Twins Update and New Pictures

This current week started off very similar to last week (last week being the babies' second week in the NICU). Last Monday they attempted to take Madeline off the vent. This was a very stressful day. They took the breathing tube out at about 2:00 in the afternoon. I was on edge all day. She did well but you could tell she was just not quite ready. She would get comfortable, fall asleep, and forget she had to breathe on her own. About 2:30 that morning the doctor called and let us know they had to put Madeline back on the vent. We were disappointed but not really surprised. She had not been taking her feeds very well the few days prior so the new plan was to let her rest on the vent over the next week and get her tolerating more milk (through her feeding tube that goes from in her little mouth into her stomach). Over that second week you could tell she was gaining much more strength. They were able to increase her feeds by 1 mL every 12 hours and they started to slowly turn the settings down on the vent to wean her off.

   

     So yesterday they decided she was ready to give it another try. Everyone had a good feeling! This was going to be it! She was ready to breathe like a big girl all by herself like her brother has been doing for over a week now. So out the tube came. To start, she did fabulous. She finally understood she has to do it herself. A few hours later though, they started to become concerned with a sharp kind of wheezing sound she was making as she breathed. This was called stridor. This sound was not coming from her lungs but from higher up in her throat around her vocal cords. They told us her throat and vocal cords were swollen and inflamed making it difficult for her to take nice deep breaths. It was like she was having to breath through a straw. They started her on some steroids to help decrease the inflammation. You could tell over time it was taking a toll on her. She looked miserable. Her little shoulders were just constantly going up and down and it looked like she was struggling so hard to take breaths. She was fighting for it though. Poor thing it was like she finally knew what she had to do, and when she tried to do it, her little throat wouldn't cooperate for her. At about 10:00 that night (after they received her blood gas report from the lab) the doctors decided the tube had to go back in. Jason and I were crushed. She fought so hard all day to do it on her own.

Madeline while she had the breathing tube out for the day

     Today I met with the doctor about what the plans are now. The new plan is to let her rest for a few days in hope that the swelling will start to go down around her vocal cords. When the swelling subsides they will start an new round of steroids BEFORE they try to take the tube out again. Once she has two doses of steroids in, they will take out the tube and continue with more steroids. The doctor's think this will do the trick. They have reassured me that they have no doubt she will be able to do this, it just may take some time. They have said she is still so young, and even though Mason was able to get off the vent fairly quickly, Madeline's course of on and off the vent is very typical of a preemie. This was very reassuring to hear. So everyone please pray that this upcoming week goes smoothly for her. We can't wait for the tube to come out so we can see her little personality. I have a feeling she is going to be a feisty one!

     Mason is now off of ,not only the vent, but also the CPAP machine. He is now just on normal humidified oxygen through a cannula in his nose. He is up to over 20 mL of breast milk every three hours. They are actually fortifying my breast milk with extra calories to help him grow even more. They also just started doing this with Madeline's breast milk as well. We've got to fatten these babies up! Today they are removing Mason's PICC line. So that will be one less line attached to his little body!

Mason is such a happy little guy. He loves to grin (even though I know he's probably not really grinning at anything specific but it's still so cute to see). He is really starting to open his eyes up and look around more often. He loves skin to skin time with us. Even his little cry when he is upset (usually when he spits up) is the cutest little thing I have ever seen. And trust me this is the most puking kid I've ever come across. They have had to start giving him his feedings slowly through a pump over an hour and a half in order to help him not spit everything back up.

