Oops!! It's been busy...

So, I guess I've been bad lately at updating my blog! I have been so busy, I haven't even started the journal I talked about earlier! I promise to start this week, whatever it takes...

So, Thanksgiving is coming up, so that is putting me in the holiday/mommy-to-be mode of wanting to clean out the spare bedrooms, decorate for Christmas, and get ready for these sweet little angels! I have so many things on my to-do list, I don't know where to begin!

On another note... We received some unpleasant news from the specialist on Thursday. It looks like (right now at least) that my little girl has clubbed feet. This is thankfully a very treatable condition, and hopefully, we can have it corrected through braces, casts, or surgery before it's even time for her to start walking.

On an even sadder note... It looks like my sister's pregnancy is not going as well as we all prayed for. After several weeks of stress, it will most likely turn out to be a non-viable pregnancy that she will have to terminate within the next week. I unfortunately don't have the words to say to her to make her feel any better. It's so difficult to be pregnant & happy while she's going through all of this sadness. I pray that I find a way to reach out to her, as it's been really hard to do that over the past week. Please pray that God will bless her and her husband with a healthy baby someday (hopefully sooner than later).

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and kind words as we go through this exciting (and stressful, even though I try not to think about it) time of our lives. Chris and I are so excited to be parents soon, and we pray that we find a way to prepare these babies for a life full of love and happiness!

Back to the "real" world

Sorry for not posting any pictures from my obgyn appointment last week... They just didn't turn out very clear, so I figured I would wait until my specialist appointment this Thursday. :)

So, after a week of moving around comfortably, I've decided it's time to head back to work! I feel fine, and I'm really hoping and praying for no more major issues. I'll be taking it as easy as possible, and hopefully, I'll keep these babies safe for another 6 or so months!

I've decided to start a journal for the babies as I continue my pregnancy. After using my iphone "What to Expect" app, I found some cute forum topics where moms will write funny letters to their babies throughout their pregnancies. I'm going to actually write this out in a REAL journal (I know it's 2010, but I figure the good old-fashioned paper kind would be more memorable). I'll try to share some of the good ones as we go along!

Thanks to those of you who have supported me throughout the past several weeks. Your thoughts and prayers have meant a lot! Please pray that tomorrow and the rest of the week will go as smoothly as I hope!

PICTURES!! FINALLY! :)

September 1....................................September 14

October 1.........................................October 5

So, by the look of these pictures, you can tell I'm not as high-tech as I would like to be. I'll figure out a way to enlarge them, so you can have a better view. Notice how BIG my sweet babies are getting!! I will go to obgyn tomorrow, so more pictures to come soon! :)

Well-Rested

Soooo... I'm not sure if I mentioned that I'm pretty good at bedrest in my last post. What I MEANT to say was that I'm pretty good at bedrest when my husband is at home. I found myself yesterday talking other people's heads off whenever I had the chance. Apparently, all the talking I do at school must now be done while I'm at home!

Anyway, I went to the doctor again on Wednesday, and everything was good then. I haven't had any more bleeding lately (at least not the "bad" kind--not to get too descriptive). It's really difficult to sit here & feel like I should do nothing all day, because for the most part, I feel normal. Sometimes, I'll stand up too quickly and realize that I'm wrong. I think I'll see if I can get into the doctor next week (instead of waiting an additional week, when my current appointment is), and hopefully, they'll say I'm good to go back to work.

On another note... did I mention that my sister just completed her first round of Invetro? She's actually been trying to have a baby for several years now, and has gone through some pretty painful circumstances to get to the point that she is today. She'll find out next Friday whether it worked or not. My fingers and toes are crossed for her, and please everyone, say a prayer that God blesses her with at least one chance to fulfill her dream of motherhood! :)

I'll continue to keep you posted (on myself, the twins, and Julie).

Tough Weekend...

So, I'm quickly learning that I will do anything to keep these babies healthy and happy. Just a few months ago, I was mostly worried about all the needles, exams, and all the not-so-exciting parts of doctor visits. After a stressful and eye-opening weekend, I can say that all of those things seem like a walk in the park now.

If you're the squemish type, I am giving you the warning now to NOT read on... Now that you have been warned, I'll continue! :) Last Tuesday, I got home from work and noticed some odd "spotting" after looking in the toilet. I didn't know what to think, so I called the on-call doctor. After describing everything to her, she suggested that it may be a bladder infection and to see my doctor the next day. I did this, and after checking, the babies were great, and I heard no reason to be worried at all.

This comfortable feeling changed on Friday, between classes, when I went for a "quick" bathroom break. I saw what looked like a somewhat small amount of blood in my urine, so I quickly told my boss, and headed to my doctor. The secretary asked me if I "flew" there, because I must've gotten there quite fast. The doctor checked again, said there was no sign of blood, and said to take it easy after seeing that the babies were once again perfectly fine.

