A Ray of Sunshine

One of the concerns Nathan and I have had since I went on bedrest was the small amount of paid leave time I had accrued. When we first got pregnant, the last thing on either of our minds was the possibility of a) it being twins and b) me going on bedrest half way through my pregnancy. As such, I only had about a month and half worth of paid leave available when I was ordered out of work.

Needless to say, since I am still about two or more months out from delivering and then would like to spend SOME time at home with our boys after they're born, this was a problem. I called Jill, my work partner at the time that I got put on bedrest, because I knew that she had some knowledge of our benefits and might have a solution. Unfortunately, neither our benefits or our insurance offer short-term disability, only long-term. But Jill did mention the possibility of getting leave time hours donated and said that she'd look into it.

Today I talked with a gal from our personnel department, who said that she is looking into whether long-term disability would be benefitial to us and then she also mentioned that my boss had been in to the office yesterday to talk to her about donating leave time hours! She said he had mentioned putting out a memo asking people to donate, which is awesome! Basically, any hours that are donated would just be put directly into my "bank" and used as my own hours.

Now it's just a matter of seeing how many people donate how many hours. Ideally, we'd be able to get enough hours to cover the next couple of months of medical leave AND at least a month of being home with the boys after they are delivered. Two months would be even better, but honestly, any little bit helps!

It just makes me feel good to know that we have people looking out for us, going above and beyond their normal duties to help us out.

So, on top of praying for a negative result for the fibronectin test, please also be praying that people would be consider donating leave hours so that the rest of my time on bedrest and maternity leave can be paid time, so that we still have two incomes coming in.

Kind Of Down

Ok, so my dream didn't come true.

I didn't honestly expect it to, but you know how it is.

Everything is still stable with the boys and I, except my cervix isn't as long or relaxed as it was while on the medication. Thankfully, Dr. Jenkins said he expected that to be the case. Bummer part is, it makes it a little less likely that I'll get to go home next week, but that still depends on how things look next Thursday.

I am now down to one doctors appointment a week instead of two, and so I don't have another appointment until next Thursday when I reach 28 weeks. During that appointment, I'll be getting a fibronectin test. Fibronectin is a protein created when the sac disconnects from the uterine wall, which is a possible sign of labor. If I get a negative result, that means I'm not in any danger of going into labor in the follow two weeks or so. If it comes back positive....well, there's really no way to tell whether I might go into labor soon (several patients who get positive results don't go into labor for another month or so) but they'd keep me here in order to keep a better eye on me. Whether I can go home also depends on if our hospital in Baker can do fibronectin tests, so that I wouldn't have to go to Boise on a weekly basis.

So basically, next Thursday will determine a lot of things, but either way it sound like I'm on bedrest for the duration. I just hope I can come home. It's been pretty hard being away from home and Nathan for the past month and I still have a couple of months to go. I think a lot of people are assuming that I want to go home just because I'm homesick, which is partially true. But more than that...infinitely more than that...is me needing Nathan. I hate that we have to be apart and that he isn't getting to experience this pregnancy as much as most dads get to. And that he has to drive over here every weekend, in between working full 40 hour weeks. We need each other, and yet we're a full state apart. So no, really, as much as I'd love to see my house, that's not why I want to go home. I want to go home because Nathan is home.

So please be praying that the fibronectin test comes back negative and that Baker's hospital has the ability to do the test there.

WOOHOO!

I am now 27 weeks along!

And have now officially started my 3rd Trimester!!!

I had a dream last night about my appointment this afternoon. I dreamed that everything looked great and that Dr. Jenkins said, "Well, everything looks good, you're stable, so you can go home!" To which I replied, "Wait, now?" and he said "Yes now". So I somehow magically found someone who possessed a large enough vehicle to transport myself and all of my copious amounts of gear home!

Dreams come true, right?!

I've been keeping a very positive outlook about this whole "going home" thing because I just want to believe it will happen. But what if it doesn't? What if I go to my appointment this afternoon and we find out that the medication I was on (that I can't go back on) really was helping keep my cervix at a good length and that now it's back down to being too short?

Then again, Jenkins did say that the reason I had to be so close to a hospital is because, when we went to Boise, I was only 23 weeks along, which meant that the boys weren't "viable". That's a nice way of saying that if they had been born, they wouldn't have made it. But now they are "viable". They have 4 more weeks under their belt. And going home doesn't necessarily mean going off bedrest.

So rather than worrying about how much of a breakdown I'll have if I can't go home, I'm going to just continue being very positive...and will be holding my breath and crossing my fingers big time when they are doing the internal ultrasound!

Bump Tracker

Here we are, 26 weeks 6 days! Only one day away from starting my third trimester and 8 days away from being 7 months along. SEVEN MONTHS! It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but my body is starting to feel the wear and tear. My mom was kind enough to order a maternity support for my tummy and is having it delivered here so that my tummy muscles aren't taking such a beating. I can't wait til it gets here! I mean, I might have 2 more months of this to go!