   Jason and I are holding up well. He returned to work on the second week but was able to change his work schedule so that he works four days a week and can be up here every Wednesdays and all weekend. My mom has been staying with me up here on days when Jason isn't here to drive me back and forth to the hospital from where we are staying. But I am officially released to drive again now! Jason and I have started to go out to eat every Saturday night, partly to stay sane, and partly to celebrate our little ones fighting through another long week! I don't think I'm much of a fun date for Jason though. Last Saturday we went out for sushi and before they even served us I was fighting back tears. I just felt so guilty being out enjoying dinner while our little ones were in the hospital attached to a dozen lines and monitors. But I know we have to also keep ourselves sane through all this. So I pulled it together and tried to make the best of it for the rest of the dinner. Can I say that sushi and a glass of wine was probably just what I needed. It has been MONTHS since I have been able to have either of those!!!

Kisses for my Madie Moo

Me and my little Mase Face

Our first family picture! 

Look at those big eyes! Pretty little Madeline.

Love this picture of Mason. Have you ever seen a cuter little face?

Mason and his milk gut after a feeding! 

Sweet little Madeline

My favorite time of the day! Love holding these little ones. 

Madeline's first baby doll! 

He looks so sweet, but he probably just got done puking every where! 

Madeline and Mason's First Week Update

 The first week (specifically the first two days) in the NICU was a doozie. Like I said in the last post the day of their birth Madeline was off the vent and doing great while Mason was on the vent and worrying us a little. That quickly changed. The night after they were born Jason and I were asleep in my hospital room (I was in Barnes Jewish Hospital which is attached to Children's Hospital where the twins are). My cell rang about 2:00 in the morning. The doctor called to let me know that Madeline was having trouble keeping her heart rate up and her oxygen levels were dropping. About an hour later they called to let me know they had to to place a breathing tube and put Madeline on the vent. About an hour after that they called again to tell us that they were running some tests to try and figure out what triggered these events since she was previously doing so well. One of these tests was another head ultrasound to check for a brain bleed. The day they were born the twins each had a head ultrasound that came back completely clear. This was such a relief to me because for some odd reason this was a fear of mine. So at 4 in the morning to hear they were doing another head ultrasound to check again for a brain bleed had me very concerned.

That same night I spiked a bad fever and was having trouble with tachycardia (my heart rate was running very high). They thought I was getting an infection and started me on antibiotics. So I was not allowed to go down to the NICU myself until later that Sunday morning. I also made the mistake the first day of not taking any pain medicine after my spinal wore off. I'm not a huge fan of taking medicine and I felt pretty good so I refused the pain meds they were offering me later that day. Stupid! Because that next morning I was hurting quite a bit more than the day before. So on top of all that here we go over to talk to the Doctor about what they heck happened that night with Madeline.
The doctor (who is fabulous by the way) took us into a small conference room and explained that they found a grade 3 brain bleed on the head ultrasound. This means that Madeline had a bleed in the ventricles of the brain. (Think of the ventricles as the plumbing system of the brain). The bleed did not escape out of the ventricles into the actual brain matter. That was a good thing. However, we were told they had to keep watching the bleed over the next few days for two specific things. They did not want the bleed to progress and have blood go into the actual brain. They also had to watch that the bleed in the ventricles didn't cause the ventricles to expand and put pressure onto the brain causing hydrocephalus. So the next few days would tell us how severe this situation could be. The doctor did give us a ray of hope in saying that if the bleed did not progress that it was likely she would have no long term effects from the bleed and over several months time the blood would dissolve sort of like a bad bruise. There is obviously no guarantee in anything like this, however, it was very reassuring that if nothing progressed it was likely in a year or two we would never even know this happened. They also told us Madeline had a pericardial effusion (basically extra fluid around the heart) that was probably caused by a duct in her heart that had not closed at birth. This duct normally closes a few hours after a baby is born, but in preemies it often doesn't. They were not going to do anything for this except watch it closely.