I decided against my family's opinions to go to 8th grade band night that night with our kids and the RHS band. I showed up to the school, and after about an hour or so, my head director decided I needed to go home after such a stressful day. As I was heading to my car, I noticed something wasn't right (girls, you probably know what I mean). I checked down there (yes, this is gross, but I didn't know what else to do!!) and sure enough, it was blood. I went to the gas station bathroom, and it was SUCH a difference than earlier that morning. I learned after the morning experience, I needed to stay calm for the babies, so I just called the doctor again, and they said to go straight to the ER and an obgyn on-call would be there "waiting" for me.

After waiting at the hospital for over an hour, I started questioning whether or not I really should plan on delivering there. They finally took me in, checked the babies, who were thankfully ok, did some awful procedure to get a urine sample (I would prefer not to do THAT one again), and later realized I had a bladder infection. Since my husband had contest all day the next day, my parents fortunately took me to their house in Saginaw, so they could "doctor" me. :)

I unfortunately woke up the next morning with the same bleeding I had Friday night. My mom quickly took me to Baylor Grapevine, and I can say nothing but WONDERFUL things about them and how they run a hospital. After an hour plus ultrasound, they noticed that I have a hemorrhage outside the placenta. The good thing is that the babies feel nothing about what is going on outside their little haven.

I decided to change my specialist appointment to yesterday, in Grapevine, where they elaborated on my condition. They said that it's called Placenta Previa, which I've heard of on my forums lately. Many moms have this, but mine just happens to bleed unlike most women. He put me on bedrest for 2 weeks, so here I sit, on the couch, finding more time to keep you all posted!!

Am I glad I'm on bedrest? Yes and no. I'm so happy that God has allowed my sweet babies to continue to grow and be happy as they prepare for their big entrance into the world (btw, baby A MIGHT be a boy, but we're not sure yet... baby B has decided to not tell any secrets just yet). Would I like to take this time "off" to do some shopping??? Yes, but I guess I'll stick to the doc's orders...

Sorry, Christina, no pictures for you just yet... BUT, I have plenty to scan in & post, so I'll get to it later when Chris brings them home from work! :)

These babies are eating all my food!

So, I'm not sure how it feels to be almost 12 weeks pregnant with just one baby... But, with TWO of them, I feel like my own body is completely starved all the time! These babies sure are hungry! I guess that's a great sign, but I don't really think there's enough oranges, apples, bananas, peaches, and grapes to fill my body up between classes each day. I unfortunately am not all that interested in either of the boxes of Big Cheeze-Its (my former love, as some of you may know) that are at school and at home. I stocked up yesterday on some good "go-to" lunches for school, so hopefully that'll keep me from eating out every day. Did I mention that I ate an entire FOOTLONG sub from Subway on Friday?!?! I've never, ever done that, but apparently, babies DO change a woman's eating habits!

Anyway, the morning sickness is having it's good & bad days... I did have a moment IN THE CAR last week, but it's too disgusting to mention on here. Today was a pretty good day overall. I've learned to eat something (ANYTHING) as soon as I get up in the morning... only, I forgot half of my banana on the bathroom counter today. The first half was good, but I figured it needed to go in the trash after that. I stocked up on some good cereal, including Raisin Nut Bran (oddly, my favorite), Fruity Pebbles (I've been craving some lately), and Chris's choice, Strawberry Shredded Mini Wheats. Let's hope that gets me through the week...

Oh, and this whole sinus infection for 5+ weeks is really not what I had in store for my first trimester. The sneezing & runny nose have improved, however, coughing so much that my ribs have been hurting for 2+ weeks is NOT all that exciting. I did enjoy a weekend on the couch, and after coughing and relaxing the entire time, I decided that the couch must have "pulled a muscle in my ribs". Seriously, can I PLEASE stop falling apart?!?

Anyway, sorry for all the unnecessary rambling... I've decided to start putting more information regarding my pregnancy on here, just so I can keep up with things! As I cruise into the next trimester, let's all pray that life will be a little (or A LOT) more energetic & less nauseating!! :)

There's One... and ANOTHER!?!?

Soooo... it's been quite a busy couple of months, so I guess it's time to catch everyone up! As I mentioned before, Chris and I have been trying to have a baby for a little over a year now. On the first day of band camp (why does everything BIG always have to happen during BAND camp!?!?), I decided to take a test, just in case... I like the digital tests, so I don't second-guess myself on how to read the thing. As always, I expected for it to read "NOT pregnant", as it did for months & months. Well, it was quite a shock when there was a big blank where it would have normally said "NOT"! I ran (yes, I ran, even though I know I'm not really supposed to run) down the hall to tell my husband, and all I could say was, "I don't know if you can handle this right now, but HERE," and I showed him the proof. He gave me the biggest hug ever, then our life began to change.

2 weeks ago, I went for my first sonogram. Dr. McNabb (thank you, Christina, for introducing me to a great doctor!) had a peculiar look on his face, and so did the nurse. This made me VERY nervous, so I said, "What!?! Just tell me!" So, he said, "Well... there's one sack... and there's ANOTHER!" He couldn't actually see 2 babies at that point, so at the time, we just assumed it was one healthy baby, and PERHAPS a baby (or something else).