I've now been off the medication for almost 60 hours and have only felt what might have been a couple (2 or 3) minor contractions...either that or it was gas, ha ha ha! So I feel like we're going to have a good appointment tomorrow, in terms of seeing everything remaining stable. After all, the day that we went to Boise, I was exhausted (had been up since about 3 pm the day before, worked a graveyard shift, and then immediately left for Boise), dehydrated, and hadn't eaten anything since about 3 am. All those things individually can bring on contractions, let alone combined! Which, of course, I was unaware of at the time. But now I know how to take care of myself and the boys better.

As it is, I am chomping at the bit even more to get home to Baker. One of my good friends, Dana, just got back from working for a month at Wildhorse Canyon as Summer Staff and it's so hard to not get to talk to her face to face about everything that happened there! Wildhorse is one of those places that you can't visit without being changed in some way and I love hearing people share their experiences there...it always reminds me of how much I love what that place stands for and how close God feels every day.

Only 8 days to go until 28 weeks!!!!

Baby Hiccups!

Evidently Asher takes after his mommy and has frequent hiccups. Yes, that's possible. When my mom was pregnant with me, she said she'd lay down to go to sleep every night and I'd always get hiccups for about half an hour.

Well I think Asher has the same 'problem'. During the last two ultrasounds, we've either heard him having hiccups while listening to his heart or seen his entire torso twitching. And just today as I was sitting here, I started noticing my upper tummy jumping every 5 seconds or so. Cracks me up. I'm going to really miss the feeling of the boys moving around in my tummy after they're born.

I've now been off of my medication for almost 36 hours and I still have yet to feel any contractions, which is very exciting! And I've managed to finish writing thank you notes for the baby shower. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike writing thank you notes? But it's something that needed to be done and I did it! I've also started an inventory of everything that I have here in Hillsboro, organized by where the items are located. That way I don't forget anything when it comes time to pack, and if by some chance someone else has to pack for us they will be able to know what is mine and what is not. That would be the list maker in me.

Now I just need to attempt to stay awake instead of taking a nap. A nap equals staying awake until 2 or 3 am. But a nap would feel SOOOOO good!

Stroller!

Ok, so I've discovered something in the past month or so. With twins, you get twice as much of a lot of things. Car seats, clothes, diapers, joy, etc. Oh, and you are twice as likely to return big items because after further thought and inspection, you realize it's not going to work as well for twins as you originally thought. For example, our car seats. Who knew that there are car seats that are too big for the back seat of a Forester?! Live and learn, right? Now we have car seats that fit AND are adorable.

The latest victim? Our stroller. We originally got this Kolcraft double stroller that looked like it was the bomb! It had great seats for after the kids graduate from the infant seats, which you take out and replace with infant car seat attachments so you can use two infant car seats instead. The problem...the stroller only comes with one car seat attachment. You have to look else where to find a second attachment. Oh, and that brings me to the other problem. The attachments are NO WHERE TO BE FOUND! I search everywhere online, including ebay and craig's list. They were back ordered or no longer available, no matter where I looked. Not good.

So back to the drawing board. The only other stroller I could find that is made for twins, would hold both of our car seats, AND is affordable was a Graco DuoGlide. Thank goodness Babies R Us has wheelchairs! We headed out to the Tigard store and checked out the DuoGlide. While we were doing so, another couple was looking at the stroller we originally got. As we were talking with them about it, we were realizing a) just how bulky the darn thing was (50 lbs vs the 30 lbs of the Graco stroller and b) just how flimsy the infant car seat attachment was. It was just a rectangle of metal that was supported from either side, leaving the bars to flop around. When the other couple put their car seat into the attachment, the front bar somehow dropped and the car seat fell straight through...thankfully their baby wasn't in it!

So yeah, the DuoGlide was looking better and better. The best part...it is made by Graco so it was made to work with our car seats. Oh, and the pattern was exactly the same as our car seat pattern. Excellent for the OCD in me, ha ha! (And no, that is not the reason we changed strollers!!!) Not only that, but the price difference allowed us to purchase a great swing. Now we just need one more swing and we'll be set for the first year or so in terms of something to stick the boys in to keep them in one place while we take a shower...or just catch a breath!

See? Cuteness!

And here's a couple of photos of the new stroller. I think we'll be a lot happier with this one, even if it isn't the "Cadillac" of strollers.

From the side, with the car seats, sans the stroller canopies!

View from the driver's seat...eventually there will be two adorable boys looking back. And you gotta love that it's a very gender-neutral design.

Poor Nathan has finally headed home and probably won't be getting to Baker until around 10 pm or so. I won't see him again for 11 days...which if I remember correctly, is actually the longest amount of time we've been apart since we got married over two years ago. So weird. But hey, it's possible that the next time he sees me, he'll get to take me home!!! Until then, I will miss him like crazy!

A Bit of Positive

This morning was another doctors appointment and we had a long ultrasound in order to measure the boys in general and see how much they've grown. The last time we did a growth ultrasound was on Aug 4th. Since then, the boys have gained about 8 oz in the past 21 days. Levi is 2 lbs while Asher is 2 lbs 1 oz. I'm carrying around 4 lbs of baby right now!

