger!

Danny knows that I am really bummed about more than likely (I have to have a little hope, even if I know it wont happen :)  not being able to go on our annual memorial day camping trip with our friends and our 4th of July camping with the fam so he went and got a firepit to put on our patio so I can lay in our lawn chairs and pretend like I'm camping :) I think some friends are coming over this afternoon/evening so it will be nice to see them!

I know I have already said this, but we are SO blessed to have family around to help out and check in on me. I can't imagine still being in Seattle and not having them around!

The view from here...

Russell is glad to take part in bed rest

Thankful

Well, the babies and I are awake. They were hungry and I can't sleep. We go to UW Monday morning at 7:15, so you can keep that in your thoughts and prayers! When laying around you have a lot (too much) time to think. I find myself thinking about all the "what ifs". And while I guess it is okay to consider and be prepared that some of those things may happen I have to not let myself get caught up in what could happen. So these are a few of the things I am thankful for today:
- The little collection of baby stuff that arrived in my garage a few days ago. My auntie brought some things over from eastern washington and my Dad went and picked it up and delivered it to us. It was like Christmas morning when I went out there! We now have another crib, a changing table, bouncy seat, and a swing! We are grateful that people have passed things along to us that they don't need anymore!

- My dear hubby who works all day and then comes home and makes dinner and waits on his wife :) I love him and appreciate all he does so much!

- I am VERY thankful that we have family and friends around. I know I will need a lot of help, before AND after babies. I found breakfast delivered on my porch this morning - thanks mom! Christine, my sis-in-law also stopped by and dropped off a cute little basket of yarn, crochet needles, a word puzzle book and chocolate! We questioned our moving up here a few times and now it seems to be pretty clear that God had a plan for us before we knew how or why. There was a job opening for me, in the area I wanted to work in with the schedule that I wanted, so that we could move up here. We also found a house that was well within our price range the weekend that we started looking. Not to mention almost all of my family is within 5 minutes of our house, which is handy :) And now we are realizing that we are going to need them all close by!

- I am glad that I feel the babies moving. They move a LOT and its just a nice little reassurance.

- I am also thankful for netflix! We recently canceled our TV service because we never really watched it and we were trying to cut back. Netflix will probably be my good friend for the next little while!

- I am also thankful for my friends who check up on me, sweatpants, and Edaleen Dairy ice cream :)

Not What I had in Mind...

 I was planning a "hooray, 20 weeks, halfway!" post, and yes we ARE 20 weeks so hooray! The babies are moving a LOT and Danny even got to feel his first kick. I was laying on the couch the other day and felt something pushing so I felt my stomach and sure enough, there was a little baby part of some kind pushing out. I'm not sure if it was a head, foot, elbow or what but it was definitely there!
However, I went to my OB today and it didn't go quite how I had hoped. There is a small calcium deposit in Baby A's heart, which is the least of the worries right now, it usually goes away on its own. We had been with the ultrasound tech for almost an hour and she kept looking and looking and focusing on the membranes (the bubble) that the babies are in. So she looked some more and kept measuring and then she pointed out how Baby A has a wide open space full of fluid. Baby B's space is tiny, with not very much fluid. Then she said she needed to measure my cervix. I had been having some contractions after work a couple days ago but I figured they were just the Braxton Hicks people always talk about, even though I was having quite a few. And I knew I had the appointment the next day so I tried not to worry about it too much. So basically 1) They are worried about Baby B and the fact that he doesn't look like he has enough fluid. They think it may be twin to twin transfusion. The babies share a placenta and some blood vessels so what can happen is one twin is sort of a like a "donor" and one is a "recipient" so one baby doesn't get enough blood flow and the other gets too much and they can grow differently 2) My cervix is shortening and opening, which also isn't good.
For now, they are sending us back to UW next week to get more ultrasounds to see if it is twin to twin transfusion and to see if my cervix changes. Hopefully they can give us a better idea of what is going on and what the plan is from here on out. I am back in bed and not working, its possible that I may be done working for good. Definitely not the "everything looks good" I was hoping for. We are a little nervous, but hoping that bed rest (aaaaaaah) will help the babies continue to grow and stay in there until they are big enough to come out. We know that we will do whatever it takes for the babies.
At this point, I lay in bed and rest and pray that the babies decide to start behaving! We know that God gave us these babies for a reason and that he is in control. That is an easier thing to say than to live, but we are doing our best. We just want our babies to be okay. So, for now, I lay around, watch movies and eat and drink lots of fluids. We are trying to stay positive and hope that they saw this early enough that we can do what we need to to keep the babies growing.
It was good to see the babies moving around in there and it is reassuring that I definitely feel them moving around a lot. Both babies are head down, Baby A is on the left and Baby B on the right. I have some pictures that I will put up later sometime. Please pray for us, that my body will cooperate and be a good home for the babies and that the babies will continue to grow and stay in there a lot longer and that we will trust God to take care of us!

Easter Sunday - He is Risen!

Easter morning started off with breakfast at church and then the Easter service after. We came home for a quick rest and then went to lunch at Mom & Dad's. We decided to forgo the traditional Easter lunch and went for BBQ sliders and pulled pork, baked beans, fruit salad, and potato salad. Mmmmm.

The spread

The kids ready for finding eggs!

Chuck "helping" hide the Easter eggs (pocketing the candy)

Saturday Projects

We didn't get too much done around the house this weekend...Danny went to Seattle for his friend Andy's birthday. It is a "Cowboy & Indian" themed party so one of my projects was to make him an Indian costume to wear. Here he is trying on his outfit (and yes he knows I put the picture on here, haha).

He later added a bow & arrow to his ensemble

 Since tomorrow is Easter, Danny is just making a quick trip and is leaving early in the morning to make it back for church and lunch with the family. He has decided that the lawn is his project this spring/summer so he put some fertilizer on the lawn and then watered it. We'll see if it grows a little better!

I didn't do a whole lot this weekend, I did plant pick the weeds out of my little front garden and plant a few flowers. I also ordered the bedding for the cribs! It was a little expensive since we had to buy two sets, but we have gotten a lot of our other stuff handed down to us our at second hand stores so we decided on a little splurge. Plus, I really like it and its pretty neutral so if we have any more kids we can use it again!

The rest of the day I spent at Michelle's Easter concert at church, and then my friend Kim came up from Seattle so we went to the Lynden Dutch Bakery for strawberry rhubarb pie (yum). Then, it was SO nice out so we pulled the lawn chairs out of the garage and soaked up a little sun!! I finished the afternoon off with the first spring/summer BBQ at Karen and Josh's! Now I am ready for bed :)

Jordan waiting for the concert to start

Michelle getting ready to sing!

19 weeks

Time is starting to go faster now, we are almost halfway! An update for this week:
- The babies are the size of mangoes
- I have gained 20 lbs and my belly is 35 inches around :)
- People say I have started to waddle
- I have actually been feeling a lot better this trimester than last so that has been nice (besides being sleepy, but I like naps!)
- The little baby flutters have been turning into little baby pokes and I think Danny will be able to feel them pretty soon!
- We have an OB appointment next week to make sure the babies are still playing nice and sharing their food and growing the same and also to finish their anatomy ultrasound

 In other news: We went to Edaleen Dairy for the first time since last summer and they had birthday cake ice cream!!! I'm sure I will be spending a lot of time there this summer. Or maybe I can get them to deliver? :)