Keeping on my toes!

Well here is the latest and greatest for this baby. I went today for my non-stress test. I thought things were going great. The lady took the little paper with the recorded heart rate and contractions. Then I heard her talking about squeezing someone in and who the doctor was. Also mentioning this person was being induced in two days. I knew they were talking about me. The lady came in and said they found an arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat), so I would need to get an ultrasound to verify everything was OK. So I waited and it turns out some times the baby can have heavy breathing which will sound like an arrhythmia. She asked about caffeine, and I confidently said I don't drink caffeine, then she added chocolate. I did have chocolate milk last night so I figured that was the cause. After she monitored the baby she said the heartbeat was completely normal and I had a healthy good-sized baby. So this stress only lasted for about 30 minutes. It seems like the end of this pregnancy has been more eventful then my other three combined. One interesting thing is that this pregnancy has probably been during a more stressful time, especially with the last trimester of pregnancy. The interesting part is that my blood pressure has been lower than it has ever been. I can't complain though!

Ups and downs to Mother's Day

Yesterday was great day. I woke up to Jeremy bathing the kids, followed by new flip-flops. I then received Lonestars greatest Hits CD, then he cooked breakfast while I took a long relaxing shower. When I sat down to breakfast I got another very cute pair of flip flops. We went to church and I got a rose. Then one of the primary classes made flower bouquets for all the ladies in primary. Afterwards I got two cute little purses filled with coupons and chocolate coins that Logan and Miranda made at last weeks primary activity. Then things started going down hill. I came home feeling nauseous and slept fittfully with contractions froma bout 12:30-3:30. Jeremy in the meantime changed diapers fed the kids and got them down for their naps. Which we all enjoyed. We then went to Jeremy's grandparents house where we got to visit with lots of family. I still continued to feel really bad. For some it would be a sign of impending labor. Not for me, I just didn't feel food. By the time we left at 7:00pm I was near tears not out of pain just because I felt horrible, nauseous, headache...We got home at 7:30 and I went pretty much straight to bed while Jeremy again took care of the kids and put them to bed. I felt a little better but slept until this morning waking up every hour or so and using the restroom almost as frequently. Come to find out at 4:00am Logan had an accident, and Jeremy took care of everything. He got back into bed and he had been waking up every 45 minutes. He had a major headache, was fighting a fever and was all around achey. We were quite the miserable pair.

Today he is feeling better, not perfect but he is a trooper and at work. One of these days he will be able to not be so stressed. This week he has a lot to do. He is going to take his final this week. Then with the baby coming may affect when he can take his exam.

Anyways, it was a great day after all is said and done, my family is the greatest. I love each of them very much. They make me look like a good mother and wife!

The week of the doctors

Haylie and Hannah had their two year check up yesterday. I know people love to hear about their growth and stuff. So here are their latest stats. Haylie weighed in at 24 3/4 pounds and is 33" tall. While Hannah weighs a little less at 23 pounds she is a little taller at 33 1/4". Another interesting fact is that Hannah's head circumference is 19" while Haylie's is 18 1/2". They are still at the small end of the charts but the doctor says they are growing at a consistent pace. After Logan and Miranda who would have thought we would have such petite little girls.

Also at the check up it was discovered that Hannah has an ear infection in both ears. She is on Amoxicilan for the next little bit. It is still hard to believe they are little girls not just baby twins.

I do have to give Jeremy a big job well done. He helped at Miranda's school yesterday morning as he does every Wednesday, fulfilling my commitment. Immediately following he took me to the doctors. We came home for a little bit then him and Logan went to get Miranda. Jeremy being the good father that he is brought Miranda her scooter and Logan rode his bike. He came home and continued to do laundry and straighten things up. Then it was time to take the girls to their doctors appointment, which involved getting shots and going to the pharmacy. On the way home he stopped at the grocery store. When he got home he cooked french toast for dinner. He then proceeded to do dishes and bathe the kids. You may wonder what I did all day...nothing! I laid on the couch except for the doctor's appointment of course. So he took the day of to give me a day off and probably worked harder than he would have if he had been at work. I love this man so much, he is the greatest!

The doctor said...