When they checked the velocity of the blood flowing through the valve in Asher's heart, they noticed it had spiked quite a bit since Friday. We knew the medication that I'm on was going to cause this soon or later, so I am now officially off all medications (besides prenatal pills). I'm not sure why, but this feels like a huge triumph to me. Plus no more setting my alarm for 6 am in order to take my dose! So now it's just a matter of seeing how stable I stay for the next week and a half, in terms of contractions (hopefully lack there of) and cervix length.

But the super exciting part of the appointment was when Dr. Jenkins told us that, if I stay super stable in the next week and a half, it's possible that I could go home! Basically we need to make sure that the babies and I are stable enough that a plane ride from Baker to Boise wouldn't be detrimental to the boys. I can't even tell you how excited I am to even hear that going home is a possibility. Oh, to sleep in my own bed! To look out my window and see my mountains! To be able to be there for the organizing and decorating of the nursery!!!!!! Granted, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, but I'm hoping that we won't get too much flack from people about our decision if we do decide that Baker is the best place for me to be...especially for my mental and emotional well-being.

I really can't believe how hard the past few days have been emotionally, even with Nathan being here. Yes, I got to get out of the house a couple of times but it didn't seem to help. It didn't take much provocation to make me start crying and it took a lot of effort to conjure up any interest in much of anything. As much as I am the type of person who refuses to consider the idea of being 'depressed', I now have a better appreciation and understanding about how women on bedrest are more prone to depression.

So for the next 10 days, the thought of possibly going home with Nathan on Sept 7th will keep me going and hopefully keep away the major slump I was feeling myself slipping into.

Just Take Me Home

More than I want to be off bedrest. More than I want to stop staring at the same four walls. More than I want to be able to have a glass of really good red wine. More than I want to go for a nice long run. More than anything, I just want to go home.

It's getting harder and harder to keep a positive outlook. I know, I know, what I'm doing is for the best. My sons' health is most important. I'm in the best possible place for me to be. I need to focus on the positive and remember the blessings. But let's face it, for those of you who have said these things to me, how many of you have been in my place?

Yes, I know that a couple of my friends have been on bedrest and one has even done it while also having to take care of her year and a half old son. I honestly can't imagine going through this if we already had a kid. But let's really think through this situation before you start leaving a bunch of comments about keeping my chin up. First there's the simple aspect of being on bedrest. I'm a type-A personality here, people...enforced laziness does not come easily to me. There are only so many hours you can spend reading, watching movies, and knitting before you start to go a little batty.

Next is the fact that I was, on a moment's notice, told that I couldn't go home. I'm very much a home body. I love my home and I love being home. No other place in the world makes me feel as safe and relaxed as my own house, even when it's under construction! I really do fully appreciate Jan opening her home to me, I can't even imagine how hard it must be to all the sudden gain a roommate when you're use to having your house to yourself. But let's face it, I have a very hard time being completely relaxed and comfortable in someone else's house. There's always that aspect of being a guest and the more time that goes by, the bigger that feeling grows. Really, please, for my sake, try to imagine for a moment what it would be like to not be allowed to go to your home for possibly three months. To be a full state away from your home, your own bed, your territory.

And lastly, and probably the most difficult, is being cut off from my biggest support...my husband. Yes, he comes over every weekend. But during the week, I don't have my husband there to hold me and tell me it's going to be ok. Talking over the phone just doesn't cut it. And I have two more months of this to get through. I'm reading a twins book right now that talks about how in one "extreme example", a husband had to get off work, go home to get the mail, and then drive across town to visit his wife in the hospital every evening. Right. Try having to drive across an entire state. At least one day out of every weekend, I completely break down because Nathan is the only person that I feel like I can 100% lean on...the only person I don't feel like I have to put on a good face for. I want to be held every day, to be able to not be so strong every day.

Plus I know how hard this is on Nathan. He only gets to be home for 4 days out of the week and at the end of his final work day (whether that comes at noon on Friday or at 5:30 pm) he jumps in the car to make the 6 hour drive over here. And then he only gets to stay here for a day and a half, maybe two days, before he gets back in the car to drive back. Lather, rinse, repeat each week. On top of that, he is missing out on every appointment that I have...today's appointment will be the first one he's gotten to go to since Aug 1st. I know he feels like he's not getting to be involved...not there to see his boys' ultrasounds, not getting to feel them kick on a regular basis, not getting to see my steadily grow. And there's always the stress of worrying about him driving over here and back every weekend with all those crazy drivers out there...they seem to be particularly stupid through the Gorge.

Every day it gets harder and I've come to realize that a big part of that is being so far from home...both my physical house and "home" in terms of being with my husband. I've told people that I don't think I'd go back to Baker even if my doctor gives me the ok to at 28 weeks...but now I'm re-thinking that. I would happily agree (for the most part...remember, type-A personality) to stay on bed rest if it meant being able to go home. And after all, we paid for life flight insurance specifically for the purpose of using it in case I went into preterm labor. Yes, it would disappoint those who live in Portland if we decided to have our children in Boise. But if the doctor says that going home is definitely an option, then increasing my happiness and decreasing my stress level (as it relates to keeping these babies inside of me) is more important than keeping everyone else happy.

Sorry if this is kind of a downer post, but a girl needs to vent once in a while! So please, for my sake, no comments about staying positive, keeping my chin up, etc. I fully understand how blessed we are in hundreds of different ways and I am trying my best to keep a smile on my face. But it's hard sometimes...very, very hard.

