Nursery Color Dilemma

Here are some pictures of the boarder and the baby bedding I would like to use in the nursery. I need some input on what wall color would be the best to combine the wall boarder with the crib bedding.

I don't have to use the wall boarder but I thought it was cute and would add a few other colors to the room. The furniture is all black so some color in the room would be nice.

If I went without the boarder I would probably paint the walls a light purple and add the wall hangings and letter script on the walls with the girls' names and a popular quote.

If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment and let me know. Brea was kind enough to pull out all the bedding and the boarder and take the pictures for me as we brainstormed what to do with the nursery walls. I always enjoy a break from my boring couch day.

I'm glad it is Friday and my husband will be home for the weekend. We plan to watch the Super Bowl and cheer on the Cardinals!!!

Boring Day

I don’t have much to report today. I just spent the day browsing around the internet and getting prepared for my next class “Quantitative Reasoning for Business”. Now does that just screem a fun time???? I then watched a few TV shows and looked for more deals on craigslist.

I had a little cramping today which made me stay consistent on taking the Motrin every 6 hours. Addison was kicking or punching a little bit really down low. It is nice to be able to feel the babies on a consistent basis.

Tomorrow we have an electrician coming to the house to install a ceiling fan in the babies’ room. After that is complete the paint will be ready to put on the walls and Jesse can start putting the cribs together. Then I will have a better idea of how much room we have and where everything will be placed. We are still looking for a small dresser to put in the room. We may need to keep the dresser in the closet to save room. I wish I could nest more and spend time in the nursery but I guess I will have to wait until later when I’m not on bed rest.

Tired Day and Lots of Kicks

I probably got more sleep last night than I did the day before but I felt like I woke up with a hangover and I have felt tired all day. Matti our dog woke me up by barking loudly at nothing. He has been fond of doing that over the last few weeks. I guess it is He who decides when I should be waking up. He then proceeded to bark at random things and insist on going out several times and beg for food. I found myself yelling at him much of the day. Maybe I was just cranky or maybe he is trying hard to push my patience…who knows?

On a good side note, the girls have been moving much more lately, or much more that I can feel. A couple of nights ago Riley was going crazy with the kicks on my left side and I wasn’t feeling Addison much at all. Well Addison decided to make sure Mamma felt her yesterday by giving me some strong kicks. When I would stand up I could actually feel her body on my right side and she moved when I poked her. Today she gave me some good thumps while Riley was quiet. Maybe they have different sleeping patterns. Either way I am very excited to feel their movements and feel closer to my little girls.

20 Week OB appointment

Today I saw my OB Dr. Carillo. The appointment went well and I am growing at a proper weight. Since my 8 week appointment with her I have only gained 3 pounds but I did gain a few pounds in the first 8 weeks. I would say I am up 7-8 pounds so far in the pregnancy. We looked at the girls on the ultrasound and listened to their heartbeats. All is well.

Dr. Carillo agrees with that my cervix is short and scarred but very strong and holding steady. She wants me to keep up with the bed rest and keep feeding the babies. She says the girls are growing great so not to be concerned about the modest weight gain.

Brea took me to my appointment and my mom cleaned my house while we were gone. I enjoyed another day with friends and family around. I held baby Cohen several times and played with him. We had a great time but it makes me wonder how I will divide my attention when I have two babies. I’m sure everything will fall into place.

Brea took some pictures of the clothes she picked up from craigslist and took some belly shots for me to show the 20 week mark.

Good Monday Update

All seems to be holding up well. My cervix is still measuring the same with no funneling present. The office was very pleased and they think my cervix is normally short, but it is holding strong for now. Either my cervix is working properly or the bed rest is really helping. It is hard to tell which is which so I will stay with the same routine and hope for the best. My goal is to reach 36 weeks where the girl’s lungs will be more mature. They may only need to spend a little time in the NICU if we get that far.

Tonight we are celebrating Steven's 27th birthday with the family. Normally we would go out to eat but this year they are bringing the celebration to me so I can be involved. I think the plan is to get Pei Wei for dinner. Shea is also coming over tonight to cook some meals for the week.

