Quiet Times

After the excitement of seeing the babies and finding out their genders last Thursday, I've been enjoying a bit of quiet since then. Of course having my girls stay with their grandparents for a couple of days will contribute to the quiet, but any way you look at it, things have been relatively quiet.

Actually, Friday was a bit of an interesting day for me and the babies. As I took the majority of Thursday off for the ultrasound and to spend some time with B & R, I offered to work open to close on Friday so one of my coworkers could have an early day. 

The day itself was good, lots of people stopping by my class asking about the ultrasound and the babies' genders. Yes, my coworkers and student's parents know the genders. For those closer to B & R, you will know soon enough as well! 

The day was a light day with only three babies. I enjoyed my time with the little ones, getting to play with them and hold them a bit more than I normally would be able to. 

Late in the afternoon, I started getting a dull back ache. I just chalked it up to a longer than normal day for me.

Shawn and I decided to go out for a nice meal as the girls were not home for the evening. He made reservations at one of my favorite steak houses and we were off! Sometime during dinner, my back ache became more pronounced and some cramping came with it (a few light contractions came along, but they were very infrequent and not even worth timing). All of this did shorten my dinner a bit, but I wasn't concerned. After all, I had just pulled a 10 hour work day, which is something I'm not used to anymore. I knew that with a bunch of water and a good night's sleep I would be fine by morning.

Saturday came and, as I had guessed, I was feeling much better. The back ache was gone and I wasn't having any cramping or contractions. I told Shawn that I wanted to take it easy that day and give me and the babies some time to rest. He was good with that and we spent a nice morning just relaxing and being together. 

I did notice that the babies weren't as active on Saturday as I usually notice them to be. The funny thing was that baby on my right was more active than baby on my left, which is hardly ever the case. Hmm... What's going on in there, little people?

This morning as I was awakened by our children (they apparently missed waking me up for two days and were paying me back this morning with multiple awakenings today), baby on my left was protesting me moving around and rewarding me with big kicks. Not to be outdone, as soon as I would finally settle down after putting a child to sleep, baby on my right would give me a couple good kicks so I wouldn't forget that they were there as well. Yeah, happy babies in there! 

I'm glad to see that they aren't any worse for the wear of a longer day on Friday. They apparently just needed a day to rest as well. I totally get that.

So, now we are on Sunday. We are having another low-key day today with lots of snuggling and easy activities. The weather is kind of forcing this as the temps have once again dipped down into the low single digits with the windchill around -20. I'm not complaining, I love wearing sweatshirts and my new cute slippers while snuggling under blankets. This is perfect reading or movie watching weather! 

This week will be a busy one with both of our girls going to work with me, I have a full class of kids all week, New Year's celebrations (we still have no idea what we are doing for that!), and I'm sure something else will come up. 

Oh, I forgot! We finally were able to tell our girls the babies' genders. First we asked what they thought the babies were. Annalies (2.5 yrs) guessed two girls, Natalie (6 yrs) guessed one boy, one girl. They were so cute when we told them the results! Both were happy with the results. I also told them the babies' names. Natalie immediately started associating the names with "close names" of people she knew. They approve of your choices, B & R. :-)

So, that's been my weekend. The babies are currently having quite the little dance party as I'm reclining, and I'm enjoying every minute of it! Have fun, little miracles!

19 weeks 5 days

A Sneak Peak at the Babies

Well, hello there little ones! One of my favorite things about being pregnant is when I get a sneak peak of what's going on inside. Today was the big day when we were able to see the babies again. How fabulous to see them for the few moments we were given. It just makes them seem so real and gets us all excited to be able to hold them in a few months!

B & R came up for this appointment. They actually came up last night and once they arrived in our frozen tundra, they came over for a little visit with us. It was fun to catch up as it has been almost 2 months since we last were together. I was amused at their reaction to my growing belly. Yes, I did see them sneak peaks at my mid-section! Hey, its their kids I'm carrying, so I would be disappointed had they not been interested. (R said that I look bigger in person than the Sunday pictures show. I believe it!  I feel bigger than the pictures show, too. At least this bigness has a good reason!)

After a couple hours visit, we made plans to meet again at the clinic for the appointment and said good night.