26 Weeks 3 Days

It has been a wonderfully quiet weekend! The best part? Nathan and I have had a house to ourselves all weekend so we've had a lot of time for just us. That's something we haven't had in almost a month, and I had definitely missed it. Poor Nathan is the most likely to feel the effects of my confinement in terms of seeing me go gradually insane, but he deals with it well and finds ways to help me get my sanity back.

Last night we went to church at East River again, and it felt so good to be there! Once again we sat in the very back and turned a chair around, so I just sat there with my feet up the entire time. It feels very weird to be one of the few people sitting during worship time, but oh well! I was just happy to be there! The pastor's wife, Pam, came over to talk to us at one point and also prayed for us and the boys. Evidently she has 23 year old twins! After church we got to talk to Carlos, the pastor, a little bit more and found out that he's also a probation officer at the federal level...I knew there was a reason I liked the guy! Evidently he makes it over to Baker on a fairly regular basis. Once again, I find myself wishing we could just pick this church up and move it over to Baker.

After church we were planning on having Nathan's best friend Johnny and his fiance Laura over for a while, but we found out that Johnny was going to his parent's house first and Nathan thought he'd like to stop by there also and say hi. As soon as we walked in the door I was placed in a recliner and we ended up staying for about two hours! It was a ton of fun and SO nice to spend time with people in a different setting....and yes, I had my feet up the entire time! Then we came home in time to watch the men's basketball, USA vs Spain, for the gold medal. I honestly don't know who won, because I went to bed before it was over. Evidently going to church really takes it out of you!

Today is more relaxing and spending time together, once Nathan gets done with some stuff he needs to do for work. His work is launching a new website and his boss is letting him design the ads for the website from here instead of coming into work on Monday. Which means he doesn't have to leave this afternoon, yay! But rather than working all 8 hours on Monday AND driving home, he's been splitting up the hours across the weekend. Tomorrow morning we'll be getting up early to go to a doctors appointment...and it's an exciting one, because this is the first one Nathan has been to since Aug 1st AND we will get to see how much the boys have grown since Aug 4th. Well, I can already SEE how much they've grown, but we'll get to hear the actual measurements.

Only 11 days until we get to 28 weeks!!!!

Beanies Part Deux

Yep, I finished the second beanie today. Honestly, these beanies didn't take nearly long enough to make! But here's a picture of the second beanie.


My friend, Hannah, bought this stuffed baseball for Nathan...it just happens to be the prefect size to stretch out the beanies a little bit. Hee hee. Here's the two hats side-by-side.


Soooooo cute! Hee hee. Anyone have a baby that needs a beanie for this upcoming winter?!

Babies, Beanies, and Bars, OH MY!

First of all, doctor update. Yep, we're going to talk about the cervix again, simply because I'm a little confused about what is happening to mine. The visit to the doctor went well, everyone is looking healthy and happy. The valves in the boys' hearts are holding strong and the fluid level around them is still good. But evidently I have the Amazing Growing Cervix. Because in the past couple of week, it has gone from 2.9 cm to somewhere around 4 cm. The "normal" range for a cervix to be at while pregnant (and not in labor) is anywhere between 3-5 cm. Hmmm. Oh well, I'm not complaining. I mean, at least it's not going the other way! And in a way, it makes me even more hopeful that there will be a lessening of my restrictions when I hit that magic number, 28 weeks! So...all good news on that front!

It struck me today just how much the boys have grown. Evidently the insurance companies only cover measuring a baby's growth via ultrasound every 21 days. Anything more than that comes out of your own pocket. So I won't know until sometime next week exactly how much the boys have grown since Aug 4th. But I can tell they've grown a ton simply by how little room there is between them now. It use to be that there was plenty of space for them to float around...now they look like a big jumble of arms and legs. I have to admit, it's still incredibly surreal to me that I have two human beings inside of my tummy, despite the constant kicking and punching I'm receiving. And it's even more unbelievable that they are going to come out sometime in the next couple of months and be newborns...my sons. I'm going to be a mom. So weird.

Thinking about all of this made me start to go bonkers because I realized that, besides cross stitching a cute design onto a toddler bib, there was nothing I had made with my own hands that the boys' could come home in. So I found a knitting pattern for an adorable newborn beanie and spent tonight knitting it. I'm going to make a second one, only the colors will be reversed. Here's a picture!


So yeah, the other beanie will be blue, with the bottom border and the pompom on top in the green. I have to admit, when I think about the boys wearing them, I get kind of giddy.

In other news, Nathan has almost finished the bar in our kitchen! He got a couple of coats of polyurethane on everything and spent his evening attaching the panels and the counter top to the bar frame. Now all that is left to do is to put corner trim on the (you guessed it!) corners, do some caulking, and make a backsplash to go against the wall where the bar meets it. Between the almost-completed bar and the new flooring, the kitchen looks amazing! There are pictures of it in our Picasa online album, picture #48-60.

Ok, I think it's time for me to go to bed now. This is going to be a busy rest of the week...I can't believe it's Wednesday already!!!

