Thursday, June 16, 2011

Babies

So this is me today at 24 weeks. It's not a very good shot of my belly. It doesn't look that big in the picture but trust me, it's big...to me anyway. Not only that but I have gained at least 20 pounds but I'm trying not to keep track too much.

I have never been pregnant during the hot summer months and so far, I'm not a fan. It's hot and I can't even wear shorts or anything. Even with a summer dress I have to wear leggings because my varicose veins are so awful. I mean AWFUL! Maybe one of these days I will get up the courage to take a picture of them as proof. They are mostly on one leg and that leg tends to swell up really fast so it's no fun at all. Luckily they are not painful.


It's been a crazy couple months as you can imagine. It has been 4 weeks since we found out that we are having 2 more girls!!! (insert concerned and freaked out font here). We found out last month and are still in a bit of shock. In fact, I had another ultrasound today and Brett was really hoping they would find a turtle in there somewhere instead of the 3 lines (for those of you who don't have kids, a boy part in an ultrasound looks like a turtle. But if it's 3 lines, then you know it's a girl). No such thing happened. It's still 2 girls and we have no clue what we are going to name them. It makes us both really ornery even thinking about names because we can't agree on a single name; let alone 2.

So my 20 week ultrasound had to be with a perinatologist because we are having twins. We will have ultrasounds at least every 4 weeks with them. We were in there for a good 2 hours just measuring and making sure that everything was good and healthy with the babies. We thought we were in the clear but the actual doctor found that there was a hole between the 2 ventricles in one of the babies. She said that she wanted me to see a cardiologist and then changed it for after the next appointment. I was a little concerned but she said that it's possible it would go away on its own. I wasn't super freaked out until my regular doctor appointment 2 weeks later. He informed me that if the baby did have this condition then she would need heart surgery within the first year of her life. WHAT?!! Ya, I was a bit freaked out. I guess it's not a huge or super abnormal surgery but it's still heart surgery.

I don't know if I said it before, but we don't have insurance. I was able to find a great insurance for just me but it will only cover the babies for the first 30 days. Brett does have a great job but it's still a contract position and they are moving super slow so who knows when we will get insurance. This surgery would have to take place up at Primary Children's so that would be rough trying to be with both of my babies at the same time. We probably could have pushed to get it done in those first 30 days for insurance purposes but who wants to do heart surgery on a tiny baby? Not me!

Anyway, we just kept praying and fasting and putting them in the temple prayer list. On fast Sunday I actually called my mom and asked if she could fast for my babies since I can't fast right now. So they did a fast and so did Brett. As we were breaking the fast the babies started moving around in my womb. I don't usually feel them moving around when I'm standing so it was really cool. I counted that as a sign and felt a huge amount of comfort at that moment. I still had my concerns but felt much better. Brett actually started applying for other jobs so we could have insurance and I just knew that everything would be okay. Of course I was still concerned but everything always works out so I was just putting my faith and trust in that.

Anyway, today I had another ultrasound and the doctor found the babies' hearts looking perfect and healthy. Can I even tell you my relief? Well, maybe you can imagine on your own. There is a little extra fluid in one of the babies' kidneys but the worst case scenario on that would be that she will be prone to UTIs. We will keep an eye on that but I'm not super concerned. The babies are measuring right on schedule and weigh about 1 lb. 6 oz. each. Baby A which will always be the baby closest to my cervix is head down, which is good. If baby A is breach then they won't even hesitate and go straight to a c-section which I would rather not have. That can always change until about week 30 though so we will see. Things are looking good though and I would rather have a c-section than have to have my tiny baby go through heart surgery.

Now to enjoy some pictures and some non-drama things:

We finally took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese. This was our first time because Jules is so scared of everything that we figured it would be a waste. Well, we were right. She was scared of everything except these little cars that moved a tiny bit. She was fine at Disneyland when we went last year but she was scared of everything at Chuck-E-Cheese. Go figure right? Anyway, we still had a fun time.



I love our pink blossom tree. I forget what the tree actually is but in the spring it is beautiful. We are still trying to sell the house if you know anyone who is interested, send them our way.
This was at Easter time and this is what happens when Libby gives Mark a sweet innocent look when he is eating chocolate. Thanks again Mark.
The kids love to play on Jules' bed. We have several pictures just like this because they always want a picture taken.
Easter at my parents' house.
Easter morning after finding her Easter basket. When did she get so big?
Libby after finding her basket.
Matching girls ready for church...or after church...I don't remember.
Back to Easter at my parents. Jules got a ton of eggs but Libby still found more $.
The girls at the Wilson's Easter.


