The start of one BIG day

After a nice and relaxing weekend, we went to bed Sunday night and I slept as usual. And "usual", at this point, means I sleep in 1- or 2-hour increments. So, when I awake at 5am w/the sudden urge to get the bathroom it was no big surprise. However, when I couldn't control the dribble as I rush faster and faster to the bathroom, I got a little alarmed. Without getting into any more detail, I just sat there, staring at my soaked pants and thinking, "Oh my gosh... oh my gosh... is this really what I think it is? Oh my gosh... seriously? Oh my gosh...this can't be happening... Oh my gosh... oh my gosh" (you get the point). Finally I called out to Guy and told him that I thought my water just broke. He instantly gets a stressed/worried look on his face and starts making plans for hurrying in to the hospital. At this point I'm still in denial and force him to make sure I didn't just wet the bed or something! I mean, having my water break right now was like the last thing I was expecting! Guy basically rolls his eyes at me and confirms that the liquid is, in fact, not pee. I am just still having an impossible time trying to accept the fact that my water has really just broken and I'm really beginning to go into labor. No pain or anything at this point, but we head out the door after 15 min of getting ready (what an incredible blessing that Grandma Marshmallow is still here and can take care of Adam!)... then it takes us about 45 minutes to get to the hospital. Guy is surprisingly calm in the car on the way and hardly even speeds.

Once at the hospital, we check in at L&D triage where they determine if I really am in labor. I still have no painful contractions to report. However, when they check me, I'm surprised to hear I've already progressed to 5cm (for anyone who doesn't know what this means, it probably means you don't care to hear the story, so I'm just sorry:). They also do an ultrasound to check the babies' positions. They're apparently both head-down, so I'm still ok to continue with our current plan of a natural delivery (as opposed to a c-section). I'm still processing all of this as they move us to a real L&D room. Oddly enough, it seems like as soon as I got into bed on the L&D unit, I immediatly started to experience what contractions really feel like. Wow! Epidural please! Um, now please! Getting the actual epidural wasn't as intense or painful as I had maybe thought. We had some amazing nurses throughout that day, which we were SO grateful for. Here are just a couple of pix from the labor room.
They've got my belly all strapped up here with monitors to make sure the babies' heartrates remain stable, and then one sensor to track the contractions. Still can't believe this is actually all happening!

Preeclampsia

I know I'm going to get in trouble pretty dang soon if I don't start updating on the incredible events of this past week. So put on your seat belts and prepare yourself for several posts and countless pictures! (Which, in reality, will likely not all get done in one sitting... still trying to catch up on sleep and recover from blood transfusion yesterday morning... so I apologize in advance for misspellings and any incoherentness;)


Monday, 3/29: Went in to doctor's office for regularly scheduled visit. Apparetly had a high amout of protein in the urine as well as some hypertension (elevated blood pressure) issues. After some bloodwork, etc, the doc sent me home w/new orders and scheduled me to come back for another visit in 2 days.


Wednesday, 3/31: Follow-up doctor's visit. Results from my bloodwork weren't looking too good... the doc decided to be cautious and admit me to the antepartum wing of hospital so my preeclampsia could be more closely monitored. He even suggested that I probably wouldn't get discharged from the hospital until I had the babies. WHAT?! I was a little thrown by this comment and started getting nervous. However, being on bedrest at the hospital seemed to improve my health quite a bit. After more bloodwork and close monitoring, my doc gave discharge orders. I was very grateful to not have to be there much more than 24 hours! Here's one last pic I asked Guy to take of me... knowing that it might be the last one of me pregnant.



SO... we were able to have a great Easter weekend together as a family at home, even though I was basically on ordered bedrest to keep my blood pressure down. Guy's mom had a long weekend off of work and decided to come up and help us out. She was an absolute lifesaver! Adam really enjoyed spending some special time with Grandma "Marshmallow", as he so affectionately calls her (she always spoils him w/marshmallows, one of his favorite treats). So I basically spent the weekend on the couch (I did insist on making a couple of Easter pies, though:) while everyone else worked on the remaining projects around the house. Even Adam did a great job at helping out... and choosing all of his clothes lately. :)

Adam joining in the silly Easter egg line-up...

Good thing Dad was there to help get those really high ones!