New Bump Tracker

I have to admit, my tummy has gone far beyond a simple "bump". Perhaps I should start referring to it as the "mountain tracker"...."whale tracker"? Ha ha ha. Anyway, here are the three of us at 25 weeks 4 days.


Wow, it looks bigger in this photo than it seems in the mirror. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Also for your enjoyment, here's a photo of the countdown chain that I made to countdown the days until we get to 28 weeks. You know, like the ones we use to make in grade school to count down to Christmas...only mine has more colors than just red and green.


Only 17 links to go! I don't count the one for today (furthest to the left), since there is only an hour and 40 minutes until I get to tear that one off. Each week mark (Thursdays) is a green link.

25 Weeks 3 Days!

What a weekend! On Thursday morning, I got a call from Nathan saying that he had the beginnings of a rash on his legs. Last time this happened was just before our wedding, in the midst of packing to move across the country, finding jobs, and doing the last of the planning for the wedding itself. What started as a rash on his legs then traveled up his body and onto his face, which then puffed up like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. It was pretty uncomfortable for him, not just because of the rash, but also because the doctor put him on steroids that caused him to be incredibly jittery and irritable. Sure enough, this time around the rash started moving up his body.

He attempted to get into the doctor that day, since we really have no idea what causes this, but they said that they wouldn't be able to see him until 10 am the next day. Even when he went into the doctor's office to show them what was going on and told them that it was possibly a food allergy, they still wouldn't see him, claiming to be a doctor short and to have sent several nurses home early. Lovely. So he went to another clinic where they at least had a nurse look at him. She told him to go home, take benedryl, and then go to his appointment in the morning. Unfortunately, even dosing himself up on benedryl didn't have any effect on the rash. By morning, it had moved to his face which had started to puff up. According to the doctor, they have seen other cases of this before but have absolutely no idea what causes it. So until around noon on Friday, when Nathan's swelling started going down thanks to the steroids, it was still majorly up in the air as to whether Nathan was going to be coming over this weekend, which seriously bummed me out...it would have meant two full weeks of not seeing my husband, who is the one person I feel I can completely lean on.

But he's here now! And even better, his boss let him bring some work with him, so he doesn't have to head back to Baker until Monday afternoon instead of on Sunday! He's even more excited about it than I am because it means he doesn't have to get here one evening, stay one full day, and drive home the next day. Poor guy, what a trooper!

On top of all that excitement, Nathan's sister and her husband were here all weekend because Eliot had a gig at the "Stonehenge" in the Columbia Gorge on Saturday. Also on Saturday, I got to take a couple of field trips! One to the car wash because our car was covered in ash from the house fire next door (which consisted of sitting in the car for 15 minutes) and then again that evening to go to church with Nathan, Jan, Kate. It was a great experience, and SO nice to go to church again. The pastor, Carlos, was so personable and just very...real. At one point during worship at the end of the service, he came over and asked to pray for us and the boys, which was very moving. I'm hoping we can make going there a weekly event (shhh, don't tell the doc) since it's only a 5-10 minute drive over there and I just turn the chair in front of me around so I can put up my feet. The only problem is that I have a feeling I'll really miss this church once the boys are born!

Today was pretty mellow except that Nathan's grandparents came to visit, Nathan had to return the car seats we got and get different ones, and my parents came by for a quick visit on their way to the coast (complete with their dog Lizzie and Bandito!). The new car seats are adorable and actually fit in our car, yay! Plus with the price difference between the first car seats and these new ones, we had enough money left over to get some cute little sleeping-bag-type things that are made to work with the car seats to keep the boys warm, since they're going to be winter babies. Thanks to Carly for bringing those to my attention, hopefully the boys will love them as much as Stella did!

This next week is going to be pretty busy too. Nathan will be here until around 2 pm tomorrow, and then I'll have the evening to just relax. Tuesday afternoon is another doctors appointment. Kate and Eliot will be back here on Wednesday to get ready to go camping up at Mt. Rainier with Jan and Nathan's Aunt Diane. They all head up there on Thursday, and my mom will be here that day to stay with me for the night and then take me to a doctors appointment on Friday morning, after which she will head back to the beach. And then Nathan will be here for the weekend starting on Friday evening. Whew!

And then, after that weekend is over, it's only 11 days until I reach 28 weeks! Sweet!

....I honestly don't know what I'll do if Dr. Jenkins doesn't lift SOME of my restrictions at 28 weeks. I just may go completely insane.

Dr's Appointment

Just a quick post to let you know that everything went well at my dr's appointment today. The valves in the boys' hearts still look good, as does the fluid around them. I haven't been having any contractions, so everything is stable. Yay! Plus my blood glucose test came back normal. Double yay!

The boys have now discovered the ability to flip over. Until this week, they were both laying across my tummy with both of their heads to my left side. At the beginning of the ultrasound today, they had both flipped over so that their heads were to my right side. Then a few minutes later, Asher had somehow managed to flip back over so that his head was back towards my left side. Yes, they are active boys, to say the least.

Observation

Today I am 25 weeks along! According to babycenter.com, our boys should be approximately 1.5 lbs by this time.

