A funny thing happened today...

Our family doubled in size.

Lori is doing so great. I mean, look how beautiful and happy she is right after two babies.

I know you are asking, "what are their names?" well, we do have names, but before I give that up, I want to make sure it's official. Lori's sleeping right now, and I think after her nap, we can make the 100% decision.

Funny, they already have their own personalities. This is baby "A". The oldest (by almost 1 hour) What she's doing with her hands; that's how Lori watches TV. hilarious.

Also, funny enough, this is our 100th post.Pretty nice how that worked out. You always want to make those big, round numbers special. I think we did that. :)

We'll keep you all posted. More to come for sure. Just know that things are going great.

Ian

All is good!

Hi all,

So, the appointments yesterday went well. My bloodwork looked much better (crits and platelets both up!), the amniotic fluid levels are holding constant. They're on the lowest end of the scale, but not a huge concern. The only thing they caught when they were doing the stress test is that one of the baby's heartrates dropped suddenly. This could be because they are not getting enough fluid, or blood from the placenta. At any rate, they've got me coming back Friday for another monitoring session just to be sure.

My next round of appointments will be next Monday--more of the same. To labs to have blood drawn, to ultrasound (this time, I'll get growth as well), then up to the doctor to review everything, and finishing off with a stress test. Ah, the routine. What will my life be like without ultrasounds every week or 2 weeks? It's been the norm since June.

In other news, Jeff is coming in tonight, which is pretty exciting. I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving--I feel so unprepared! Not that I need to "do" anything. We just don't have a plan, and it will rely heavily on Ian playing chef. If I don't write beforehand, or have a chance to talk with you, I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving.

The transition home.

I was discharged from the hospital Wednesday night, in time for Ian to wheel me to our last twins class, where we practiced changing diapers, bathing, and focusing on pain (or focusing away from pain).


Finding out I'm outta there!

View from my bed with lovely flowers. :)





It was odd being able to leave the hospital. Just walking out (or being wheeled out) in normal clothing. First time I had worn real clothes in almost a week.


Ian drove me home and it was a great homecoming. The house was sparkling clean, and Ian had really done a lot of work rearranging some furniture, hanging more pictures, putting finishing touches on the nursery. The biggest surprise was that he had painted the kitchen, and I love it! My favorite was the chalkboard wall, which we had talked about doing. It was such a nice surprise, and it looks great.
I felt like I was coming home to something that felt more like home, as it still had not quite felt homey since moving in.


Since then, I've had mixed feelings. It's hard to be discharged with the orders to have the same activity level that I had when in the hospital--only up for bathroom breaks and one short shower a day. It's actually close to impossible. While Ian is on standby at all times, at the hospital you're forced to stay put, and have to have everything brought to you. And you never get dressed. There was such a routine to it that I had gotten used to--it's hard to mimic and feel ok with yourself at home.


I had an appointment Thursday with my doctor, and they put me on the monitors for a bit. Pretty much the same as it has been--plenty of contractions, but the babies look great. I also had my last IV iron transfusion, which was really easy. Hope it took effect!


One of Ian's best friends from college and his girlfriend also came to visit, and stayed with us Friday and Saturday night. It was my first opportunity to hang out with them, but kind of a bummer since I wasn't so mobile and had to sit like a bump on a log. At least Ian was able to take them out to the local pub Friday, and then Saturday they were out and about pretty much all day.


Today I am preparing myself to head back to the doctor for another round of tests and checkups. I have labs first (I have enjoyed not getting blood drawn twice a day), then to ultrasound to check the girls' fluids, then back to my doctor's for review and monitoring. We'll see what comes of today. It's one of those things that can change so quickly--with this visit, they might just send me home until the next appointment. Or, they can deliver me or hospitalize me again. It's really a crapshoot.


My brother Jeff is coming to visit us tomorrow for Thanksgiving, and is staying through Saturday. I'm really looking forward to the visit, but again--a tiny bit bummed out that I can't do anything.


Also, last night I discovered that we have city views from our living room window! Exciting. Because the leaves finally dropped from the tree in front of our window, we can see a bit of the skyline...