Tomorrow I have my regular OB appointment with Dr. Carillo. I haven't spoken with her since we started having all the cervical problems. I will find out if I will remain under her care or be switched to Phoenix Perinatal Associates for the remainder of the pregnancy. My mom will also be coming over to clean the house and Jesse will be happy that he can rest on the cleaning for a few days.

All in all, today was a good day and my spirits are high. The girls looked perfect on the ultrasound. I always love getting a peak at them and seeing the movement that I don't always feel. I love them more each and every day.

Twin Items

Brea finally had a chance to visit the two twin families that were selling their baby girl items. At the first house Brea went to, the mom had several matching outfits. Some were exactly the same and others were matching in different colors. She probably was able to get at least 40 sets for $75 off of the craigslist add.

At the next house she purchased two pink swings that plug into the wall and take batteries. The swings look practically brand new and work perfectly. She also picked up to white bassinets with pink ribbons. The couple was asking more money but Brea was able to get them for $125 for all 4 items.

I was so excited to get those items at such a good price and everything was little girl cute!!! Brea washed all the clothes for me and brought them over. Now Jesse and I need to decide on the dresser to put in the girls room so I can start putting the clothes away. Brea and Chris came over for dinner with Braedon and Cohen. Brea made dinner and it was nice to interact with friends and have a nice cooked dinner.

We have our weekly check tomorrow at the perinatal office and then I have my regular OB appointment on Tuesday. I hope I have some good updates to report.

Finally Some Sleep

I finally got a normal night of sleep. I think I managed to get about 10-11 hours last night and that really makes a difference in my body and my mood. I still had to get up several times to use the facilities but I was able to get back to sleep right away.

Today my body seems to be taking shape and growing more. My organs and becoming more compressed and I already feel out of breath because my lungs have less room to expand. My girls must be getting bigger and finding more room to take up. These are all small sacrifices to make in order to become a mom and bring your children into the world.

Today was a slow day. I watched a few movies and some time passing TV shows. Jesse picked up some new movies and some lunch and went off to play video games for the day. He was able to connect with an old friend from Wisconsin to play on Xbox Live.

The Twin family didn’t get a hold of Brea last night but I talked to them today and she will go over there tomorrow afternoon to look and the bassinets and swings. The prices are right and hopefully they are in good condition.

I’m a little bored tonight as I am running out of things to do to keep me occupied. I will start my next class a week from Tuesday. This will be one of the harder classes in the program so I am a little anxious about getting started.

Dad and Linda didn’t make it over tonight because dad is running behind in school. I hope he gets caught up on his homework soon. I will look forward to my Monday update on the girls at the doctor office and then celebrating Steven’s birthday later that evening.

Bad Day

So for the 3rd night in a row, I haven't slept well at all. My body is tired but I'm too sore to sleep. Last night I couldn't get tired enough to go to sleep until about 1 am. I tossed and turned and finally fell asleep. At 5:30 I woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep. So at 6 am, I got up because my stomach was growling. I ate some breakfast and tried to lay back down on the couch and get some sleep.

Not too long after I started to rest, my stomach was very upset. I'm guessing the Arby's that my dad was so nice to get me yesterday was making my stomach unhappy. Finally by 8:30 I tried to get some sleep. Around 11 I got up again even though I felt like I had not slept all night long.

As the day went on, my stomach was still upset. I ended up having a few contractions so I made sure to drink lots of water and take my Motrin prescribed by my doctor to control uterine irritability. I'm hoping my body will start to feel better later and I don't want to feel anymore contractions.

Brea is finally got a hold of the twin family with the bassinets so she is going to go look at them later tonight. I really hope they are in good shape because they looked so cute in the pictures.

Dad and Linda are coming over tomorrow night to try and play some cards with me. We normally do that every Saturday night but we haven't gotten together because of the bed rest. We are going to try and make a go at it and hope we can have some fun. I really miss having the family over.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Sleeping Problems

I feel like an old woman these days. Laying down all day doesn't do anything good for my muscles and I'm losing muscle tone as we speak.

I have the most trouble at night. When you are pregnant you cannot sleep on your stomach obviously and you can't sleep on your back either because the uterus pushes on a vein that returns blood flow to the head. The woman will become dizzy and the babies will get less blood as well. So that only leads my two sides to sleep on. I spend the night switching sides over and over again because the weight of my stomach really hurts my hips and legs after a while.