I went into day to verify that the head is down, and it is, wa-hoo, so my scheduled version was canceled. I go back in on Monday for an appointment and then on Tuesday for a Non-Stress Test. Wednesday I get the day off, and Thursday, if I make it that far, I will get induced. So that is the up to the minute update on this crazy pregnancy! Also in the mix jeremy will be taking a final on Wednesday so hopefully the baby won't interfere with that. he is a little concerned as timing is everything!

Acupuncture

Alright, here is the latest. I called my sister a little teary eyed at the thought of having a c-section. She is a LVN for a local hospital. She went and talked to a doctor that she works with who had lots of positive things to say, includig babies can flip until the last 10 minutes before delivery. He also pointed out that since I did have twins there is probably a little more room than normal. Anyways he suggested heating the outside tip of my pinky toe. It makes the baby active and it should make the baby go bottom up! Then my sister called back and said he wold do it if I came in, so I packed up the kids and decided it couldn't hurt. He actually did accupuncture by sticking needles in my two little pinky toes. I can't exactly tell you where since I couldn't see my toes. So I sat with needles in my toes for 15 minutes and I lost hope, I didn't feel any big movements from this child. When he came back in he felt around and said the baby was head down. So the way things are going I may see him everyday until I get induced. I hope my doctor says, we better induce while the baby is head down and it comes before the 17th. I can't complain though the 17th is a special day for me, but getting this baby out without a major incision is what I want the most.

Doctor's Report

Well life is always full of surprises. I am not dilated anymore than I was a week ago. That is kind of the good news. When he went to check, he couldn't feel the baby's head. So he got out the ultrasound machine and discovered this baby is laying sideways again! This is also good news since the baby isn't settled into the pelvic area. I go in tomorrow morning and fill out "a lot" of paperwork for a possible c-section. They will try and flip the baby, but I am far along so it may not be too easy. What is in my favor is the baby appearantly has a lot of room still, thanks to Haylie and Hannah, so it is still possible the version will be successful. I just have to wait to hear when they can fit me in. So my pregnancy discomfort may come to a close in an undesirable way by the end of the week. Hopefully all this excitement means this child will be a piece of cake to raise. In all honesty I think this baby is thinking "I gave you 9 months to plan and you still don't have a name for me, I'll teach you to procrastinate!"

The time is at hand

Well not really, but tomorrow is my due date and unless something miraculous happens today I will see another due date come and go. Since I know I have yet to go into labor on my own this is expected, so I am not totally disappointed. I do have a doctor's appointment today, so I will give an update to see if anything changed from last week.

As I was sitting thinking about my children I wanted to say what is special about each one of them. So here is a great opportunity to share with you why I love my little darlings so much.

Miranda is our first born. I was telling Jeremy that I am glad that she is the oldest. She is not perfect but she is a great example and really wants to make the right choices. She has an infectious laugh. When she does something we should be proud of she will give us a big grin looking for praise. She is very articulate in what she says and blows me away with her vocabulary. Most of all I love looking into her big hazel eyes they are beautiful, and full of young spunk.

Logan our only boy...so far. I give him a bad time but he has a special place in my heart. Although he is still young he know how to use those gorgeous blue puppy dog eyes. He can turn on the charm like the best of them. He loves to be cuddled and loved. He is probably the most sensitive to my moods and feelings, even though I am not sure he has made that connection, when I am off he is off. Which is to be interpreted as having a bad day. He has so much energy. I will never forget after being cooped up for the rainy season, we went to the park and he just ran laps by himself at the park.

Haylie the oldest twin, is a little serious. She has a bad habit of biting everyone but mostly Hannah. I would call her Daddy's girl. Every night she goes to Daddy to put her to bed. Also in the morning she usually wants me to get her out of the crib she will be the first to go lay down with her dad. She loves to carry around her baby doll with a blanket, always with a blanket. She also will use the toilet every once in a while.

Hannah our baby by five minutes, is a little more independent. She laughs alot. Although she used to scowl when she wasn't pleased with you. Hannah is probably more of a Mommy's girl which is nice since she is usually a pound lighter then her other half. She loves to be held especially after her nap. She has a great smile and is very friendly.

It is hard to talk about the girls as separate and not compare, both are equally beautiful and loving. As with all four of my children I am so proud to be the their mom. each of them brings something special to our family. I love them all so very much.

