Well, it's April 2008 and I now have three children! We were blessed with Harper and Hadley (identical twin girls) in November 2007! Hunter just turned 4, and he's a hoot! Life has sure changed a lot in a little bit of time, but mostly for the better. I'll try to post some pictures to show off my beautiful children. I guess I'll have to have someone take a family picture since we don't have one and the girls are 5 months old! Yikes!!!

Dec. 4, 2007 at 7:24 PM

I ended up having an emergency c-section at exactly 28 weeks (12 weeks early) on November 11th. The girls (we named them Hadley Sue and Harper Kate) are doing well for their age, and they are both in NICU for at least another 8-10 weeks. The pictures are from about 11 or 12 days after they were born.

I am home from the hospital, and we now have two daughters. Hadley Sue was 2 lbs. 1 ounce, and Harper Kate was 2 lbs. 3 ounces. They were born by emergency c-section on November 11th. Too tiny, but they are fighters according to the nurses and doctors in NICU at OU Medical Center Children's Hospital.

I was set to have my fourth amnioreduction procedure on the day I delivered. I was dilated to 4 cm, and they said it couldn't be halted. I had about five minutes to prepare mentally for the delivery (and Phil was almost five hours away!). My mom went into the delivery room with me, and my teeny, tiny girls were born to the music of Cindi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" on Mom's cell phone (it was ringing because Daddy was calling to see why Mom had called and left him a "CALL ME!" message). There was almost two gallons of excess fluid when they were delivered. Whew, I feel like I lost a baby elephant! My back was in constant pain (I had gained around 60 pounds and I usually weigh around 105).

Harper had to be on the ventilator for a day, and then she was put on the C-Pap machine. Hadley started out on the C-Pap. Now they are on nasal cannulas (the little tubes that stick in the nostrils) with oxygen. That's a huge improvement!

We will be going back each weekend on Friday night and staying until Sunday afternoon to visit them (and hold them when they get a little bigger). It doesn't feel real since they're not home with us.

Oct. 17, 2007 at 6:02 PM

Well, I found out why I was feeling so very crummy! I went to the dr. on Monday (Oct. 8) and the dr. wouldn't see me (saw the midwife). She thought I was exaggerating my symptoms, and she advised Tylenol PM and a visit or two to the chiropractor.

I went back to the dr. on Tues (10/9) because my husband called them and said they WOULD be seeing me that day. After some more talk of hot packs and ice packs for my ever-aching back, I asked the dr. to feel my stomach where it was tightening up painfully again at that moment. By the way, it had been doing that for days! He felt my tummy and sent me directly to the hospital. That was the first time I had ever seen the real dr. (not the midwife) at 23 weeks into a high-risk twin pregnancy!

At the hospital, it was confirmed I was in full-blown labor (at 23 weeks!). After spending an entire night in the hospital with NO dr. checking on me (and the midwife was next door delivering a baby that night!), my husband finally managed to get the dr. to "peek in." They had words (in MY ROOM in front of me and my dad) because the dr. had not been in (he was "busy"). I was given Magnesium Sulfate and a shot of something else (Terbutaline?) to stop or ease the contractions. I was then sent on a 5 hour ambulance drive without lights or excess speed--per my doctor (I live in the middle of nowhere) to OKC to OU Medical Center. I was there for a week.

I was diagnosed with Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) and an insufficient cervix. I was given more Magnesium Sulfate and LOTS of fluids. The babies had an amnioreduction (about 2 1/2 liters of amniotic fluid were drained), and they are looking much better now. The dr. said he hopes they will both make a full recovery to appropriate size (one was too small and one too large). I had a cerclage put in on Friday (10/12). I am now on modified bed rest, stuck in OKC away from all of my family, and living with a generous friend and her family. I have been instructed to not leave the metro OKC area until after delivery. I have been put on full disability, so no more work for me. My new dr. is hoping I can reach 34 weeks (9 1/2 weeks from now) until I deliver.

If you ever feel like something isn't "right" with your body--demand to be seen and checked out. If my husband hadn't forced the dr. to see me, we would not have twins anymore (possibly not even one baby).  I may have a laser procedure at a later date in Houston to divide the placenta--not sure though.

We're going to Kansas City area in the next few days, so I hope the giant heat wave goes away--fast! It's been over 100 for a few days in a row, and in that area of the country there is also a "heat index" to deal with.

We have almost no humidity out in our neck of the country, so we are not used to the sticky, sweaty feeling of Northeast Kansas.

I'm hoping to get some new work clothes (well, new to me). I buy almost all of my workday clothes at the Goodwill in Lawrence, KS. It's actually really clean and nice. I can buy a pair of GAP or Banana Republic pants for about $4.00! Who wouldn't go for that??? I get a pair of Old Navy or GAP jeans for about $4.00 also, so that's a great value for my money. Okay, so someone else had their hiney in them a time or two, that's why God made washing machines!

If I have on something NWT (new with tags) it is probably from Wal-Mart or JC Penney (on the clearance rack for $5.00 or less). No one has ever told me I look like I get all my clothes from the Goodwill, but I think I would take it as a compliment if it ever happened. I also have bought clothes at garage sales and thrift stores. I have found some great buys (GAP denim shorts for $1.00) that are still very fashionable and have lots of wear left in them.

It may be getting a little extreme however since my sister showed me a skirt at Sam's for $17.00, and I about crapped my pants at the price (I could get a whole wardrobe for that at the Goodwill store!). It was a cute skirt.... I didn't buy it--surprise, surprise!

Well, gotta go check on Hunter (27mo.). It's too quiet, and that usually means trouble!

So, a year ago we were working on the house. Now 12 months later (and a LOT of money to Home Depot) we have a wonderful, like-new house! Yea! I'm just so glad to have 2 bathrooms and more than 700 square feet to spread out (we now have about 2200!).

Hunter (27mo) has 20 teeth now! Somewhere in the last 3 months he snuck in 2 on the bottom??? He never complained, so we never looked. He got tubes in his ears a month or so ago, and now he has orthotics in his shoes (he had no arches!). I hope that's all the doctoring he needs for a while. He met his $300 deductible, though. hahaha

I had 6 relatives stay over last weekend. It went much smoother than I thought it would. They were just in town for the weekend for a family reunion of sorts. I guess if the guests are good to pick up after themselves (as these were) it is easy to have 6 extras stay for a couple of nights.

Gotta let Phil on the computer now to decide if the golf cart he bought is worth saving or should be driven off into a ditch somewhere!