Touched

If some of you readers haven't seen this image already circulating the internet and Facebook.  I wanted to share it.  Having premature babies and seen some of the hardships moms go through in the NICU it is always great to see and hear about those cases that end with miracles and happiness.

A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of
the Year,"... or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact,
unless you obtained a copy of the U.S. paper which published it, you
probably would never have seen it.

The picture is that of a
21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being
operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with
spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb.
Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta.
She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these
special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

During
the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a
small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the
surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed
hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr.
Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was
the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during
the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.

The
photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors
titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining the picture
begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas
emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph
Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life."

Little
Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She
said, "The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an
illness, it's about a little person" Samuel was born in perfect health,
the operation 100 percent successful. Now see the actual picture, and it
is awesome...incredible....and hey, pass it on! The world needs to see
this one!

Its been a good run

The experience has been more than amazing and rewarding.  I will never forget how close it has made me to my baby girls.  But closing in on the 6th month mark we have decided to stop nursing.  I can't imagine never have nursed them and know that they made such an amazing recovery in the NICU because of my choice to give them breast milk.  They have gone from premature little babies to chunky little gremlins.  With school approaching and a long road trip ahead I feel like now would be the best time to stop, not to mention miss O. has been on the verge of a nursing strike for the last week.  No these are not excuses by any means, my entire plan was to stop at 6 months.  <3

I would like to say that I encourage moms to nurse even if for a short period of time.  Yes you can bond using a bottle but I don't think I've felt as close as when nursing at 3AM and having them stare into my eyes and just smile feeling them so close.  With the bottle (which we do through out the day, from pumping) it feels more detached.  

On the other side of the spectrum, it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done.  Stressful, lots of work (twins..yeah double time), not to mention painful at times.  I still remember working in the hospital to get them to learn how to eat, leaving and pumping at home every 3 hours throughout the night.  You can imagine being attached to a machine for 2 months.  Also the stress of knowing them nursing is what's holding them back (those last 2 weeks specifically), if we were to simply give them a bottle they'd be home that much quicker. Even still coming home for the first week all 3 of us would cry and cry because nursing just didn't seem to work.  But with time it did, we found a schedule, they got stronger and the tears went away.  Even if it meant spending a lot of time on the couch feeling as though it's all we did.  

With all that said and done, I'd go back and do it again.  IF...huge if right now ;),  we do choose to have more children I will nurse them as well.  

I'm proud of my self, many I'm sure thought I'd never make it this far and some even pushed not.  But I did my goal and proved to myself how amazing it can be.  

30 weeks!

Well- we are in week 30 of the Twin pregnancy and I feel bad saying this but, are they ready yet? =D I'm being told left and right I look ready to pop and I still have weeks to go! Boy am I feeling it. Alas I can wait!

We had our check up with the doctor today. Both heart beats sound great and I'm measuring fine. He said he was proud of me for making it this far and at 32 weeks it will be even better because they will be more viable to have lungs that are ready for action.

He let me know that at 36 weeks I need to be prepared to have these kiddos. (If not sooner of course) He said that pushing it further is fine but sometimes more issue can arise and at 36 weeks they will be ready to see the world. The doctor also assured me that if they continue to stay in their head down position we will be trying for a normal va-jay-jay birth but to also be prepared for possibility of needing to have a C-section mid delivery if one is not handling it and that we will cross that bridge when we get to it. I know that these girls can make it through so I'm not worried.

At 32 weeks I will be starting my stress tests and it will start to get pretty busy again with the DR appointments. =) FUN!

SO, that leaves us with a time frame at least. 6 more weeks and we should be able to see our girls for the first time!!! (If all goes as planned) Until then I'm told to take it easy and watch for any problems that may arise.

We have our first Prenatal class tomorrow night at 7PM which I'm excited for. It's going to be fun having Austin there learning everything along with me.