MY own giant easter egg... ;)

And check out the prego swelling on those legs! Poor sausage feet and toes. :) Adam and Guy (ok, ok, ...me too) have a little too much fun playing w/this phenomenon. Didn't take long for Adam to try all sorts of things on my indentable legs... using the imprint on the bottom of his shoes lately. Guy even made a mini "aquarium" on my calf using the imprint of a Swedish Fish candy. Oh well... I'm happy my discomfort can at least be of some entertainment to the family. ;) Guy was reasonably serious as he would constantly express concern over the tightness of my skin... he said, "I'm just worried your legs are going to all of a sudden pop like the skin on an overcooked brat!"

Besides that

Besides being 31 weeks and 3 days pregnant as of today (this pic is actually a week old... and I was sick, yuck:), here's what else we've been up to lately... Adam and his "inventions". He takes this very seriously... pulling out his workbench, light, and legos.

Now we're building robots. Though Guy was in the picture (per Adam's request), neither of us had anything to do with this creation. Can you believe the creativity, not to mention patience, of this 4-year-old? Of course this is a biased parent talking, but he really surprises us sometimes.

4-wheeling! We're so lucky to have my sister and her family living close. Not to mention sharing their fun toys! We took their 4-wheelers out the other day and had a blast. Well, I sat in the car while everyone else had a blast... didn't think the babies would appreciate all the bouncing around. Don't want them making their grand entrance quite yet! Oh yeah, and check out the minivan in the background of the first pic. Yep... thanks to these new kiddos, we're now officially a minivan family! We love it, actually. No hesitation on the purchase... proud to be minivan owners! ;)

Don't know if it's being pregnant or what, but for some reason I all of a sudden got the idea that I could make a quilt. TWO quilts, actually. Right now they're both still mostly in squares... I'm scared to attempt putting it all together. I really have no idea what I'm doing, but hopefully it'll turn out looking somewhat decent. The kids will know I tried anyway, right? :)

Indoor swimming with cousins! We had fun on Guy's day off last week. Adam couldn't get enough of the pool. Guy couldn't quite hide his surprise that I actually fit into my bathing suit... sort of.

Love these boys

Last but definitely not least, my cinnamon roll SUCCESS! For years I have tried making my Grame's cinnamon roll recipe, and never have they turned out! Usually due to me messing up the yeast process... yeast and I have never gotten along too well. But I keep trying every year or two, hoping someday I'll conquer the recipe so I don't let down my Grame, Granma, and Mom who've passed this deliciousness on down to me. Well, for some reason I got the itch to try again. I have no idea what I did differently (maybe it was Adam helping me), but they actually turned out! The dough rose when it was supposed to rise, and they tasted almost like my Mom's. Still not perfect, but we're working towards it. I know no one out there probably cares too much, but hopefully I made these ladies proud! :)

Guy thinks

...that this is funny (taking a pic from behind):
...then comparing it to the "PEEK-A-BOO" profile shot:

I think that THIS is funny:The empathy belly. Although the husband really gets nowhere near the real idea of what it's like to carry a child (or two) inside 24/7 for 9 months, at least this shows his willingness to try. Plus it gives me a good laugh. :) Guy really has been an awesome husband throughout this whole process. Very supportive and wanting to do anything he can to try and alleviate any physical/emotional stress that I might be feeling. I love you, babe.

Sarcasm

Is sarcasm a learned or inherited trait? My dad has it... I have it... (At very inappropriate times sometimes, too. Gotta learn to keep my mouth shut). ...And now, Adam is showing some promising/worrisome signs (wait, that wouldn't have to do w/inherited genes... but you know what I mean). Case in point: The other night, Adam was taking a shower as Guy and I were sitting just outside the bathroom door. He didn't have his usual (tear-free) soap so I gave him a regular bar of soap.

Me, reminding him like I always do when he uses bar soap: "Ok, Adam, just be careful not to get any in your eyes." (Having done this many times myself, I know it hurrrrrts!)


Adam, calling back through the door: "Thanks, mother. Thanks for telling me not to get the soap in my eyes. 'Cuz I forgot..."

Guy thought he was being sincere; I wasn't so sure. Because of the time of day (the later it gets the more he hams up conversations, trying to be funny), and the fact that he called me mother, I asked if he was being silly. "...Yeah, mom." This is probably a pointless post 'cuz you really had to be there, but I was just floored at this sarcastic response and tone coming from my 4-year-old. I wasn't expecting that until closer to the teenage years!