This morning, I went to work for a couple of hours then left for the appointment and to meet B, R, and my husband, Shawn. I was led back to the exam room, properly covered up, and the tech went back to get my entourage. Once we were all comfortably settled in our room, the show began! I told her that we were interested in finding out the genders if the babies would cooperate with us.

I am happy to report that both babies are measuring perfectly for their age. They are about 11 oz each, which is the 54% for their gestational age. I'm perfectly happy with them staying in the 54%! If your average full term baby is 8lbs, I would be very happy with a couple of 5 or 6 lb babies.

It was also nice to see that, as I have been reporting, the baby on my left is definitely the busy little baby! Left baby totally cooperated with all of the measurements, with a heart rate of 144 beats per minute. I think B is claiming this baby. Baby on my right was a bit more subdued, but was also moving for us. However, this baby was laying with one arm right across the chest where we were trying to see the heart for measurements. We had to take a break from baby on the right for a couple of minutes to see if baby would move to get the measurements. Right baby's heart is beating at 146 beats per minute and by default, R is claiming that baby.

The little stinker on my left has completely changed positions since my last ultrasound on Friday. This baby is now in a breach position, which means its head is up and feet are down. Baby on the right is still head down. There is still time for both babies to move, so I'm not too worried yet.

The tech also measured my cervix, which is measuring long at 4cm. This is perfect for where I am with this pregnancy. As I get closer to delivering these babies, the cervix will get shorter and thinner, but for now, we want long and thick. Thankfully, with the crazy contractions from last Friday, its great to know that my body is NOT getting ready for delivery. Schwoo!

All in all it was a really great day. Shawn and I were able to celebrate with B & R the news of their healthy little babies. They also shared with us the babies' names, which are just perfect for them! I'm so excited for R & B to be able to take these babies home and make them a part of their family!

I know, I know. Now you are yelling at your computer "Quit stalling and tell! What are they? Two girls? Two boys? One of each? Tell ME NOW, Shawnee!" And, I will tell the world. But not now. Sorry. It's not my news to tell! I want B & R to have the joy of sharing with their family and friends the big news. I will post the genders, but not until I have been given the all clear by the baby's parents. :-)

What a wonderful day getting to know these two little miracles!

Baby Fun

I want to share a bit of fun my coworkers and I are having with the babies. This sign appeared on my class doorway today. Votes are coming in! What's your guess? 

The sign reads:

"With four little feet

And twenty little toes

Will they have two

Christmas Belles,

One of each, or

Christmas Beaus?

Guess the genders of the

Twins Shawnee is carrying!"

The ultrasound pics are from the babies at 12 weeks.

To keep the surprise going, I'm not going to tell when my ultrasound is. B & R want to let their family and friends know themselves, so I will announce it here once I've been given the all clear. :-)

Having fun with little miracles!

A Quiet Weekend (baby-wise)

After the insanity of Friday with all of the contractions and visit to MAC, I'm happy to say that this weekend has been relatively uneventful and quiet, baby-wise. 

I did have some contractions on Saturday, but I'm talking about 12 all day. Nothing I was concerned about or needed to be assessed for. A definite improvement over the day before.

After I'm done working today, I have two days off for Christmas, so I'm hoping a bit of extra rest and down time will help keep everything calm in there.

The babies didn't seem to mind the contractions, they've been as busy as ever! Apparently, 10pm is the new time to party for these little ones. Lots of activity going on!

I'm hoping for another quiet day, and, with a lighter than usual class size, I should be able to relax and not do as much.

18 weeks 5 days

Enjoying some quiet time with small miracles.

Unexpected Happenings

Let me start this post by saying I'm okay and the babies are okay. Now that I've stated that fact, here's what I've been up to the past 6ish hours.

Around 11ish this morning as I was rocking a baby at work I noticed a contraction happen. It wasn't painful, but I definitely noticed it taking place. Hmm...  About 7 minutes later I felt another one. This happened a few more times when I decided to do something about it. 

Having a bit of experience with preterm labor, I did what I knew my doctor would tell me. I drank a huge cup of ice water (25oz), changed my position from sitting to standing and finally laying down, I ate some food, and I started timing these silly contractions. 