Party Pictures

Ahhh, dentistry...

Miranda and I went to the dentist today. Jeremy likes to call him Dr. draws blood, we haven't told Miranda that she still thinks going to the dentist is exciting. She gets a very cool toothbrush that suction cups to the counter! I went in and got the teeth cleaning I needed...no pain, no ... clean teeth??? I kind of hoped the excitement of teeth cleaning would start labor pains, obviously a trip to the dentist doesn't encourage labor! I forgot to remind Jeremy of the appointment so he was only able to stay for my cleaning, then I sat with the three younger kids while Miranda got her teeth cleaned. Anyways then Miranda went in and we found out she has her first cavity. The dentist asked if I wanted to fill it today, I thought sure why not. So he gets right to work. The kids are getting restless and then I hear Miranda crying. I felt so bad that she was back there all by herself. I couldn't leave the kids because they were wreaking enough havoc with me watching...so I paced back and forth feeling horrible. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I took the three kids and strapped them into their seat belts and peeked in on Miranda. She was laughing. She cried at the shot but she did so well. I was the one with tears in my eyes and she was so brave. She even still likes the dentist. Imagine that.

Lots of good stuff

Well it started on Friday...we have lawn wa-hoo. Of course there is still work to be done but we will have grass for the kids to play on.

Saturday, I successfully pulled off a surprise party for Jeremy. He is turning 30 and it may be overlooked because of the baby coming. It was lots of fun, lucky for me I have a great sister and great friends who picked up the slack as I was running out of steam as we waited and waited and waited for Jeremy to show up. As soon as I get around to it I will post some pictures of the backyard and the party. Wait until you see the cake, all your boys will be jealous!

Last but most importantly, I had another doctor's appointment today. Jeremy thinks I am getting a little aggressive. I asked to be checked to see if there is any hope of this baby ever coming out. Sure enough I am dilated 1.5 cm (8.5 to go), 50% effaced and at a -2 station (the goal is a +5. The last thing I worried about was maybe the baby would flip but he was able to feel the babies head. So we are progressing towards seeing our baby. The last aggressive move I made was to ask for an induction date. I told the doctor I knew it would be at least a week after my due date but it would be nice to have a final end point. So I have a scheduled induction on May 17th. This baby will not bump my anniversary to third position which is more good news. Just to clarify, Jeremy's birthday our anniversary is a little later in May on the same day.

So this is my wonderful post of a very happy, uncomfortable and whiny pregnant woman.

Parenthood...another experience.

On Monday I noticed that Logan's eye was leaking. It was not pink so I didn't think anything of it. Then yesterday when Logan woke up from his nap he seemed a little tired and clingy. When we sat down to dinner he said his ear hurt. Kind of strange, I took his temperature and it was normal. We went to Costco and I asked him later which ear hurt and he pointed to the same one. So I made an appointment for this morning. When he woke up his eye was pink but he said his ear didn't hurt anymore. At least it wouldn't be wasted because he needed medicine for his eye. Turns out that pink eye and an ear infection go together. Who knew? Also an ear infection doesn't necessarily mean fever. My goodness you would think I have never been a mom before. So then we head over to the pharmacy for at least 45 minutes. It is very hard after waiting for about 20 minutes to see the doctor and then more time at the pharmacy, Logan and the twins were getting quite restless, and mean mommy was about to emerge! Luckily they called us up just in time, only to be re-routed because Logan is allergic to penicillin and the ear medicine is in the same family. So we had to be consulted before we even payed for it. Off to the consultation line. I told the pharmacist what the doctor had told me and then had to wait to pay for the medication. We get up there and she has to get the medicine released because I was already "consulted". While paying the lady swiped my card and handed it back at least three times. Finally it went through and we were on our way. Then the trick of getting a double stroller out of a packed pharmacy was a challenge. A challenge that we did survive. We then had to rush back to get Miranda from school, we arrived just in time to pull right through! Phew! Hopefully I will have no more major adventures until Jeremy returns.

And for those of you hanging on the end of your seat for the next installment of our landscaping dilemma...keep waiting. Now we have some sort of poison spread over the dirt, the pretty dirt. So the kids can't even go in the backyard (it's been a week). And still no sign of the new sod. Although I do have to say he has come and picked up all the dead sod from the last attempt! Supposedly the rain got the sod people backed up so it should be here any day! And it goes on and on and on...

