A Husband's Perspective

What better time to make my first post on our blog! I've been threatening now for weeks, but here it is. Rebeca is in the hospital on bed rest and by the time you read this will be 33 weeks pregnant. I can't begin to tell you how brave, how determined, and how grateful she has been through it all.

Most of you know our story, but to think back a couple years and trace everything that has happened to this point...it has been quite a journey. And with every end there is a new beginning. The pregnancy will end and being parents of twins will begin. Of course, Rebeca will be a natural. I don't know anyone who is more suited, prepared, and excited to be a great mother.

As for me, I have a lot to learn but expect to pick it up quickly. When we tell people that we're having twin boys, we get this kind of sympathetic, "you're really in for it" kinda look. Having absolutely zero experience with babies, I really won't know the difference, will I? I used to say that it would be "fun" to have twins, not having any idea what I was talking about. Soon I'll get my wish!

Back to the hospital now...I just want to say how great all the nurses have treated Rebeca and I. I've always had great respect for teachers, and now I have great respect for nurses as well. Not just for their care, but for their emotional support, their smiles, their anecdotes and stories. They really make as nice of an environment as possible, and it truly makes a difference for Rebeca's comfort.

While we're on the subject of how great people have been, I want to thank our parents, Teresa, Allison, Darlene, and the Lorimers. They all helped in various ways while Rebeca was here at home on bed rest for three months and in general with keeping us sane. So many people have been so generous, including some of Rebeca's students who saved up their allowances to pitch in on some gifts!

So at this point, we get through each day, we hope that the contractions aren't too bad, and we hope that people want to hire me to take their picture. I am spending the days at home working and with the animals, and the evenings at the hospital. If you want to visit Rebeca, she loves the company! You can imagine the challenges of living without HDTV and Tivo/DVR...although she does have her computer and Facebook!

Rebeca has been doing so well, taking a myriad of medications and shots, eating most of the hospital food that is given her, being monitored with three contraptions over her big belly most of the day and night, tolerating an IV, and in general being pleasant when she is so uncomfortable. I don't know how she does it, but she has already exceeded our doctor's expectations.

We don't know how long she'll be there and when she'll deliver, but we do know that she has the best care available, and we cherish every day that Nicolas and Blake get to keep growing inside her lopsided belly. Thanks to everyone for your love, support, and prayers! Soon you'll get to see more twin baby pictures than you ever wanted to...but I won't be able to help it.

Love,
Jeff

32 weeks 4 days

Hi All-
We are still here and still pregnant. I was admitted to the hospital yesterday, so it's been a rough couple of days. My contractions were getting worse and I was experiencing a decrease in fetal movement so my High Risk OB admitted me. They are taking VERY good care of me here, but it is hard being away from home. Just talking about it is making me cry, so I'll stop.

The babies look good on the monitors and the meds are slowing down the contractions. We'll post more later.

Love, Rebeca

31 weeks and getting tired of playing musical couches

Hi All!

Yes, I'm getting HUGE and every couch in our house has a sink hole from my mid- section. My friend Allison snapped these photos so you all can see.

In this picture, A stands for Baby A (Nicolas) and B for Baby B (Blake). As you can tell my stomach is sooooooooo not symmetrical. Nico's head is where our fingers are and he is spread out along the bottom of my belly. Blake, on the other hand, is all scrunched up in a ball on the other side.

Not much has changed in terms of my condition over the last week. Cervix is holding up and we are trying to keep cooking these babies!

Some good news:

1. I passed my glucose test!!!
2. We have the nursery mostly set up. My dear friend Tami spent Sunday with me. Not only did she give me her son's entire bedroom set ( crib, dresser, bookshelf), but she gave me 7 bins of clothes. She washed all of the newborn sizes and the dresser is FILLED with clothes. So at this point, we are not in any need of clothing.
3. I found the double stroller I wanted and ordered it. (Thank you Nancy and Jim!)
4. I gained another 2 pounds last week.
5. Off topic- Bella was brave and got her teeth cleaned. Now her mouth will be nice and clean when she kisses the boys! Oh, and Guapo finally learned how to do something other than sit- High five!!!! There is hope for him!

Jeff has his first wedding of the year on Saturday. I'm pretty nervous about him being gone all day, but I have my "babysitters" lined up and hopefully it will be another uneventful day. He does have a backup photographer ready to go just in case......................

Tomorrow will be day 80 of bed rest.....................(but who's counting, right?)

Hope you are all well!

Love,

Rebeca

30 weeks and still surreal!

Today we are having a "30" party in our house. Not sure what it's going to look like, but Jeff assures me it will be a special celebration!

I was telling Jeff last night that every time I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror, I am still shocked that I have 2 babies growing inside me. You would think that with all of the ultrasounds, movements, etc, that it would seem more real, but sometimes it doesn't. He agreed that it also seems surreal to him, even more so since he's not the incubator.

Our dr.'s appointment yesterday was mostly uneventful, other than the blazing hot office where I almost fainted on the ultrasound chair! My cerclage continues to hold strong and the boys looked good. Nico is estimated to weigh 3 pounds and Blake 2 and a half. Nico is now in the breech position and at this point he most likely will not turn head down due to the crowded environment. They are head to head up in my rib cage. No wonder I have a hard time getting a deep breath!

My friend Allison came over last night with some yummy treats from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. She took some belly pics that I will post later.

Hope you are all doing well!
Love,
Rebeca

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