Saturday, November 10, 2012
Week 38
This week was the start of my new career as a stay at home mom. I know that in the very near future this will be a very busy, exhausting job. But, for now it's quite relaxing and even a little boring. It has become pretty difficult for me to move around too much, so I have spent most of my days in the recliner, on the couch or in the bed watching tv. I watched the final season of Desperate Housewives on Netflix and rewatched The Help. I was able to do a couple loads of laundry and cooked dinner almost every night :) I felt accomplished. I had my 2 doctor appointments and everything was good. Still only dialated to 1 cm and NO contractions. My Dr is till shocked by this. These girls are just too comfortable! Regardless, the girls will be here in 5 days! Still seems unreal and still seems like it's forever away! I think I forgot to mention, at my growth scan last week, the girls were estimated to be 6 lbs 10 oz and 6 lbs 8 oz. Dr thinks they will both be at least 7 lbs!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Future mlb'er
This past weekend, was the end of season tournament. Caden's team was the 2 seed and it was a double elimination tournament. We only played 4 games and 2 teams in the tournament. Of course, we played the same team we had already played 6 times (they were the 3 seed) and we played the 1 seed team (who we had beaten once). We won the first game against the 3 seed and lost the 2nd game against the 1 seed, which us put us in the loser bracket and we played the 3 seed again, beating them again. We were then in the championship game against the 1 seed. In the game we lost to them earlier in the tournament, we only lost by 1 point and unfortunately, Caden had been put in to close the game and they scored the win run off him. It's hard to see him get so upset about things like that. But, it's a team sport and he was not the reason his team lost. They all contributed to the loss, just like they all contributed when they won. He recovered quickly. In the championship game, he pitched the first 4 innings. He threw around 50 pitches, and only gave up 1 run. His team was up 4-1 when he had to be pulled (because he had thrown his max number of pitches for the tournament). The next pitcher let in 2 more runs. Caden's first at bat, he led off the 2nd inning. First pitch he saw, he slammed it over the center field fence. 235 feet. It was a beautiful line drive. He also had a rbi double and a single in the game. Caden's team won the game 7-3 and became the 1st place team for the season.
There were several times this season, that I seriously thought I was going to go into premature labor! I'm a nervous wreck watching that boy play!
I love watching Caden play baseball. He has such a great head for the game and he is so talented. I hope he is able to grow and improve and play for a long time!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Caden James Wright
Caden was born 2 hours late! At 2 am, the day after his due date. I couldn't believe he was almost on time! I was in labor with him for 14 hours and had completely natural child birth. My epidural wore completely off and the dr wouldn't give me anymore. I really thought I was going to die! Caden was completely healthy, but he was born with club feet. His little feet were turned in and almost parallel with his legs. Before we left the hospital, his pediatrician has set us up an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. At 17 days old, we made our first drive to Texas Orthopedic Hospital. A drive that we would make every week for the next 3 1/2 months until he had his first surgery at 4 months old. At that first appointment, he also got his first pair of casts. These early casts were removable and each week, the night before his appointment, we would remove his casts and give him a bath. Then drive to Houston the next day and get a new set. These first 10 or so sets of casts straightened his feet out. They were now the same direction as his legs, but they pointed down. He would need a surgery to stretch the tendons in his feet and ankles to allow his feet to bend at the ankles.
Caden was the sweetest, most content baby. I never had any problems with him, other than the fact that he didn't sleep. He would sleep maybe 8 hours throughout the entire day! 30 min naps and maybe 2 hours at a time during the night. I enjoyed him so much and couldn't believe how blessed I was!
