Schmed Rest

In other news of wild life-changing events, I bring you a post dictated by my honeypie!

So I said I was going to update you after appointments - well, this appointment was not without (what do I want to say...) adventure? The ultrasound tech at my regular doctor's visit measured my cervical length and it had shortened further, so when I saw the doctor, she took me off work and wanted me to go to Ingham Labor and Delivery to get things checked out, make sure I wasn't contracting, et cetera. Barry wasn't able to go this time, but luckily, I was able to talk my mom into going, so she was there to help me keep it together while I let them know at work. (Most of you know that I've really been hoping not to have to go on bed rest so that I can spend as much time with the boys afterward as possible. Now that I'm here, I know I'm doing what's best for all of us, and it will all work out regardless.)

Of course, they were very understanding at work, so we headed over to Ingham. Luckily, we stopped for a Whopper on the way which ended up being the only thing I had to eat for almost 24 hours! I spent about two hours at Ingham before they decided that my cervix was short enough that pre-term labor was a real possibility, and I had to be sent to Sparrow (where they have a NICU).

The ride to Sparrow was something I've never experienced before and hope to never experience again. The ambulance drivers were a couple of characters, which made it easier to deal with. They had the lights and sirens going the whole way - they called it the green light express. Luckily, Barry was able to get to Lansing on time to meet me at Ingham, so he knew what was happening and was able to meet us there when we got to Sparrow.

At Ingham, they had started me on a magnesium drip to prevent labor which they continued at Sparrow (and is also the reason I couldn't have anything to eat). Barry stayed with me until about 11:30 or so, and we thought I'd try to get some sleep (ha ha). Between the blood pressure cuff inflating every hour, the catheter being uncomfortable, and a painful IV, that's the longest night I've spent in a long time.

I was just barely waking up this morning meeting my new nurse when the high-risk doctor at Sparrow came in to talk to me about my options. He thought that because my cervix was the problem and not that my body wanted to go into labor, he thought a cerclage was the best option. Even though they aren't normally performed after 22 weeks, we decided this was the best way to keep the babies in there as long as possible. I should mention that this whole time, both boys look great and seem to be measuring just the right size, if not a week or two bigger!

So now, here I sit, on bed rest in Sparrow, as I dictate this to Barry, because of course, he's been by my side all day, doing whatever he can to make me comfortable. [And so handsome, too! -bcc] The doctor thought I might be able to go home to bed rest Monday at the earliest, so if anything changes between now and then, I'll have Barry update the blog to let you all know.

House Get!

In the interest of getting something written, I'm excusing myself from writing well. (I'll use Arial to indicate how poorly this prose was thought out.)

On our way to my folks' for Easter, we saw a house back in March or April of 2008, and went to an open house that June. Financially speaking, we shouldn't have been looking at houses then, but Beth fell in love with it, even though the listing price was way more than we could even think to afford. So after seeing what a "best-case" house at the top of our potential price range was, we got all our moneys and debts under control.

Initially, the homeowner was trying to sell the place herself, and when she listed it with a realtor, the price only went up. Heartbreak! Panic! Something. We kept looking back at the listing, and when it finally came down, we decided to talk to a few lenders and a realtor who had been nothing but patient with us in our early stages of looking.

Once we got pre-approval from a lender our realtor had highly recommended, we saw some comparables in August. Nothing came close to this house in any criteria (square footage, number of beds and baths, amount of work we'd need to put into it). The place was immaculate when we initially saw it, and after seeing some dumps, we had a whole new appreciation of what this place was. We decided we wanted to put together an offer and met with our realtor the next day.

Everything was going awesome from the time we wrote our offer (Aug. 31) through the home inspection (2nd week of September). We just went back and forth with the homeowner once to come up with a price we could all agree on. Inspection went great - no surprises, and the homeowner had taken such good care of the place that we shouldn't have much to worry about for years.

Even after making ourselves "golden borrowers" (lender's words), we had a crazy time trying to buy this house. From the appraisal forward, the whole process has just taken f-o-r-e-v-e-r. The appraisal came back $11,000 lower than we had offered, which meant that we'd either need to bring a whole lot more money to the table or get the seller to agree to a lower price. Fortunately, we were again able to come to a number we were all satisfied with after just another round of negotiation. We settled on a price and a closing date, signed a bunch of contract addendums, and thought we were in the clear.

We would have been, too, if it weren't for things going slowly with the lender every step of the way. We were asked for a ton of documentation 72 hours before our initial closing date, including a bill of sale for a broken waverunner (cash deposit of $500 in our bank account; buyer was out of state tending to a sick relative) and cancelled checks Beth deposited for the canoe trip. We had to provide new copies of bank statements, a letter of explanation about Beth's legal name (versus the name on the check written for earnest money), a copy of our marriage license - you name it, they asked for it.

Protip: When applying for a mortgage, be ready to provide documentation on any deposits you make that aren't from your employer!

Ran around, got stuff, took a day off in case anything came up on the day of closing, and... had to delay closing because our loan was still in underwriting. Had to write a contract extension because of it. So the long bank weekend (Columbus day) came and went, and things were looking good for closing on Wednesday - so good that I took the day off, and Beth made up time ahead of Wednesday afternoon to get out and get the deal done. No closing. (I got some work done on the car, so it wasn't a total loss.) At the end of the day Wednesday, all the involved parties got things set for us to close at 8:30 this morning.

When we showed up at the title company this morning, we figured we'd have plenty of papers to sign - but the underwriters (in Texas) hadn't sent everything over. We got through everything with the homeowner (who was leaving town) by 9:30, then we waited. When the documents finally arrived, no one could open them since they were locked with a password owned by someone at another branch office. By the third hour, things seemed laughable. By four, flat out ridiculous, and this was before we even had a final settlement amount for our down payment and closing costs. Everything after that was just waiting for phone calls and the Federal Reserve. Yeesh.