11:51

11:58

12:02

12:04

12:06

12:14

12:16

12:19

12:22

12:27

12:35

It was somewhere around the 12:02, 04, 06 part that I started getting concerned. I called my doctor's answering service (they are only in the office a half day on Fridays) and told them what was going on with me. 

Meanwhile, my director arranged for me me to leave work and she covered my class. As I was packing up my daughter I received a call back from the on call doctor.

After the preliminary questions, what's going on, for how long, how far apart, what have I tried, etc, she told me to go to the maternal assessment at the hospital.

I'm going to skip past the phone calls to my husband, B, someone to watch my kiddos, and a couple others on the way to the hospital. Let's just say that in the 25 minutes to get to the hospital, people were notified of the situation.

Once I arrived, I was quickly hooked up to a monitor to track the contractions which were still every 2-4 minutes apart, asked to give a sample, and arrangements made to have an ultrasound to check my cervix for any progression.

During the ultrasound I mentioned to the tech that I didn't know the genders and I wouldn't complain if she happened to peek. (She wouldn't, darn it!) Instead, she concentrated on their heartbeats. I'm happy to report that baby A on my left is beating at 138 beats per minute, baby B on my right is beating at 140 beats. Both babies are head down, which could explain why I'm feeling lots of kicks up high!

Anyway, the cervix looked good, long and thick like it should be at this point in the game.

When I was back in my triage room, we had the test reaults back. Apparently, I am getting a bladder infection. Thankfully, I haven't had any symptoms at all (bladder infections can be really painful!). My nurse told me that bladder infections are one of the most common causes of pre-term labor. I knew that infections could cause that, but hadn't experienced that yet. 

The bladder infection was the cause of my contractions. The treatment for this is to put me on an antibiotic, encourage me to increase my fluids, and use the bathroom more often. 

I was told to go home with a prescription for an antibiotic, take it easy tonight, and the contractions should stop sometime in the next 24ish hours.

I'm currently home reclined on my couch in the family room. My two little girls requested some of their favorite Christmas shows to watch, my husband is on his way home with a Chipotle burrito for me, and I'm still having contractions. 

I can deal with the contractions as long as I know the babies are okay. They've been busy kicking me pretty steadily all afternoon, but as long as they are okay they can kick all they want!

Busy little miracles!

Giving it a Shot

I finally received the phone call I have been waiting for. The pharmacist called and let me know that the progesterone finally went through insurance. Good news, right? 

When I picked up the meds, there were four little vials of liquid for me. I chatted with the pharmacist (who's name is Sean, by the way) and he said that this med was ordered without the alcohol preservative so it should be less painful than the progesterone I had to take every day the first trimester. It's a different compound as well, still in the sesame oil, but different other things that should make it a bit easier on me. No arguments here!

I also asked Sean about the 18 gauge needles that were given to me. (Think pencil lead sized pointy  things going into your leg or arm). I'm fine with drawing up using a freaking huge needle, but then to use the same thick, now dull, needle to stab myself with does not sound like something I will willingly do without a fight. Sean was totally understanding and quickly gave me some 1 inch 28 gauge to switch out and use to administer the meds. Schwoo! Much better!

So that is my tale. I picked up the meds on Wednesday, but thanks to an unexpected trip to the ER with our two year old for a head gash and some stitches, I wasn't able to do the shot that night. Last night was crazy with dance class, so I think I'm going to give it a whirl tonight. Shawn will be home tonight and we can tag team baths and bed time. I should be able to squeeze in a few minutes to ice, stab, and heat.

Other than all of that, the babies are well. They have their active times and have been cooperating with life and the busyness of the Christmas season. I'm so thankful to be feeling better now. Christmas parties and foods are here and I want to eat!

Enjoying each small miracle in my life!

Where are the Babies?

I have some adorable little people in my life. My little daughter, Annalies, is two years old. She is the funniest toddler I know! Some of the stuff she comes up with is so stinkin' hilarious and has us just rolling with laughter. Today was one of those days. 

After work, Annalies and I were cuddling and just chatting. I could tell she was a little annoyed with my rounded belly, but she figured out a way to snuggle up with me after a while. All of a sudden, she sits up and starts rubbing my tummy. I asked what she was doing and she said "rubbing mommy and the babies." 