At 4 months old, Caden had surgery on both of his feet/ankles. He had surgery on each foot a week a part. It was very hard seeing my baby in such pain and not being able to understand what was going on. It's actually making me tear up right now thinking about it! Caden rebounded very quickly and in fact the 2nd surgery (on the 2nd foot) was much easier! They put a permanent set of casts on Caden, they were blue, the bent at the knee and went up almost to the top of his thighs. He had those for 4 weeks, and then we went and got a new set. The 2nd permanent set was green. They also removed pins that were in his feet before putting the 2nd set on. Caden was starting to try and move around by this time and had the "army crawl" down! The casts did not slow him down! Finally when he was 8 months old, he was cast free! He would need to wear a set of special shoes with braces on them until he started walking. These shoes did not stay on his feet and ultimately, he did not wear them. Caden began walking at 16 months old and was able to walk just fine. Soon he was able to run and jump and everything else!
When Caden was 4, I decided his feet needed some more attention. I took him this time to Shriner's Orthopedic Hospital in Houston. This is one of the top hospitals in the world for kids with orthopedic issues. The surgeon said that Caden would need another surgery. Caden started kindergarten that year and in December, he had his 2nd surgery. This time, it was much more difficult because he actually knew what he was missing out on! But, once again my kid was a trooper! Caden never once complained or whined. He kept his happy disposition and even the staff at the hospital just loved him! The set of casts Caden had this time were again up to his mid thigh and bent at the knee. He was not able to put any pressure on his feet, so he was in a wheel chair for 7 weeks. He was able to go to school and actually became kind of a celebrity.
So, lets talk about Caden in school a bit. Caden was born at the end of July, so I considered holding him back a year since he would be the youngest in his class. When he was in pre-k and I mentioned to his teacher, she told me that would be a mistake. She said he would be reading before he started kindergarten and that he was very advanced. In kindergarten, he soared through and was tested for the gifted and talented program. He made it in easily. He was in the GT program throughout all of elementary and tested off the charts on everything. School was always easy to him and he enjoyed it. He has always loved learning and always wanted to know everything about everything. One day, on the way home from church (about 5 minutes), he memorized the books of the Bible. I think he was 6 or 7.
After his 7 weeks in a wheelchair, Caden got another set of casts. Walking casts with little shoes to go over them. It took him a while to learn to walk in the casts, but once he got it, he was walking and running everywhere. He those for another 7 weeks, then he got a pair of braces that he could wear inside his shoes. Those braces went up to his knees. After wearing those for about 6 months, he got a pair of braces that were just for his feet and were inside his shoes. You could not see them if he had his shoes on. Caden goes back to Shriner's once a year for check ups and everytime the dr says his feet look great. You can see the scars on his feet and ankles and you can tell his feet aren't "normal". He is also very flat footed. But, he can run, jump, ride a bike and actually plays some very serious baseball.
Caden started playing Upward basketball when he was 6. But, I always thought he should try baseball. So, when he was 7, we were able to bribe him and talk him into playing. He immediately loved it! He had a lot of ground to make up that first year because most of the kids had already played 2 years of t ball. The first season he played was machine pitch. He learned a lot and won most improved player at the end of the season. The summer after that first season, I put him in private lessons and by the next spring season, he was one of the top players on his team. He has played every spring and fall since. He still takes private lessons and is an awesome player. He has hit two monster home runs out of the park, he is the best 1st baseman I have seen (at his age) and is a fantastic pitcher. Baseball is his life and he is a leader on his team. His teammates look up to him and try to learn from him. He wants to be able to play in high school, college and pro. I believe he can do whatever he wants and puts his mind to. He definitely has the skill, his heart is what I worry about. He has a heart for baseball, but he also has a very sensitive heart and sometimes I wonder if he can handle the disappointments and "downs" of the sport. Sometimes, I KNOW I can't handle it! It's tough on a mama!