Here's the thing...as of August 4th, 9 days ago, they were already 1.5 lbs! No wonder I'm hungry all the time! I'm hoping to find out at my dr's appointment today what they actually weigh at this point. It could be entertaining!

No wonder I'm on bedrest. Two big boys are hanging out inside of little ol' me!


Oh, and I've now been on bedrest for 15 days. That's half a month already. Not too shabby! I live for the things that break up the daily routine...Nathan being here for the weekend, visitors, dr's appointments, anything out of the ordinary. And I never knew how big of a deal having a daily shower would be. I actually breathe an audible sigh of relief as soon as I get in the shower...something about it makes me feel human again.

Only 3 more weeks until we re-evaluate my current bedrest restrictions!!!

House Fire Part 2

Just to clarify, since Nathan provided the pictures and none of the details!

This happened on Sunday morning and the fire department showed up on scene around 7:30 am. No one was injured, besides some minor smoke inhalation. They believe it was started from an electrical outlet in the downstairs back of the house, which set off the smoke alarms and woke up Jim, our neighbor, who then woke up his grandson who lives with him. They got out alright, as did all of their animals except, possibly, the grandson's kitten that he only had for a couple of days.

One of the neighbors told Nathan that it took the fire department half an hour to get there, which is absolutely ridiculous, speaking as someone who knows. The fire department is only 12 blocks away from our house. As soon as we get a 911 call, both dispatchers pick up the phone line. The person on phones for the day gets the important info: reason for call, location, injuries, etc (depending on type of call). This takes approximately 30 seconds. As soon as that information is taken, the person on radios immediately begins paging out (in this case) the fire department. That process, from the beginning of the page to the point where the station acknowledges the page, only takes another 30 seconds or so. Another 15-30 seconds later, the units go enroute. From there, it takes just a couple of minutes to drive 12 blocks. Half an hour my butt. Gosh I miss my job!

Jim told Nathan that he is completely overwhelmed by how the community has rallied around him and offered their generosity. It makes me feel good to know that we live in a town that takes care of its own, even though Jim has only lived in Baker for just over a year. Please keep Jim and his grandson in your prayers...besides losing their home, which was one of the original homestead houses in Baker, they also lost a lot of their heirlooms which are irreplaceable. Thankfully Jim and his grandson have family to stay with in Baker and plan to start rebuilding soon.

House fire next door

Here are some pictures from our house of the house next door that burned down Sunday. Our house is fine in case you were wondering.

Nathan.

Shower Pics

Ok, I posted the shower photos on our Picasa website. There's a new link on this blog page, right hand side of the page below the photos of the boys, titled "Labunski Photos". Just click on that and it will take you to our online photo albums! That way I don't have to keep putting the web address in each post!

24 Weeks 4 Days

Sorry it's been a while since we've posted but for being on bed rest, it was a busy week last week! I'm ready for this week to be a little less busy, that's for sure. Then again, ask me again after the week is over.

On Friday night, we had our baby shower here at my mother in law's house. It was a ton of fun! Not too many people, and not too few. We got a lot of really cute and practical stuff, and we both feel so blessed to have such support! Jan and Kate did an amazing job decorating (with some help from Eliot, of course) and the creativity was awesome. Big thanks to everyone who helped and everyone who came! I'll post pictures on our Picasa web album as soon as I'm done with this post.

After the baby shower, Kate, Eliot, Johnny, Nathan and I crowded into my room to play some Guitar Hero and Mario Kart on the Wii. I never knew that Guitar Hero would be so hard a) sitting down and b) with a huge tummy! It definitely gave me a handicap. But it was so much fun to be surrounded by friends again. The only hard part was not being able to have a beer with the boys...the big boys, not the twins!

On Saturday, Nathan and I played hookie...but I was good! We drove to Nathan's dad's house, where I sat on the guest bed and watched tv while Nathan and Ger went to Babies R Us to pick up our stroller, car seats, a baby bath tub, and a Pack N Play. On top of that, we got some hooded towels, a microwave steam sanitizer for bottles, a diaper bag, and some of those little mittens that will keep the boys from scratching their faces up. It felt good to have a change of scenery for the afternoon and it was a lot of fun to have dinner with Ger.

On Sunday, Nathan went grocery shopping for me and then made some strogenoff to put in the freezer to restock my meals...mmmmm. After he got done with that, we spent some time together sorting through the baby stuff, separating what we thought we might need here when the boys are born vs what we knew could just go home. And then, all too soon, it was time for him to drive back to Baker. Between the baby shower, him shopping at Babies R Us with Dad, and everything else going on during the weekend, it felt like I hardly had any time to spend with him. So we're hoping this weekend will be a little more relaxed. I still can't believe how good it feels to see him when he gets here and how hard it is when he has to leave. I miss him so much.

A few hours after Nathan left, my friend Hannah (a college roommate and one of my bridesmaids) stopped by, bringing Jamba Juice, Pizza Schmizza, and gifts. It's been a long while since I'd seen her and she's taking off in September to study for a year in England, so it was great to have the time to catch up! She also made the cutest little quilt for the boys, with the Very Hungry Caterpillar on it. For those of you who don't know, that was one of my favorite books when I was little...the other one was Goodnight Moon...can you find the mouse? I love the quilt so much, it just may go up in our room instead of in the boys' room!

