my sweet jack jack

jack has had a rough few months. it started right after the twins were born. he had to have an emergency appendectomy. a few weeks ago he got a staph infection in his leg, secondary to molluscum contagiosum and had to make another hospital visit. to top it off, wednesday night at soccer practice he broke his leg. you can see in the picture of the x-ray his fibula broke all the way through and partially through his tibia just below the knee. he gets his hard cast monday after the swelling goes down. the break is right near his growth plate, but luckily should not affect it. jack is not fond of hospitals and we all hope he doesn't have to go back for a long long time!! i'm not sure if we will look back at all of this and laugh or if we will have learned something. but for now we are just taking it day by day and trying to survive!

ps. he has LOVED having lots of visitors!!

first grade

i can't believe my oldest is in 1st grade! although if i were my mom at my age it would be my youngest in 1st grade! yikes!! i've heard time flies with kids and it's totally true. it's going by way too fast! (and sometimes not fast enough when i'm holding 2 babies!)

being cute. and can you see his missing tooth?

being cool 

all ready to go 

being cute with his brothers 

nervous face

i'm finally posting newborn pics. i loved them all but narrowed it down to a few!

Arrival

sunday night may 6th, i went into labor prematurely so johne and i headed to the hospital where they gave me a drug to stop labor. luckily my water hadn't broken and the drugs helped to lessen the contractions. we were sent home and told i could take that drug for up to 48 hrs. since i was only 34 weeks i was glad to keep the babies in a little longer. my sister was planning to come either on the midnight bus tuesday night or the day bus on wednesday may 9th (35 weeks exactly). she decided to sacrifice and take the night bus. she didn't get much sleep or course, but i was glad for her arrival wednesday morning. my good friend amy picked her up and then we hung out and they helped with the kids, since i was on strict bedrest. around 6:50pm, i was laying on the couch (still getting contractions about every 10 min) and i felt a big punch or kick. i remember saying, "ouch, i've never felt one that strong before"! then i felt a little leaking and realized that my water had broken. my other labors were pretty fast so i knew i wouldn't have much time. since monica and amy were there, johne and i were able to hope right in the car and head to the hospital. it was raining and johne was driving at super speed with his hazard lights on. it normally takes 45 minutes to get there but we made it in just over 30 min getting there at around 7:30pm. we went in through the ER an we taken directly up to labor and delivery. I put my gown on and they hooked me up to the baby monitors, labor was pretty strong at this point. they moved me to the OR since it was a twin delivery and chances of c section are much higher. at 7:48pm baby Isaac was born at 4 lb 14oz. luckily Elizabeth was head down and she arrived at 8:05pm at 5 lb 2oz. both had good solid cries and apgars of 9. i'm sure glad monica had the inspiration to come on the night bus, otherwise i'm not sure i would have made it to the hospital in time!

the twins originally came with us to my room because they got 9's on their apgars, but they couldn't quit keep warm enough. their blood sugars were also low, so they were admitted to the NICU. Isaac ended up getting a little jaundice and had to go under the lights for a few days. they took really good care of the babies and it was really nice to get a decent nights sleep while i was recovering. i got up every 3 hrs to pump to make sure to get my milk supply up and went to the hospital everyday to be with them. the staff in the NICU were great and i didn't have any worries about leaving my babies every night! they were the best babysitters ever! it was nice to know they were in such great hands and they were in general, very healthy. just little. they got to come home friday, after spending 9 days in the NICU and we couldn't be happier they are home!! we were also very lucky that they got to come home on the same day! they are still tiny and get tired from nursing so we have to top them off with a bottle. it will be nice when they can just nurse so i don't have to pump so much. i do have a freezer full of breastmilk that i'm not quite sure what to do with. save it for a rainy day? give it to asher? donate it? i'm still in disbelief i've got twins, but feel really blessed that they are here with us and healthy!! one baby is miracle enough! 2 really is a double blesssing! ps. the cute shirts were made by my good friend tami! she is so creative and has the cutest little shop. check out her fun shop here!

belly belly

Finally a belly shot at 32 weeks! My belly is definitely much larger than its ever been with my singletons and my shirts are getting too small. I should have had johne take a front view too because my belly bulges out my waste!! I'm still having some thyroid issues (that will hopefully go away after pregnancy) and about 2 weeks ago developed gestational diabetes which I've never has before. This is the first time I've ever "dieted" and in some ways its been easier than I thought but most ways it's been pretty difficult. I've learned I have pretty good self control and don't get tempted by sweets. The hard part is cooking for myself, not just 3 times a day, but 6 or 7 because I've got to eat constantly. I think a diabetic diet would be much easier if I didn't have to feed 3 of us. I'd love to have a personal chef for the next few weeks! My blood pressure is higher than my normal but still pretty low, thanks to all of our family and friends who have been helping out with the kids! Hopefully we still have another good few weeks before the preeclampsia gets bad.

The twins are doing very well. They are both healthy and growing. Their growth is slowing down due to limited space, but not a concern yet. Baby A (boy) is measuring 3lb 14oz, 20th percentile (dropped from the 50th) and baby B (girl) is 4lb 9oz, 63rd percentile (dropped from the 70th). She has been bigger all along probably because she's on top squishing him and taking up most of the space. While he's down making my pelvic bone very sore, she's right up in my ribs. Movement of any sort is getting very difficult but I'm very thankful the babies are healthy and I'm not on hospital bed rest (one of my worst nightmares)!!