When Caden was 8 (actually 2 days before my 1st date with Josh), we had a terrifying event. In the mornings, before school started, while I was getting ready, I would let Caden ride his bike. He could not go any father than 2 houses either way. There was an elementary school right down the road and a bunch of kids riding their bikes to school. On November 5, 2008, there was a knock on my door. When I answered it, Caden's teacher (who lived a couple of houses down) was standing there frantic and screamed that Caden had been hit. I ran outside (no shoes on, with a towel on my wet hair). I could hear him screaming. He was laying half on the road, half on the curb about 2 houses down. His bike was mangled and he and the street were covered in blood. He had been hit by a car. Without going into a lot of detail (mainly because I don't want to cry again), it looked really bad. He was hysterical, but breathing and screaming. We were taken by ambulance to the hospital. He had numerous abrasions on his face, head, torso, legs and arms. He had a terrible road rash on his side. His mouth was bleeding and there was blood caked in his hair. Luckily, his worst injury was a broken wrist. Most of wounds cleared up and he has scars on his head. Thankfully, he doesn't remember what happened. There was a friendly suit with the insurance of the lady that hit him and he ended up getting a small trust fund set up. I believe to this day that there was an angel with him that morning. I can't understand with my own mind how he was not hurt more. Only God knows that!
Cadens dad and I split up when Caden was 2. Caden spent most of his life with a father. My dad and my brothers were all very close with Caden and provided him with most of the male influence that he needed, but he needed something more. When Josh and I got married, Caden finally had the dad that he needed. Josh began coaching Caden's baseball team and spending lots of time with him riding dirt bikes, and playing golf and many other things.
Caden has had so many hardships throughout his 12 years and I firmly believe that they were all for good reason. I know that God has an amazing plan for Caden's life and I CANNOT wait to see what it is. Caden is an amazing child. He is so smart, sweet, loving, caring, funny, respectful, and so much more. I can't wait to see how he is as a big brother. I know his little sisters will just adore him!
Caden was the sweetest, most content baby. I never had any problems with him, other than the fact that he didn't sleep. He would sleep maybe 8 hours throughout the entire day! 30 min naps and maybe 2 hours at a time during the night. I enjoyed him so much and couldn't believe how blessed I was!
At 4 months old, Caden had surgery on both of his feet/ankles. He had surgery on each foot a week a part. It was very hard seeing my baby in such pain and not being able to understand what was going on. It's actually making me tear up right now thinking about it! Caden rebounded very quickly and in fact the 2nd surgery (on the 2nd foot) was much easier! They put a permanent set of casts on Caden, they were blue, the bent at the knee and went up almost to the top of his thighs. He had those for 4 weeks, and then we went and got a new set. The 2nd permanent set was green. They also removed pins that were in his feet before putting the 2nd set on. Caden was starting to try and move around by this time and had the "army crawl" down! The casts did not slow him down! Finally when he was 8 months old, he was cast free! He would need to wear a set of special shoes with braces on them until he started walking. These shoes did not stay on his feet and ultimately, he did not wear them. Caden began walking at 16 months old and was able to walk just fine. Soon he was able to run and jump and everything else!
When Caden was 4, I decided his feet needed some more attention. I took him this time to Shriner's Orthopedic Hospital in Houston. This is one of the top hospitals in the world for kids with orthopedic issues. The surgeon said that Caden would need another surgery. Caden started kindergarten that year and in December, he had his 2nd surgery. This time, it was much more difficult because he actually knew what he was missing out on! But, once again my kid was a trooper! Caden never once complained or whined. He kept his happy disposition and even the staff at the hospital just loved him! The set of casts Caden had this time were again up to his mid thigh and bent at the knee. He was not able to put any pressure on his feet, so he was in a wheel chair for 7 weeks. He was able to go to school and actually became kind of a celebrity.
So, lets talk about Caden in school a bit. Caden was born at the end of July, so I considered holding him back a year since he would be the youngest in his class. When he was in pre-k and I mentioned to his teacher, she told me that would be a mistake. She said he would be reading before he started kindergarten and that he was very advanced. In kindergarten, he soared through and was tested for the gifted and talented program. He made it in easily. He was in the GT program throughout all of elementary and tested off the charts on everything. School was always easy to him and he enjoyed it. He has always loved learning and always wanted to know everything about everything. One day, on the way home from church (about 5 minutes), he memorized the books of the Bible. I think he was 6 or 7.
