10 Things I have learned while being pregnant for the third time, and with my second set of twins.

1. People say really strange things. I know its mostly out of shock or just having no idea what TO say, but really. Telling me that my family was already big enough is just wrong, stranger at the grocery store.
2. Nesting starts immediately. It's more of a scramble to the finish type feeling because you KNOW what is coming.
3. The pregnancy "senioritis" feeling hits more like the 24th week. Thank God I'm not going the full 40 or I may become a psycho.
4. All the things you say you won't eat or you won't do because you want to bounce back fly swiftly out the window because really, its survival mode.
5. Sitting modestly is totally out of the question. I feel like a SUMO wrestler when I sit. It's not pretty folks. But I'm sorry. I have no control over my body anymore.  Long maxi's are essential for the general public.
6. Did I mention people say really weird things? To your face? That are A. none of their business or B. Completely socially unacceptable.
7. The Bath is your friend. Live there.
8. Having older kiddos sure helps out so much better than doing this with a toddler in tow. Thanking God daily for the 6 year gap we have.
9. Leaving the house becomes increasingly stressful just for the one fact of trying to find clothes that actually cover my entire stomach and are not itchy. (I always get a fabulous rash on my belly. Yay for hot sweaty itchy pregnancies in the summers, shoulda planned that better....oh wait.....)
10. I have the best friends and family who have literally carried me through this pregnancy. From the first trimester shock, the second trimester marathon of finishing everything I could before complete misery set in, to the third trimester, literally calling me for grocery lists, driving me on errands because my belly is too big to drive, taking my children on fun outtings so they are not stir crazy here with me, going to my dr appointments, praying for the things that are closest to my heart, and calling and texting with the right words for the right moments.


And with that I leave you with this fabulous print that my cousin, Bethe, designed yesterday. It was so perfect for where my mind and body where yesterday.

Print is available here 

Summer 2014

We have been staying busy as we count down the days til the brothers' arrival. We've been very blessed with some unnaturally overcast days and rain which is wonderful for this massively pregnant mamma. It also helps us stay clear of any drought issue which hinders our firework business. 

So far, this summer, the girls have :

Been to two vbs and tomorrow are starting a three day sport clinic (cheerleading for the twins and volleyball for Hayden)

Started the summer reading club at the library

Seen Malifecent -twice 

Seen How to Train your dragon

Gone to a dr appt with me

Had several indoor campouts

Consumed a fair amount of sonic slushes and snowcones

Swam

Had sleepovers at the grands

And so much more. 

I've been trying to make them feel like their summer is not boring even though we really aren't doing much. 

I had a good Dr appt today. Baby b (Rivan) has flipped into head down position after being breech for weeks. But that still didn't put us into the clear of avoiding a csection, like I had hoped for. My Dr has been very watchful over all risks involved and with twins the main risk is stress on the second baby during delivery, including stress on the placenta of the second. Plus Liam (the baby in the lead delivery position) is sunny side up so VBAC is still not in the cards. 

I have a total peace over the whole situation. I've prayed the whole time for my desires not to hinder what is the safest way for them to enter the world. And mostly I feel good that I found a dr that honored those wishes the entire time and has my and the boys safety as her top priority. So today they started paperwork to schedule my csection and we are still taking it day by day and hoping to make it as far as we can and as close to 36 weeks as possible. 23 days and counting. 

We are all really excited to meet these guys and can't wait to start the next part of this experience. 

I was able to take some fabulous maternity photos, courtesy of Coon Photography. https://m.facebook.com/CoonPhotography?_rdr

 I've never done maternity pictures before so I'm glad with this being my last pregnancy that we were able to capture this time. The proud big sisters were able to jump in for a few as well! 

28w6d doctor day

Today the whole gang got to go with me to the dr. The girls haven't had a chance to see an ultrasound yet and were all very amazed to see inside my stomach. 

It was also great to have Bj with me and not have to drive. Driving is still possible for me but getting harder by the day. 

I had my diabetes test and bloodwork done as well as my Rho-gam shot. Two of my least favorite milestones of pregnancy. Glad they are behind me and praying I do not have gestational diabetes like I did last time. 

Now I'm at the point where I start going every two weeks. My stomach is measuring like a 37 week single pregnancy, which is why I've been experiencing more contractions. All is well though. Still 44 days and counting. Heart rates were 153 and 148. The baby on my left is head down and the right is sort of transverse. Hoping for him to keep heading down and not go breech. 

The boys have names

 

BJ's grandfather was named William Boardman. His dad also has the name Boardman and that is BJ's first name. This will make the fifth generation that we know of. Liam (pronounced Leeum) is a shortened variant of William and means helmeted protector. Seems a fitting first born son name.