Annalies then started "counting" the babies. According to her, there are "three-four" babies. (I didn't think I was that big yet!) She could have cared less when I was correcting her that there are only two. She is just insistent that there are "three-four" babies. 

The next thing I knew, she was lifting up the hem of my shirt and peaking at my belly. When asked what she was doing, she responded "I wanna see the babies! Uh oh! They are hiding still! No babies there. *sigh*"

She's two. I've got fourish months to get it through to her that there are only two babies and they are staying inside of me until the doctor helps them out. Then she'll get to see them. She knows that they are not coming home to stay with us but will be staying with B & R. She's good with that fact (I think she's glad that she's not going to have to share mommy and daddy with two babies.)

Between my sweetie daughter this afternoon and being able to snuggle with one of my new little ones at work today, its been a fun baby day!

Having fun with small miracles!

Bumps in the Way

Well, hello there, bump! I know I've had a bit of a baby bump for awhile, but wow! That's quite the rotund tummy I'm sporting! 

17 weeks 5 days

Not even kidding a little, I'm totally in the "smuggling a basketball" zone now. :-). I know I have a lot more growing to do as the babies develop and grow themselves, but it's kind of nice to actually look pregnant and not just chunky. Chunky means this lady needs to work on diet and exercise. Pregnant means happy time waiting on little miracles. I'm okay with looking pregnant while I'm pregnant. Definite difference. 

The babies are moving a lot, which is awesome! I think that left baby is still the more active, where right baby is definitely more opinionated. Left baby moves so much and so often-this child has things to do and places to go! Very busy little person. Right baby takes its time and just flutters mostly, unless this baby needs to get my attention. I'm guessing this baby will be the more laid back of the two. :-) B & R will have to tell me if I'm right about them as they are growing.

An update on the whole progesterone meds vs Shawnee's insurance carrier: basically, I'm in a holding pattern right now. Last week I signed up for their (insurance company) "Healthy Pregnancy" program. Basically, it gives me access to a nurse through my insurance to help me make healthy pregnancy choices and offer any support they can. 

During one of the phone calls with my nurse, I told her about this hang up with the progesterone. She asked a couple of questions and agreed that my policy should be covering this medication. She offered to do some behind the scenes work on the insurance end of things. 

On Friday, I received a message from her that said the medicine should be covered but wasn't going through, so she talked with someone to find out what needs to happen to get it through. I'm supposed to wait until tomorrow, Monday, and go get the prescription to see if it's been covered. If not, well, she told me what the pharmacist needs to do to get it covered. (A lot of specific drug info needs to be sent back to the insurance people.)

So, I should have the meds and hopefully, an update tomorrow. Here's hoping for good news! 

Excitedly epecting little miracles. :-)

Pass the Tissues!

Hello, hormones!

Wow, I really wasn't expecting hormones to hit so strong and so hard. No, I'm not an uncontrollable blubbery mess, but hormones have definitely hit. Let me explain. 

I was at work feeding a little 4 month old baby, when just a random Christmas song came on the radio. This is nothing new. I love Christmas songs. As soon as we are done with the Thanksgiving meal, Christmas carols get turned on the sound system. It should come as no surprise that I was listening to Christmas music at work.

I don't even remember which song started playing. No, it wasn't Christmas Shoes. I find that song particularly obnoxious. I liked it the first time I heard it, but the awe factor is no longer there. 

Wait, where was I? Oh, yeah. Gotta love random, right?

So, I'm feeding a baby this morning and the local radio station starts playing a random Christmas carol. And I have no idea why, but I start crying. I mean, I'm totally losing it. After a minute or so, I kind of snap out of it and pull myself together. What's going on? I'm crying over a Christmas song? Who does that? Must have been some kind of fluke, right? 

Not so much. 

Tonight, after I put my girls to bed, I needed to make a Christmas card to bring to work tomorrow. So, I sat down to make the card for my boss and decided to watch a little Cake Boss (my newest favorite Netflix indulgence.) The episode I'm on is Buddy and his family in Italy. Buddy is making cakes for a bunch of random people in Rome and then baking an Italian cake with a local baker. He wants to give it to his wife. Sappy, right? Well, not really. After all, its Buddy. He's not exactly my idea of suave, smooth, and debonaire, ya know? 