Jason and I were obviously very upset by all this news however we kept our cool and went back to the NICU afterwards and sat for about an hour or two with the babies. As we left the NICU to head back to my hospital room I lost it. I have never had a panic attack before, but that was exactly what happened I couldn't stop shaking and could not catch my breath! I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. It was like everything that had happened over the past 2-3 days had finally caught up with me. Jason and my mom rushed me back to my room so I could lay down. I really thought they were going to have to admit me to the looney bin! If I thought I was sore that morning, all that shaking and trembling I was doing most certainly did not help my soreness. And don't worry I was never admitted to the looney bin, they did not have to put me in a padded room! Hopefully that was my first and last panic attack and I've managed to hold myself together ever since! Well, I can't say I don't get a little emotional from time to time seeing my sweet babies go through so much, but overall I think Jason and I have handled it all pretty well now.

Over the next week they followed Madeline's brain bleed very closely. It never progressed to above the stage 3. They are now calling the bleed stable and are now only doing scans on it twice a week. The fluid on Madeline's heart has also improved. The duct in her heart is still moderately open but the doctor's are monitoring it. We have been so relieved the bleed never progressed. We later came to find out that Mason had a small bleed as well, however, it was just that....small and was caught only by a routine head ultrasound. He never had any indications that there was a problem.
Not to be outdone by his sister, Mason also gave us a few minor scares later that first week. They took out Mason's breathing tube.....however he evidently was not ready. Jason had to stand and watch as his alarms were going crazy and 6 doctors and nurses came rushing over to quickly put in a new breathing tube. I think Jason actually saw this happen 3 times over the course of that first week. To say this was a heartbreaking and scary sight for Jason to watch was probably an understatement.

Here is a video of Jason giving Mason a little pep talk the night before they were going to give him another try off of the vent. Every time I watch this video I either cry because it's so darn sweet or laugh at how it seems as though Mason is listening to every word his dad tells him.



The pep talk worked because the next day they removed the breathing tube and Mason has been off the vent ever since! Yeahhhh Mason!!!

Mason's first football is bigger than him! 

Miss Madeline stretching out! 

Madeline at 1 day old

Mason 

I know the pic is upside down but how tiny are their diapers?

Madeline all snuggled up.

Mason and I during some skin to skin time.

I love this picture. I think it captures exactly how Mason feels about being in the NICU! haha! 

Mason during some skin to skin time with Jason.

Mason wide awake! 

So that was our little ones' first week. Like I said it was rough. The next week was a bit less stressful. I'm trying to get caught up with the blog post updates so I can start updating everyone on their progress as things happen. So tomorrow or Monday I will do their 2nd week post. I can't believe they are two weeks old already!!!! Crazy!

Our Birth Story

No kidding when I typed this title I accidently wrote "Our Birth Scary" instead of "Our Birth Story".  So that little slip should tell ya something right there! So anyway here is our little "scary" on how the twins came into this world on January 12th! So this may be kind of a long post, but I want to remember every detail. So there is your warning :)

The Thursday prior to their Birth Day I had a doctors appointment as I do every Thursday. I was 27 weeks that day of the appointment. They did not do a cervical length ultrasound at this appointment because I was only getting them every two weeks. The appointment was basically to check heart rates and see how I was tolerating the Procardia medication they put me on after my 24 week scare. Everything at the appointment went great, I felt great, and I even joked to the doctor about how this was the first time in a while that they didn't send me to the hospital after a Thursday appointment for at least a test! I now wish I hadn't made that joke!

Later that evening I started to have some low back pain. However, I didn't think much about it because this had been pretty common for me. My low back had always ached a little. That night (3:00 or so early Friday morning) I woke up and felt contractions. I walked into the bathroom (since sometimes a full bladder brings on contractions for me) and as I started to walk in I noticed blood dripping. Quite a bit of it...and I FREAKED! I yelled for Jason and before I knew it we were rushing out the door to head to the hospital. I, of course, thought the worse. I thought we had lost one of the babies. It just seemed like so much blood for something to not be very wrong. So on the way to the hospital we got pulled over. Yeah, just what we needed. Jason stuck his head out of the car and yelled to the cop "My wife is pregnant, she is bleeding, we are headed to the hospital!" This cop obviously wanted nothing to do with this so he said rather quickly "GO!" I called our doctor on the way and within minutes we were at the hospital with our doctor right behind us.