I know it can only get worse from here because I still have 4 months to go. I will be 5 months pregnant this weekend and the 36 week goal will be towards the middle of May. I really hope that my cervix holds up and I can get my girls here safely with little time in the NICU.

I have been looking for baby items online on craigs list. We found a family that lives in Surprise that has two twin girls and they are selling many of the initial baby items. They have 2 very cute bassinets, 2 pink plug in swings, and I hope they still have the 2 pink bouncy chairs. The prices are about half their original price or less. Brea is going to go look at the items for me and pick them up if they are in good shape.

I'm passing the time by looking at baby stuff online, participating in the online pregnancy boards, reading, and watching movies. The first few days were relaxing but now I am pretty board and missing the nice fresh air outside.

A Week of Bed Rest

After being released from hospital on Wednesday, Jesse and I had a lot to adjust to. Jesse is learning how to take over the house chores and do the shopping and laundry like I used to. He is slowly getting the hang of things and he can now see how demanding my life was before the bed rest.

We have had a few fights over things, but overall Jesse is doing well. He got a friend to let us borrow a mini-fridge to store some drinks and snacks right next to me on the couch so I don't have to get up as often. He also took care of getting all the FLMA paperwork from work so I can get the doctors to fill them out. He has been renting me movies and running to the store to get me fruit roll-ups which are my favorite snack right now.

Today was my cervical length check and the detailed 18 week scan. It was nice to see how big the girls are getting and to know they are growing right on track weighing 9 ounces each. They did see a few points of concern. Addison has a small hole in her heart that should probably close over the next 3-4 weeks. The 4 chambers of her heart looked perfectly sized allowing the doctors to be satisfied that everything should be fine. Riley had a few cysts in her head. In some instances cysts can indicate a chromosomal abnormality called Trisomy 18. The tech looked around at the rest of her body and there were no other indicators for the chromosomal defect. The doctor is not concerned with the cysts and they should go away on their own.

The best news of the appointment was my cervix is holding steady. It measured between a 1.8 and a 2.0 which is the same as the appointment in the hospital. There is no funneling present and the cervix does not appear to be opening in any way. All in all the doctors were pleased with the measurement and if my cervix holds steady, I may not need to go back to the hospital at 24 weeks.

This news was very positive and I hope to be able to stay home as long as possible.

Brea is planning the baby shower for Saturday February 14th. I have been spending my time registering for baby items online and getting advice on what a first time mom will need. I look forward to the shower and being able to see all my family and friends together.

Plan B

I had a better night sleep but I still felt very tired. They took my temp several times in the night and also gave me the Motrin at 12 and 6 am. My breakfast arrived at 8:00 am. I woke up and ate that and then went back to bed.

I was alone today because Jesse went back to work and Brea needed to stay home and get things done around her house. I enjoyed the alone time. Eventually Dr. Spence came in and told me that I was not a good candidate for the abdominal cerclage and both doctors agree that my cervix seems to be holding up and doing its job. The plan for me was to be discharged and sent home to bed rest until I reached 24 weeks. Then I would be put back into the hospital to have more monitoring and medication so the babies could stay in my womb as long as possible and become as healthy as possible before being delivered. I am happy to be going home, but I know this battle is a long way from being over.

Bethany showed up with Kirsten for a visit. She brought some flowers and ice cream. She is such a sweet girl and it was nice to visit with her daugher who is just a little older than Brea's son Cohen. I called Jesse to pick me up and we all visited for a while before they got my discharge papers in order.

I was finally sent home and I could get some sleep in my own bed.

Tuesday Hospital Update

Early in the morning I was woken up to be taken to the ultrasound room and have another internal measurement of my cervix. The ultrasound tech had trouble deciding how to measure my cervix. Because of my prior surgery that removed part of my cervix, it is very difficult to get an accurate reading. The tech got both Dr. Spence and Dr. Bowan in the room to see if they could see the proper measurement. They were all getting something close to a 2.0 rather than a 1.5.

