Dr Updates from my lastest test results...

I've been meaning to put a few facts about twins up on my blog considering the confusion that has even come from every angle including a few L&D nurses I know. I am pregnant with Monozygotic twins, which means they came from 1 egg and 1 sperm splitting in two and that makes them identical. They can only be boy/boy or girl/girl. Mine are seperated by a membrane which means they are Monozygotic/Diamnionic. This kinda of identical twins is your most common. They can also be monozygotic/monoamnionic which means they are in the same sac with no seperating membrane. Mo/mo twins are very high risk. Identical twins can also be Dizygotic/Diamnionic. Which means they have seperate sacs and placentas. This only occurs if the egg splits early enough on that they can implant in seperate locations. Identical twins share the same genetics which attributes to them looking alike. My Dad and Husband are both Dizygotic twins, which means they are fraternal. They can be boy/girl, girl/girl or boy/boy. About half of Dizygotic twins are boy/girl. They are from 2 seperate eggs being fertilized by 2 seperate sperm. They are almost always in 2 seperate sacs and have 2 seperate placentas. Very rarely do the placentas fuse causing some confusion but a Dr who has delivered multiple sets of twins can usually tell by inspecting the placenta. They are about the same as any two brothers and sisters can be. All twin gestation are considered full term at 38 weeks by most obstetricians and it is not unusual for mothers to be induced at this time. Risks of going to term with twins are: the potential for cord prolapse, intrauterine fetal death of one baby and twin to twin transfusion. Mothers too may be at higher risk of placental abruption, hemorrhage and hypertension An estimated 50% of twins are born prior to 36 weeks gestation. This is due to a lot of factors. 2 of the top ten I have issues with already. 1 being preterm labor. I don't know why my body does this but I go into labor early and dilate to soon. I am about 3 cm dilated now at 28 weeks 5 days. 2 I also have placenta problems. It has cleared away for me to hopefully have another natural delivery but their is still the chance of placental abruption because they share the same placenta. If you carry your twins past 38 weeks the environment in utero starts to deteriorate. With a singleton pregnancy you would be safe to carry to about 42 weeks before a Dr would intervene but with twins you shouldn't let them go past 39 weeks. Which is a full 3 weeks sooner. Also, for the working pregnant mom of twins, considering your work environment, you may have to go on maternity leave as early as 24 weeks. Most Dr's I've dealt with suggest no later than 28 weeks. My dr wanted me to be done at 24 weeks because of the issues that had already come up this time. Good thing I wasn't working.

28 weeks and Counting, Quickly!

Yay! We finally found a van worth buying and that we could afford cash! Well, we had a little help from my in-laws. It's so wonderful to see that everything falls into place so nicely. Thank you so so much! :) I love it! It's a 6 cyl, '02 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport. 4 captains chairs and it's xl! Love that part! We have so much room for all of our kids and stuff. And yes there is seating for 7 and absolutely not filling it with another child of ours! 4 is plenty for anyone! Yesterday was an awful rainy day... :( We got a gift card from Macy's for doing the Thanks for Sharing thing and we got a pretty decent sized gift card. So we went there and I got my much awaited spring make up thanks to the wonderful Clinique counter lady who remembers me and gives me double the free stuff. She's awesome!!! We also got a few outfits for the babies and bought Mia and Grace new bathing suits. Early but I like to have them before they are slim pickings. I did Gracie's make up when I did mine. She loves being a big girl with mommy! Then here are my regular preggo picks that I've been doing every 3 weeks. These are 28 weeks 3 days. Next two times will be every two weeks and after 32 weeks I'll do every week because it could be anytime after that... I don't want to miss any of this twin pregnancy. It's been getting better for me. It sounds weird but Greg got me new sneakers and since then my back hasn't been bothering me too much and my contractions haven't been so close together like we feared might happen. I love that I'm not on that terrible medication! It was so bad! I am just happy to be feeling like a normal preggo now.