When the cat's away...

Well he actually hates cats, but are kids have a few things in common with mice, like there are a lot of them, they like cheese and love to play! I am not an accountant widow, just a wife of a husband who spends more time than most at home. He is on a rare business trip and gone for 5 days. The house is not the same with out him and neither am I. I am trying to keep busy and so far it is working. It is a tough balance to keep moving but stay rested so the baby stays put until he gets back.

Last night was one interesting night. Miranda woke me up speaking a clear sentence at about midnight, which alerted my bladder for the first stop of the night. Logan woke up at 4:00am and climbed into bed with me. He laid down for a minute and then he was up and ready to talk, asking when Daddy was coming home what day is it today, tomorrow, the day after that...? The crazy child was ready for the day. Between me trying to get comfortable and him laying diagonal, that's right diagonal, it was hard to sleep. I had little knees (at least I think?!) poking me in the ribs, and bigger knees poking me in the back. Then my mind starts going about silly things so I couldn't fall back asleep. Then my bladder pleaded for attention, AGAIN! At around 5:00am I hear Hannah...or Haylie say "Momma, faffle (waffle)!" I thought to myself, you have got to be kidding me, my kids are all messed up with daddy gone. Luckily the "twin" must have been hungry and sleep talking. So finally I fell back into good sleep at around 5:30am, to wake up at 7:00 to be the only responsible adult to get the kids ready.

I whine because Jeremy is not here and I actually have to wake up to an alarm clock instead of him kissing me good-bye. Truth is he is probably loving it since he not only gets up via alarm every morning he gets up an hour earlier than he has to in order to study. All the while I seem t be peacefully sleeping in. I am sure when he walks out the door every morning he wonders "Is this the day Miranda will be late because April fell back asleep?" Side Note: Miranda has never been late for school yet! Pat on the back for me, I am late for everything else, even my due date.

Funny and not so funny...

I have to share a few moments from my life, I hope they are appreciated.

On Friday, the kids and I were sitting in our car and Miranda says "Mom, if you put a clip on your finger will it incinerate the blood?" I was shocked that she would use such a big word. I asked her to repeat herself and sure enough she said incinerate. I asked where she heard it, if you have a girl your daughter has probably heard it too. Thank you Barbie Fairytopia Mermaidia for the addition to my daughter's vocabulary.

Later that night I was at a Membership Festival for my husbands work. They had this great bounce house to entertain the kids while the parents went around the booths. As we were getting the kids ready to get dinner Logan sat down right behind me. I, of course being naturally clumsy and large with child tripped over him. It was the longest fall of my life. I kept falling and almost catching myself and then fell some more. This happened all across the bottom of the bounce house slide where it would have been a soft landing. Well I soon ran out of soft slide to fall on and fell to the ground. My sweet husband felt as I did that I caught myself and then I would fall some more, so he wasn't able to catch me in time. Needless to say I am OK, I was extra sore that night but baby stayed put and will hopefully continue to stay there for the next week.

All this happened on the day of the bees, what a crazy day!

