2009 is FINALLY here- Woohoo!!

Happy New Year! I just wanted to let everyone know that we did get the steroid shots for the boys and I am still at home. We had to go to the hospital to get the shots. I got the first shot in my hip on Tuesday evening and the second one Wednesday evening (New Years Eve). As Jeff wheeled me up to the nurse's station, they were in the midst of changing shifts. They saw my big belly and I heard one of them say "Oh, here's our midnight delivery!" "Hah, hah" I thought to myself. Sally, a delightful Irish nurse, gave me the second shot. She told us that the first baby born in the new year gets a prize basket. Intriguing, but not quite time yet!

This nurse teaches a prenatal yoga class and she spent quite a bit of time showing me some stretches that I can do from the couch. She admired my belly and told me that I was about the size of a full term pregnancy! No wonder I am so uncomfortable! We haven't taken many belly pics since I've been on bed rest, mostly because I am usually in PJs and I can't remember the last time I put on some makeup! Sally encouraged us to do some belly pics anyways. So Jeff is thinking about setting up his stuff in the family room and, if nothing else, we'll get some shots of the belly only.

We hope you all enjoyed the New Years festivities and we hope 2009 is a wonderful year for everybody. Personally, I've never been more excited to start a new year!!

Lots of love,
Rebeca

29 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Family and Friends-

We hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! Things here are okay. Christmas was uneventful, which is what we had hoped for. Jeff made me a delicious turkey dinner that I was able to eat (and keep down)! The only thing I wanted for Christmas was to still be pregnant and I got my wish!

We had our weekly doctor's appointment yesterday and got good and bad news. The bad news, which I somewhat expected, was that my cervix shortened a bit more. The cerclage continues to do its job, but it's a bit scary to see on the screen. Nico used to be head down, which freaked me out even more, but the sweetie decided to turn a bit so now his butt rests on my cervix. They didn't measure them again, but I was up almost 2 pounds in a week, so hopefully that means they have gained weight too. I see my regular OB today and we are planning on getting steroid shots for the boys. When women are at risk of pre-term labor, before 34 weeks, it is standard protocol to give the babies' steroid shots to help their lungs mature. I will get one shot today and one tomorrow.

Many people have asked when the dr's predict the babies might be born. There is really no easy way to answer this question. A baby is considered full term if born between 37 and 40 weeks. Any time a baby is born before 37 weeks it is considered premature. Obviously the closer to 37 weeks, the better for the babies. Babies can survive outside of the womb as early as 24 weeks. The earlier a baby is born, the more likely it is that he/she may encounter a variety of complications, many of which are life-threatening and can have some long term consequences. The dr's have told us that at this point a day in the womb is equivalent to a week in the NICU. While I feel good knowing that the babies would probably be okay if born now, I know that having 2 babies in the NICU for an extended period of time is not how I want my boys starting out their lives. Therefore, we are hoping that I stay pregnant for as much of January as possible. With my cervix so short, hospital bed rest seems to be in my near future. We'll see what the dr says today.

Oh yeah, the good news! While Nico was being very shy during our ultrasound yesterday, Blake was putting on a show for us. We were the last patients of the day, so the tech spent an extra long time with us on the 4D machine. During that time we saw Blake hiccup (Jeff didn't believe me when I told him that the babies were hiccuping inside me, now he does!), smile (he was dreaming of the yummy chocolate shakes that Jeff makes me!) and open and close his mouth. They look so much like real babies now and its amazing how we are already so in love with our sons!

Here are some pics from the ultrasound. Like I said before, Nico was being shy and wasn't facing the right way to get good shots, so they are all of Blake.

Have a fun and safe New Years! I hope 2009 brings us all joy and happiness! (and for us, several sleepless nights!)

Love,

Rebeca and Jeff

27 weeks!

Holiday Greetings everyone! Things are going pretty much the same over here. We had our weekly appointment yesterday and the boys are growing! Nico was measuring at 2 lbs 7 oz and Blake was 2 lbs 2 oz. I really wanted him to be over the 2 lb mark so I was really happy! Nico had his eyes halfway open and Blake was playing with his hands. Too precious!

