Friday-Happy Birthday!

What would a crazy week be without a 5th birthday thrown into the mix too!

Well craziness might just have to be our new middle name from this point forward.

We're slowing things down and taking everything in stride day-by-day. Thanks to a wonderful husband who knows how to cook and how to step in to fill mommy's shoes wherever and whenever he can.

The 5th birthday celebrations began last night with family and a homemade dinner of our favorite tacos and delicious chocolate cake (Taylor's favorite). The celebrations will continue at school today with his classroom friends and a Batman Cookie Cake from our favorite bakery. The grand finale of celebrations will end on Sunday with a birthday party for Taylor and all of Taylor's friends!

We can't believe that our first baby is turning FIVE!

Birthday wishes via the telephone before school this morning.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!



Thursday-Home Sweet Home

Good news came late yesterday when the doctors and nurses said I could go home! We were so happy!

I have strict orders to stay off my feet (2 babies and second pregnancy can add a lot of pressure on my cervix and that's not good this early), and in their words, I have to stay as bored as possible. Thank goodness for technology these days! I have a cell phone, laptop, TV, and tablet all at a fingertips reach. I don't think I'll be bored, but I will obey doctor's orders so that I can reach my first goal of 28 weeks.



Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday

Monday's ultrasound was good. The fluid around both babies was stable and has not changed over the course of a week. Also, good news was that both babies have grown from 1.25 lbs. to about 2 lbs. That's a total of 4 lbs. of baby in my belly...getting bigger literally by the day! The only bad news was that my cervix had shortened from 3cm to 2.5cm. Common with twins since the weight on my cervix is greater than a singleton baby.

That leads us to Tuesday. My regular doctor's office called because they got the news of my shorter cervix and wanted to bring me in for another test. I'm definitely turning into a pro test taker lately. The test they wanted to do would test for the presence of a chemical that is present with pre-term labor. Another cervix check also showed that I was 1cm dilated.

Well then everything changed...

I was immediately taken off of work (what, it's only February?) and I was told that I would be spending the night in the hospital for monitoring (what, how is that suppose to happen, I have a 5 yr. old too?). Well after a lot of crying on my part, we arrived to the hospital last night around 8pm. We had some good news early and that was that the chemical test that they had done earlier was negative (97% chance that these babies will NOT be born in the next two weeks-whew!). The monitoring through the night would look for how many, if any, contractions I was having in a 24 hr. period. I don't even feel the contractions at this point, so hopefully I'm not having many so that I can begin my bed rest at home and not in the hospital.

Today while I'm writing this in the hospital, I'm waiting patiently for yet another ultrasound to check to see if my cervix is still the same length as Monday. If it is, I get to go home. If it isn't, then I don't know yet what could possibly happen then. What I do know is that my first goal to get to 28 weeks. Then get to 32 weeks which is even better! I'll keep you all posted on all the new updates.

The First of Many to Come

We received our very first Twin gift today!

Maybe now it will start to sink in a little more?

I absolutely love little jumpers...and they're not matching!



2nd Ultrasound

I guess I need to be watching Grey's Anatomy or A Baby's Story more frequently since we've now been introduced to a side of the medical world that I could possibly live without. Since I'm already pretty far along in the pregnancy, my ultrasound doctor can not determine conclusively if the boys are going to be paternal twins or identical twins. It seemed simple at first because it truly doesn't matter to us which way they are, but unfortunately there are much more complicated reasons if they happen to be identical.

 

Okay, get ready for some medical jargon to begin. Identical twins run the risk of something called, twin-to-twin transfer. That basically means that one twin receives more blood and nutrients from the placenta then the other twin because some blood vessels have "transferred" or crossed over each other. Left untreated one twin would thrive and the other one would not. Treating it means going to see the big-time doctors in Houston for a high-tech surgery requiring them to separate the blood vessels in the placenta. This would be the worst case scenario.

 

The flip side of this huge situation is that they are paternal twins and don't share any blood vessels at all from the placenta. The only way we'll know what is happening in there is to monitor the fluid levels around the babies very closely. So far one baby currently has a little more fluid than the other one. This is normal for now, however if the one twins level drops that would be the first sign of twin-to-twin transfer.

 

I am scheduled to have another ultrasound in one week to see where we're at. I pray with all my heart that everything will be okay and that both boys are going to be just fine. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this new journey of having twins.

An Unexpected Delivery of News

Baby A

Here is our very first picture of our baby. Originally, we didn't want to know the sex of this baby because we wanted to be surprised at the birth. However, life always seems to have other plans when you're making your own plans. Notice anything extra in this picture....I'll give you a moment to search for it or maybe it jumps right out at you like it did us. Have you found it yet? It's just above Baby A's tummy...kind of looks like a foot doesn't it? If you look above the presumed foot you might be able to make out another foot. Well let the world know that all the joking we've done over the last four months has now come to become our new reality...Andrew and I are not expecting just Baby A but we're also expecting Baby B too! That's right folks, we are now expecting TWINS!!! In the below picture you can see Baby A's profile (cute) and Baby B's feet dangling above.

Baby B

Well, now that you're already in shock from the idea of me conceiving TWINS...I'll let that settle on you a little bit longer before I tell you the other surprising fact of today's new reality. Due to the fact that I now know that there are TWO babies inside me, we decided to divert from the original plan of not finding out the sex of the baby (cheers from most of you I know). Ready for this next shocker...we are expecting TWIN BOYS!! That's right 2 more boys to make a total Curtis-Wellings clan of 5! For now they are affectionately called Baby A and Baby B because we had NO boy names picked out yet. Here's to the unpredictability of life, the overwhelming excitement of the future, and the realization of our new reality! 

Can you tell that's it's all still sinking in? 



How to Ski...(from a 4 1/2 yr. olds perspective)

Getting Dressed:

1. Put your long-johns on.

2. Put your ski socks on (yes, the ones that go up to your knees).

3. Climb into your ski suit and zip it up.

4. Find your snow boots and put them on.

5. Put your beanie hat on and your gloves.

Now you're ready to head to the slopes...Taylor's least favorite part of the day was the walk from the car to the slopes...all uphill with lots of stairs! He would make it about halfway and then start crying, "I can't make it"!! As the pregnant lady in the group, I pretty much wanted to cry out the same thing!

Getting Ready to Ski:

1. Change out of your snow boots and put your ski boots on.

2. Put your skis in the snow.

3. Have Daddy snap your ski boots into the skis.

4. Have Daddy push you or pull you to the ski lift.

(Thank goodness that little ones don't have to worry about ski poles).

Skiing Down the Slope:

1. Point your skis down the hill.

2. Keep your feet together like perfect little "french fries".

3. Lean to the side (left or right) depending on where you want to turn.

4. Fall down or sit down when you want to stop.

(Slow plowing involves more strength and control than you think and

will have to be learned next time).

5. Go fast...

6. Have Daddy pick up your skis or gloves when they fall off while going down the slopes.

7. Collect a new lift ticket each day you ski (this was Taylor's favorite thing...he was so proud and excited that he had collected 4 different lift tickets, and wore them all proudly on his jacket).

And last but not least...

wait for Daddy to come and pluck you out of the snow

and set you upright so that you can continue to do it again and again!