She's such a cheese head. She is either super grumpy and scowling in pictures or cheesing it big time. That's pretty much how she is in real life too.
My mom works for the person in charge of BYU Women's Conference so she can get VIP seating and such. So I took advantage for the first time this year. My sister has been coming down from Idaho the past 3 years now so I figured I should take advantage before 1) I have 4 kids and 2) while my mom is still working. My sister happens to be the YW president of her ward so when she saw Sister Dalton she was super excited. I quickly snapped this picture of them for her.
May brought Jules' and Libby's birthdays. They are 10 days apart so they get to celebrate together. Here they are at my parents' with their cupcake cones.
I bought them 5 gold fish the day before to give to them at the family party. 1 died that night and by the end of the party 3 more were dead. The last one survived about 3 weeks until we went on vacation and forgot to feed it. Oops. We now have a beta fish (which are near impossible to kill, although I still almost succeeded). That's another story for another day though.
Jules practicing to be a big sister. Luckily the girls are obsessed with babies... Maybe that's not so lucky. The poor babies might get attacked all the time.
I had zero intentions of throwing a birthday party for Jules this year. As it got closer though we decided to go ahead and do one. She's at the stage where the party is your birthday. If you don't have a party, then it's not your birthday. A friend on facebook made a Tangled cake so I tried to make one too. TRY being the key word. It didn't work out quite as planned but she was happy. That weird looking thing is supposed to be the tower.
For the party it was based around the movie Tangled. We watched bits and pieces of the movie then played a game or had an activity associated with the movie. That was a super last minute decision and it turned out great. Here the girls are coloring their bags that we put little battery operated candles in that became their lanterns.
We had a special visit from Brett's brother and his family from Arizona. They came up for a day and we all just loved it. The kids love uncle Matt and attacked him on the swing. Look at all of those kids adoring him, it was so cute.
Ya, that's from a blue pop cycle. What kind of dye do they put in pop cycles these days?
More of the Naumann birthday party.
For Memorial Day weekend we always go camping but this year there was a prediction of rain. When it rains in the valley, it POURS where we go so we changed the plan this year. We all went to Park City and stayed in Brett's parents' condo. The weather was pretty much awful the whole time and even snowed. We just stayed inside and watched movies and played games and had a relaxing weekend. Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures. It was Libby's birthday though so we had some dessert and sang to her. We couldn't find anything to light the candle with though so we pretended to blow the candle out.
Hanging out at the condo.
Enjoying the free breakfast at Macey's for Orem Fest. Notice I didn't even get the kids dressed for it.
We even went to the parade and watched the fireworks. The kids did awesome and we had a great time. We met up with some ward friends and just enjoyed it. Jules is usually terrified of mascots but she was the one that asked to get her picture taken with it. Libby on the other hand was hanging onto my leg screaming as I took this picture.
For some reason blogger uploaded pictures backwards or something because this is out of place like many other pictures. Anyway, this is what Libby got for her birthday. We were able to go to a park while the weather was nice for a couple of hours so we all could ride it around.
That's all for now!

7 comments:

Jennifer said...

Thanks for the post! I've been wondering how you are doing. I am so glad that the heart hole went away. What a blessing. Hopefully the fluid clears up soon as well. You look great! Hang in there!

Stephanie Salmon said...

Your belly is adorable and I'm sorry to hear about the varicose veins. Glad to hear the heart problem cleared up. You will pull off being pregnant with twins very well! Those scooters Jules got are so cool. I love them. We missed Orem Fest this year, I was sad, but 10:00 fireworks were just too late for Mckinley.

Kelsy Thomson said...

You have probably had this suggestion, but have you thought about seeing what medicaid will help you with? I used medicaid with both boys and it was fantastic. However, it really depends on your household income. Anyway, if you are interested, here is the link:https://utahhelps.utah.gov/ . Hope that helps. Other than that, you look fabulous and your girls are getting so big! And so pretty! Hope you are having a great summer:)

Katrina said...

Oh Stacey! Thanks for the update! I loved reading it. I wanted to cry when you said the baby girl's heart was perfect! Heavenly Father is so aware of us and loves us so much. Your girls are adorable and you are always such a babe whether you are pregnant or not. We sure love you guys! We'll be praying for all of you.

Jason and Elisha said...

Gosh I am so happy that things are going well. You, and the babies, are definitely watched over!
I can't believe how much Libby looks just like Jules! Like miniatures! I think the same will be with Kendall and Harrison.
Congrats, again! You're looking great!

Ashley said...

Stace,
WOW! I can't believe it. That is so exciting and so scary! If anyone can do it you can. I can't believe how much your girls look alike. I think about you guys all the time. I would love to get together. Call me or email me or something. My number is 801-280-5856 and my email is ashleymackay@yahoo.com. I will keep yah in my prayers. Take care.

rhodesfamily said...

Holy cow....I can't believe your blog!! TWINS!!! Wanna hear something funny?...2 nights ago I had a dream that I was having an ultrasound and found out I was pregnant with twin girls! I'm so relieved to find out it's you, not me :) ha ha :) I'm so excited for you-you look absolutley amazing! I first thought you looked pretty darn good for being pregnant, and then I saw it's twins-you really do look fantastic! Good luck with everything!