Alright, more later. We'll let you know how things go today.

Hope! Perchance.

Hi all,

Here I am, writing from Command Central (my hospital bed). I've got my whole setup going...water (check), laptop (check), phones (check), pen (check), notebooks (check), book (check), magazines (check). dining menu (check).

About to hop on a conference call in 10 minutes. Trying to make the most of my fun time here, and get some work in, feel good about transitioning, etc. Plus, daytime TV isn't my most favorite thing.

I guess I got into quite the routine here, so when my routine changed abruptly on Monday night, I was a little unnerved. My 6:30 lab person didn't show. Then my night nurse didn't come in at the usual time. It wasn't until almost 9:3o before I saw anyone. Luckily, it was Nina (a nurse I had had before), and she explained that my routine changed.

So now I only have one blood draw a day--at 6:30 am. Yay for that. And I started my IV drip on Monday night of iron. Being at a hospital is quite the education. I'm learning something new everyday.

For example, I now know what a perinatologist does. They are high-risk pregnancy specialists. I know what it means to have a low crit level, and complications that can cause. I know all the symptoms of preeclampsia and HELLP. I also know what Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). They actually think I could have ITP in pregnancy....

The news as of this morning is that I might get to go home! That's super exciting, but I've also come to expect that I should just go with the flow, and that things change quickly. The perinatology team seem to think I'm healthy, and they don't believe I have preeclampsia. They think I simply have low blood platelets and iron deficiencies, which are a result of the twin pregnancy.

If that's the case, I might be able to leave. Of course, final verdict will come from my doctor, and she'll likely factor in contractions, low amniotic fluids, etc. But the thought makes me happy. All I'd have to do is come in for monitoring twice a week, and finish out my round of IVs (which will end tomorrow night). YAY!

Again, I should know more this afternoon. So funny how yesterday morning she was talking like she was going to deliver me, and then later in the afternoon the verdict changed so much. I'm thankful to be somewhere like this, where they have a high-risk specialty unit, and people who care and are on the look-out for signs that can lead to serious complications. While it may feel slightly useless for me to be here, I know it's all for the best (for the girls, and for myself).

Talk to you all soon!

My Daily Routine.

Hi everyone! So sorry for the delay in writing--don't mean to keep you all guessing over there. I'd like to say I've been busy, and that's why I haven't written. But I'm not sure that busy is the right word...

Today's Monday, and I'm still here in the hospital. I should treat this blog like Twitter, because the updates change so quickly and are so frequent. What I'd write right now is so different than the story from Friday, or Saturday, or Sunday.

Friday was probably the worst day. Mainly because it was all new, and they were getting us ramped up--they didn't "put us to bed" until after 1:30 am, and the night of sleep was pretty bad. It was a lot of monitoring, meds, shots (including steroids in the butt...ouch). Contractions were actually pretty active--every 3 minutes, so I had a shot and meds to stop them.

My days typically run in 2 cycles. At 6:30 am, someone from the lab shows up and takes blood. It has been adventurous to find new veins after having blood drawn 7 consecutive times. Then around 8, shift change has happened, and I get a new nurse. She runs my vitals and hooks me up to the fetal monitors (I get 3) for about 45 minutes. Afterwards, she consults with the doctor on the results of that, plus my bloodwork and they come and give me a plan. The same thing happens all over again in the pm (6:30 pm, lab shows up...8pm new night nurse)....

The plan has changed every time depending on the results. As of yesterday, it looked like they might induce me. As of today, no induction is in sight, but now I'm going to be getting an iron IV sometime today because my crit level is pretty low. My platelets have been low, they've gone up, then down....it's a bit of a roller coaster.

They do have 24hour room service, which is pretty good. Ian spent the first night with me, but after that--what's the point? So we can both have lousy sleep? I have sent him (reluctantly) packing so that he can get home and finish up the nursery, buy some car seats, clean the house, do his own work, and actually get sleep. Somehow it might be more depressing when he's here, because then it's both of us sitting here watching the 10 channels I have, or playing a game of UNO, or ordering room service. Makes it more obvious we're not anywhere fun, or getting to do what we really want to do.