Rivan (rhymes with livin') means ambitious, self sufficient, a star like the sun. It was pretty much the only name I came up with that I really liked. I love that it is unique and I've never heard anyone named that. Dash is my way of honoring my PawPaw. The runner:) We have a special bond but his names have both already been passed down and I wanted to acknowledge him through a name in some way. So since he runs track and is very fast, Dash seemed fitting. 

We are very excited to meet these two little guys! 

26 weeks

Another week down!! This one is a pretty big milestone for me because when I was pregnant with the girls, today, 26 weeks was the day I was admitted into the hospital for constant observation until they were born. I stayed for 47 days. It was extremely difficult to go through the remainder of my pregnancy alone. Bj would bring Hayden up on the weekends and she would sleep in my bed with me and my friends and family would come as often as they could. But being over an hour away made it extremely difficult to have regular visitors. My nurses became my extended family and I truly bonded with my babies during that time. Each day that I was there was one less day for my girls in the NICU and that was my constant thought.

So today I am grateful for the opportunity to be free of bedrest and hospitalization and thankful that I am still home with my family and my boys are still growing strong inside my belly. 

Though everyday is a milestone when you are carrying twins my next big one is to make it to 32 weeks. That means I've made it past when my girls were born and then I can keep on going. 

Thank you for all your constant prayers and kind words. 

Xo-Lindsay 

Funny Friday

Ella & Preslyn after a crazy bath

And now....Hayden has learned her first joke ...enjoy!

Mountains

Sometimes I get caught up in the things going on around me that seem like the biggest mountains I have ever imagined. I feel like I can't do anything else and have to physically throw my hands in the air and say, "God, I can't do this anymore, I need you to show me that you are still there." And sometimes, I don't hear an answer right away, mostly because I am too upset to hear it or I don't want to hear what He has to say. But when I am still and allow God to move in HIS timing, not mine, though sometimes, I feel like His timing is way too slow, I know it is always perfect.

Lately I have felt this way. Just totally overwhelmed with things going on in my life. And today, God finally showed me that yes, He is still up there, Bigger than little ole me and as always, it was HIS perfect timing!


Thank you Lord for wiping out my hospital bill! This is for my hospital stay, DELIVERY!!!, and everything dealing with me at ST. Lukes. It took 1 year for your answer to our prayers, but I know that your way is always perfect! Thank you for reassurance andrejuvenation. For peace and for the boost that I needed, right when I needed it. Thank you for putting people in my path to help me find ways to get this paid for. Thank you for putting me in the place that I needed to be to receive the best care for my babies. For the doctors and nurses who took care of me, Preslyn and Ella….words cannot express how thankful I am to you all. Though my babies are worth more than any figure in the world, it is such a relief to know that I won’t be paying for them for the rest of my life :)


Thank you for everyone who has been believe for us for our bills to be paid. You are all so faithful and I KNOW your prayers have helped this to come to pass for us. We love you all and are so thankful for friends and family who believe the impossible with us!

Day 2 of Twirl life

Last night I finally got enough energy to go up to see the babies in the NICU. They are so tiny compared to how huge Hayden was. They are so cute and soft and fuzzy :) And they both have really long feet and hands. Today their hair didn't look as dark as we thought it looked yesterday, but they do have a lot of hair for only 31 week babies, and it still may be curly...they haven't gotten baths yet because they have so many tubes hooked up to them, that it is not a high priority right now.

Here are a couple of new pics of the girls from last night.














Preslyn

Ella
As of right now they are both intubated because they are having some respiratory issues due to their immature lungs and they are also a little jaundiced. But hopefully these issues will start to clear up soon as they start feeding them and getting their systems to flush out the toxins. We haven't gotten to hold them yet since they are intubated and have belly lines, but as soon as those are out we should get to hold them. I can't wait for that! It is so hard to see them in there and not be able to hold them and cuddle with them.

I'm off to the OR....waiting for BJ to get here...more info later.....


IT'S BABY TIME!!!!

28 weeks!!! WHAHOO!!!!

By this week, your baby weighs a little over 2 pounds and measures almost 15 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those beauties at you.





Ok..we made it to my goal so lets go for another one!! 30 weeks here we come!!!!

***PS...we found out that the scale I weighed on wasn't accurate because it was pushed up against the wall, so I actually have not lost any weight, I weighed exactly the same as I did the day I came in, so no gain, no loss. :) That made me feel better!

Baby B Clue #4


This symbol looks like an auricle and is derived from an ancient abjad.

This will give you a one letter clue.

UPDATE:

No one has guessed it yet. The symbol looks like an ear, but that doesn't necessarily mean the symbol looks like the letter it represents.
The babies each have one first name and one middle name.
Find the abjad with a symbol that looks like an ear and what it represents is the answer to the clue :)
The abjad you are looking for contains no vowels.

27 weeks

This is me with the twins...definitely getting huge!!!