My cervix is short, but hadn't changed since the previous week. Our hope is to ring in the new year at home on the couch and not on hospital bed rest. The next few weeks are pretty crucial for the boys to keep growing.

I am hanging in there, but have my moments. I've had some more visitors, so that has helped. It's a really strange time of year to not be active in the outside world. Jeff is super busy trying to get prints, Cds, etc, to clients before Christmas. Needless to say, we aren't doing the usual Christmas routine. Our wonderful neighbors, who continue to amaze us with their kindness, brought over a cute mini- Christmas tree with lights on it that we have up in the living room. (otherwise known as my bedroom/ family room/ dining room, etc)

I must admit, though, that as the year dwindles to a close I am realizing more and more that we are going to have 2 babies in our house before we know it. Part of me is so excited to meet them and move out of the pregnancy chapter and into the parenthood chapter. Another part of me is scared out of my mind! We know that we are going to need the help of family and friends to get us through, especially at the beginning. So, if you LOVE to hold babies and you are nearby, load up on that Vitamin C because we will be welcoming all the help we can get!

Again, we send you our love during this holiday time and thank you for your continued support! We wouldn't have come this far without it!

Hugs and kisses and may Santa fulfill all your Christmas wishes,
Rebeca and Jeff

Happy News

We had our weekly appt today and we have good news to report! First and foremost, my cervix is holding tight and has not changed since last week. The Dr was happy about that. Second, the boys are growing nicely. Baby A, who we will formally announce as Nicolas Riley, is a whopping 2 pounds! (He is actually ahead of schedule!) Baby B, also known as Blake Taylor, is a healthy 1 lb, 8 ozs. He is right on track! I've been so worried about their growth because I've had such a hard time eating. Somehow they are getting bigger even though I am not gaining weight. We did meet with a dietitian who works at the Dr's office and she gave us some suggestions on how to "fatten me up".

As far as our names go, each one has special meaning. Nicolas is a name I have always loved, partly because it sounds so nice in English and Spanish. We decided to spell it the Latin way as a tribute to my Hispanic heritage. His nickname will be Nico (pronounced Nee-co). Riley is a family name on Jeff's side of the family. His paternal grandfather and great grandfather were Riley's.

Blake is Jeff's middle name. We like it because it's very masculine sounding and can't really be shortened. Taylor is my maiden name and we thought it sounded nice with Blake.

Many people have told us that we are brave to announce the names so soon. We would love comments, but we have no intention of changing them at this point!

Hope you are all well!

Love- Rebeca
48 days and counting................................................

Is it January yet?

Hi Everyone~
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Being on bed "arrest" has finally taken it's toll on me emotionally. I won't lie, it's been a rough couple of weeks.

I am now on two different medications to help keep my contractions under control and I have been diagnosed as having an "irritable uterus". Basically this means that my uterus is triggered by a variety of things, like having a full bladder, being dehydrated (no win situation there), nausea, changing positions, babies shifting, etc, etc. If the contractions don't cause any changes to my cervix then they are considered more of an annoyance than anything else. Since my cervix has shortened, it's a different situation. I am being monitored weekly by my High Risk OB to make sure there is no dilating going on. As long as there is no dilation I can continue on bed rest at home. If I start to dilate then I go on hospital bed rest.

Jeff is continuing to take good care of me. Unfortunately I am still suffering from all day sickness, so keeping me fed is quite a challenge, to say the least. Family and friends are also helping out with a variety of things and for that we are grateful.

I'll be 25 weeks on Tuesday and the boys are looking good and moving around A LOT. My hope is that December is uneventful and flies right by. That's a weird thing to say since December is usually my favorite month of the year. 51 days until Inauguration Day, which will be a HUGE milestone for us.

Thank you for all of your positive thoughts and prayers. They are helping me "keep my eyes on the prize" that is at the end of all of this.