Saturday night they added a sleeping pill to my list of meds in the evening. I've never taken one before, and boy did it work. I got a great night's sleep. I turned it down last night, and shouldn't have. It was a terrible night, and I couldn't wait until 6:30 and the lab person showed up.

Today I had an ultrasound, and it's just so strange. Instead of walking down a floor, the transport comes to get me and wheel me around laying down in a bed. It was actually a fun little ride, but makes you feel weird when you feel fine, but they don't let you up. So strange!

Ian's coming to visit any minute now. I've been working today--thankful for something else to do other than watch TV, read magazines and books. I'm actually sitting in a chair and not the bed, and no one has scolded me yet. I figure once the IV comes, I'll be locked down anyway.

So, all is well dear friends, but just a bummer to be stuck here. The scary part is that they might keep me here until I deliver, which could be goodness knows when? A week? Not a week? Two weeks? Ew!

I'll keep you up to date. Glad to get on a computer today....

Oops! See? I hadn't even posted this yet, and there's a new update. Sheesh. Dr just came in and said I will be in the hospital until delivery. Gross! I wish that weren't the case, but oh well. But she did say they won't deliver me today. ha--good to know. She said they'll hold out for a little while longer, let the steroids work (it's to help develop their lungs since they're gestationally so young), and then get my blood back in order...oh well. As long as the girls are fine, that's all that matters. Oh, and I did get scolded for not being in bed. :) oops!

Speaking of the girls, how hard is it to name a baby??!?! Well, it's terrible, I tell you. Ian and I are having the worst time. It's not like a stuffed animal or a plant...that you can rename 2 weeks later because the name doesn't quite fit or you don't like it anymore. It's a lifer! And there's so much to consider...last name combinations (Goode is very difficult, I tell you), initials, sound--and with 2 of the same, watching out for rhyming or same letters, or sounds. While some people are into that, we're not.

Alas, I guess one of these days we'll figure it out. But I really hate that we have to do it at all. :)

Oh, the drama.

Well, here we are into my 33rd week of pregnancy. We had our class Wednesday night on breastfeeding--there were a lot of giggles from Ian. Not that he can't handle Boobie Talk, but our teacher is legimately funny. It looks tough, but the human body is so amazing, and I'm sure we'll get the hang of things eventually with 2. We even had little baby models (instead of using the giraffe Ian and I used at home). I'm looking forward to next week, our last class. It's more on infant care and post partum.

Ian and I both really enjoy the class. It's fascinating, really. There's one couple in there that we've somewhat clicked with. And the most bizarre thing happened. They just mentioned they were looking to buy a new house, and we responded to say that we thought our neighbor was interested in selling at some point. Fast forward 2 weeks, and this morning they had the inspection, and are closing in less than a month. Can you believe that? They already have a 4 and 2 year old, and their twin boys are due in February. Unbelievable, and pretty fun! What's also fun is that he's an architect, so we're really hoping at some point he can help us with our funky downstairs. :)

In other news, Ian and I were both excited about this morning's doctor appointment. Interested to see how things were going, how much they've grown, etc. As it turns out, they're huge! Twin B is 5 lb 14 oz and Twin A is 4 lb 12 oz. So, I'm basically carrying over 10 pounds of baby in my belly. And I can tell. This week has been tough mobility-wise. They're both super active, hearts are beating wonderfully, and they're both practicing their breathing (all great signs)!

But alas, always the drama with these twins. Both of their fluid levels dropped. So, we met with the doctor and she wants me to come in Sunday to the hospital to check again. She's unsure the cause, but they need to monitor--she said to be prepared and pack my bags to stay. They then found out, too, that my blood pressure went up. So, they took more blood today.

I thought that was it. I thought I'd blog about wishing me well for Sunday. But I just got off the phone with them--both the doctor and nurse called leaving messages while I was on conference calls for work. My bloodwork came back, and apparently my platelets have dropped. Top that off with a big weight gain jump this week, the lowered blood pressure and fluids...and well, there you have it. All indicators of preeclampsia.