Once there they found both babies heartbeats on the monitors. To say I was relieved was an understatement. I was having pretty consistent contractions so they started me on magnesium sulfate to try and slow them down and contacted Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis to have me air lifted there. Within about two hours of arriving to our local hospital I was loaded onto the helicopter to head to St. Louis. Jason left for the two hour car ride there and I arrived within 30 minutes thanks to the ever so speedy helicopter. My mom and sister arrived about 45 minutes after Jason got there.

That Friday I spent my time banned to the bed on the magnesium trying to get the contractions to stop. I was slowly starting to dilate and by friday evening they said I was dilated to a 2. The doctors could not really give me any explanation for the blood. I was told this could be normal labor signs. Meaning I am going into labor and the bleeding was "normal". I found this very strange. To me this seemed like too much blood for early labor. They also told me it could be one of the placentas tearing away from the uterine wall, however, on ultrasound everything looked fine. Also the babies' heart rates were perfectly normal and neither baby seemed to be in distress. They told me that a tearing (or as it is technically called an "abrupting placenta") only shows up on ultrasound when it is fully tearing away. If that happened we would know it because one of the baby's heart rates would quickly drop, the baby would not be getting oxygen through his umbilical cord, and it would be a sever emergency where I would be rushed to the operating room. Since the babies were looking great on the monitors they did not think an abrupting placenta was the cause of the blood.
By late Friday night my contractions (which had previously started to become kind of painful) had really slowed down. I had not eaten at that point since dinner Thursday night. The nurse about 2:00 in the morning commented that I would probably get to eat breakfast in the morning since everything was calming down.

A few hours later things began to change again. The doctor came in to check and see if I had dilated more. I had. I was at a 4. She told me if I continued to dilate then the babies would probably be coming soon. I on the other hand thought she meant I had until I was dilated to a 10, like any other pregnant woman. So in my head I was thinking I can get through at least another day or two at this rate. And I mean wouldn't it be nice if I could make it to Thursday when I would then be 28 weeks?!! WRONG. Within 30 minutes of her checking me I felt another rush of blood. The doctor checked me again and I was already at a 5. She immediately said we are taking these babies out, I'm booking the operating room and the anesthesiologist will be up soon. HOLD UP! WHAT??!!! I later found out that with babies this premature (27 weeks) you can't wait until you are 10 cm dilated because the babies could start to come out on their own. So they were not going to let me dilate any further. Ready or not, this early Saturday morning was going to be their Birth Day.

So back to the operating room I went. The anesthesiologist started the spinal. This was surprisingly quick and painless. As soon as they helped me lay back down on the operating table I could feel my legs start to go numb. I remember a nurse saying I'm going to lift one of your legs up. I looked down and saw this leg sticking up in the air and remember thinking "Whose leg is that?" Well obviously it was mine. It was so strange to see a part of your body and not being able to feel it at all. Before I knew it the drape was placed across my chest and Jason was let in the room. A few minutes later they said here is Baby A, it's a boy. I didn't hear a cry, nor could I see anything, and Jason walked over where a team of doctors and nurses (each baby had there own set of doctors and nurses) started working on little Mason. Jason then walked back over and said he started crying but the doctors had to start immediately putting a breathing tube in. One minute later I heard another doctor say here is the baby girl! Right away I heard a little wimper and slight cry. Jason again walked over to where her team of doctors and nurses were assessing her. She was breathing on her own and no breathing tube was placed....yet. At that time I was in the process of being stitched up. I still could not feel a thing except my head was bobbing from side to side where I guess they were pulling the stitches tight. That was kind of creepy, but I still could not feel a thing. Jason kept peeking over the curtain and watching. I was a little shocked he would want to see his wife all cut open like that, but hey, if it didn't bother him then oh well!. They then wheeled Madeline out of the room first and stopped to to let me peer into the isolette to let me see her. Jason followed Madeline out of the operating room and headed to the NICU to be up there with the babies. My mom was then suited up and allowed to come in and stay with me in the operating room as they finished me up. Mason was still being worked on for about ten minutes before they wheeled him out to join his sister and Jason in the NICU. They did not stop to let me see him. This made me kind of nervous! I knew he was probably not doing quite as well as his sister at that point. I then found out that Mason's placenta had blood clots around the edge and showed signs where it was beginning to tear. So as awful as it seemed to be having these babies this early, it was really a blessing the doctors decided now was the time to take them via C-section. If they hadn't and his placenta began to really tear away from the uterine wall even more, it could have been a real emergency situation and I would have been put to sleep and cut quickly open. The babies (Mason specifically) would have been in real danger. This slight tearing was obviously the cause for all the bleeding I was having.