I just went back on Tuesday, and sure enough, it's TWINS!! I think Chris & I are still in shock, and honestly, I think we'll be in shock until the babies turn 21... This is such a miracle, and I just can't believe what God has in store for us! Chris is going to be a wonderful father, just as he is already a fabulous husband. I just can't wait to see what life will hand us--HOPEFULLY, it will be two healthy and happy babies.

MUCH more to come on this!! I promise to keep you posted! :)

August...No more summer :(

So, I've reached that point in the year where my summer comes to an end, and it's time to get ready for the fast-paced life & career I chose. I feel almost depressed this time around... I feel like I got a lot of things accomplished, except I DIDN'T get around to catching up with too many friends like I would've liked to have done. So, now I've just decided that I'm no longer going to use the excuses of "I'm tired" or "I've got a contest tomorrow" or anything like that when parties or events come up. I'm just going to suck it up and have FUN for once with my FRIENDS!! lol

On a more positive note, it's "State year". To you non-band nerds out there, that means that both my husband's band and my high school feeder bands have the opportunity to compete at the state level this fall (it only happens every other year in the band world). I'm quite excited for both of these bands, as they both have had promising starts to the season already.

Oh, and I forgot to blog a while back on my BEAUTIFUL new blog design!! Thanks to Leah (my college roomate and life-long friend) for making it so special! She has now decided to transition this hobby into a business, so go visit her website: http://www.cutesieblogdesigns.blogspot.com/ & check it out!

More to come on my life (hopefully SOONER than later!)

Long time, no type!

Well, I've obviously had a busy time these past few months! Just to catch you up...

School finished up in early June, and my in-laws came in town the very next week. We had a lot of fun, however, it didn't help that I got sick AND I was on some fertility meds. We had about a week or two of me going to school and working in the office, and just doing things around the house. Then, Chris and I took our summer trip to see his family in St. Louis. We had a lot of fun this time! We had a family get-together at his parents' house, went to a Cardinals game (Chris is a HUUUUGE fan!), at some awesome frozen custard at the famous Ted Drewe's, and even went to a restaurant where local EMS & Firemen work on their "off days". It was VERY cool, to say the least. We also stocked up on some wine at 3 different Missouri wineries. If you've never done wine tasting, I HIGHLY recommend it! Now, we're back in town, July is in full swing, and I am noticing how quickly summer is passing me by!!

Chris and I just reached another milestone... Our 3rd anniversary was yesterday. He is so sweet about making this a special day every year. We wanted to do something fun, so we just went to Hurricane Harbor for most of the day. He rode the "scary" slide a few times (I of course watched), and we had a lot of fun in the sun! We ended up changing our dinner plans, because we had an NSU/DFW alumni meeting at a local restaurant. We decided to stay and enjoy our friends' company, which was a lot of fun!

I know I metioned the fertility meds earlier, but I didn't really say why... Well, I finally went to my doctor a few months ago, mostly because my sister Julie is having a lot of trouble getting pregnant (please pray for her!), and it turned out that my close friend Leah is starting to have the same issues (please pray for her too!!) After some blood tests, my doctor has determined that I don't ovulate. I'm troubled by this, mostly because before I was on birth control, I was ALWAYS "normal". Now, I'm slowly starting to worry (no matter how hard I try not to). So, my doctor put me on a low dose of a medication to help with this. I've only taken one round, and so far, it hasn't helped us get pregnant. I have high hopes that my doctor will help us with the best plan of action. Much more to come on this!!

Saying Goodbye...

Last week during school, I got a text message from my very best friend. Kelsey's been my best friend since 4th grade, so we've been through A LOT of good and bad times together... fortunately for us, they've been mostly GOOD times. This past week was one of those weeks that goes more into the "bad times' category.

She'd been helping take care of her father for the past year or so, and even more so for the past few months. When I received her text last Tuesday of her dad's passing, I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to do, what to say, how to feel, how to support her, whether or not I should leave work right then... I didn't know this feeling at all, and needless to say, I didn't like it.

We had a band contest that day, so I left as soon as I could that evening & drove to Canton to visit with her and some of our closest friends. She was overwhelmingly strong, and again, I didn't know how to take it. Was I supposed to make her laugh, or help her cry out her feelings? She had a lot of anger towards her dad and the life they lived together... but I could tell she was finally starting to get over the anger, especially as we got closer to the day of the funeral.

We said goodbye to her dad on Saturday, and at the amount of guests, it was obvious that he had touched many people's lives. He was a coach for many years, so many co-workers, students, and friends came to say goodbye. I hadn't seen him in a while--I chose not to see him when he was so sick, even though I was always there to support his daugher. I wish I would've said goodbye to him while he was still alive. We had a lot of fun and happy memories from when we were younger. I pray that Kelsey, her mom, and her brother will all be able to forgive him for his mistakes, to remember the good times they all had together, and move on to a happier way of life.

Here's a picture of myself, Kelsey, and "Stan the Man" when we were in elementary school.