So, Buddy gives his wife this cake he made, she tells him she's pregnant, and I'm over here choking up.  What the heck??? I'm normally a pretty level headed person, not generally hormonal at all. I'm happy and easy going. This random and sudden bursts of tears is something totally new for me. 

When I was pregnant with Natalie, my first baby, I could be a hormonal mess on occasion. For the most part, I can blame those waterworks on Hallmark specials and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. What can I say, I'm a sucker for RomCom and the feel good shows.  

So, other than super baby/pregnancy hormones, I don't think I can blame the tears on anything else. Oh, well. I'm a woman, I guess I'm allowed to be hormonal every once in a while. Oh, wait, I'm pregnant. And not just pregnant, pregnant with twins. I'm allowed to be hormonal whenever I need to be! Bring on the emotions! :-)

Small miracles are beautiful things. (sniff)

Last Day of "Rest"

I don't have a lot to post about today. I'm just taking life easy right now. It's been an insane 10 days at home and it's kind of left me drained. 

I am happy to report that Annalies is feeling much better, almost as good as new! The funny thing about her illness last week was that she was finally feeling well Thursday night. I debated on bringing her to school and me to work on Friday. Then, Friday morning I woke up with a classic case of pink eye. Hello! Obviously, God was giving me another day to rest and recouperate before I return to work on Monday.

Ha! Very funny, Shawnee! You are home with an active two year old. There's no rest when you are home alone with a toddler! 

Anyway, I've been taking my drops and trying to get rid of my fabulously colorful rose eye. It's awesome, really. Seriously, how does someone who hasn't been out of the house in three days managed to get pink eye? Neither of my kids had pink eye, how on earth did I get it? I digress...

The babies have been good. Every day I'm feeling them move. Left baby is still the more active with the big movements. That being said, right baby is definitely the more opinionated one, telling me when they don't like my sudden movements of coughs, sneezes, and other jerky moves like that by givin me big kicks or whatever they are doing in there. When right baby isn't agitated, baby has smooth, fluttering movements.

I'm enjoying my last day at home before I go back to work tomorrow. I think my girls aren't looking forward to tomorrow when we have to get up to an alarm again. 5:15 comes early! 

Last day of rest for me and small miracles.

16 weeks 5 days

Burning Up the Phone Lines

The babies are a hot topic right now! I've spent a lot of time on the phone with various health care workers about them. Here's a brief summary:

My doctor called me (I know. How often does a doctor personally call with good news?) She wanted to personally tell me that the alpha fetal protein came back completely normal for twins. She said that there is something like a less than 1 in 10,000 chance that one of the babies would end up with spina bifida. Awesome, right! She also wanted to make sure that I was going to pass along this news to R & B, because technically she can't do that herself. I'm her patient, not them or the babies. (Of course I passed the info along. It was about their babies after all!)

The second through, oh, I don't know, eighth phone calls were from the triage nurse, the pharmacy, and my insurance company. Really long, three day story short, my doctor wants me to start weekly progesterone injections again to help prevent preterm labor and delivery. 

Triage Judy wanted me to go to Edina, a 35 mile round trip, to pick up the meds every month. I didn't want to make that trip as it was snowing pretty hard and I had Annalies very sick at home. I asked that the prescription be called to a pharmacy closer to my house. Triage Judy complied with my wishes (eventually). 

The next call was from closer pharmacy letting me know the medication was not going to be covered by my insurance and did I still want the meds anyway? I told her I'd have to call her back after I talked with some people.

Call #28 was to Agency to see if this is something they want to handle or if I should just fight this one with my doctor and insurance company?

(Somewhere in here I notiied B & R what was going on.)

Then was another call to triage Judy explaining the situation. She did not seem happy to hear from me again until she heard the whole reason why I was calling. She said something like "well, you'll just have to pay for it then." I said that wasn't the issue, the issue was that I had a pretty good reason for needing this medication due to two past premature births and wondering if my Doctor would be willing to fight a little with the insurance company in order to get me the medication. 

