Thursday, April 28, 2016

TWINS!!!

        I am finally getting around to recording my birth story for the twins!  It's only been 4 months, i hope I can remember everything accurately!  I think this first post will focus mainly on my pregnancy, and we will get to the birth next time!
        Ok, so to start, let me just say, pregnancy in and of itself is stressful, but a twin pregnancy is even more so.  I am so grateful for competent doctors and modern medical technology. And, I'm grateful for/hate the readiness of information available on the WWW!  Dr. Google is not always my friend!
        Anywho,  I found out I was pregnant just over a year ago, on April 24th, just before heading to Utah for a quick visit with my family.  I didn't tell anyone, not even Brandon because I was a nervous wreck after having miscarried just a few weeks earlier, so I prayed hard that all would be well and I could enjoy my trip.  The morning I was headed home, I started feeling sooooo sick!  I don't normally get sick when pregnant, except the first time, and that didn't end well, so I was totally paranoid coming home!  Because of my history, I called my doctor and went in for blood work right away.  My levels were crazy high so, fearing it was another molar pregnancy, he requested and ultrasound that next week.  In the meantime, i'm expecting the worst, but in the back of my mind thinking "I'm having twins!"  I even started googling "Twin ultrasounds 7 weeks" so that I would know what to look for on the ultrasound.  But all the photos I found looked like this:
On May 13th, I was very relieved to see a baby, but when there was clearly only one dark  hole, my heart kinda sank.  Wishful thinking, and I'd gone and gotten myself all set up for disappointment.  But then I'm watching her and I notice something (I'm kicking myself cuz in my superb organization I've misplaced my ultrasounds, so this is not our babies): 
Is it just me or do you see two little jelly beans? (our babies were actually so close together it was hard to make out that there were two) I asked the tech for confirmation, and then started laughing/crying hysterically.  I wish I could have seen Brandon's face, but he was behind me (I am glad he was there to recieve the news with me though!).  I remember him saying "HOW did you know?"  and was probably in complete shock (I don't think I had told him of my suspicion).  I was pretty hysterical...happy, terrified, excited, scared, and everything in between.  And the crazy part of it all, these are babies #4& 5 for me, and due on Christmas, just like my mom with Trevor and Jace!  

So after this, I met with my doctor one more time and he turned me over to an OB, as family practice docs can't deliver twins with all the other complications that go along with it.  And that's when the real fun started.  At my next ultrasound, Dr. Reimer came in and talked to us about all the risks and procedures and all that...making me more of a nervous Nelly, but I suppose it's better to be prepared! Because they are so close together, we were first worried that they were mono mono, which would mean they shared an amniotic sac as well as a placenta, but thankfully, after a few more ultrasounds they found a dividing membrane and we were officially classified "Mono-Di" (also, same as Trevor and Jace!) And these are actually our babies, at 9 and 14 weeks.  Isn't it amazing how much they grow in such a short amount of time?  I loved all our frequent ultrasounds and being able to watch them grow!  

And here's the beginning of my twin belly...at about 15 weeks (I really need to work on perfecting the selfie...but i don't really care to!)
and the end, at 37! 
 Two days before delivery!
Along with frequent (every 3 weeks) growth ultrasounds, the last few weeks I had to have weekly NSTs and biophysical profiles, which were just really intense ultrasounds that lasted about 90 minutes that tested lung development, blood flow to each baby (to make sure one baby isn't getting more than the other with the shared placenta), kidney function, and all that fun stuff.  Each baby had to pass certain criteria in a certain amount of time in order to "pass."  Usually both babies passed without a problem and I was able to get out in about 30 minutes, but one time Baby B was sleepy and we went the full time and still hadn't done everything, so I had been flat on my back for way too long and when I got up I could hardly see.  After that I didn't lay flat anymore.  Baby B (Layni) would sometimes give me a scare cuz i wouln't feel her move, but I also wasn't so lucky that I could always tell which movements were which baby.  I do however, remember the moment that baby B flipped into position. I was at lunch with Melissa Gonzales and Sarah Hunt at Mizuki Fusion, and my whole belly flopped.  Even the waitress saw it.  And sure enough, at my next appointment, both babies were head down ready for delivery!  Yay!  
(My final NST!!!)