Today was another dr's appointment, and everything is continuing to hold stable. So for another 3 weeks and 3 days, at least, things will remain the same. But hey, we're down to 3 weeks 3 days!!! After that, who knows. Today was also the lovely glucose test, where I had to drink an incredibly sweet drink and get my blood drawn an hour later in order to test me for gestational diabetes. Hopefully I won't get a call from the office tomorrow saying that I need to come in for the 3 hour test (shudder). Evidently the medication I'm on is effecting Asher's heart a tiny bit, but everything is still operating the way it's suppose to and the effect is minimal. I have another appointment on Thursday and we'll continue to keep an eye on the boys' hearts.

Besides that, the boys continue to move and grow. Levi has developed the knack for kicking me directly in the bladder and sometime in the past 4 days, Asher has flipped over so now Levi's head is to my left (where it's been for months) and Asher's head is to my right. Goofy boys. They also like to curl into difficult positions when it's time for their heart ultrasounds, so that the sonographer (technical name for ultrasound person) has a hard time getting the reading they need.

I'm trying to strike a good balance between staying busy and relaxing, being social and having some time to myself. I've been on bed rest for 12 days now and I have yet to go crazy. I think that's pretty good!

Counter Top

Nathan just got done building the counter top that is going on the bar in our kitchen. What blows me away is that he actually BUILT it all himself. The only part that came pre-fabricated was the laminate sheet that he glued to the top...and even that he had to cut to the right size. The counter itself is going to come out further into the dining room so that we have an actual breakfast bar to sit and eat at if we feel like it. I can't wait to see what the entire bar looks like once it's done.

Nathan also managed to do a beautiful job putting a beveled edge around the counter top with a router, something I don't think I would have been able to do without ruining something at some point. Every time he pulls off a project like this, it astounds me with how easily he teaches himself skills that he previously didn't have.

If you want to see pictures, go to our Picasa site. The photos of the counter are at the end of the kitchen section, somewhere in the middle of all the photos. The long edge with the corner cut off is going to be the edge that goes out into the living room, while the completely straight long edge is going to be in the kitchen.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lindy.yl/Remodel2008

It's official, my husband is my hero!

In other news, the boys have ceased just kicking me and have started doing the prolonged brushing of the inside of my tummy. My stomach has taken on a life of its own. Oh, and did I mention that Levi has become a pro at kicking me directly in the bladder? Having something (or a couple of somethings) move in your tummy is perhaps one of the strangest sensations I've ever experienced. And for the past couple of days, it has been impossible to feel full. I don't know if that means that the boys are growing, but I can't seem to stuff my face enough to keep my stomach from growling. It's just wrong.

One major plus for bedrest...my ankles are NEVER swollen anymore. I now remember what my regular feet and ankles look like!

Tomorrow (or rather today since it's almost 3 am...stupid graveyard sleep schedule) is another appointment with Dr. Jenkins and I'm SOOOOOO excited about getting out of the house! Then Friday evening is the baby shower that Kate and my mother in law are throwing for us...and even more exciting (if that's possible) is that Nathan will get here around 7 pm!!! I miss him so much, I can barely stand it when I think about it so I try not to think about it too much. He'll be here until Sunday, as will Kate's husband. So it will be a full house here, which will make the weekend go by really fast. On one hand, that's a good thing since time going faster is a huge plus...on the other hand, it's a bad thing because that means that Nathan will be heading back to Baker.

By the time Monday rolls around, I'll be ready to have a day to just rest! That is, if I don't have a dr's appointment again!

Bump Tracker Photo

Ok, here's a long overdue bump tracker photo. I'm at 23 weeks 5 days. Please excuse my hair, I haven't taken my daily shower yet!

Remodel 2008 Photos!

Nathan was awesome enough to send me a bunch of photos from our remodel, including ones of the new carpet in our room, the nursery, and the living room. So I organized them, turned them right side up, and put captions on them. Here's the end result!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lindy.yl/Remodel2008

Excuse the mess, obviously we're in the middle of a remodel!

Now that the carpet is done, Nathan is working on putting things back into our bedroom and the living room. The last of the flooring, vinyl for the dining room and kitchen, goes in next Wednesday and Thursday, after which we are done with flooring! YAY!

The last big projects left to do are finishing the bar in the kitchen, installing all of the trim around the house, and installing the new doors for the bedroom and nursery. Yes, there is some painting to touch up, and some other small thing to be done. Oh, and that small project of putting everything back together after the flooring fiasco. But really, if you think about everything we set out to do, we've come a long way!

Our bathroom simply needs some caulking and trim. Our bedroom needs trim and the new door. The nursery needs trim, the new door, and another coat of paint here and there. The hallway needs trim, the back closet doors painted, the window sill painted, and a fresh coat of paint in the very back landing. The dining room needs trim and the new floor. The living room needs trim and the stove put back together.

The kitchen needs a few more things: new flooring, crown molding, toe kicks under the cabinets, the bar panels and bar counter finished, and possibly a new paint job in the pantry. But really...I remember how incredibly long the list was before we started this whole venture, and even with listing all those things out, it still seems like we're really close to being done!

Nathan, you're the best!