After his 7 weeks in a wheelchair, Caden got another set of casts. Walking casts with little shoes to go over them. It took him a while to learn to walk in the casts, but once he got it, he was walking and running everywhere. He those for another 7 weeks, then he got a pair of braces that he could wear inside his shoes. Those braces went up to his knees. After wearing those for about 6 months, he got a pair of braces that were just for his feet and were inside his shoes. You could not see them if he had his shoes on. Caden goes back to Shriner's once a year for check ups and everytime the dr says his feet look great. You can see the scars on his feet and ankles and you can tell his feet aren't "normal". He is also very flat footed. But, he can run, jump, ride a bike and actually plays some very serious baseball.
Caden started playing Upward basketball when he was 6. But, I always thought he should try baseball. So, when he was 7, we were able to bribe him and talk him into playing. He immediately loved it! He had a lot of ground to make up that first year because most of the kids had already played 2 years of t ball. The first season he played was machine pitch. He learned a lot and won most improved player at the end of the season. The summer after that first season, I put him in private lessons and by the next spring season, he was one of the top players on his team. He has played every spring and fall since. He still takes private lessons and is an awesome player. He has hit two monster home runs out of the park, he is the best 1st baseman I have seen (at his age) and is a fantastic pitcher. Baseball is his life and he is a leader on his team. His teammates look up to him and try to learn from him. He wants to be able to play in high school, college and pro. I believe he can do whatever he wants and puts his mind to. He definitely has the skill, his heart is what I worry about. He has a heart for baseball, but he also has a very sensitive heart and sometimes I wonder if he can handle the disappointments and "downs" of the sport. Sometimes, I KNOW I can't handle it! It's tough on a mama!
When Caden was 8 (actually 2 days before my 1st date with Josh), we had a terrifying event. In the mornings, before school started, while I was getting ready, I would let Caden ride his bike. He could not go any father than 2 houses either way. There was an elementary school right down the road and a bunch of kids riding their bikes to school. On November 5, 2008, there was a knock on my door. When I answered it, Caden's teacher (who lived a couple of houses down) was standing there frantic and screamed that Caden had been hit. I ran outside (no shoes on, with a towel on my wet hair). I could hear him screaming. He was laying half on the road, half on the curb about 2 houses down. His bike was mangled and he and the street were covered in blood. He had been hit by a car. Without going into a lot of detail (mainly because I don't want to cry again), it looked really bad. He was hysterical, but breathing and screaming. We were taken by ambulance to the hospital. He had numerous abrasions on his face, head, torso, legs and arms. He had a terrible road rash on his side. His mouth was bleeding and there was blood caked in his hair. Luckily, his worst injury was a broken wrist. Most of wounds cleared up and he has scars on his head. Thankfully, he doesn't remember what happened. There was a friendly suit with the insurance of the lady that hit him and he ended up getting a small trust fund set up. I believe to this day that there was an angel with him that morning. I can't understand with my own mind how he was not hurt more. Only God knows that!
Cadens dad and I split up when Caden was 2. Caden spent most of his life with a father. My dad and my brothers were all very close with Caden and provided him with most of the male influence that he needed, but he needed something more. When Josh and I got married, Caden finally had the dad that he needed. Josh began coaching Caden's baseball team and spending lots of time with him riding dirt bikes, and playing golf and many other things.