Apparently I was a little blunt (and maybe a touch snotty) but it must have worked because she changed her tone. She asked questions about how early my first two pregnancies were and if I had been on this particular med before. Triage Judy then said she would call my insurance company and see what she could do about the situation.

Several hours later I received a follow up call from Traige Judy. Apparently, the pharmacy originally used the wrong code for my meds. They are going to use a different code which should help the meds get through without a huge out of pocket expense to me and my IP's.

I'm still waiting to hear from the pharmacy, but I'm optimistic that things will work out this time. 

To be honest, I was really annoyed when I heard I was going to have to be on progesterone injections again. My legs are finally starting to feel better (and look better!). There are a couple of places that still are sore from the past injections. Then, during all of these phone calls I asked someone how often the injections were going to be. I think I started dancing when I found out they were weekly injections, not daily. I can totally handle one shot a week! Waaayyy better than daily injections. A huge sigh of relief there! 

So, that is where we are. I'm still waiting to hear back from the pharmacy for when I can pick the medication up. I'll call on Monday if I haven't heard back from them by then.

As for the babies, baby on my left (I need to come up with better things to call them) has been really active lately. Baby likes to move a lot in the evening with big, strong movements. Baby on the right I'm not feeling as much, this baby's movements are more on the fluttery side. However, baby on the right definitely does not like sudden movements such as a cough or sneeze. I feel more twinges from this baby when I sneeze.

Doing what I can to keep busy little miracles safe! 

16 Weeks and All is Well!

Today marks week 16 of this pregnancy and my 2nd OB appointment. It was a crazy day, but my appointment went well. Let's talk about that for a minute, shall we?

I had both my girls with me at the appointment as my time was after the school and my youngest has pneumonia and an ear infection and needs to be home from school. Let's just say that having kids at any OB appointment is an adventure in itself. "Mommy, what's that?" was heard many times during my appointment, much to the amusement of the staff and doctor. Anyway…

I'm measuring just where I'm supposed to be. The doctor measures my belly from the top of the pelvic bone to the top of the uterus. In a single pregnancy the measurement should be close to the same centimeters as weeks pregnant. I'm not entirely sure how this works with twins, but she said things are where they should be.

I am happy to report that my weight is right on track. I've put on 5 lbs of baby/pregnancy weight. My doctor is good with it as well. No big concerns there.

She answered a couple of questions for me. Nothing too earth shattering, really. I've been having a lot of headaches lately (darn hormones!) and have been using acetaminophen daily to get rid of them. She suggested that I have a little caffeine every day to see if that helps them go away. I guess I will be enjoying my morning chai once again! Hopefully, that will make the headaches go away.

In case you are wondering, my blood pressure was fabulous at 110/60. I am so thankful it is not my blood pressure causing the headaches. Just say no to preeclampsia!

The babies cooperated with the Doppler this time (darn it! I wanted a chance to see them again!). It's nice to know where they are, thanks to their heartbeats we can get an idea of where they are. I've been joking that the babies are in strange places as my belly has been lopsided (only I can notice). Today, my theory has proven true. One baby is off to my left, the other is down really low on my right. (They can still move into a more natural position, there's lots of time for that!)

Speaking of moving, the first baby we listened to, the one on my left, was moving all over the place as the doctor was trying to find the heartbeat. We would hear the heart for a couple of seconds and then the baby would move and make the doctor find the heart again so the beats could be counted (150 beats, by the way!). The other baby who is down low must have had been taking a nap. This baby's heartbeat was easy to find and wasn't going anywhere as we listened (160 beats).

My doctor asked if B, R, and I had discussed all of the genetic tests she told us about at the last appointment (yes, we had talked about the tests). She mentioned one specific test, the Alpha Fetal Protein, which is a simple blood test to check for spina bifida. Thanks to modern medicine, if a baby is detected to have spina bifida, they are able to operate in utero and correct the problem prior to birth. I quickly shot a text to B and asked if this was something they would want to have done. As my doctor was pretty strongly recommending it and I was okay with having this test done, B decided to have the test done. A quick poke later and we were on our way. (If the test detects something, they will move up the ultrasound a few weeks to check the babies out. No freaking out, folks!)

