The Holidays and Our Anatomy Scan!

Hello everyone! I hope you all have had a fantastic ChristmaHanaKwanzika!! I can tell you that our Christmas celebration FAR exceeded my expectations. As you may know ( as read in my last blog), things got rough for my family this year. With the help of local programs, friends, and family, we were able to get the necessities taken care of, and I am still overwhelmingly thankful. I can't wait to get on better standing to start paying these gifts forward! Even with all of the basic necessities covered, we were still on shaky ground and it left no wiggle room whatsoever, so getting any Christmas gifts for anyone this year was out of the question. I know that gifts are not the reason for the season, but one of the things that gives ME the most holiday spirit and feeling of wellbeing is giving my family and friends gifts that I took time to think about and really having them in mind when doing so. So, not being able to do that this year was disappointing for me, and for Phillip. We knew that everyone understood, but it was still hard for us. Christmas Eve we traditionally go to my parent's house to spend the night. The kids were so excited, and that was neat to see. This year was probably the first time that they both understood what was going on and they couldn't wait to see what Santa was bringing them. Grandma set out the cookies and milk (Jaxon had a little bit of a hard time understanding that those were for SANTA...not for him...) and Phillip and I tucked the boys in bed and read them the Christmas Story from the Bible. They have been learning about God and Jesus at their daycare and have been asking many questions about it when they get home. Phillip was excited to share the story with them so they could learn where and how Jesus was born. Phillip and I had limited options for sleep that night...the bed that the kids were in downstairs was not big enough for all 4 of us, the couch that my Uncle sleeps on would have fit us but my Uncle keeps the TV on all through the night and on LOUD, which made it impossible to get any sleep for us at all. Upstairs there was one long couch and one love seat....we made those work as best as we could but I can tell you...it was not the most restful sleep I've ever had.
The kids got up early and were STOKED to see that Santa had come! And boy, did Santa go all out. Gramma and Grandpa Claus made sure that everyone had PLENTY of gifts and really made the boys' Christmas morning special. I can't thank them enough for all that they do for me and my family. We had a low key day of playing with our new toys, and the boys went down for a short nap. When they woke up, it was time to get ready for Phillip's family to come over! With them, they brought a SECOND Christmas for us and the kids. I couldn't believe it! We had an awesome dinner (my mom made lasagna from scratch..YUM) and then opened all the gifts again! All in all, we were spoiled ROTTEN from both sides. All of our family just plain rocks.
Yesterday was the twins' anatomy scan! My dad hauled me all the way to Omaha to get it done! Everything went well...the babies look good. I have about 2 pounds of just baby in there...not including placentas and fluid and all that. Baby B was seen first and he (yes, still boys!) was sitting on Baby A's head. Imagine that. Looks like we've got another Jaxon in there. Lol! We got to see their faces, which was awesome! The only kind of iffy news is that when we were looking at Baby A, they had a hard time seeing all of the arteries in the umbilical cord. They said that sometimes, babies develop with one artery short. All this means is that the growth of that baby may be affected, and the only thing we can do about it is monitor the baby closely. Which we are doing any way because I'm high risk. So, every two weeks I'll continue to get ultrasounds, and in 4 weeks I have to go back to Omaha. Also, the doctor in Omaha wants my thyroid checked again, and wants me to continue closely monitoring my blood sugars. Even though my sugars are good for now, he's pretty sure I'll develop  gestational diabetes. All I can do is try to continue to eat right, check my sugars, and keep a close eye on it.
I have noticed an increase in morning sickness again. I really thought I'd be lucky and have my sickness go away by 12 weeks like it had with both the boys. No such luck. I've been sick at least 3 days a week, at random times during the day. Right now, it happens to be morning and YEP, I'm sick. I think I need to start eating more small meals throughout the day.
Well, it's time to get my day started. I hope that I have the energy to clean the house today. That's another thing I've noticed. I've been SO TIRED lately. I hope everyone has an awesome day!

The Christmas Explosion at Grandma and Grandpa Claus' house!

Jaxon's New Minion Hat and gloves!

The boys in their new Husker gear from Nana!   Twin A's little face!

On babies and boobs.

Hello all!

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated. Truth be told, I definitely tried! The morning after my anatomy scan, I typed out this huge long entry about it and Christmas and it even had pictures! And...I hit the wrong key and erased the whole thing. *sigh* So, this is my second attempt, with some taken out, and some added in as things have progressed and developed.