Another Appointment, More Good News!

I had another appointment with Dr. Jenkins today, which went really well. My sister in law, Kate, was gracious enough to drive me to my appointment, and it was wonderful to have her there. They did another REALLY in depth ultrasound, which took forever, but it was fun to see the boys yet again. They have each gained 3 oz...since WEDNESDAY! They're definitely going to be our big boys! All of their measurements looked good and they were moving like crazy. Especially Asher, holy moly! Levi only rolled over and kicked a couple of times, so he was pretty mellow. But Asher was moving non-stop, spinning and kicking and punching with a vengeance. It was really fun to see.

One of the things they were looking for during the ultrasound was a valve in each of the boys' hearts that serves a very important purpose while they're inside of me. One side of the heart sends blood to the lungs, while the other side sends blood to the rest of the body. While babies are in the womb, they don't need any blood sent to the lungs. So this valve re-routes the blood from the lung side of the heart so all the blood goes to the rest of the body. The meds I'm on right now have the potential of making that valve stop working, but there isn't a huge risk of that until the boys are 27-28 weeks. Until then, we will just keep a close watch on their valves to make sure there isn't any significant change. But so far so good.

After the regular ultrasound, I had another internal ultrasound. Evidently my cervix is measuring even thicker than it was on Friday, which is great news! Plus it changed less today when the ultrasound tech pushed on my tummy to simulate me standing, which is even better news! So everything is stable for now! According to Dr. Jenkins, the plan is to keep doing what we're doing now (as long as nothing else changes) until we get to 28 weeks (4 weeks 3 days from now). After that, we will see how things are going. He mentioned that it's possible that at that time we could lift some of the restrictions or even send me home. But I think I like the idea of staying here, close to a great hospital. So we'll see how things are in a month!

Other than that, I think I'm settling into this whole bedrest thing better. I'm finally being able to see some of the blessings rather than just focusing on the negatives. Sorry if I ever sounded ungrateful or bitter, but you have to admit, this was all a lot to adjust to in a very short amount of time! Now, however, I'm seeing the positive effects on my body and on the boys. I'm enjoying the opportunity to get to know my mother in law and sister in law better. I still hate the fact that Nathan and I have to be apart so much, but as he keeps saying, it's a good thing I'm not home right now because our house is a disaster zone from the remodeling and the carpet that is going in today and tomorrow. And I'm finally finding the time, before going to sleep, to say a long nightly prayer, which is giving me an even deeper sense of peace about what's going on.

The further we go in this, the more I'm realizing how much of a trooper Nathan is. He drove from Portland to Baker yesterday, and then proceeded to move EVERYTHING out of our bedroom, the nursery, and the living room before collapsing. And then he had to go to work today. Plus, he is having to be separated from his family, worrying about us constantly without getting to see us on a regular basis. I can't believe how much I miss him, but I know both of us are doing what we have to do in order to make this work.

Ok, Asher is going his "Mom, we're kinda hungry down here" kicks, so I think it's dinner time!

Feeling Better

Today was our appointment with our new doctor here in Portland, Dr. Jenkins. And it was a good visit! Dr. Jenkins took the time to actually explain things to us...what was going on with my body, our goals in terms of how long to keep these kiddos inside me, what their chances of being born healthy were according to how long they stay in, what the medication they have me on is doing and how.

The really positive part of the whole thing was when Dr. Jenkins said that, from what he read in the report from Boise, he expected things to be a lot worse. I guess he didn't get the best information from over there, and was really confused as to why we came to Portland instead of staying in Boise, because he thought that we'd have to stay in the hospital over here. But when we explained to him about being able to stay at Jan's house and having a much bigger support system over here, he said that made complete sense.

After we talked for a while, I got another internal ultrasound where they checked the thickness of my cervix. Evidently on Wednesday it measured somewhere right around 1.6 inches. Today, it measured 1.9 inches and is completely closed...not dilated at all...VERY good news. They also checked to make sure the medication I'm on isn't decreasing the amount of fluids around the kiddos, but they look good also. All of this added up to me not having to go into the hospital for the weekend, what a relief!

All in all, our appointment did a lot to allay some of Nathan and my fears. In Boise, all we really heard was "this isn't good", without getting any sense of whether it was "you need to panic" not good or "you need to be concerned" not good. But according to Dr. Jenkins, while we are concerned, things aren't as bad as they first made it out to be. I'm still on bedrest and will be until Jenkins is satisfied that the babies will be healthy and happy when they come out. But unless there is some change, I can stay out of the hospital. I don't have to stay flat on my back, and I don't have to stay in bed all the time...as long as my feet are out in front of me, the pressure on my cervix is lessened, so I can have field trips to the couch or recliner!

I think a lot of what had me so down last night and this morning was being so uncertain about what was actually going on. Like I said before, we weren't getting any straight answers, so my imagination was left to wander. I hate having so many uncertainties, especially where my babies are concerned. So, the situation hasn't really changed, but the way I feel about it has gotten better. I have another appointment with Dr. Jenkins on Monday at 11, and hopefully things will still be stable at that point!

Thanks again for all of your prayers and positive thoughts...I have no doubt that they had a lot to do with the good news we received today!