So, as soon as Ian gets home and I can pack up my overnight bag, we're off to Triage at the hospital. What a bummer! No guarantee that I'll stay overnight or anything, but they have more and more tests to run.

I had decided a while ago that I never would have been a candidate for preeclampsia. I've never had blood pressure issues or anything. But, I just read the article I linked to above. And gross! Who knew? It was always the part I skipped over in my pregnancy books...I guess it's more common with twins.

Oh well. At least Ian just did laundry, so my pj's are clean! :) Will let you all know how things go.

Bracing ourselves, and storing for the winter.

Finally, after all this time being dedicated to settling in and doctor's appointments and work and seemingly everything else under the sun, we are focusing on these little girls that are about to enter our lives.

With the birth of little baby nephew Lucas, with our weekly Preparing for Multiples class, with the crazy baby dreams that just started last week, with the awareness of contractions and how big they're getting...well, I'm listening, and I feel you're on your way.

We had finally bothered to register for the girls a few weeks ago. Even though we're not having a shower, we had some people ask. I know for one that I was stressing Stephanie out big time--every time I spoke to her, and she asked how the nursery was coming along, or what we've gotten for the girls, my answer was pretty much always the same: "well, we have some clothes, but that's about it." She was stressed for us.

So, the boxes started arriving, and Ian and I finally got it in us to arrange furniture and make it look more like a room (less like an extra bedroom to store stuff in). Of course, the room is tiny and it fits the one crib perfectly. Eventually--and from what we hear, a few months down the road--the second crib will need to come into effect, and we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Things will be a bit tight at that point.

Regardless, while I'm putting tiny socks into drawers, or folding little hooded towels, it is still so hard to imagine them coming. It's hard to imagine what our lives are about to become, how we'll cope, what they'll look and act like. I just can't even wrap my head around it. We gave the new changing pad a test run with our baby stand-in (a Giraffe). He was a good little baby--hardly made a sound or move before we put him back in the crib. Still hard to imagine the real thing, and how we'll actually be using the room and what we'll use and when. Just crazy to think about.

Ian even finished up the mobile and hung it yesterday, and I think it's super cute (he's pretty proud of it himself). I really love the way it turned out, and I hope the girls like looking up at them.

And I'm started to get excited about Christmas, even though we haven't done any shopping and it is also hard to imagine. I feel like it will be a gift card year, especially since we're all the way over here. My Dad will be here for Christmas--which is super fun news, but other than that--I guess we'll be doing a lot of gift shipping. Regardless, Christmas in a new house is fun--deciding how to decorate and what new traditions might crop up.

And can you even believe Thanksgiving is literally right around the corner? Not me! Sheesh. My brother Jeff will be visiting us--how lucky are we that people are willing to travel the 3,000+ miles to hang out with us. Still so much to do with the house, but these things will take time.

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. Pretty boring entry, but I feel like we're closer and closer to being ready for our family to double.

New bill o'health, and a pictureless Seattle

Quick update on my health! Or more importantly, that of Twin B. Had my ultrasound yesterday, and follow up doctor's appointment today. Twin B's fluids are back up to normal, and all is well!

On the one hand, it means that bed rest did a body good. So, I'm still advised to take it very easy--only go into the office part-time, etc. But at least I won't feel guilty everytime I get up to do something. I'm so happy I won't be home-captive completely this weekend.

This week, my very good friend Carlos was in town from SF for work. I have missed him terribly, and it was fun having him. We had a great date Monday night at Wild Ginger--really delicious food. I love when you can go somewhere with someone, and hours can pass without realizing it. We shut the place down.

Last night we went for Round 2, and luckily Ian was able to join, after having gotten back from the east coast on Wednesday afternoon. We went to Bizarro for dinner--tasty treat, and nice in the midst of a rainy night. We followed it up with some Molly Moon's ice cream and some lounge time at home before taking him back to his hotel.