Love to all, Rebeca

Bed Arrest

Yay for November!! Here is a list of the "Top 10 Exciting Things" that happened this week while I was on bed "arrest":

10. The Lakers have started off strong!!

9. My spinal headache went away! After spending 4 days with this excruciatingly painful headache and being told by my OB's office that I probably had a sinus infection (not too happy with that nurse right now), it went away like Dr. Wong (the best anesthesiologist in the world) told me it would.

8. Teresa, my sister, brought me Rice Krispie treats on one of her many visits. Some of you know this already, but Jeff and I are still amazed by how efficient this woman is. She has our kitchen straightened up in the blink of an eye while getting lunch ready for the 3 of us. She has been a tremendous help so far!

7. Nancy and Jim sent us a box of movies that are all new for me. Some of the titles include Happy Feet, October Sky and West Side Story.

6. My mom cooking for us. My favorite meal she has made so far is her lasagna. Mmm...we ate that lasagna for 3 days!!

5. Jeff giving me a shot in my tush. More details on that below!

4. Going over to our neighbor's house for some home-made chili. It was my big outing of the week. The chili was very good, but I have to say the most exciting part of that outing was going through their son's bowl of Halloween candy. (Of course hanging out with them is always fun!)

3. A visit from my dear friend Allison. We listened to music, indulged in some valuable girl talk, and most importantly, she signed me on to Facebook. She is probably more excited about this than I am at this point, but I am glad to have one more way to spend my time.

2. We saw our boys on Friday at our Dr's appt. They were active as usual and are both almost a pound!

1. How can you not put the election at the top of the list? I know that not all of you voted the same way that we did here at our house, but what an incredible moment in history. I'm sure that most you can agree that our current president hasn't done that great of a job and I think we are all ready for a change. I find it very cool that when someone asks our boys who was president when they were born they will be able to say Barack Obama. (fingers crossed they come after Jan 20) After I voted, we went and got some french fries, which added to the excitement of the day.

We got some more unexpected news at our Dr's appt on Friday. I guess I have been having contractions without realizing what they were. I always imagined contractions to be painful and something obvious. So when the tech asked me if I had been having any contractions, I quickly said no. Then I described to her that sometimes my stomach gets really hard and uncomfortable. That's when I was given the news that I was experiencing contractions. I usually have 3 or 4 a day. So the Dr prescribed me progesterone shots that are supposed to calm my uterus down. Jeff gives me a shot in my glutes once a week. Hopefully they'll do the trick and I can keep resting comfortably on my couch and not in the hospital.

Here's a picture from our ultrasound. The babies were being very cute and "playing" together. This picture is mostly of Baby B, but if you look carefully you will see that Baby A is either reaching over for a hug or giving him a little smack. I'd like to guess they are attempting to hug each other! The membrane between them is thin like a sheet, so they can feel each other's arms/legs/ etc. How cool is that?

On a sidenote, my rebeca@fassett.com email has not been working well. My regular laptop has a virus of some sort, so I can only access some of my old messages. There were many emails that I have not been able to reply to! My ms1cbeca@hotmail.com has been more reliable, so if you want to send an email, use that address.

I hope you are all well!

Love, Rebeca

I was very brave and I'll be patiently waiting for my "prize" in February

I did it! I survived a spinal! I was very nervous about it, to say the least. Dad, you should be proud! I was a big girl and despite a few tense moments, there was very little panicking/ anxiousness involved.

The babies cooperated nicely. In fact, when I came out of the operating room and was on my way to the recovery room, Twin A was kicking up a storm. I still can't figure out how I felt him since everything was numb from my rib cage down. I received awesome care at the hospital and other than some headache pain, I am resting at home comfortably.

A HUGE thank you to our wonderful neighbors who brought us a delicious dinner including fresh-out-of- the- oven chocolate chip cookies!!! Mmmmmmmmm.....................

So, it will be here on the couch that I will spend my days. We are looking into getting a wheelchair so that Jeff can take me out on walks. My only outing will be on Tuesday when I go vote!!

If anyone has any book/ movie/ website recommendations I am all ears!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Love, Rebeca