I was then ready to go and taken to a hospital room. Jason called me about 20 minutes later to say they ended up putting a breathing tube in Madeline. This tube was later taken out about 1-2 hours later because she was doing so well. Mason stayed on the vent and his breathing tube was not taken out. At this point I was so glad to hear how Madeline was doing and so worried about Mason. (This is ironic now because over the course of the next week or two it ends up being quite the opposite. Mason starts doing so well and Madeline starts to worry us.)

Within about two hours the spinal had worn off and I was able to move my legs. Jason came back to my room and said the nurses need me to pump so they can give the babies a little milk in their feeding tubes. I laughed! Pump WHAT?? I was only 27 weeks pregnant and had only given birth 4 hours ago. They didn't expect me too be able to produce any milk did they?? Well sure enough I pumped and produced a little bit of milk! I was shocked. Evidently this first tiny bit of milk is full of important nutrients and wonderful for the baby. So I was happy I was able to give that to them. I have been very fortunate that I have had no problem producing milk. It came in right away and I have been able to produce more than enough for them both.

By 1-2:00 that afternoon I was helped into a wheelchair and was finally able to go see my babies. I think I was shocked at how tiny they were. I obviously had been told their weights, but I had no idea they would be a little as they were. I was able to hold Madeline that day. (It would be almost a week and a half before I would be allowed to hold her again) Mason we were not allowed to hold that day.

So that is our Birth Story. In some ways it was the happiest day and others the scariest and hardest day of our lives. Little did I know the roller coaster of emotions and steps forward and back in their progress over the next week. Tomorrow I will try and write a post on their first week of life and the scare Madeline gave us the first night after she was born. And I promise in the upcoming posts lots of pictures and videos of their first and second weeks of life!

Me holding Madeline the day she was born. 

Introducing our little Madeline and Mason

Our two little eager babies entered the world Saturday January 12, 2013 at only 27 weeks and 2 days gestation. 

Mason Dallas Rimini

Born 6:38 am

Weight: 2 pounds 6 ounces

Length: 14 inches

Madeline Sophia Rimini 

Born 6:39 am

Weight: 2 pounds 7 ounces

Length: 14 1/2 inches 

 Madeline all snuggled up

Madeline and Mommy

Mason and Daddy

Mason in his little hat while Daddy holds him

Madeline wide awake after a diaper change 

Mason and his little grin

The babies are doing well and are in the NICU at Children's Hospital in St. Louis. It's been a roller coaster of a week where they seem to have good days and bad days. But they are tough little things and are battling through. I will write a post later this week for all you twin mommies out there who follow this blog and explain what the heck happened for them to be born at 27 weeks. Trust me it was quite a surprise! 

Thank you to everyone who has called, text, messaged, and most importantly prayed for our family this week. It's been a long week with a lot of tears of both joy and fear and so we thank everyone for their support. 