There have been 3 distinct times this week that I've been reminded to have a camera with me at all times here! With crazy weather like Seattle, there's always something interesting going on in the sky--between the bursts of sun, dark clouds, mountain ranges...without a camera, you miss out on some amazing shots. On the way to pick Ian up from the airport, Mt Rainier was insane. Just breathtaking. On the way to my ultrasound yesterday, it was gray and dark over Seattle's skyline--just outlines of buildings, really. But above the space needle were beams of light--so perfectly placed, and bizarre at the same time. And finally, on my way into work this morning, I passed the funeral procession for a police officer who was shot. 1500 police cars, ambulances, fire trucks. All with their lights on, but without the noise of sirens. As far as you could see--cars from Oregon and British Columbia, and all over the state of Washington. Breathtaking and moving and sad.

Anyway, Ian and I should both just arm ourselves with cameras.

Below is a pic I took from my window at work 2 weeks ago. Happy to have had a camera handy.

Seattle so far....

In phases, I'm going to catch you up to date with some things we've been up to--granted, not everything, but just a couple of the major things.

Victoria

We spent our anniversary weekend in the city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. It was a gorgeous weekend, and we had a perfect time.

We took the Clipper--about 3 hours, and arrived in the sunny harbor city. Highlights of the trip were walking the town, and discovering its extremely cute, quaint, and historic shops and boutiques, a tour of the nearby castle, food!, and the wax museum (yes, cheesy, but it was fun).

Moving In

Next major event was closing on the house (finally!) and moving in. We've officially been in the house just over a month, and boy has there been a lot of work to do. On the 5th day of our move-in, Ian's parents came to visit for a week. They were a HUGE help to us, taking down loads of wallpaper, making countless trips to Home Depot, swapping out fixtures, installing a dishwasher, painting....the list goes on. There's still a lot of work to do, which we'll tackle over time. But the main things have been taken care of initially.

Other Things

We got an annual membership to the Woodland Park Zoo--it's really close to our house, and is great. It's kind of like a large park, which happens to have animals in it. And the habitats seem nicer than the SF Zoo, which is nice. We particularly enjoyed the orangutan, who draped a blanket over his head and played up to the crowd.

Ian also celebrated his 30th birthday! That weekend, Carrie and Paul had us over for dinner and a movie. The next day we had a neighborhood potluck with a lot of my co-workers, (Ian and baked pumpkin cheesecake), and then carved pumpkins in the neighborhood, which was pretty fun and festive. Apparently, every year this guy Gene (who lives across the street from Carrie and Paul) buys hundreds of pumpkins, and invites the whole neighborhood to drop in and carve. He has all these stations set up, and provides stew and drinks. Then he lines all the pumpkins down the stairs and along the wall in front of his house. Good times.

The following day (Monday) was Ian's birthday. I surprised him by taking the day off, and we spent a relaxing day together--got a late brunch, went to see a movie, had a delicious dinner.

Ian and I started a pregnancy class a couple of weeks ago--Preparing for Multiples. It has been really interesting, and we like our teacher tons. There are still 3 classes left, so I hope I can make it that long--the good stuff is in the last 2 weeks.

But as we both mentioned in our last couple of posts, I've been prescribed to bed rest (at least for the next week). This weekend has been kind of a bummer because of it. Mainly because I feel fine and the weather was seriously gorgeous. And I stayed inside all day both days (stepping out last night to go to Paul and Carrie's--where they fed me delicious lamb stew and we passed out candy to the tons and tons of kids. Everyone gets so into it here! How much fun.

And then the final most fun news is that Ian and I become an aunt and uncle last week. Ian is now visiting his new nephew (plus, the rest of his family) right now. It sounds like he's having fun, and I'm just really happy that he was able to make it, especially before it gets too crazy for Hilliary and Francois (with the guests they're about to have, moving into a new house, etc).

But of course, I miss him.

It's crazy I'm in my 31st week of pregnancy. Not much time left, I suppose. I am hoping the girls appreciate my sedentary weekend, and that it has the effect it's supposed to on their fluid levels. Looking forward to finding out at the end of next week...

Oh! And we had been working on a project--I think I'm leaving the last part of it for Ian to finish up. We bought fabric and sewed a bunch of birds in order to create a mobile for the girls. Our birds are pictured here. It was actually a really fun project to work on together (and Ian is such a good sewer!).