They decided to do an internal exam to look at my cervix and feel the texture. My cervix is completely flush with my vagina when it should protrude out and create a knob. With this situation, it will be impossible to place a cerclage. Both doctors felt my cervix and it appears to be very hard and not dilating. This is good news. If the cervix was shrinking it would be softer and could possibly start dilating.

I was sent back to my room but I was still on the IV and couldn't eat or drink. Brea and Jesse came to the hospital to keep me company. They both needed to eat lunch and I had to sit and watch while they got to eat. That was pure torture. LOL . To top everything off, my body was developing a low grade fever that they needed to monitor. I was put on Motrin to help my uterine irritability and help with the fever.

After a while, I started to get sick from not eating and no one had been in my room to update me on the plan. If I wasn't having the surgery, then why couldn't I eat? Finally Brea worked her magic and went out to tell the nurse staff that I wasn't feeling well and I needed to eat ASAP. Soon after that I was finally able to eat. Food never tasted so good.

It took most of the day for me to see Dr. Spence again. She was all over the hospital with surgeries and emergencies. At this point she wanted to talk to another Dr. at Good Samaritan Hospital to see if an abdominal cerclage was an option. This is where they cut into my abdomen to close off the end of my uterus and the top of my cervix. This would be a permanent procedure and I would always require a c-section for any other pregnancy.

We will find out in the morning if I am a candidate for that procedure. Eventually I was able to take a shower and have the IV taken out of my arm. I was looking forward to a good night sleep now that I had a little more freedom to move around in bed.

I hope we get good news tomorrow.

Monday Complications

We went to Phoenix Perinatal Associates (PPA) to get my weekly cervical measurement. This time the news was not good at all. My cervix was measuring at a 2.0 and today it was measuring at a 1.5. My cervix is shrinking way to fast even though I took most of the week off and put myself on bed rest to help the situation.

As soon as the tech said that, I started to cry. In my head, I'm thinking "why me?" and "we have already been through so much to get here, why does it have to be so hard".

At this point the office sent me over to the hospital immediately to get admitted and find out if we can place the cerclage to help me keep my babies in longer. Babies usually don't have a good chance at life until they reach 24 weeks gestation. I am only 18 weeks.

At the hospital I was put into my gown and put on strict bed rest. Dr. Spence is the PPA doctor at the hospital and she was reviewing my chart and deciding when to do the cerclage.

Later in the night I was told they will do an ultrasound in the morning and decide if my cervix will be able to cooperate with a cerclage. I was put on an IV and I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight. I was also hooked up to a monitor to see if I was having any contractions. So far, my uterus is just irritated.

Sleep is hard in the hospital when you are hooked up to an IV and other monitors and the nurse staff is in every 2 hours to check something or give me medication. In the morning we will find out more information.

Jesse and Brea stayed with my most of the day and Jesse went home to finish some homework and get my bag packed so I could have my own things at the hospital.

School Sucks

Even though I am on bed rest and have all the time in the world, I still can't motivate myself to get my homework done. For some reason I have been following degrees in business and sometimes I wonder if I even like business. Part of me wants to go back into the healthcare field so maybe after my MBA is complete I can do an emphasis in healthcare administration. Maybe then I will be more interested in the homework. After 4 straight years of school, I might be ready to just be done.

Pregnancy Complications

The doctor's biggest concern is the very short length of my cervix. A cervix in this stage of the pregnancy should measure around a 4.0 cm. Mine is measuring at a 2.0cm. There is only 2 cm of hard tissue holding my babies inside. I have been put on modified bed rest to help my cervix from shrinking any further. The doctor said my cervix is very hard at this point and she doesn't believe that my cervix is shrinking at this point, however they don't know what will happen next. I go into the peri's office every Monday to check on the babies and my cervical length. Each Monday I pray for a good length and I worry the rest of the week that something is changing or I am going to go into pre-term labor.

16 Weeks

I've made it to the 4th month of pregnancy. I'm really starting to show and friends and family can really see my baby bump growing. It is getting harder to sleep and move around. My legs and hips hurt all the time. Half the time I think I am in a 60 year old body rather than a 27 year old. Pregnancy still brings many joys and I love the fact I am carrying life inside of me.