(I plan on doing updates here on the blog on their journey in the NICU. I try to answer everyone's messages about how their doing when I get them, but as I'm sure you can understand sometimes I can't get to them all. So hopefully everyone will be able to stay up to date by checking the baby's progress through the blog.)

23, 24, 25, 26 Week Baby Bump Pictures

So tomorrow I will be 27 weeks pregnant. So time to finally get on it and post my 23-26 week bump pics! You would think I would be more on top of this since I'm doing NOTHING except laying on the couch or in bed now...but evidently not. Bed rest makes you lazy I guess. 

26 Week Update:

Total weight gain: 32 pounds. Yep that's right. Don't think I'm going to have a problem hitting that 50-55 pound mark that is suggested for twins! I still go in shock when I step on the scale at the doctor each week. 

Maternity clothes?: Now that I'm stuck at home I've been wearing lots of Jason's thermals and yoga pants. The yoga pants are mine, not Jason's. Just to clear up any confusion ;)

Sleep: I get up in the middle of the night anywhere from 3-5 times to pee. I also have to take my new medicine (more on that later) at 4:00 in the morning so sleep hasn't been so great lately. Good thing I can nap during the day.  

Miss Anything?: Leaving the house and being able to run errands. There is so much I want to get out and buy for the nursery and the babies. It's so frustrating having Jason just go. The other night he went to Lowe's and we had to Facetime to pick out a chandelier for the nursery! We got one though! Thank God for iPhones! 

Movement: Oh yes! Throughout the entire pregnancy The twins have been positioned kind of ying and yang in there. Mason head down, feet up and really low in my pelvis. While Madeline was head up really high almost up in my ribs. At my 26 week ultrasound I was in shock to see Mason had totally flipped and now their little heads are laying against each other. So now Mason thinks it's fun to kick the crap out of my bladder. 

Food cravings: Been loving pancakes! I eat the frozen microwaveable ones almost every morning! Also loving fruit, especially pineapple.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Belly button in or out: Neither! It's completely flat. Almost looks like I don't even have one. 

Stretch marks: Nope, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Although I don;t have any yet.

Gender: Baby girl and Baby boy! Madeline Sophia and Mason Dallas. 

Symptoms: Well you already know the drama that was 24 weeks and the 4 day hospital stay. Well at my 26 ultrasound they again checked my cervical length and the doctor thought it looked a little more shortened. So he decided to start me on Procardia. This is a blood pressure medication that some how helps to calm the uterus and help prevent contractions. I was a little nervous about this because my blood pressure is already normally pretty low. That and the day of the doctor's appointment I almost passed out in the waiting room and had to be taken back to a room to lie down. Talk about skipping ahead in the line and getting seen right away (although I swear I didn't do it for this purpose!). So then after the news of taking Procardia every 6 hours he also informed me he wanted me to head over to the hospital to monitor my contractions again and see how I, as well as the babies, reacted to the medication. Wonderful. All I could imagine was another 4 day stay and huge scare like last time. He also was concerned about Mason's umbilical cord. After Mason decided to do his big flip he was now sitting on his umbilical cord which was pressed against my cervix. The doctor was worried that if I was having strong enough contractions then Mason could be compressing the cord and restricting blood flow through the cord, which would show up on the monitors as his heart rate dropping with contractions. So back to the hospital we went. I of course was having contractions on the monitors, per usual, however Mason and Madeline's heart rates and movement looked great. So no worry about cord compression. After about 5 hours they released me back home with orders to take it even more easy than I already am. The next day they wanted me to come back for a Non-Stress Test again. So the next day back to the hospital we went. Again I was having contractions on the monitors and they were actually appearing every two minutes pretty consistently. I told the doctor that I swear the hospital must make me nervous because I rarely feel the contractions until they hook me up to the dang machines! He told me to go empty my bladder and try to relax. So I did and sure enough the contractions slowed then stopped! The babies passed the test as usual so they let me go home. So now I'm on a low dose of Procardia every 6 hours, orders to stay on the couch as much as possible, and keep my bladder empty since this seems to trigger contractions for me. We have our 27 week appointment tomorrow. I'm really hoping we can break the streak and not go to the hospital this time after the appointment! Fingers crossed! 