Pregnancy-weeks 4-37
After having 3 positive pregnancy tests, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment with my ob/gyn. That appointment was on March 16th. I was 4 weeks 2 days pregnant. I didn't think they would do anymore than give me another pregnancy test and maybe take blood to test my hcg levels. I let the dr know that I did have a little discomfort on my lower left side and so she wanted to go ahead and do an internal ultrasound. Oh wow! I had never had one of those before. Not the most enjoyable thing. But, everything looked fine on the ultrasound. My due date was November 21, 2012. The next morning she called to let me know what my hcg levels were and said they were fine, but she wanted me to come back in on Monday and make sure they were rising as they should. When I got those results back, they were normal too and I went back in for another appointment on March 22nd. At this appointment she did another internal ultrasound. This is when the pregnancy took a turn! I had been doing lots of googling and reading lots of forums because I was so worried that something would go wrong. I knew my hormone levels were pretty normal and I knew what to expect to be able to see on the ultrasound. From everything I read, I expected to see the little gestational sac and possibly the yolk sac inside the gestational sac, but not much more. We could definitely see the gestational sac with the yolk sac inside (embryo too small at this time to be seen), but, I could see two gestational sacs. Just as I was squinting my eyes to try and figure out what I was really seeing, my dr said "um, Courtney, it looks like you're having twins!" My first response? "you're kidding?!" But, she wasn't. She printed out the little picture. I took a picture of it with my phone and sent it to Josh. By the time I had left the dr and was on my way to work, he had not responded. I decided that this warranted a phone call. He had not looked at the picture mail yet, so I went ahead and just told him: "there's 2 babies". His response was about the same as mine. I'm still not sure that we have come to terms with the fact that we are having twins (almost 37 weeks along as I write this), but once the initial shock wore off, we were pretty excited. Josh immediately began searching for a bigger vehicle and house. We eventually got the vehicle (a suburban), but decided our house would be ok for now. I immediately began reading as much as I could about twin pregnancies and what to expect. A lot of the information that I read scared me. Complications go way up with pregnancies of multiples and there is something called "vanishing twin", where one of the embryos/fetuses just disappears. I was crazy worried about being pregnant with just one baby and now I had 2 to worry about! But, at the same time I had this sort of peace about it all. I felt like God wouldn't bless me with 2 babies and then take them away.
For the first few weeks, I had a dr appointment every week. Josh started going to every appointment with me from then on. I think he was afraid there would be another surprise! At 7 weeks, we had another ultrasound and could clearly see at that point that there were two little embryos. They actually looked like babies! We also were able to hear both heartbeats and they sounded great! By that point we had all realized things were ok and started having appointments every 4 weeks.
In the first trimester, I had a lot of food aversions and didn't really feel like eating much, but didn't really have "morning sickness" or any other time of the day sickness. I really had no complications (other than 2 different instances of very light, very brief spotting) or issues. I couldn't wait to get to the 2nd trimester so I could take a deep breath and feel like things were a little safer. Around week 12, I started to outgrow my regular clothes. Although, I didn't gain any weight until right at the beginning of the 2nd trimester. By the time the 2nd trimester rolled around (May 23rd to be exact), we had told most of our family and close friends. We decided not to make it facebook official until after we found out the genders. I started reading as much as I could about planning for twins. As soon as I hit that 14 week mark, I started registering and figuring out what I would need 2 of. I also started trying to figure out where and how to buy diapers the cheapest and we started looking for deals on some of the stuff we needed. It was actually a lot of fun figuring out where we could save $$$!
Our anatomical scan was scheduled for July 3rd. At this appointment, the dr would also do a very in depth scan to check bone lengths and things like that. I was so anxious about this appointment! I have always wanted to have all boys and NO girls, but decided I would be ok with having 1 girl. I have 2 nieces that are pretty fun to be around and Josh really wanted a girl. I had thought all along that we would be having a boy and a girl. I had even started planning how I would decorate their nursery. Back when we found out we were having twins, I kept telling myself "it'll be fine...as long as it's not 2 girls". I should've never had that thought! The dr was able to tell us very quickly that we were having 2 girls. I was very disappointed for a while. I was ok with having 2 girls, but sad that I was not going to get to have another sweet boy like my Caden. Also, I knew Caden would be disappointed because he really wanted a little brother. But, the important thing was that both babies looked great and seemed to be very healthy. All the different things she looked at on the ultrasound were great. She even said that they were measuring very big. That was a good sign to me, because I knew twins were usually smaller. In fact these guys (according to the ultrasound estimate) were measuring large for singleton babies! When we left the appointment, we stopped by a store and got 2 pink balloons. Once we got home we took a picture with a somewhat disappointed Caden and sent it out to friends and family. We let Caden announce it on facebook and then I also announced it on mine. At this point I was 20 weeks along and halfway through the pregnancy!