My Life as a Horror Flick

Life is great right?! Lucky for me my brave little, well younger, taller, sister was here to save me. We had been having a nice and enjoyable conversation. I just laid all FOUR kids down for quiet time. This is the time that I fix myself lunch so they don't hover and beg for whatever I am having, even though they have already eaten. So I get things out and my sister noticed a bee in the house. Kind of weird but bugs get in, it happens. She frees the bee and we go about our business. As always I got a little distracted and decided to check my email before continuing on my pilgrimage in the kitchen. As I am pulling up the ever coveted Outlook I here this swarm of buzzing coming from the fire place next to me. Eight months pregnant and can't hurry fast enough to the bathroom, but I was across the room quicker than The Flash! Another bee flew out of the fireplace safely into the blinds where it stayed for the rest of its life. My cool headed sister said lets tape something up and seal the fireplace. So of course I have to call my knight in shining armour, who by the way is having a crazy/busy day. He says he is on his way home. In the meantime, Katie and I get a garbage bag and I am dancing around the living room as she tapes up the fireplace. I had to venture close every once in a while to cut the duct tape, but quickly get back across the room. The trapped bee would buzz so loud just to let us know it was getting ticked off and that we are not fun to be around. The top got taped up fine then as she was taping the left side a third bee flew out. She fell to the ground like she was avoiding stray bullets and I hid behind the couch. The tape landed where it may and she continued diligently taping away. During mid-taping, the third bee stopped flying around so I made her whack the bee with a poor princess coloring book...it will never be looked at the same way. As she is finished, Jeremy walks in and I tell him where the bees are , the dead one that Katie knocked off still lying on the floor and the ticked one in the window. So Jeremy decides it might be best to raise the blinds. He then proceeds to swat at the bee with the coloring book at least 12 times. As I am telling him don't kill the bee I want it on video for my blog. There was no stopping him this bee was going down. There is no video proof I apologize! Sure enough the bee has been exterminated. I kept peeking outside and seeing bees swarming by our door (well only two but still freaky!) I can't help but think of a bad horror flick. The buzzing in the fire place was so creepy I thought at any instant 2 million bees would infest our house and ruin quiet time! Needless to say pest control will be here in an hour and I will have three heroes in one day. Am I a lucky girl or what?

Too bad for me!

We'll last night was a great t.v. night Sanjaya was booted from American Idol...it's about time. He's a nice kid but it is a singing competition as Simon would say. While watching it the contestants got to see Shrek 3, which looks funny. We got to see snippets of the movie and I heard the best line ever. "What are you the king of stupid!" I was rolling, then I came to the depressing conclusion I could never use that line towards anybody, it is a little mean I guess. TOO BAD FOR ME!

It's not easy being green!

Here is the back story:

We bought our house in March of 2004, it had beautiful landscaping, over 20 rose bushes, a beautiful Bougainvillea and other plants. We don't even know how to purchase a green thumb so it didn't take long to realize we needed to rip it all out and put in simple grass. So in May of 2005, we got a friend to do our landscaping for the price of the materials. He said it would take two weeks to rip everything out, pour concrete, plant a new tree and lay the sod. We had this very nice tree but the roots were so shallow that it was impossible to have a beautiful lawn and the kids could trip over the roots. So the tree went too. The tree ended up taking about a week to rip out. So the job was stretched out to a month. At the end of the month we threw a surprise party for Jer's Mom this is what our yard looked like:

Well mostly, he did clean up the sidewalk and flatten out the dirt as much as possible.


I think it was August or September that he actually laid the sod in the front yard. Then December of 2005 He laid the sod in the backyard with an unattached sprinkler system. I wreaked havoc on that grass. It grew, and grew and grew. I think it was April or later I decided to give it it's first mow. I did learn alot, like you are only supposed to cut 1/3 of the length. I think I cut at least 1.5 feet. Sure enough within a month the grass was pretty pathetic and the next month it was DEAD! So last summer we had dead grass. After lots of calls and trying to get our landscaper over here, doing small things here and there Jeremy called him the week before Easter (yes 2007) and said get over here and finish this or I am going to pay someone else to do it. He took Jer seriously and worked pretty hard. So Saturday he said he would finish the sprinkler system and lay the sod, that was delivered that day, on Sunday morning. As usual it was more than he thought so it took a whole day and he still needed stuff to finish the system. So he said he would lay the sod on Monday. Surprisingly he showed up for 10 minutes and then headed to Disneyland for 3 days. So now it is Thursday before he shows back up. He gets into the groove and realizes he needs more pipe for the system. He shows back up Monday to finish the system, WA-HOO it is done, and the ground is all ready for sod. Remember the sod is still out front pleading for earth again. So yesterday Tuesday, 10 days after the sod was delivered, he starts to roll it out. Sure enough it is in terrible shape. He said it may take but I am not going through this again so he rolled it back up and headed out to order some new sod. This will be the third time. It should be delivered on Friday and completed. I am sure he can't wait to be done with our yard, but to tell you the truth it will be nice to have a beautiful backyard.

The sad thing was he did give us a deal and it has cost him so much money. But for our back yard it isn't easy being green. When it is all done I will proudly post pictures of the completed project and four happy children playing in the grass!

That's what friends are for...