Mood: Beyond bored and restless! But I know all this time stuck at home and on the couch is worth the twins health and hopefully minimal if any NICU stay. 

Looking forward to: My baby shower this Saturday! 

Madeline at 26 weeks. Love that cute little nose! Mason was facing my spine so we couldn't get a pic of his cute little face that week. 

Their two little heads huddled together. I think they are already best little buddies. Maybe I'll show them this picture when they are three or four and steal each other's toys and hit, scream at each other. Think that will work? Yeah, probably not. 

2012 Recap and Our Hopes for 2013

BIG things happened for Jason and I in 2012. Although it had a few challenging times (think multiple doctor's appointments and needles combined with the stress of building our first home!) overall it was a very successful year! We built and moved into a house and found out we were pregnant with two little miracles! I'd say that makes for a very good year. So I thought I'd start 2013 by reminiscing on 2012 and stating our hopes for this new year!

January: We celebrated my niece's 2nd birthday!

February: was sort of low key. Most of our month was spent finalizing house plans to begin building. 

March: We broke ground and began digging the footing for our long awaited home!

April: I celebrated my 28th birthday and more progress was made on the house!

This was also the month we met with a fertility specialist and began the roller coaster that is fertility treatments. With lots of doctors appointments....

....and even more medicine and needles!  

MAY: We saw my sister Corie off to her senior prom!

And watched her graduate high school!

JUNE: was a busy month! Jason and I celebrated two years of marriage! Although we did not celebrate with a big trip this year, we spent the day watching our wedding video...

and reminiscing and looking through photos of our 1 year anniversary trip the year before to London, Paris, and Rome.

June also brought a family reunion on my mom's side of the family and my aunt, cousins, and grandmother from dad's side came up from Texas for a week.

My sisters and I at the McSpadden family reunion.

My cousins and grandmother

 JULY: We celebrated Jason's 28th birthday and spent lots of time beating the heat in my mom's pool with our favorite two year old. 

 July was also the month we underwent our first IVF treatment.

Mason and Madeline's first baby picture! ha!

AUGUST: Was an exciting month because we announced to our family that....

A few weeks later we found out....

SEPTEMBER: I helped throw a bridal shower for my best friend, Megan, who was set to get married in November. 

OCTOBER: Our house was finished and we moved into our brand new home! FINALLY! All the stress and decisions paid off! 

NOVEMBER: I was honored to be the Maid of Honor and Jason an usher in our good friends Megan and Nigel's wedding.  

This was also the month of our gender reveal party!!!

DECEMBER: Started off kind of scary with 4 days in the hospital and being told no more work for me in order to keep these babies from coming too early.

Then it was time for my favorite time of year! Christmas! 

 

It was even a white Christmas! 

 We spent New Years Eve at home this year. A first for us, but I am obviously not supposed to be doing much, and Jason had to work the next morning. No champagne toasts for us this year. In fact I had bowl of Lucky Charms cereal in bed and we watched the ball drop in New York on tv at 11:00 and were asleep by 11:15. Oh how the times have changed :) Today Jason worked and I spent the morning on the couch watching the Rose Bowl Parade. Made me miss living in Pasadena! Jason and I used to run the path around the Rose Bowl Stadium when we lived there. It was such a neat town and quick 20 minute drive to LA. Some days I really miss traveling, but it's so nice to be around family and have an actual set home! Packing every three months gets a little old! 

  

We have a lot to look forward to in 2013. Two very precious things in particular. We hope this year brings us two healthy babies, to finish decorating and furnishing our new home, and of course health and happiness for us, our friends, and family. 

So Happy New Year everyone!