I started looking forward to the next milestones. At 24 weeks, babies can survive if they are born. 24 weeks came and we took a vacation to North Carolina and Virginia to visit Josh's family. We had a great time, but I have to admit I was a little stressed the entire time. I had convinced myself that Baby B (the one highest up) was moving less. I also had a couple of nights where I had some more light, brief spotting. I think part of my worry was that we were so far from home and most of the vacation we were and hour and a half away from the nearest hospital. The flights were pretty uncomfortable too. By this point, I had gained most of my weight and had trouble sitting fastened in the seat belts comfortably on the plane. I was very relieved to get home. We had another appointment the following week, including another ultrasound. At this appointment, the dr confirmed we still had 2 girls growing in there. They were still measuring big and looked very healthy!
The next big milestone was 28 weeks. 3rd trimester! And the babies' chance of survival goes way up. 3rd trimester also meant I would start having dr appointments every 2 weeks. Throughout the pregnancy up to this point, I really had not had any limitations. But, now I was starting to get tired easier and starting to stay sore. I had lots of swelling in my feet and legs also. I discovered that I could only wear flip flops comfortably. But, I still felt very good considering how far along I was with twins! At about 31 weeks, we finished the nursery and had all the furniture ready. I had read that we should be ready at 30 weeks because twins usually come early. On September 18th, my coworkers had a shower for me. On September 22nd, a couple of my friends had a shower for me. Both showers were amazing and we got lots of great stuff. But, I had a little mini-meltdown because I didn't think we had most of what we needed. My amazing husband told me to go ahead and get what I thought we needed. Speaking of my amazing husband...I don't think I could've asked for anything more. Josh has done so much for me throughout this pregnancy. He very rarely lets me cook or clean or do laundry. He has taken over getting Caden to his baseball lessons and practices. Even when he was sick with a sinus infection, he made dinner because he knew I was worn out. I tease him that he has spoiled me and possibly created a monster. I tell him as much as I can how grateful I am. I hope he knows how truly thankful I am for him!
The next few milestones, came and went very quickly! I have Caden's baseball season to thank for that! Baseball 5 nights a week kept us very busy! 32 weeks, then 34 weeks (when babies viability sky rockets!). At 34 weeks, I had to start getting monitored twice a week. Each baby for 20 minutes to check their heart rate, fluid levels, movement and my uterine activity. The babies had already developed a bit of personalities. Baby B, who always measured a little bit smaller and was closer to my ribs, was always much more active. I could feel her movement constantly throughout the day. She was also the "difficult" one when trying to get her heartbeat. Twice, while trying to monitor her, she was so squirmy that couldn't catch her heart beat for long enough and we had to just go to the ultrasound room. Baby A, the baby closest to my cervix was much more mellow. I couldn't feel her move as much. Both babies have looked great on the monitor each time. At 34 weeks, we had a growth scan. The babies were estimated to weigh 5 lbs 10 oz (baby A) and 5 lbs 6 oz (baby B). 11 pounds of baby! No wonder everything was starting to hurt! My walking and movements started to slow waaaaaay down, but I was still able to do pretty much everything. I just got tired a lot easier. At 35 weeks, I turned in my 2 week notice to work. Josh and I decided (after much deliberation and stress) that the best thing for our family would be for me to stay at home with the babies. This was a scary, scary decision to make, but we have faith it is what we need to do!
8 months
7 months
So, that leads us to now! I am 36 weeks, 5 days. At my last appointment (at 36 + 2), I was 1 cm dialated, which means nothing really. We have a scheduled c-section for November 15, which is just 6 days early. Baby A must be head down in order to deliver naturally and she doesn't have the time or space to move. I am pretty nervous about the c-section, mostly about the recovery time and pain. But, also worried about the anesthesia during the procedure. My epidural when I had Caden did not work at all! The babies could still decide to come early, but now that we have a scheduled c-section, I am really hoping they will wait it out! Twins on average come at 36 weeks, so we have already beat the norm!