It's getting sooo big! I should correct myself and say they are getting so big and making me huge! I"ve only gained 26 lbs but it feels like 50! I'm not swelling yet but I didn't really swell that much with my other pregnancies. My ankles are a little bigger but with this huge belly it's to be expected. I would be shocked if I wasn't a little swollen.

My Dr is awesome! He makes me feel pretty good. I can tell he's not to thrilled with my weight gain so far because I started pretty high for me. I plan on losing it this time so I can get healthy again. I felt really awesome when Greg and I first got back together and I hope to get back to that feeling. For my big family of little ladies and for myself to be able to keep up with the demands and feel good about myself. It's going to be an interesting ride and I can not wait to take on this new adventure! God has definately blessed us immensely so far and most people don't even know the half of it! If you're curious about all of the wonderful things that have gone on for us in our lives feel free to ask me. I'd love to share all of the things God's given us and has done for us this year alone!

Thank you friends and family for wanting to be involved in our lives and hear what's going on. If there's anything else you want to know about just let me know in comments below or on facebook. I'd be happy to share with you all what goes on in our lives. It's a blessing to have you in our lives and a privilege to share it with you! <3 ALL OF US!!

And the beat goes on

I feel like I haven't posted in so long and it has been almost 2 weeks! I think I'm going through withdrawal! haha So, we've been looking for a van since we found out we were having twins, so about 5 months now. We finally found one. I'm very happy with what we found. It's a 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport XL. It was worth waiting for. 1 owner, garage kept, non smoking, and clean!! It runs nice and it has the captains chairs, power and 6 cyl engine we wanted. God definately knows what we need and has been answering our prayers one by one. We need two cribs and my mom was going to buy the 2 convertible cribs for us and she found them decently cheap for like 160ish each. I have a friend who looks out for me that works at Sears and she found convertible cribs for $29.99!!! What a blessing!!! She has definately made it easier on my parents and us! She said she's going to keep an eye out for the mattresses too! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. I have been feeling a little better/more tired again. I'm not contracting as badly as we feared. God again is in control and taking care of my little angels. I am however in so much pain! My poor body is going through the ringer. My stomach is stretched so tight! Olivia and Zoe have like zero room left. I think that whoever is on my right side did her final flip to head down now and I think she will be stuck that way til I deliver. It was the most excruciating pain to have her do that. They are also pretty low too. After a long day of just being a mommy I have such terrible pain in my lower belly and the hip area and tops of my thighs. I hope God helps them mature pretty quickly so I don't have to be in pain like this for 10 more weeks. I hope they come a little early but not to early. It's starting to hurt me so much. Ok enough complaining! We've been buying diapers already because we are going to need them. Plus, we get gift cards from babies r us if we buy them when they have a special buy on the weekends. I've been trying to pay off my credit card so we can get whatever baby stuff we don't get at the shower. Speaking of which I have to get the addresses and list to my mom. I should do that this week. I have to find my address book again. I forget where I put it, again! Ugh! I need to get more organized before these babies come. We've been just throughing things out lately. We need to anyway. We just have too much stuff. We've also been praying for a house. We know that one won't just pop out of the sky or get handed to us, but we really need to find a house to rent with a fenced yard, 3 decent size bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a washer and dryer for around $1,000 a month. It's possible to find but the houses are usually in bad areas and with Mia and Grace in school we can't risk that. Especially because kids can be so mean, even at a young age. My neighborhood now is bad. The kids have no respect. The other thing bothering me.... Why are kids so awful these days? They have no respect! They walk out into the street without looking and give you a dirty look for honking to let them know they are doing something dangerous. The parents go at each other instead of punishing their kids. Take care of your kids! Raise them right! It's awful to think what this country will be like 20 years from now. The kids are truly little brats! I completely blame the parents! Some kids do have disabilities but not all of them. I feel like I live in a twilight zone of rotten to the core children running around cursing, fighting, being mean, vindictive and just all around horrendous to each other. If my kids turn out bad it's my fault. I will have nice, polite, well behaved children if it kills me. They will respect adults and love God. I can not stand the parents that let their children run out of the house first thing in the morning and drive around the neighborhood calling for their kids at 10:00 at night. Oh and the kids they are looking for are 6-7 years old no less. At an age where they still need to be supervised and no not by your 8-9 year old sibling or neighbor. Get real people! Children need guidance! Without it they will fail and fall and become awful adults. If you think your kid fighting is cool you should not by any means be a parent. It's just sickening the things I witness living in this neighborhood. Well, I think I vented enough about stuff. I'm going to bed. This Friday into Saturday night is my picture night so I'll post more belly pics in the middle of the night again. Thanks for reading! Goodnight!

