Pain in my $#%^@#

Well, Sarah's got a pain in her... rib (her left lower rib area, to be exact). The boys are getting bigger (a good thing), but her body can only expand outward, which includes pressure on the ribs. This is common during pregnancy, especially with twins. In some cases the rib(s) can be moved out of place and chiropractic adjustment is often recommended. Sarah's been in pain for days. We have our weekly doctor's appointment on Tuesday afternoon and will get Dr. Schaus' advice then. For now, Sarah's trying to resist movement and is reluctantly taking a Tylenol once or twice a day.

Thank you to Michelle and Neal Cox for the wonderful dinner last night! Spinach linguini, a hearty salad, rolls and apple pie. Thanks to the meals from friends, I was able to get a bit more organized around the house this weekend, do some yard work, clean a bathroom, clean 2 1/2 loads of laundry and work a few hours for the gallery on Saturday and Sunday. I gotta cut that last duty out of my weekends!!

No working on weekends!

Mail

Mysterious package!
A mysterious package from some place in NY arrived in the mail yesterday! It was a foam container labeled with warnings about the 'dry ice' contents. Sarah called me at work about it, and I immediately asked myself, "Who has it out for me?" "Is it a bomb?" I thought. When I got home, I carefully opened the foam case and discovered W.M.D.s!... Wonderful Microwaveable Dinners!! My preschool friend Laura Tuggle-Anderson and her husband, Ned, sent a care package of food to Sarah and me! Gourmet chicken pot pie, mac and cheese, and chocolate torte! We ate well on Thursday night, and I was able to get a few tidying projects done around the house.

Today was a long day at work, but Sarah was well provided for. Our arty friends Chad and Pam provided a beautiful veggie soup for lunch, and Kathie Robinson (my department chair's wife) brought by dinner: gumbo and cornbread for dinner and an apple cardamom galette for dessert.

Now, I know that I've blogged a lot about food, but we are so thankful to our friends and family for the meals brought to our door every day (and I'm a guy, and I love food). Before the pregnancy complications, Sarah and I would spend time together in the kitchen prepping dinner together. It is one of our 'together activities' that we have lost to bed rest.

The last bit of news... we got the boys' car seats in the mail today:

Graco Platinum Snug Ride Car Seat

February 10, 2009

Yesterday I was able to break my bed rest rules and venture out into the world for a doctor's appointment. We learned that both babies are in the head-down (vertex) position (at least for now), and Dr. Schaus thinks that their neurological development is a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. All good news!

First drawing of the boys, by Dr. Schaus

Sunday

dinner menu
Today was a full day and so was Saturday. I ended up working 8 1/2 hours on Saturday readying for the opening and film (which were great successes and an article in the Daily Sentinel really brought the community through the doors). This warranted a late dinner of the best vegetarian chili and rice we've ever had... served with Asian pears. Thank you Sonnie and Kreg!

Sunday was filled with sleeping-in, grocery shopping, vacuuming, finishing paint work on the antique guest bed, installing the guest bed, and tidying around the house. My Aunt Leslie dropped off some stew for freezing, and Marty Prince brought by a casserole, sweets, and some extras. Dinner was graciously provided by Tracy and Merci. It came with a menu and cat treats! Orion LOVES edamame!

if it's green, he eats it
Needless to say, the meals are a HUGE help to us. Words cannot sufficiently express our gratitude to friends and family!

Home again

After being admitted to the hospital on Sunday evening and spending three nights there, it is such a relief to be home. I missed Christian (though he visited me every chance he had), our comfy bed, and good food.

chicken tortilla soup from the Dolans
Speaking of good food, our friends have been delivering wonderful meals daily to our doorstep. Since Christian has to do everything around the house, the meals have been extremely helpful. He doesn't have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, which frees up time to get other things done around the house. These daily gifts make a huge difference. We can't thank our friends enough.

Shortly after Christian brought me home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, our friend Corinne dropped off a delicious stew along with some red tulips (one of my favorite flowers). Every time I look at them they brighten my day!

Tulips from Corinne

Tuesday Arrivals

Today a package was waiting at the front door when I returned to the house for Sarah's phone charger. My sister sent a Horizontal-Fun-Pack to help cure Sarah's bedrest boredom. Inside were some cool magazines (Brain, Child; ReadyMade...), a fun book of letters to President Obama from school children, and these two little organic "sprouts!" Simone welcomed them into our home almost immediately.

Sprouts meet Simone
And once again, our Nac friends made the day so much easier with meals. Vietnamese food was delivered to the hospital via Michelle Rozic's Super Supper Delivery Service, Inc!

Update

After a day of tests including an MRI, a glucose level test, and the hardest test of all... hospital food eating. Sarah is more than ready to return home! The Procardia seems to be helping a great deal with the contractions. Sarah is not having any side effects from the drug and the babies are fine. The terbutaline gave her the jitters and altered her mood. Stupid terbutaline!