For the first few weeks, I had a dr appointment every week. Josh started going to every appointment with me from then on. I think he was afraid there would be another surprise! At 7 weeks, we had another ultrasound and could clearly see at that point that there were two little embryos. They actually looked like babies! We also were able to hear both heartbeats and they sounded great! By that point we had all realized things were ok and started having appointments every 4 weeks.
In the first trimester, I had a lot of food aversions and didn't really feel like eating much, but didn't really have "morning sickness" or any other time of the day sickness. I really had no complications (other than 2 different instances of very light, very brief spotting) or issues. I couldn't wait to get to the 2nd trimester so I could take a deep breath and feel like things were a little safer. Around week 12, I started to outgrow my regular clothes. Although, I didn't gain any weight until right at the beginning of the 2nd trimester. By the time the 2nd trimester rolled around (May 23rd to be exact), we had told most of our family and close friends. We decided not to make it facebook official until after we found out the genders. I started reading as much as I could about planning for twins. As soon as I hit that 14 week mark, I started registering and figuring out what I would need 2 of. I also started trying to figure out where and how to buy diapers the cheapest and we started looking for deals on some of the stuff we needed. It was actually a lot of fun figuring out where we could save $$$!
Our anatomical scan was scheduled for July 3rd. At this appointment, the dr would also do a very in depth scan to check bone lengths and things like that. I was so anxious about this appointment! I have always wanted to have all boys and NO girls, but decided I would be ok with having 1 girl. I have 2 nieces that are pretty fun to be around and Josh really wanted a girl. I had thought all along that we would be having a boy and a girl. I had even started planning how I would decorate their nursery. Back when we found out we were having twins, I kept telling myself "it'll be fine...as long as it's not 2 girls". I should've never had that thought! The dr was able to tell us very quickly that we were having 2 girls. I was very disappointed for a while. I was ok with having 2 girls, but sad that I was not going to get to have another sweet boy like my Caden. Also, I knew Caden would be disappointed because he really wanted a little brother. But, the important thing was that both babies looked great and seemed to be very healthy. All the different things she looked at on the ultrasound were great. She even said that they were measuring very big. That was a good sign to me, because I knew twins were usually smaller. In fact these guys (according to the ultrasound estimate) were measuring large for singleton babies! When we left the appointment, we stopped by a store and got 2 pink balloons. Once we got home we took a picture with a somewhat disappointed Caden and sent it out to friends and family. We let Caden announce it on facebook and then I also announced it on mine. At this point I was 20 weeks along and halfway through the pregnancy!
I started looking forward to the next milestones. At 24 weeks, babies can survive if they are born. 24 weeks came and we took a vacation to North Carolina and Virginia to visit Josh's family. We had a great time, but I have to admit I was a little stressed the entire time. I had convinced myself that Baby B (the one highest up) was moving less. I also had a couple of nights where I had some more light, brief spotting. I think part of my worry was that we were so far from home and most of the vacation we were and hour and a half away from the nearest hospital. The flights were pretty uncomfortable too. By this point, I had gained most of my weight and had trouble sitting fastened in the seat belts comfortably on the plane. I was very relieved to get home. We had another appointment the following week, including another ultrasound. At this appointment, the dr confirmed we still had 2 girls growing in there. They were still measuring big and looked very healthy!
The next big milestone was 28 weeks. 3rd trimester! And the babies' chance of survival goes way up. 3rd trimester also meant I would start having dr appointments every 2 weeks. Throughout the pregnancy up to this point, I really had not had any limitations. But, now I was starting to get tired easier and starting to stay sore. I had lots of swelling in my feet and legs also. I discovered that I could only wear flip flops comfortably. But, I still felt very good considering how far along I was with twins! At about 31 weeks, we finished the nursery and had all the furniture ready. I had read that we should be ready at 30 weeks because twins usually come early. On September 18th, my coworkers had a shower for me. On September 22nd, a couple of my friends had a shower for me. Both showers were amazing and we got lots of great stuff. But, I had a little mini-meltdown because I didn't think we had most of what we needed. My amazing husband told me to go ahead and get what I thought we needed. Speaking of my amazing husband...I don't think I could've asked for anything more. Josh has done so much for me throughout this pregnancy. He very rarely lets me cook or clean or do laundry. He has taken over getting Caden to his baseball lessons and practices. Even when he was sick with a sinus infection, he made dinner because he knew I was worn out. I tease him that he has spoiled me and possibly created a monster. I tell him as much as I can how grateful I am. I hope he knows how truly thankful I am for him!