We still have come up with names so any suggestions would be helpful!

Easter

we were so lucky to have grandma and grandpa gledhill with us for a whole week!! the boys had a blast and i got lots of rest! we all had a great easter. here are a few shots of the boys in their easter suits. yes, the same suits from last year. i haven't been able to do much shopping this year!









there's a sneak peek of my big belly. i still haven't been brave enough to take a good shot. maybe this will be the week!

my sis

check out my sister featured on the clothed much blog! (now you know my secret!)

ps. i'll give an update on the twins when i can work up the nerve to take a pic of my big belly!

purple

i have been wanting a purple room for a few years now so i finally started this project back in september. i got the guest room painted and bought a few accessories. then i got pregnant and didn't finish the room. when my parents came out, they helped me finish up the stenciling so that we could get the room put back together. i love how it turned out and now wish it were our master!!! now we need lots of visitors to occupy our new room! Thanks so much mom and dad for helping us finish our purple room!!! We are all so grateful for all of the things you did to help us out while you were here! we got shelves up in the garage, lots of freezer meals done, organized the laundry and kids rooms, put up all the christmas decor and most of all helped out with the everyday chores and taking care of kids! we wish we could have you visit every month!! we love you gran and papa!!!

5 boys 2 girls

today was the big ultrasound day. they started out with baby A (closest to the exit). this was the one they thought was a boy at my last ultrasound and it was quite obvious they were right. he looks healthy and is growing right on track. they then moved onto baby B. this one was moving all over the place and the cord was blocking our view. after the ultrasound tech did all the checks and measurements to show us this baby was healthy too, she worked at trying to figure out the sex. after some time, she finally got a good view of her girl parts, took some pics, then double and triple checked to make sure that was right. she along with most people were really hoping for us to have a girl. we all know that ultrasounds are not 100% foolproof, but luckily i will have many more sonograms to confirm this. we are so excited to welcome these babies into our home and i'm especially excited to buy pink. after my appointment i stopped at target for a few necessities and couldn't help but buy some cute baby girl clothes! i have always wanted boy/girl twins. i guess all of my dreams are coming true even though the timing isn't exactly what i wanted.

Who knew?

You would think I would know most everything about pregnancy since I'm a nurse and a seasoned veteran. I must have overlooked this or learned it once and forgotten it but hyperthyroidism is common during the first trimester. And yes I have an extreme case. The pregnancy hormone HCG that runs rampant the first trimester can cause the thyroid to over produce hormones. That means when they do a routine blood test they will sometimes see a TSH level that is on the low side. Mine was very low so they tested my T3 and T4 which were high. Higher than they usually see in pregnancy. My HCG levels are usually on the high side but are off the charts high with these twins. I went to see an Endocrinologist who told me I look healthy other than my thyroid levels and enlarged thyroid. Luckily I don't have to start any medication but they will watch my levels every two weeks and make sure the babies are growing. We are all hoping this is related only to the HCG and not an auto immune disease. If that is the case my thyroid levels should start going down as the pregnancy progresses. Anyway I thought this symptom was funny but oh so true. Problems thinking! Oh yes have I had this and have it bad. My brain is a foggy mess right now. Since many of the symptoms coincide with pregnancy it's hard to differentiate between the two. A few I have noticed are rapid heart rate, shakiness, fatigue and insomnia. Being pregnant with twins these thing are pretty easy to write off but make sense now that I know my thyroid is overactive. We are all hoping my body corrects this on it's own without needing drug therapy. The babies will be closely monitored as well to make sure my thyroid is not affecting them.

big news

we found out some shocking but exciting news on thursday. i went in for a nuchal translucency sonogram on thursday and they found not one, but 2 babies. i'm 12 weeks along and both babies are looking healthy so far. we are very nervous about all that comes with twins but are excited for 2 new little babies to join our family. we must have agreed to have 5 kids in the pre existence, but HF knew the only way to make that happen was to throw in an extra with our last pregnancy!

the most common reaction: what!!??!!?!?

most commom questions

do twins run in the family: no
do you live by family: no
what kind of twins: fraternal
do you know the sex: one looks to be a boy (not 100%) the other was very shy but we still have lots of time
have you been sick: yes, very. but even more so i've been exhausted. 2 naps a day. just taking a shower tires me out
when are you due: june 13th, but will most likely be may
what about preeclampsia: since i've had it with my other pregnancies, i will almost for sure get it. hopefully it wont show up until close to then end.

nate's 4th birthday

i can't believe my baby nate is 4 yrs old!!! he is such a loving, smart, passionate, fun kid. we are so lucky to have him in our home. i don't know what i would do without my nate cuddles and loves!!! if you can't tell by the pictures, nate is all about spiderman so we had a spidy themed day. we had a birthday party with his best buds at chick fila and he got to bring spiderman cupcakes to pre-school. we had an awesome day all about nate!! happy birthday nate, we love you!

more cox farms

cox farms ** warning, lots of pictures**

this is one of our favorite things to do here in the fall!! the boys look forward to it every year and have a blast every time! here are some pics and more to come!