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Friday, May 16, 2014

Austin turns 2!!

My baby turned 2 yesterday! ( It is may 15th, but we are still wearing out christmas footie pjs...it's that cold!).  Brandon was in the city for the day, so we held off on presents til later, but the kids and I enjoyed some yummy birthday pancakes!  I just love how he blows out his candles!  


 I had lots of help with the cake today.  Tayven helped me bake, and Austin helped me lick the icing off the paddle. He loves this little baby doll lately, and was so kind to share.  It really needed a bath after that!  
 Everytime we go to the library, Austin goes crazy for the tractor books, and we read them over and over, so we got him a couple of his own.  He loves them so much he had turned his new trampoline into a bouncy reading cubby!

 I saw a cake similar to this on pinterest and knew it would be perfect!  This kid loves him a tractor!  Every time we see one he goes nuts, and they are his favorite toys as well!  I had lots of help with the cake (we had 6 extra kids at our house last night, and everyone wanted to help) but i think it turned out great!  I love that Breah has turned into my little party planning assistant, don't you love her little banner for the cake?  We didn't really have a party, but we did invite the hunts for dinner and cake!  We needed someone to help eat that cake!

I know it's cliche, but I love this kid and cannot imagine my life without him.  He has such a fun, easy going personality and he brings so much joy to our family!  We are so grateful he is ours and look forward to watching him grow up, I just wish they didn't grow so fast!  Happy birthday buddy!  We love you so much!
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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Mother's Day Weekend

We were able to take a little weekend vacation to Storm Lake, Iowa this past weekend.  I can't think of many ways I'd rather spend mothers day than being able to spend so much quality time with my family.  I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be a mother.  I am so grateful and humbled that my Heavenly Father has entrusted me with these three beautiful spirits.  They, along with their father, are my world.  Motherhood is by far the hardest, and most exhausting job I will ever hold, but I love it with all my heart.  I would not trade this time for anything.
 Me and two of my favorite people, chillin at the park, while my other 2 favorite people were doing this:


 My camera takes horrible pictures on auto, and until this day at the park, I hadn't really taken the time to figure out how to use the other settings (it's really not as simple as turning the dial, or even changing settings like you would on a DSLR, or other digital cameras for that matter) so I have always hated it.  But while the kids were playing, i was messing around and figured it out.  I discovered two settings that actually take descent photos, monochrome and Toy camera!  Here are a few pics from our trip:
(this is how most of my pictures came out before, blah...)
                         Little cuties, hiding the beautiful flowers they so sneakily picked for me
                                 "Don't look behind my back, mom!"  As i'm walking behind him :)
                                                 Best mother's day flowers I ever received!
Trying to sneak the flowers in his pocket.  You should have seen his face the next morning when he went to get them out to give me.  He was devastated! 
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Saturday, April 5, 2014

Tayven's Turtle Party!

 Tayven is my little "Tinja Minja Turtle" boy and after much back and forth between this and a Cars 2 party, decided on TMNT theme.  He was so excited about his cake, which made all the hard work worth it (I really struggled trying to roll out that fondant...note to future self:  roll onto a silpat for easy transfer!)
 Of course at a TMNT party you would have some toxic ooze and some Cowabunga Pizza (which also happens to be Tay's favorite food)
We had turtle races around the house, but unfortunately I forgot to change the settings on my camera until the very end, so this is the only pic I have.  But isn't he a cute little turtle!  