Our primary care physician, Doctor George Hugman, came by this evening and was his usual reassuring and warm-hearted self. The guy has a down to earth approach that seems hard to find in a doctor. He gave us some good and honest information about Sarah and the babies' health. Sarah's release from he hospital should now come on Wednesday morning.

Today's ultrasound supplied us with a good picture of Baby A's face. I've turned it vertically for better viewing.

Thank you Chay and Scott...

the drop zone
Thank you Chay and Scott... and the team of cooks looking out for us! We now have a cooler located outside of our front door for food deliveries. We cannot believe this outpouring of support! We appreciate this so much and it really is going to make things a bit easier for us both! Today our lunch and dinner was one less thing to worry about thanks to Donna Lipschutz' homemade chicken noodle soup, sweet potato pie, and cole slaw! Fab Donna! Thank you!

Hospital Visit Numero Dos

trying to keep spirits high
So... Sarah's back in the hospital. Sunday she and I decided her stomach-centered contractions were too close together (8-12 min apart) and that we needed to call the doctor. The doctor recommended another visit to the hospital. Tonight is her second night there. They have tried ritodrine/terbutaline and nifedipine to slow the contractions. She's reacting 'ok' to these drugs (to the nifedipine/Procardia better I think) but if they stop working, the doctor wants to use magnesium sulfate for preterm labor. From my reading, magnesium sulfate is more risky than beneficial.

Sarah is only 27 1/2 weeks... always eating healthy foods, always drinking water (hydrated), and taking prenatal vitamins. We know she is more prone to preterm labor because of her carrying twins and her body size. We want to keep the boys developing for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE but don't want to harm mother or children. Keep your fingers crossed for us. With these hospital visits, I think we're both in sleep depravation training. I'm sure we can put our training to use after the births!

monitoring

January 29, 2009

Well, as some of you know by now, I was put on bed rest for an indefinite period of time. Following some unusual symptoms this past weekend, I went to the doctor on Tuesday afternoon just to make sure everything was okay. I was shocked to hear that I was already dilating and needed to check into the hospital for overnight observation. After arriving at the hospital and being hooked up to several monitors, the nurses determined that I was also experiencing contractions. They were able to stop the contractions with medication and send me home the next morning with orders for strict bed rest. So far, the babies seem to be doing okay.

This isn't at all what we expected, especially given how easy this pregnancy has been (until now). Christian has been amazingly supportive, though. Bed rest isn't easy for me, but it's not easy for him either. Still, he manages to put a smile on my face each and every day.

We'll be posting any updates on the blog. Our next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday for our 28-week ultrasound. We'll let you know how it goes. Maybe we'll even have some new baby pictures to post!

Nursery

The boys' room in the rental is coming together. Since we're still renting (see other post below for our last home buying experience), we are concentrating on the major pieces for the room. We got the cribs in, and they are fab! Can you believe cribs can cost as much as my used pickup? These appear to be the price of a used car but cost much less. We scored an Angela Adams 5' round rug in Houston last weekend for 75% off. Add a dragon and a sleeping dog, and we're getting close to "cool."

Grandmother-to-be Paula Cutler is sewing a crib bed skirt from this material for the cribs.

Belly

The boys are getting bigger and they're making Sarah's a.m. and p.m. quite eventful! Kick, roll, punch, bump, nudge, jab, jab, jab! 26 weeks and counting.

Party in my crib!

So, we gave in a little to consumerism... but we didn't spend that much, really. The boys will be sleeping in style. These p.h.a.t. cribs are coming home, yo. We have attempted to do the crunchy, bohemian thing together with all of our home decor and even some of our early baby purchases. We are encouraging friends and family to buy used if they're going to buy for the boys. We have started a registry @ TARGET, though I think that if one of these items can be found slightly used on eBay or through a consignment store, then we're all for it! New is nice, but reducing, reusing and recycling is better. So, why the new cribs? Because we couldn't resist...

Nesting

So, it's nesting season... We decided that the "W" inspired economy isn't going to get better any time soon and the housing market is good for buyers. We put an offer on a house in early December. The offer was accepted and the closing date was agreed to... but then we had an inspection! I tagged along for the four hour inspection, crawling through the attic and under the house with the inspector. Besides ancient duct-work, poor insulation, and exposed-live electrical wires in the attic, the house's beams under the house have extensive wet rot and the sewer system is leaking under the house creating a pool of #$&@!. So, we passed on the house and are still looking. For now, we're concentrating on organizing the rental.

December 23, 2008

We met with the nurse today for our 22-week appointment. We got to hear the babies' heartbeats again, which is always fun and reassuring. One baby was cooperative, but the other one kept moving around while the nurse tried to locate his heartbeat. She finally got the "whoosh-whoosh-whoosh" of his heart to come through clearly, and she said both babies had strong heartbeats.

My belly is measuring at 25 weeks. It's hard to imagine that I will get a lot bigger, but I'm taking it one day at a time. The past few months have passed by so quickly. Before we know it, we'll be bringing our baby boys home.

I couldn't ask for a better partner on this journey. Christian has been an amazing source of love, support, and laughter. He's going to make a wonderful father.