This is me with Hayden at 30 weeks

ps...update on the Day 5 post...I added some pics :)

I've definitely bloomed

Bj told me the other day that I was definitely showing...lol :) yep...i sure am!



This is me...24w1day

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when she was just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, that makes a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds are developing. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance **that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

19 days to "A" day

I can't believe we are getting so close to viability and the impending birth of our two girls! Seems like just yesterday BJ and I were laughing uncontrollably at the ultrasound tech that was telling us we were having two and here we are scurrying to prepare for that day.

I have a set admittance to the hospital day. September 26. Seems like it is just right around the corner. And it really is! I have been preparing all the while so I am mostly ready to go, just a few loose ends to tie up.

Oh...and we have two SET names!! Full names! So exciting!! The James Avery bracelets have been ordered and monogrammed! :)

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. Her skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing. She can swallow, but normally won't pass her first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when she hears them outside the womb.

Big Decisions, but an even Bigger God


Well we had a big day yesterday. We had a meeting with the chief Neonatologist at the hospital and talked with him about our situation and he gave us some very sound information and advice to help us make some tough decisions that we have had looming over us. We have been praying fervently for God's clear direction on where to have these babies and who to have watching over them. Of course we really wanted the best thing for everyone, but I had really been leaning towards having them at the same hospital as Hayden. Well yesterday after hearing some more information and talking things over we have decided to be transferred downtown to a specialist care and be at the hospitals where they are prepared to do emergency C-sections around the clock. At our hospital here, they always have an OB on call but not necessarily at the hospital. If we were ever to have a cord tangle and clamp off, we would only have 7 minutes to get them out and that is not enough time if an OB is not in the building. Downtown they have residents/interns/and doctors there 24/7 so that would not be an issue. I know that God's hand is in all of this and it is amazing to see Him guiding our every step, getting us to the place we need to be a the right moments. So! with that decision made, that means I will be doing my hospitalization down there as well. Which is not my preference because it is so far from my friends and family, but it is what is best for my babies. I know I will be in good hands and I am just so ready for all this intense situation to calm down and to hold those two miracles in my hands.

I also found out that many of the hospitals today do Kangaroo care, which is basically just letting the parents hold and touch the babies, even if they require the isolate beds. Our babies will be in the NICU when they arrive, whenever they arrive and I was very worried that that would mean I would not get to hold them for a long time, but I was so overjoyed to hear that research has discovered that body to body contact is a wonderful therapy for the little ones. Thank you Lord for another answered prayer!!!

We had so many questions answered yesterday and it was a very emotional day for me especially. Just getting closer and closer to the point that it is critical is hard for me to swallow sometimes. I have been so strong, but it seemed like the reality of it all was too much for me yesterday. I broke down in the doctors office, and the funny thing is he said..."wow, its been years since I've made a mother cry." and we all laughed, and then he said"But, its been longer since she's made me cry...." Lol...he was crying too!! Too funny.

So, I will be going into the hospital around 26 weeks which is Sept. 29th-ish. After that our next milestone is to make it to 27 weeks...that is when the odds for the babies not surviving and living a problem-free life are majorly in their favor. So, anytime after that they are good to be born into this world, although we really want them to stay in until as close to 34 weeks as possible and then we can pick a day that we are ready, I can get my steroid injection for their lungs, and we can do a calm C-section, instead of a rushed emergency STAT one. That is my ultimate prayer. I really want it to be just a day that we all decide on and BJ can definitely be there and my family. I am so hoping it isn't a rushed thing, where no one has time to be there with me and I have to be unconscious because it happens so fast. I want to be awake when they are born. I want to hear those girls cry and see them before they are rushed to the NICU and hooked up to their tubes and stuff.

We also had another blessing....I have been trying to figure out a way to get a laptop to use while I'm in the hospital so I can have some sort of outside communication with the world. And I just happened to mention it to my dad the other day and he had an extra one that he isn't using and it works great! I was so excited!!! So now I just have to find out from the hospital what I'll need to get on the Internet and we are in business :)

We appreciate all of your continued prayers and we cannot wait to see all of the miracles and journeys that God brings us through!

I've decided to leave the blog open right now because we have had so many people just joining us through people telling about what is going on with our babies, so for now it will remain open. Feel free to comment if you are reading! We love to know who is out there!!

And finally....Big sister :) We can't forget her! We are trying to update her room to a big girl room, and we finally put her twin bed up this week.
She has been trying it out every time she lays down, but hasn't made it through the night without wanting to get back in her little bed. She is getting better though.

We are trying not to rush her because she is in the midst of many changes right now and we don't want to overwhelm her, so we are just giving her the option to use it when she's ready. She's borrowing my sheets from college until we get hers :)

That's what we've been telling people they are welcome to do for her birthday this year...she has so many toys and things and really doesn't need anything, so we registered at Pottery Barn Kids for her birthday in case people want to give a gift to help out with her Big Girl room :)



She is such a ham as usual and I had to post these pics...she got these new little shoes and she was just prancing around in them like a ballerina....such a cutie! Oh...and she also now knows all of her A,B, C's :) She's our little genius!