Deliciously sneaky buried treasures

My niece, Andrea, who's always posting something cute and amazing that she's made, finally posted something that I felt was within my current skill set: chocolate rolo cookies! Since then I've purchased rolos on two occasions, but had yet to actually turn them into cookies. Finally this week I made the dough one night, and this morning Adam and I turned the baking process into something a little more fun... burrying treasures! It turned out to be a lot more fun than I originally thought it would be when I first enlisted his help; Adam really got into the "theme" of it all. And--surprisingly--I actually have photos to document the process! Here's a little of our morning fun...

The sneaky process!

Burrying the treasure (rolo) in the dirt (dough ball), before it gets rolled in and covered up in sand (sugar). Gotta hurry, though, the pirates are on their way!

Buried treasure, of course.

Arrggghhh... and mmmmm.... rich (and delicious) booty!

Picture thief

I'm not very good at taking pictures these days, especially when there are already several photographers in the room. So, now that my sister and cousins have already blogged about it, I can steal their pictures and do the same. :) (Hey, at least it's more effort than just posting a hyperlink to their post!)

The same weekend in Utah as the post below, I was lucky enough to get spoiled twice. This time it was in celebration of THREE babies. My cousin-friend Alicia's baby girl (who already has a name: Sarah; I don't know what our deal is) and our yet-to-be-named baby boy and girl...

The matchy-prego shot. Alicia and I roomed together at Branbury years ago and had lots of great times, so it's been kinda fun having babies due within about a week of each other. Isn't she so stinkin' photogenic?! Those Lee girls...

I love this picture. Why do I not have more pictures of my mom and sister and I all together? I think my mom's a little too good at avoiding the camera sometimes, and Karin's always behind the camera.


Aw, cute cousins.


Alicia & Laurel (like I said, sinkin' photogenic Lee girls ;)



Laurel's cute Isabel and cousin Kristine w/cousin Debra's brand new baby Claire.

Fabulous sis-in-law Jenesse and cousin-in-law (?) Lauren... (one name which, by chance, is on our list for baby girl:)

Check out these cute matching cousins: sleeping Anna, Seneca, and Elizabeth! Mesia and Karin were hard at work making these cute skirt/top combos. Sure wish my little girl could be matching w/them someday. Oh wait...

...she will be! (special thx to Seni's lamb for modeling my baby girl's new outfit;)

Mom, Joseph, Mesia, and Seneca.

Seneca and Mesia. What are we going to do when these guys move to France in a couple of months?!! I mean, we're so excited for them and everything, but it's just so far away!

McConkie cousins Kristine, Aunt Brenda, and Michelle... plus granddaughters Claire and Grace. Thanks again (everyone) for such a great time!

Blast from the past

I was running errands in Utah w/my sister a couple of weeks ago. On our way home we stopped by Jason's Deli (yum) for some lunch and I had to do a double-take 'cuz I thought I saw some familiar faces. Then Karin says, "surprise!" from behind me... I was a little slow, ok?! A bunch of old friends from high school got together to celebrate these babies with us. It was so thoughtful, and even better than the party itself, it was just fun to catch up with everyone! We were trying to figure it out, but seems like it's been at least 4 or 5 years since we've gotten together. Thanks again, girls!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Um...

Honestly, are we getting vain or what? I have nothing to post lately besides pictures of my growing belly. Someone, please, come visit us so we can blog about something else.

So, yeah, it's getting scary. 27 weeks and 1 day, taken Sunday. I think I'm going to need to find a new white shirt for these pix if I'm to have a potential ELEVEN more weeks of growing! Crazy. But fun. :) These babies have been moving around nonstop lately. Feels like a couple of octopuses (is that the plural?) invading my abdomen -- what a surreal feeling. Also surreal to think about is that these guys will be joining our family pretty soon and life will be turned upside-down! I can't imagine having a newborn (let alone two) in the house again.

As of last week, these kids weighed in at 2.2 and 2.3 pounds (about 30% for single pregnancies, which is apparently pretty good for twins). They're like giants now! Still looking at the end of April, I guess. Though Guy is preparing for sooner than that. But we still need some names before they come! Guy wants to narrow down our list to like 5 and then let Adam choose. However, since Adam's latest choice of names is Barack (for the boy) and Obama (for the girl), I don't think he's quite ready for this responsibility. ;)

...And now to end it off with some lame-o poser shots. Just having fun while Guy was taking the pix.

LOVE these boys!!