As for the rest of the pregnancy, things are going well. I'm enjoying eating, much to the delight of my kids. I'm not as susceptible to the power of suggestion when it come to food anymore. A few weeks ago, if someone talked about a food, I would want that food! It made making meals pretty easy as I just had to hear something and then that is what I made or picked up. Now, I'm ready to eat almost anything! The girls are taking advantage of this as they suggested Chipotle for dinner tonight, and who am I to tell a sick little girl no? And I can't have a steak burrito without Jelly Bellies for dessert, can I? Nope! (Hey, don't judge!)

I've recently started having the crazy pregnancy dreams people so often hear about. My dreams have been rooted in reality. I keep dreaming about labor with the babies, only the labor is a lot like my labor with Annalies. In a nutshell, I went to the clinic for a non-stress test which Annalies passed. In the 20 minutes after the test while I was sitting in the doctor's office waiting for her I went from no pain and no labor activity to "OH HOLY COW THIS HURTS!" and dilated to 6cm. The doctor came in and had me expressly wheeled over to labor and delivery. I think if I had not had an epidural she would have been born in two hours. However, I am all about the epi and as little pain as possible, so I had a 6 hour labor with little pain until she made her appearance.

Back to my dreams. I've dreamt a couple of times that I am just going about life at home or work and go from "life is good" to the "HOLY CANNOLI!" place. Then I have to figure out how to get to the hospital, which is 20 minutes away WITHOUT traffic before small people want to make their appearances and where I can get happy medicine.

Usually, about then I wake up and start thinking about past labors and start getting myself all worked up over what I will inevitably have no control over. I don't usually get too worked up over things I am unable to control. I've learned a long time ago that it wastes time, energy, and just makes me crazy and not so nice. I try not to worry. However, at a couple o'clock in the morning as I have just awakened from a crazy real dream about something that will happen in the not to distant future, worry and concern are a bit out of my control. I usually snap out of the worry after I wake up a bit more, but I still have the dreams on my mind. I guess we will see what happens when the big day arrives! (Look at me not worrying!)

So, that's where I am now. Feeling pretty good, getting bigger by the day, and so excited about little miracles yet to come!

Be Gentle!

"Be gentle" has pretty much been my mantra lately. I sound like quite the broken record, really. 

It's been quite the weekend. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with my in-laws and then visiting with some out of town friends. 

Later that night, Shawn and I woke up around 2am to our two-year old coughing with what we know as croup. My girls tend to get croup a couple of times a year for no particular reason, so we are well schooled in home treatments of croup. This time was a bit different as we were staying at Shawn's parents' house and were without the comforts of home and the well-stocked medicine cabinet that goes along with it.

To add to the excitement, a couple of hours later she broke out with a high fever. I sent Shawn to the store for some acetaminophen while I tried to provide whatever comfort I could.

I know, long story, right? Well, unfortunately, she's been battling the same cough/breathing issues all weekend, and has been fighting the crazy high fever as well. When my kids aren't feeling well they tend to be very snugly. Snuggles are wonderful, however, Annalies is little enough to not understand that she can't push on mommy's tummy. She likes sitting in my lap so she can rest her head on my chest, but the baby bump makes this a bit more challenging for her. She is often told to "be gentle" to mommy! Those tiny hands and feet can be quite pokey and hard! Shawn and I often tell her to be gentle as she's attempting to climb into a comfortable spot.

I've started reminding her that there are babies in my tummy and we have to be gentle with the babies. That she seems to get a bit. Well, until the next time she crawls into my lap and I have to remind her!

I'm still feeling pretty good. My 16 week appointment is Tuesday afternoon, so we will see how the babies and I are doing. My appetite has been pretty good, so that's a wonderful thing. The nausea is all but gone and for that alone I am so very thankful. I'm now experiencing some discomfort with various positions I'm in. Laying on my back or even reclining streight back is very uncomfortable. The babies and everything growing in there with them puts pressure on random other organs still in my abdominal area. It can make for a most uncomfortable resting position. Sides are definitely better for me from here on out.

Life is really is good. The babies are getting bigger, as am I. In a few days we will get to hear their heartbeats again. Such a wonderful sound to hear from little miracles!

15 weeks 5 days