Down side of this week is my little pirate nephew is in the hospital! Poor guy has been sick since the weekend and they are trying to figure out what's going on. They are running several tests and hopefully we can figure this out so the little guy gets better. We plan on making a little visit tonight to see them. Everyone keep him in your hearts and prayers! <3

Numb

I really never have the most exciting things to say these days. Being stuck at home and unable to go on the normal adventures we used to. So that leaves this blog pretty bland and I apologize. =p

The last 2 weeks have been a roller coaster of busy and absolutely nothing to do. It just seems harder and harder every day to find something productive to do. It was nice to get out of the house this last weekend and head down to Yuba Lake for the day. Even if it was pretty dang cold and we spent a good portion of the time in the trailer. I still enjoyed it. Sadly I chose not to take the trip to Las Vegas with my family. The risk just seemed to high for something bad to happen on the drives. Things would be a lot easier if the weather would stop being so bi-polar. It would give me the opportunity to get out and walk the dogs or just play with them in the back yard. I can honestly say I'm going nuts not being able to longboard or ride my motorcycles or even go mountain biking or hiking! Those will have to wait till next spring I suppose.

In the end I know it will all be worth it and I seriously cannot wait for that time to come when I get to see the little buggers me and Austin created. We already plan on taking them swimming early on and taking a much needed trip to Las Vegas to see their uncle within the first 4 months.

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning to measure my belly and hear their little heart beats. Being able to hear those "woosh woosh woosh" noises is always reassuring, even though I can feel them poking and prodding on a hourly basis. We don't have another U/S till the 17 since they finally decided to spread them to every 4 weeks. That is making things drag on too it seems. I always looked forward to seeing them.

Only concern, which may not even be worth worrying over, is that when I lie down or sleep my fingers go numb within a few minutes. It's probably normal and nothing to worry about like every annoying, disgusting, painful thing that happens during pregnancy. =D

I've been looking at what classes I can take in the coming semester but am going to need to work a few things out. I need to call my advisor and get set up on the right course towards my BFA in Graphic Design. The plan is to focus on just one class this fall and then jump to a full load next. Which means either daycare for the little ones or gracious Grandparents ;). We'll see how it all works out though.

So- I will update tomorrow after my appointment and let everyone know how it's going! 30 Weeks baby!! Woot!

Ultrasounds and chubby cheeks!

This is our 28 Week Ultrasound video.
(Sorry about the watermark over the video I was lazy and didn't find a good file converter yet.  I'll update when I can get a better copy up)

The best part, for me, of the video is a little after 8 minutes when we get to see baby Bs face looking right at the camera! :p  You can see her cute chubby cheeks, I love it!




At my normal appointment on Monday I was measuring a little big.  After going to the specialist on Wednesday for our complete measurement U/S everything is looking great.

Baby A is taking up a bit of room weighing 2lbs 13 oz.  While baby B has her little butt wedged in my rib cage (yes, I can feel it.  Lots of pressure).  Weighing a whopping 3lbs 2 oz.  So they are 5oz from each other but that's fine.  It's just great to hear they are getting over 3lbs!  Makes me confident they will be a healthy weight when born.

My brother was able to close on his house recently!  I'm so happy for him!  From the pictures I've seen it looks amazing.  So we planned a trip May 1st to head down to Vegas and help him move in a bit.  Problem is all 3 of my doctors are saying I shouldn't travel since I'll be 30 weeks around that time and if anything happens on the drive I may not be near a good hospital.  Right now I'm waiting to see how I feel next week.  So we'll see what happens.

I haven't gone too crazy yet without work but I can see I'm running out of things to do!

Tomorrow is my baby shower.  It's going to be a blast to see people I haven't seen forever as well as just chat and eat some good food!

26 Week update

So I've hit 26 weeks!  I was told yesterday that I look like I'm 32 weeks, don't know how to take that lol!
The back pain is really starting to get to me, as well as hip pain while sleeping.  They move like they have all night parties and make my stomach do some crazy shapes.

We have a specialist appointment today again.  Seems like they are wanting to monitor me a little longer than expected.  That's fine.  The safer the better.

My mom and I went and got our hairs did yesterday as a birthday gift for me.  So I no longer have the same hair color/cut as my husband! hahah.  Dark hair is fun but I'm just so used to being my blond self.

Anyway, I probably wont have much of an update after this appointment but we will see!

Easter Weekend..deformed looking stomachs...

Easter weekend was great!  Its the best getting those comatose feelings after such amazing food!

We spent the weekend with my family while Austins family was out of town.  Saturday had a fun time finding some decorations for the upcoming baby shower and deciding what foods to eat. 