Missing:

My belly button. Where has it gone? I haven't seen it for a week or two now. I'm a little worried... doesn't this usually happen late in pregnancy? I mean, I still have like 3 months left! Oh man, I wonder what else will go missing in the next few months...



Here's an updated pic for those requesting. This was taken yesterday: 24 weeks and 2 days! Can't believe it. I keep getting comments on how I'm still not very big. Are you kidding me? Are you looking at the same belly I am?! Maybe people just expect me to be GiNoRmOuS because I'm carrying twins. The babies have been all up in my ribs the last few weeks, so maybe they're just waiting til they can stretch out some more. Or maybe they're just hanging out in my torso for a while because I'm so *cough* tall. Or... maybe people are just looking for something nice to say. Regardless, I guess I'll take the "compliment" while I still can.

I'm still feeling great (yes--tired, etc.--but still great) and SO grateful for this whole pregnancy experience. I almost passed out in the dentist's chair this morning (just there for a cleaning)... guess my body had a hard time handling being on my back and upside-down for so long. Other than that, all is well. :) The babies are moving around like crazy lately... makes me wonder how restless they'll be the farther along we get.

And here's a pic of sweet Adam. He was stoked to take another class (preschool) field trip last week. They first went to the post office, bought a stamp, and mailed their very own letters. Then, they got to go to a local restaurant where they made their own pizzas! He had such a blast.

Random

Monday night I dreamt that my little brother was being tortured and potentially dismembered. I was very disturbed (of course) upon waking up, but can't remember any of the details. Unfortunately, I guess that's what happens when you watch 4 straight hours of "24"...

Adam watched some show called "Sharkboy and Lavagirl" the other day and is now obsessed with being Sharkboy. He drew his own fin on a scrap piece of thick posterboard and wanted to cut it out so he could wear it. I guess it turned out ok... good enough for our level of craftiness, anyway.

Yesterday Adam randomly informed me, "Did you know that some girls look like boys?" He then proceeded to give me an example of a girl who (to him) looked like a boy... I won't share those details here though.

Last night the LDS missionaries came over and we fed them dinner. Nothing fancy - I wasn't going to stress myself out over it. I had the salad in the fridge all ready to go and was rearranging a few things when the bowl (glass, of course) slipped and it shattered (along with the lettuce, spinach, cheese, bacon, etc) all over the fridge and kitchen floor. I held in some explitives (as bad as I get, anyway) and cleaned everything up, trying to keep Adam out of it. Finished mopping up the floor and went to finish the chicken dish.

Back to the fridge to work on the chicken dish: I was getting a container of sour cream out when... I dropped it. The container burst open and it splattered even further than the salad had, including the fridge and all the way up both legs of my new jeans. I even found sour cream on the backside, though I'm not sure how that happened. Can we blame this on pregnancy or just my own clumsiness?! So, I changed my pants, got on my hands and knees to clean up the mess, and mopped the floor again.

Adam was being a great helper and was mixing up the crumb topping for the chicken casserole. All of the ingredients were in a tight ziplock bag and he was doing a great job while I did a few dishes. He showed me his progress and I told him we were done and ready to put it on top. Next thing I know, "Uh, Mom, I think I shook it too hard." I turned around to find the floor, counters, and Adam all covered in a buttery, poppy-seedy, cracker-crumb mess. He apparently got a little too vigorous in his shaking and the ziplock popped open, splattering its contents everywhere. Of course it was an accident, and I'd already made two messes of my own by then, so I thanked him for helping me--reminding him to please be more careful--and sent him to the bathroom to clean himself up. I salvaged what I could of the crumb mixture off the (clean, of course) counter and cleaned up the floor...for the 3rd time now.

I don't retell this to complain, because it wasn't that big of a deal. I was just glad I didn't blow up at anyone (Adam) at any point and that I was blessed with the extra patience and humor that I really needed!

This morning Guy and I awoke to Adam asking, "Hey, can you help me fold my clothes?" Guy had to get ready for work, so I told Adam to give me a minute while I finished waking up. By the time I went to his bedroom, this (above) is what I found. There had been a pile of clothes on the floor waiting to be folded, and I guess Adam decided to finally take the initiative. His clothes were very neatly folded and in piles all over his bedroom floor. He's such a funny kid and I love it when he acts so adult and teaches me lessons. Like reminding me, "Mom, you need to be more patient." Something I tell him all the time and lately he's been telling me as well. ...And he's usually right; though I don't always let him know that. ;)