The next few milestones, came and went very quickly! I have Caden's baseball season to thank for that! Baseball 5 nights a week kept us very busy! 32 weeks, then 34 weeks (when babies viability sky rockets!). At 34 weeks, I had to start getting monitored twice a week. Each baby for 20 minutes to check their heart rate, fluid levels, movement and my uterine activity. The babies had already developed a bit of personalities. Baby B, who always measured a little bit smaller and was closer to my ribs, was always much more active. I could feel her movement constantly throughout the day. She was also the "difficult" one when trying to get her heartbeat. Twice, while trying to monitor her, she was so squirmy that couldn't catch her heart beat for long enough and we had to just go to the ultrasound room. Baby A, the baby closest to my cervix was much more mellow. I couldn't feel her move as much. Both babies have looked great on the monitor each time. At 34 weeks, we had a growth scan. The babies were estimated to weigh 5 lbs 10 oz (baby A) and 5 lbs 6 oz (baby B). 11 pounds of baby! No wonder everything was starting to hurt! My walking and movements started to slow waaaaaay down, but I was still able to do pretty much everything. I just got tired a lot easier. At 35 weeks, I turned in my 2 week notice to work. Josh and I decided (after much deliberation and stress) that the best thing for our family would be for me to stay at home with the babies. This was a scary, scary decision to make, but we have faith it is what we need to do!
Our Story
On July 30, 2000 my world changed forever! I gave birth to a 8 lb 2 oz, 20 inch baby boy with lots of dark brown hair. Caden James Wright was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Caden has blessed my life and taught me how to love. He was the sweetest baby and little boy. Caden's father and I split up when Caden was 2 and so most of Caden's life, it's just been him and me! I love being his mom and enjoyed spending so much time with him as a single mom. We have a special bond and I am amazed everyday that God chose me to be mother to this spectacular young man. Caden has had numerous difficulties and obstacles in his life (I think I'll write a whole post on that) and they have all made him a strong but sensitive young man. I couldn't be prouder!
This blog is going to be the story of my pregnancy and our lives after it.
In November of 2008, I met and started dating Josh. I knew almost immediately that he was the man God had made for me. Our relationship was awesome from the beginning. January 23, 2010 Josh proposed to me (total surprise!) on sunset cliffs in San Diego CA. I of course said yes and we were married October 16, 2010. Caden and I moved into Josh's house in Austin and we began our life together. Josh immediately filled a void in Caden's life (and mine) and has been a wonderful role model and dad to Caden. I'm pretty sure Caden likes him more than me at this point.
On our 1 year anniversary, Josh and I decided we wanted to have more children and decided to start trying to get pregnant in the spring of 2012 (sorry if that is tmi). It didn't take long and on March 13th of 2012, I took 3 pregnancy tests that were all positive! I couldn't believe it! We decided to keep it to ourselves for a while. I was pretty nervous, because I had had a miscarriage previously.
Intro
So, I wanted to start a blog a couple of years ago when Josh and I got married, but I got bored with idea since I am not very creative and my blogs would be pretty boring. But, lots of changes in the the 2 years we have been married! I've always though blogs are kind of self centered and ego-tistical and I really don't like talking about myself much, so I've never really been too interested in writing a blog or even reading other blogs. But, our family is about to embark on a unique journey and I'm sure one day I will enjoy looking back at what it was like! Also, I know there are several family members who are far away that may enjoy reading what is going with us. Hopefully I will be able to keep this somewhat updated!
Courtney
Courtney
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