Oh! We got our first gift for the babies!!! Thank you Andrea and Austin!! Such fun :) We got a bare Boppy, which I was so excited about. I didn't get one last time and I really wanted one this time. And then we got this super cool night and day bottle warmer/cooler. You can keep two bottles made in the cooler part for 8 hours and then warm them up real quick when we need them. I think it will come in handy for having two hungry, probably around the same time! No time for making bottles, just grab and go! :)

Boy bedding

July 4th and other ramblings

We had a wonderful 4th!! We went with a group of our pals to the Astros game where they STUNK IT UP! Oh it was horrible. They had $1 hot dog day though so we all pigged out on those for sure. Then we came back and hung out and watched Madagascar and ate pizza. Then we did fireworks later that night. Hayden loved them for about 10 minutes and then she was more interested in climbing back and forth from the front seat of the car to the back. She was kind of bored. After the fireworks we were just sitting around and poor Hayden was up way past her bed time and then she got struck with the worst case of gas ever. She couldn't control it and had all of us laughing our heads off because of how loud it was. Poor thing.

Unfortunately I didn't take a single picture of the whole day so I'm sorry :(

One cute story:
I was holding one of our friends little baby and Hayden was sitting right beside me giving her kisses and pointing out her body parts. Well then one of our friends came up and took the baby from me and stood there beside me for a while holding her. Well Hayden was staring at him with this frown like "Why would you do that" so finally he gave the baby back and Hayden smiled and said "thank you" to him. It was hilarious! She is practicing to be a great big sister.

Speaking of the twinsicles.....I am officially in my 2nd trimester!! Whoohoo!!! I've gained 2 lbs. total which is nice, but my stomach is already sticking out and rock hard. I've been feeling some swooshing around every so often and I'm sure that will continue and increase really soon. I've been feeling much better, had a few headaches and just sore tummy, but other than that I have no complaints :) I go to the doctor Wednesday and that will be to the specialist, so we are looking forward to what he has to say and HOPING that we can get a definite answer on what these kiddos are. I'm still banking on boys. I've been looking at bedding and found the cutest bedding for them if they are boys and I can't wait to start on their nursery. I want to get everything done early so in case I should have to be on bedrest at anytime I will be prepared! Only 20 more weeks to go!! I'm almost halfway there!

We're ba-ack!


Well I had my appointment and everything is on the up and up. Baby's heartrates were at 184 and 167. So one is more active than the other one :) They are measuring perfectly and were so cute! They wiggled around a few times while we saw them and that is always fun! Oh and I lost two pounds :) :) I don't think that ever happened with my pregnancy with Hayden.

We saw that they are definitely in one sac so my risk factor is pretty high. We have to see a specialist at Baylor Medical Center soon to just get a consult and make sure from his perspective that everything matches up to my OB's. All of the risks are kind of freaking us out but we know that God is in control as always and He is the only one that can see these babies through. We appreciate all of your prayers and hope that you don't stop! We want them to stay in there as long as they can.

The other thing is that I will definitely have a C-section and they will take them at 34 weeks as long as the need does not arise to do it earlier. Pray that they don't come earlier. So 34 weeks is Thanksgiving day :) November 22 so you may all want to update your baby guesses! There is no chance for a January baby and probably not even a December one.

Lastly............................we think they are boys.....the ultrasound tech said it would be very unlikely to see what they were, but when she started poking around we both saw a little "something something" on both of them....so I go back in two weeks for another ultrasound and maybe we'll know for sure then. That was like the one scenario that we didn't have a second potential name for.....so we'll be putting our thinking caps on now :) And Mel, yes...I do go more often and get ultrasounds every time since I am high risk.


I'm off to finish packing now :) I'm so excited about New York!!!!

Anyone want a double stuffed oreo????


Well we just had the shock of all shocks!!! We went to the doctor today and found out we are having TWINS!!! Everyone has been giving us a hard time and joking that we were having twins and neither one of us ever entertained the thought that it would ever actually happen.

We are walking around like zombies....it is overwhelmingly amazing. It seems unreal.

Wow! We are having twins!

Right now they think that they are identical twins, meaning that they share the same sack, which bumps up the risk factor. But the good news is I won't be late this time!!! I'm very excited about that! Maybe we'll have them before the new year and get three child write-offs for taxes!!! :)

Right now my due date is January 3 and they babies are measuring great and their hearbeats were both strong. BJ was able to go to the appt. with me which I am so glad because I would have freaked out without him there. ah...who am I kidding....I freaked out WITH him there!

We are so shocked and stunned and speechless, and we know that God is in control.