Getting sleepy

This week has gone by so fast! So much has happened but not so much. I'm off my meds = scary good thing. I'm now experiencing the worst kind of reflux and heartburn!! It keeps me from sleeping! I can barely eat anything! It happens like 2 hours after I eat too which I think is pretty weird. My throat feels like it's on fire! I want to eat but it hurts so bad I feel like I can't. I finally start eating the past few weeks and now this comes up. Ugh! What can I do? Someone offered us their Mini van which is another blessing. I also have a good friend who is a car salesman looking for a van or large SUV looking for us too. He's found a few things but he's actually been pretty picky for us which I appreciate. Mia and Grace love feeling their sisters kick and think it is the coolest feeling in the world. They say 'oh they are kicking me with their tiny feet!' It's adorable! Love that they love their sisters already and call them by name. All of my little girls are precious to me and I am so blessed to have so many. *Children are amazing and challenging, but well worth it! Let them be little, give them hope, give them praise, give them love everyday! Just let them be little! * Love this saying!! *How do you measure your success? By the number of smiles on my daughters faces!!* Another fave... My children mean the world to me and I am so blessed! My whole family is wonderful and I am so grateful for each and everyone of them. Always ready with an ear to lend, shoulder to cry on and an encouraging word. It is a blessing to have a great family and support system in this world because there are a lot of people with awful families our there. I know what I have and thankfully God keeps me humble or humbles me when I need it and keeps me safe and meets all of my needs. I don't know how anyone doesn't believe there is a God. If you walked in my shoes and have had happen, what I have and have witnessed the miracles that I have, in my own life, you would believe too. It's so easy to see the bad and unfortunate in life. What has gotten me through all of the bad times and hard parts is knowing that I am so blessed, and counting those blessings. If you just open your eyes to the beauty right in front of you maybe your life would feel a little more fulfilled. The good people in your life that help you and raise you up and encourage you are there for reasons. Always remember "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so, you may have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2 Well, Greg is on his way home from work... I'm going to try to relax and get rid of this reflux before he gets home. Love that wonderful man of mine!!

Seriously...

Soo.... Today I had a very angry morning. I find breastfeeding to be a wonderful way to show your baby how much you care. It's definately a sacrifice for the mom to breast feed. I know that there are people out there that can't for so many different reasons. I understand it perfectly. I had issues with bfing my oldest daughter around 4 months and had to stop. I cried when I gave her, her first bottle of formula. I felt like I was a failure. I put the pressure on myself. I wanted to succeed and because I was young and didn't have the resources available to me then, that I have today, I felt I had to stop. With my second daughter I did everything the lactation consultant suggested I do to get my supply up and boy did I have a supply! I could have fed two children with the amount of milk I made! It was a blessing and a huge relief considering I worked 8-10 hours a day 4-5 days a week. She could eat and I could pump for her to have later. I actually continued to lactate for almost a year after she stopped bfing. This is the reason for this post... I saw on my facebook that people were offended by a breast feeding doll. My opinion on it is I won't spend that much money on a special doll, my girls will just play with the dolls they have. If they choose to pretend to bf them like mommy does their twin sisters so be it. No, I don't think my children will have sex because of bfing nor do I think it's perverted for them to witness, or for them to imitate. I find bfing natural and beautiful. Dirty minds have made what's naturally best for our babies a frowned upon thing. I don't go around telling moms that bottle feed their babies that they are feeding their children fake artificial food, with possibility of dead bugs ground up in them and they are gross for subjecting my child to witnessing them abusing their child from the inside out. Seriously could you imagine me doing that? No way!! I would never because I know how much it hurt me that I couldn't continue to bf my oldest daughter to a year old because of personal issues I would never hurt another person that way, especially because you don't know why they are doing what they are doing. I honestly could never afford to formula feed twins. We'd go broke! I can't work and make enough to pay a sitter and buy formula with twins it's just not going to happen. In saying that, my decision is just that my decision. I've heard every line in the book about breastfeeding twins and It will be so hard and all this other crap. I know what I want out of my parenting experience, I have expectations of myself. I will do what I think is best for my babies and I know that bfing is the right way to go.