First off, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.  My family, and Phillip’s family, absolutely spoiled us rotten this year for Christmas. The kids had a blast, and it was fun because this year they both really understood what was going on and enjoyed the holiday. New Year’s went by in a blur, and the only resolution I have is to be a better mom! I hope I can keep that resolution not only for this year, but for all my years to come! 

So, back to my anatomy scan! My dad and I went to Omaha on Friday, December 27^th for my 20-ish week scan of the twins. The boys looked good! Baby B happened to be sitting on Baby A’s head the whole time and wiggled constantly. It was funny to feel it AND see it on the screen as it was happening. Baby B was much easier to be seen and we got a lot of good measurements on him. He was right at 1 pound and measured basically right on track (give or take a few days). Baby A was harder to be seen. He likes to hide from the camera, apparently. The only little hiccup in the whole thing was that they could not find Baby A’s third artery in his umbilical cord. Which isn’t a HUGE deal, even singleton pregnancies can have this happen...all it means is that I’ll require a little more observation (which I’m getting anyway) to make sure Baby A’s growing according to schedule. He was measuring at about 15ounces that day so he’s keeping up with his brother pretty well! The doctor in Omaha seemed a little more concerned about my blood sugar than what I’ve experienced so far. In fact, he’s pretty dang sure that by the end of this pregnancy I’ll be diabetic and need medications/insulin. So far, when I take my sugars...they’re relatively normal. My fasting blood sugars have been about 97...my blood sugars after eating are in the 120’s. I really don’t like being told that I’m GOING to have gestational diabetes. I mean, I know it’s the doctor’s job to be concerned and to be up front with me, but that stubborn little voice in my head LOVES to talk back and make me want to prove people wrong. All in all, I KNOW that it is very possible, and even probable, that I’ll have some issues with diabetes as my pregnancy progresses....but that doesn’t mean that I have to like hearing it. Also, the doctor in Omaha seemed somewhat concerned about my thyroid levels. Thyroid issues run in my family and when I was not pregnant, some of my levels were elevated. We had them checked immediately once I found out I was pregnant and they came back normal. However, the doctor said that this doesn’t mean that I’m out of the woods. Pregnancy can trick the thyroid into thinking it either needs to overproduce, or under produce. So, he thinks that if I was high, and then normal, that my thyroid levels could now be getting TOO low, which is a problem as well. He told me that he would like my blood drawn at my next appointment, which I assumed was in 2 weeks.  Well, that 2 week appointment was yesterday and I asked my normal OB about it and she didn’t seem nearly as concerned about it. I didn’t get my blood drawn, so I’m wondering if they mean to draw it in my next appointment in Omaha, which is in 2 weeks. I should have asked in greater depth yesterday, but I chickened out about it. Babies both looked good on ultrasound yesterday as well, with baby B weighing in at 1 pound 6 ounces, and baby A weighing 1 pound 4 ounces. J

My newest issue that I’ve been slightly obsessing about is breastfeeding.  With Aiden, I wanted to nurse/pump. He was premature and by the time I could actually try to nurse him, the nurses in the NICU kind of just positioned him on me, but he never latched on. We tried a nipple shield without much success and I was kind of sent home without knowing much about how to get him to latch on. I pumped breast milk until he was about 3 months old but I never got fully dedicated it to it...I was stressed all the time and worried about my production. It was not an enjoyable experience whatsoever.  With Jaxon, I decided against nursing because of my negative experience with my Aiden. I regret that decision a LOT. This time around, I would really really love to nurse, but I'm terrified! I feel like a completely new mom, I have NO idea how to go about nursing one, let alone 2. I know there are resources out there for me...classes, lactation consultants, peers...and I plan on using all of those resources but I feel like I tried to prepare myself with Aiden by doing those things without much luck. Also, I have no idea when these babies will decide to come. Of course, I’m planning on keeping them in there as long as I can...but I’m worried that if they come early, they’ll have to be in the NICU and then my chances of breastfeeding exclusively in the hospital (my original plan) will be ruined.  What I would love to do is exclusively breastfeed in the hospital, and when we bring them home breastfeed in during the day, and pump as much as I can so I can have a supply for nights (mostly so I can get some help at night.) I don’t know if this is a smart plan, as I’m not sure the babies will be able to go back and forth from bottle to breast...I just don’t know about a LOT of things when it comes to breast feeding. It seems like it should be the most natural thing in the world, but I am SCARED. Hah. I’m sure I’ll figure it all out as I go.

Well that’s all that I have for you for now, my friends. Hopefully I’ll get around to updating more frequently!

Baby A's face!

Little Peanut!