We are so grateful for our Hunt family friends Ethan, Eli, Ande, and Esther.  It's fun to have big kid friends to look up to!  And for Isaac Freeze and Jamison Boone who drove into town to celebrate!  
 He really gave it his all to blow out those candles, and nearly singed his lips!  Hope no one minds a little slobber on their cake!  
 Esther and Tayven...these too are such good friends!  

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Monday, March 17, 2014

Breah's First Recital




We enrolled Breah in dance through community ed this past couple months.  We wanted to start her out with something basic to see if it's something she enjoys (or if she takes after her mother) before going all in.  She did have fun, but when I asked her if she wanted to do the next session she said she'd rather do swimming.  I was so proud of her for sticking with it even though she wasn't always comfortable.  Anything she does, she takes very seriously.  She would stand on her tape and watch and internalize everything the teacher said and only dance after receiving all her instructions.  I loved watching her up there, singing along to all the songs!  And we all got to enjoy a treat at Berry Blast after!

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Monday, October 14, 2013

Breah's Birthday Bash!

Truth be told, if Breah really had her druthers she would have had a school party, and she would have been the teacher and all her guests would have had to do homework and repeat after her.  But instead, we opted for her second favorite activity--ART!  Did you know that if she can't be a mermaid when she grows up, she wants to be an illustrator!
She loves art so much she painted her own invitations.  It was a sad day for me to have to give up some of the control, but I am trying to be a good mom, not a control freak.  And she did a pretty good job and was very proud of her work!   
 Tayven and I whipped up a rainbow cake while she was at school one day.  She loved the idea so much she didn't really care what the outside was going to look like.  Until she saw it, then it was just a little to plain for her liking (she's not always on board when I try to simplify things...).  The banner helped but she still needed a little something more.  Enter yellow "flowers".  Yellow is her most favorite color, because it's the color of her hair!  She loves pink and purple too, and all the bright colors.  We have been enjoying this beautiful bright back drop for a week now.  I wish real curtains were that easy.


Ande, Miley, and Breah painting their flowers.  Quite the little budding artists!  
 Jordan and Sarah
 The spread.  As I said earlier, I'm all about simplification now days.  Started out with plans for pretzel crayons and rice krispy paint brushes, etc., but then decided the cake and lemonade was more than enough sugar for one evening.  The fruit palette was my favorite, and a huge hit with the girls!  
 While our paintings were drying, everyone got to paint their own pizza masterpieces.  Note to self, all the additional toppings were not necessary.  My kids were the only ones who even at pepperoni!  


 I thought this would be a huge hit, but I had to plead with them to even get the few pics I got.  Apparently Polly Pockets and LPS are far more entertaining.  Silly girls!  


 Group Hug!  Everyone hugging the birthday girl!  

 Blowing out the candles.  She blew so hard she almost caught the banner on fire!  


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Saturday, September 7, 2013

A glimpse into my suffering

Note:  This is one of 2 posts tonight, if you would like to skip down to the cute kids below I wouldn't blame you one bit!  