The Dr says....

Mia and Grace at Aunt Pat's on Labor day Looking off into the sky... Airplanes?

Gracie is probably being nosy and trying to see what's under her.

Mia watching her cousins play around,

So, today I had another complication from my medication. This time my legs got swollen and turned all red, got hot, felt like fire going up and down them and were all blotchy and my face got all red. I had a few blotches on my arms and I didn't really check anywhere else. I called my fabulous Dr and asked him what I should do. He asked me about my meds how long ago I took it and all that good stuff. He said If I feel it necessary to go to the hospital to have it checked out. I didn't think it was necessary I just wanted to know if he thought it was serious. I waited another 45 min because Greg was food shopping and he had the girls with him. When Greg got home he checked my legs again and said the looked better and they weren't as hot as they had been. I think it's a weird side affect from my meds. The best news from all of this craziness is that my Dr told me to stop taking my meds!!! The bad part is I don't want to have my babies so soon. I think I'm going to call and see if I can get into see my Dr a little sooner and have a talk with him about what our next course of action will be to keep me from going into labor. I want to make it to at least 32 weeks. I'm nervous about having them too soon but I don't want to have all of these terrible side affects taking over my life and possibly causing a blood clot or something worse. Being pregnant with twins already raises my chances of blood clots and pre-eclampsia and I feel that this medication will make those things happen if I were to continue to take them. I have had the worst pregnancy so far and I am thankful that this will be my last pregnancy. I don't think I could do this again. I have so much pressure on my lower stomach and upper thighs it's unimaginable and I didn't get this until 5-6 weeks before I gave birth to Grace. If this follows the same timeline pain and weird feelings wise I may or may not make it 32 weeks. I want to have my babies be safe and healthy and be ready for the world. Friends and family that read my blog please be praying for my babies and me that we can have a safe and a healthier end to this pregnancy than what we have been through so far. I want my babies safe and healthy. That is my ultimate goal. I love them so much already and I know that within a few days I will start contracting like crazy again. I thank God everyday for them and my whole family. I love our home and being a mommy to all of my girls and a wife to my wonderful, handsome husband. Just keep us in prayer that everything works out. Til I post again! Goodnight! <3

The twins are 25 weeks 3 days and counting....

A sister is a gift from God, to make life worthwhile here below... My Gracie and my Mia snuggling on the couch cause they lovies each other so much... They are such good girls. Love my little angels... Can't wait til I have all of my little girls together! I can't wait for all of them to meet. I'm so blessed to have these little girls because the love sisters have for each other is so wonderful!

It's big enought to photograph from the front and show how big it is!! These babies are growing!!

I can not wait to meet the little angels that are kicking around in my belly!

Love my baby belly. I'm very proud of being pregnant and even though I have difficult pregnancies, I love every moment of it. I'm so excited for these baby girls...

Now that I'm settling into my medication, I'm starting to have a little more energy. I just move so slow. There are so many things I want to and need to do that it's overwhelming but for some reason I don't feel choked by it. I know I'll get it done in time and if not then oh well. I know i'm going to have to adjust my life for the twins so it's not really a shock. The only thing that scares me is that my Mia and Grace will feel like the twins are more important when they are all my babies and I love them equally. So much goes on in my head about what it will be like and what I'll have to do and adjust.