27 days

Today marks my 27th day at the hospital. Time has past strangely quick and slow all at the same time. While many days are very long, the weeks do go by fast!

By far the hardest part of being "incarcerated" at the hospital is not having my kids around. I facetime with them a few times a day, but I just miss them so much. We are so grateful for our families in Utah for taking them for the summer. They are having so much fun. Parker told me the other day that he wants my sister, Lauren, to be his mom. He also told my brother, Alex, he could be his dad. Luckily they both declined his offer!

The babies continue to grow. Not as quickly as before, but still growing. They are guessing they are 2 pounds 8 ounces and 2 pounds 9 ounces now. It puts them in the 8th and 9th percentile, which makes them growth restricted. My Doctors aren't surprised at all by this. They said it was pretty common for twins, especially mono-mono twins, to be small for their gestational age. On top of the 5-6 hours of monitoring a day, we are adding in once a week Doppler ultrasounds in the mix.  I'll be 30 weeks on Wednesday. This is big milestone! Everyday counts in the womb.  Statically speaking, many  problems associated with prematurity drop significantly around 30 weeks!! 

This trial has TOTALLY changed my outlook on being a stay at home mom and motherhood in general. I hope make each day count with my kids and Josh in the future. My family is everything to me. Of course, I knew this before but this has been a great reminder to me.

I have great days, good days, and bad days here at the hospital. I've had some many sweet visitors come and see me, so many nice care packages sent, and many prayers said in our behalf. All these things mean so much to me. Please continue to pray for us, especially Graham and Cooper!

Mono-Mono twins

It has been almost two years since I blogged. Lots has happened in that time. One of the most exciting thing is that I am currently 26 weeks pregnant with twin boys- Cooper and Graham. We are over the moon to be expecting again. Not just one but TWO!! Josh and I joke around that I never do things the easy way. This pregnancy is no different.

This week I checked into the hospital and will be here for the duration of my pregnancy. My sweet boys are sharing a placenta but also the same sac. They are called mono-mono twins. This is considered to be extremely high risk and rare. Because they are sharing the same sac, they can more easily compress their cords causing stillbirth. So by coming to the hospital, they will conduct non-stress tests 3 or more times a day. This will give the doctors a better idea of what the babies' health, how they are doing and what their cords are doing. Identical twins are random and happen in about 3% of all pregnancies. Mono-mono twins happens about 1% of identical twins. Meaning the chance of this happening is around .003% of any given pregnancy.

Additionally, Cooper (twin A), has been diagnosed with a pretty major health defect. It is called Transposition of Great Arteries (TGA). His pulmonary artery and aorta are connected in the opposite spots. To correct this he will need open heart surgery after birth. 

Originally with the mono-mono twin diagnose, the Doctors where going to do a c-section at 32 weeks (hoping and praying I had it that far). But with Cooper's heart, the heart surgeon needs/wants Cooper to be as big as possible. We will see how far they allow me to go. 

We decided to send our kids to Utah for the summer. Our families have been so willing to help us out in anyway they can. We are so grateful for them!

We have been hesitant to sharing this crazy news with everyone. It is a lot to hear and take on, but we know that it is all in Heavenly Father's hands.

Happy Birthday Avery

I am months behind on my blog posts. I'll probably never get caught up.

Miss Avery had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. She is four years old!! I always like to have a list of questions to ask her on her birthday. Some answers have changed from a year ago, some have stayed the same!

1. What is your favorite color? pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Dress ups
3. What is your favorite fruit? blueberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Daniel Tiger’s neighborhood
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? quesadilla
6. What is your favorite outfit? Any dress
7. What is your favorite game? Candyland
8. What is your favorite snack? pretzels
9. What is your favorite animal? Elephant
10. What is your favorite song? I am a child of God
11. What is your favorite book? Disney Princesses from Woofie
12. Who is your best friend? Mom, Dad and Kamryn
13. What is your favorite movie? Barbie and the Diamond Castle
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike
15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Ariel
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Honey Bunches of Oats
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Crepes
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Be a Dentist

She is such a sweetheart and we are so glad she's in our family! 

 

Life

Wow, I can't believe it has been over two months since I last posted. We moved across country to the midwest. We live in a small town outside of St. Louis! What a change! But in a great way. There is so much to catch up on (Disneyland, moving, vacation in Utah), not sure if I ever will. I will just start from the most recent.

We went to Nauvoo last weekend. What a great time we had. It was so much fun. We drove the 3.5 hours early on Saturday and came home on Sunday. The weather was perfect on Saturday. Josh and I hadn't ever been there before, so it was exciting for both of us! Avery's favorite part was dressing up in the pioneer clothes. We had a hard time getting her away from that! There was such a great spirit there. It was so inspiring to think about all the faith, courage, dedication, and love those pioneers had. I made me want to be a better person.

 Nauvoo Temple

 Beautiful flowers growing on the Mississippi

Door where Joseph Smith was shot and killed in Carthage

We had such a great time and can't wait to go back!

Part 2

Last Saturday started off with my parents and I going to one more graduation for Josh- the Commencement ceremony for UNLV. It was at the Thomas and Mack Center.

 Walking in

 On the Jumbotran

Waiting to be hooded

It's official!!

We also went swimming with all the family who came into town.

Avery likes to be extra safe!

 Top row- Griffin, Megan, Adam, Kaden, Emily, Neve, Wayne, Maura, Quinne, Kes, Aaron, Me, Josh

Bottom row- Gavin, Parky, Gramma Della, Avery, Lila, Nessa, and Hayden

That night we went out to eat with my parents and sister. We took them to Firefly! We love it. Mom and sister did as well. My dad kept saying "well that was interesting." That's code for "where in the whole did they just take me!"

My parents brought us some floating lanterns to light off. Boy, were they fun. We (Josh and me) were a little nervous about using them. But they were so cool. We grew quite a crowd at the park. So much fun!

It was so nice to have all of our family in town. We are so grateful to everyone who came and celebrated Josh with us!!

Life Changes Part 1

Here's part 1....Lots has happened since my last post...well over a month ago. Eeeek! Some of the best news- Josh graduated, Parker started to walk, we are moving and Josh found a job!!

First off-The celebration started off last Wednesday. It was the senior gala. It was held at the Griffin Mansion in Las Vegas. It was fun to spend the night away without any kids.

 Us and the Davis'

Dental Friends

Erika and Me

Rebecca, Kirsti, me and Tiffany

Josh and me

 Dental Wives

Then on Friday, the ceremonies began. All 3 of them! First his Military ceremony. He was promoted to Captain in the Army National Guard. So proud of him. It was a very touching ceremony. They had each state why they joined the armed forces.

 

 Josh, Gramma Della and Kes

Josh and Kes

 

  Taking his oath

Later that on Friday was Josh's Convocation. All 85 dental grads received their hoods. It was so exciting to see all his hard work finally coming to a close!

 Josh's whole family came down for the big event! My parents and sister also came. 

 Receiving his hood and metal

 Josh and the peanut

 Josh and my parents

 Dr Armstrong and his brother, soon to be Dr Armstrong.

 Some of Josh's Family-missing the Shipley family- they needed to be done.

My Family

Out to eat to celebrate