Speaking of babies I will have to get these photos up soon cause it was the creepiest thing Ive seen pertaining to my body. Haha....  I was relaxing on the couch at my parents watching the bewb tube when I felt some strange pressure just below the right side of my ribs.  So I slowly glance down and see what looks to be a huge tumor like bulge, protruding about 2 inches high above my stomach!  Austin was sitting next to me I grabbed his arm and squealed, "Look!!!".  He looks over at me and his eyes widen as he says, "HOLY COW!".  He instantly got up to get some photos.  I tell you what it was definitely an experience, Im sure there will be more of those to come.  One of those little trouble makers must have been doing a summer salt or something...silly thing.


Anyway, Sunday was great the food was amazing.  Thank you again Mom and Dad!  We were able to get out and see Alice in Wonderland just before dinner time.  Good movie but most uncomfortable one Ive ever sat through to date.  I was getting back pains from hell! 

This week looks to be another slightly busy week.  Hair appointments followed by another specialist appointment just to check the smaller measurements for the kiddies.

I dont mind the busy weeks its keeping me occupied while this horrible weather keeps cracking down on us!

Its April people!  It is supposed to be nice! Or at least just raining NOT snowing!!!!!!

K lets all work on thinking nice weather from here on out!  K thanks!

Till another day! <3

Off balance much?

It's been a while but here it is!  <3

My amazing brother got me a iTunes gift card and I couldn't be happier with it!  I was able to get a few new CD's on my iPod which I can now listen to around the house thanks to my parents letting us borrow one of their many portable music stations.  New music is always going to bring a smile to my face.

Speaking of bringing a smile to my face......

Last specialist appointment for the twins was so fun!  My mom was able to join us to see their progress.  On top of that we got to watch one of the babies open and close her mouth and make faces!  It was adorable  all 1 1/2 pounds of her! With a grand total of 3lbs of baby wiggling around inside.  They are getting bigger and bigger and bigger!  I definitely notice my balance is off, picking up things or bending over is....exciting lol.  They are big enough to the point that I feel every little movement and budge.  It's nice to know they are in there but sometimes they wear mom out!  They aren't even born yet!

Lately the weather has been moody to say the least.  It's been warmer then snowy on the weekends.  Now it's snowing again!  Don't get me wrong I love the snow!  Boy do I miss summer though!  Just let me have my summer dang it! 

I want to go out and lay in the yard with the dogs playing.  I NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!!! =D

Hopefully in the next couple weeks we will be taking a trip down to Las Vegas to see my brother.  That will be a nice weekend vacation to just get away.  It's much needed for me and my work stressed husbanders.

Till we meet again....

19 Weeks and So much happening

 

It's now 19 weeks and 6 Days, boy do I feel huge!!!  

This was the Ultra Sound at our 18 Week appointment.  Taken of the tops of their heads all snuggled together.  Right now our weekly check ups are to make sure that TTTS is not present and the two chicklets are growing properly.  The DR said everything looks great so far.  We are so blessed to be able to see our girls grow before they arrive.  As well as giving me a piece of mind I can't help but worry daily if I'm doing everything right.

Coming up this weekend my beautiful Sister in Law is getting married.  I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the brides maids.  I cannot wait to help with the preparations tomorrow and to see how amazing it will be.

Next week I'll have back to back DR appointments which will be crazy but luckily I only have a 4 day week which will make things easier.

Hopefully we actually get started on the baby room this weekend as well....hopefully ;)

14 Week Marker

And you thought you could stretch..............

 This is baby A takin' up all the space!  We weren't going to have a U/S today but when the doc why trying to listen for the 2nd heart beat he was having a little trouble.  So we had one anyway, just to make sure.  Both heart beats are great 1. 145 2. 140.    ALMOST could see the sex of the 2 but, will be more certain in 2 weeks at the next check up!  (I cannot wait!)  My uterus is sized at 18 weeks which is normal with twins.  Just so happy to see they are both around and kickin!

Doc said he's hoping to make it to 32 weeks, but I know we're tough and can make it longer! ;)

Been a good week so far but very excited for the weekend!  It's when you can do nothing and not feel guilty!

Hetty