Well amongst my close friends there has been a theme...I have the greatest friends around! Being this is my 5th yes count it one, two, three, four, five...child, we, well Jeremy, insisted that I not be thrown a shower and anyone who did would be thoroughly maimed. So my friends decided to have a "No-Shower Baby Shower" as I believe it was called. We all went out for dinner tonight and had a great time. Well they are stubborn as all women are entitled, and got me the two things (of course besides a healthy baby) I wanted most for this child. They got me a Sit-N-Stand Stroller and a gift certificate for a Pack & Play. I have to say I am truly the most spoiled girl out there...and so are my babies.

In my close group there are (were) 5 pregnant people at once. My friend Brittany was blessed with her first baby girl on March 12th, My friend Tammy was blessed with her first child, also a girl, today. Hayley, who we are starting a trend to share all pregnancies together, will be expecting her baby boy on Wednesday, April 18th (or so help the hospital that tells her not today), then there will be me sometime in May. We will take a short break until September when Tara will have her first baby. You know that song it's raining men, we should write one that says it's raining babies.

As always, life is so good. There are times when it would feel so good to just run away for a time. Those times are always followed by a time where you can't even imagine leaving any of it behind.

Just an update on US!

We are horrible parents! Of course we celebrated Easter but we didn't take one single picture. It was a nice relaxing day. We got to spend it with Jeremy's family. It was nice to have our home filled with cousins, and even get a little ping-pong time in for Jeremy and James.

On to other news: Jeremy found out yesterday he has shingles...for the second time in his life! Today we had our doctor's appointment and found out our stubborn child just is a procrastinator, indeed he/she has inherited that from me. The baby is head down, and snuggling into postion. Everything is great and we are just cruising along. Only 4 weeks from tomorrow, with lots of things to keep me busy and make the days go by quickly.

I guess that is all for now, if I think of some funny stoies I will post them or make something up so I sound exciting!

WARNING! Proud Mommy Moment!

OK I have to share because I am so excited. In Kindergarten they do an end of year play. Miranda was very excited about her role in the play. When I picked her up from school she ran to me and said "Mommy I am Goldilocks!" Thinking that it was a hodgepodge of stories I was tickled she got the small role. Turns out their play is Goldilocks and the Three Bears. My little girl is the star, I am flattered that the teacher chose my daughter for the role. Thoughts went through my mind "My daughter has the cutest ringlets when I put her hair in sponge curlers, she is always singing, the way her eyes sparkle, it must be her flair for dramatics..." Then as all pride must be humbled so was mine! As I was talking to Miranda it turns out Ms. Z put all the kids' names in a bag, like all experienced and intelligent teachers would. She then drew the name for each part. So it was by lucky chance Miranda got her role. She was also supposed to get her part yesterday, being the "star" it must be huge. We all know what Goldilocks says. So today a friend of mine tells me she got Miranda's part in yesterday's envelope. She then goes on to tell me that Miranda doesn't say ANYTHING. She just has to know when to move, and she will be on stage the whole time. So my stage mom moment came to a close. Now I will just sit in the audience (hopefully) holding a very new born, or being terribly, uncomfortably pregnant, and watch my daughter pantomime the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and you better believe I will be just as proud clicking away with the camera and probably video too (or at leasttelling Jeremy what to do)! Stay tuned for a picture or video, May 10th!

Monday Madness!!!

Ok it isn't really madness, but a few people don't really get to se my girls in action. Here is video of a typical night. Dinner is done, Jeremy puts on music and does dishes. The music varies and tonight he chose Music of Pachelbel. And this is how the twins chose to accompany the music. Just in case you were wondering Logan and Miranda were in their bedrooms getting their jammies on at a turtle's pace.

Just a little sweet comment to share while I am here. Today Miranda was waiting patiently for lunch as I helped...I mean watched my sister create some onsies for a friend. She finally decided she wanted to make lunch for her and Logan. She made cheese sandwiches all by herself (not grilled cheese :-) Later I was cleaning up and thanked her. I was amazed that she was so independent.

Miranda: "I don;'t want you to have to do anything."
Me : "What? Why don't you want me to do anything?
Miranda: "Well because you are pregnant. Well actually you can do anything!"

I guess she has been listening to her daddy when he tells me not to do stuff because I am pregnant. It is nice to have my 6 year old daughter care enough about me to follow in her daddy's ways.