I laughed when my chiropractor gave me a disk with my xrays.  "Oh good, I can scrapbook them!"  He told me to post them on facebook...but I opted for my blog.  That way only people who might really be interested (since you have to intentionally access the blog) have to see them.  So here it is!  Mind you, this is after days and I was actually standing much straighter than I had been.  
So if you are bored and interested in the details, it all started when I woke up Wednesday morning.  We had been traveling the previous 2 days, and I really wasn't that surprised when I felt tight and sore that morning (the same thing happened when we moved up here from Georgia...I ended up collapsing on the floor of a Mexican restaurant and had to be carried out by two complete strangers.  Dramatic, I know).  I was trying to take it easy and really just chilling on the couch while the kids played, but with a very active 1 year old, that's hard to do for too long.  The kids were down stairs and Austin was getting tired.  He wandered into the kitchen and started crying so I mozied in to see what he needed.  He was pretty much beyond consoling, so I thought I would put him down for a nap.  As i bent down to pick him up I had a sinking feeling I wasn't getting back up.  But I had to try, I couldn't just sit there in crouching position with a 30 lb baby for 2 hours, right?  I grabbed the counter for support and attempted to stand, but as I did so the muscles in my back began to spasm so bad that I dropped to the floor screaming in pain.  Never in my life have I experienced something so horrible, and I have given birth 3 times without drugs.  I laid there on the floor, poor Austin right there with me, screaming "Breah, HELP ME!"  at the top of my lungs.  The slightest movement causing more spasms, but the kids were not coming.  So I began pounding on the floor while screaming, thinking surely they would hear me.  20 minutes later Breah comes running, "I'm sorry, we didn't hear you, what do you need?"  "A phone please, get me a phone!"  Well, of course, Brandon's doesn't answer.  I call again, and again.  If ever there were an emergency, it is now.  Still nothing.  Turns out my calls were not going through.  So Breah gets me the iPad and I message him  "I'm not doing so well.  Tried to pick up Austin and now I am lying on the kitchen floor.  Been screaming for 20 minutes, kids didn't' hear me.  Can you call the dr and get me some steroids asap?"  Send.  Then I see it.  Crap!  The message went to an unfamiliar number..."whoops, sorry, wrong number!"  Then as I read previous texts I realize it was Brandon's coworker.  "Sorry, this is Shaylah, can you please tell Brandon to call me! Thanks"  Well, next time I'll start there, he called within a couple minutes and he was on his way home.  He got home, put Austin to bed and then got me to bed.  So much pain!  I have never felt so much pain, every movement countered by massive spasms in my back.  He finally ended up wrapping my arms around his next and dragging me into the bedroom.  After a couple hours of lying completely still, the drugs had relaxed me enough that I was able to drift off to sleep.  And I slept for hours.  The next morning I was able to crawl to the bathroom, but it about killed me getting up on the toilet, and then I couldn't get off!  (TMI, sorry).  Sorry, I am getting carried away...to make a long story short(er), I was not any better the next day.  I made an appointment with a chiropractor, but then doubted whether they would be able to do anything as I could hardly move.  Brandon called and sure enough, they said to go to the ER.  Brandon got me an appointment with the same Dr. I saw last time, and he carried me out to the car.  Then I got to ride in a wheelchair.  He checked to make sure I didn't have any nerve damage and told me to continue the steroids and muscle relaxer and Ibuprofen and then ordered an MRI.  But in the meantime, he assured me I would get better.  I did get a little better with each day, but after a week I was barely able to walk, and I was completely crippled.  I was miserable and ornery and not very pleasant, but Brandon has been so good to me, always getting me ice, taking care of the kids, and the house and everything, and never complaining.  So Wednesday afternoon I hobbled over to the bus stop to meet Breah, taking the stroller so I had something to lean on.  After the kids got off, I introduced myself to a couple of other moms who were out and in talking to them mentioned I had been stuck in bed for a few days.  Turns out my next door neighbor is a chiropractor and she promised she would send him over when he got home so I could pick his brain about my predicament.  He didn't show up, and I had given up on it when at about 9:30 there was a knock on the door.  What a way to meet your neighbors, huh!  But he came in and examined my crooked spine and determined it was a pretty cut and dry case of something or other and offered to take me back to his office and get me fixed up.  I jumped on it.  I had been waiting til after the MRI, but I was so miserable I couldn't say no.  He cracked me pretty good, but I was not cured!  He told me it would take a few days of treatment be to back to normal.  So then Thursday I called and went in and got the Xrays and another adjustment, then one on Friday, and one today.  I have improved 80% since this xray, and he thinks I'll be good as new after Monday.  I have my doubts because as the day goes on I get more and more crooked again.  But I am at least able to function somewhat normally now.  And it doesn't hurt as bad to pick up Austin.  So I think maybe a couple more treatments before I'm good to go.  
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