Protip: Don't wire money! Just go get the check!

Anyway, I was there all day and spent three vacation days, but now we own our dream home. We'll be moving within the next 30 days, just in time to get things set up for the boys.

Shame on me

I haven’t written on here in so long and there is an excuse for it… good or bad, there is one. There has been SO much going on that I felt like I would be doing an injustice if I didn’t blog about each piece of it. I started a blog about our pregnancy from the beginning to the 20 week mark - that was my plan. It’s not finished… so much happens in that time! I’ll post it someday, these boys deserve it! But here's what's happening now... 

 

There are so many things in pregnancy that I was not ready for. I have a lot of friends who have children and I’ve never been shy about asking what it’s like, some of them even share more than enough information on their own. I thought I knew there’d be things I couldn’t prepare for, but for the most part I knew what was to come. One thing I was definitely not ready for is the worry. And I know it will never let up, from here on out. I try to keep something in mind that a friend said though, she said that “they’re counting on you to be have positive thoughts, be relaxed and take care of them while they’re in there”. It’s been a bit easier keeping that in mind. Someday I’ll go back to all the things I learned being pregnant myself… but for now let’s continue with the present story, or I’ll never get anything documented!

 

Which brings me to the 20 week mark… yes, its two boys!! Barry is more excited about it I think than he’s letting on. He has playmates for life… we’ll see how long dad’s stuff is “cool” ;) Of course I’m thrilled that they’ll have a playmate for life, I won’t have to buy two sets of clothes and actually maybe I’ll save some money since it’s not two girls… let’s face it, girls clothes are cuter. We won’t have to worry about splitting their rooms up any year soon. And I couldn’t be happier about my two boys. I already have a bond with my special little guys – I just know they’re bound to be momma’s boys ;) I spend a lot of days wondering what they’ll look like. Will they have the same hair color, eye color, will one be a whole head taller than the other? Will they both be hockey players, tuba players, boy scouts, or fulfill their dad’s dream of playing Burning Wheel one day? Will they both like the same things or will we forever be running in two different directions? Or will they look so much alike that they’re mom has a hard time telling them apart?!? I can’t wait to find out! In the mean time... here's them, showing their stuff! (I wonder if they'll be mad at me someday for putting it ALL out there on the internet?)

 

Anyway, the 20 week ultrasound was a huge event. Barry was there and we planned on both moms’ joining us. Barry’s mom thought that his grandma might enjoy being able to experience something so special and we immediately agreed. Then it worked out that my dad was free during that time on that day, so he was able to join us too. I figured he may have some added interest since he grew up with twin brothers. When would he ever have the opportunity again? So including myself and the US tech we had 7 people in the room! We got to see all their parts and even witnessed baby B punching his brother in the butt! ;) Everything checked out fine otherwise too. We all went to breakfast together to celebrate. It was a great day!

 

About that time my belly started to really let loose… it was starting to FINALLY be to the point where there was no mistaking that I was pregnant. And since then it's just gotten bigger, about a week ago I had 3 people at work all on the same day say “wow, you really look pregnant!” Barry and I went to the MSU hockey game Monday night and for the first time I had a stranger ask when I was due… yup, it’s real! Not that it hasn’t been real the whole time, but like I said, there is no denying it now!

 

Along with a growing belly came movement. I thought that I felt something for the first time on our way back from Houghton after a delightful WMTU wedding, August 23^rd. I was driving and felt this odd sensation in my belly… I knew I’d never had gas like that. It was a couple of weeks before I thought I felt anything again, then for about a month there were these odd little sensations. One of weirdest things was when I’d be walking and stop and then it felt like my belly continued moving in that direction. Just in the past couple of weeks, and more so in the last week I can really feel them kicking and punching in there. I can’t tell what’s what, but they are definitely doing something!

 

So… shame on me… I’m finally writing something when we, for the first time, didn’t get a gold star at the doctor. I had another ultrasound on our anniversary, the 6^th. With twins there are more risks so there are more ultrasounds and more appointments. Barry wasn’t able to go with me this time, so I went on my own, which was fine – it isn’t terrible news, just news. My cervix is shortening. Right now that doesn’t mean anything, other than it could be a sign of pre-term labor. The good news is that the protein they tested for to see if my cervix was actively doing anything was not present. They advised to rest as much as possible, but thankfully didn’t put me on bed rest. Take it easy – no exercise, etc. and don’t ignore any signs. They’ll check again in two weeks to see if it’s still shortening. If it is then there’s a possibility that they’ll put a stitch in it so that it can’t shorten any more. Huh you say? Yeah, we’ll deal with that, if we have to. So yeah, shame on me… but at least now you know what’s going on! ;)

 

In other news… oh, only that we’re BUYING A HOUSE!! And not just a house… the house that we’ve looking at and I’ve been moving into mentally for over 1 ½ years! Barry has been working tirelessly over the past couple weeks with the lender and realtor to make sure we can close tomorrow. Even now I’m sure he’s on the phone with someone getting last minute requests to the lender. We had our 2^nd anniversary on Tuesday and while he got home late from work and he had to scarf a bowl of soup before rushing off to our prenatal class, there is no doubt that my love for him grows stronger every day. The closing has been postponed a week and while our frustration with this last minute pain in the butt stuff is increasing frustration, it's gonna happen!

We've been to several beautiful weddings this summer, had a very successful canoe trip, played for an entire week at Burt Lake, spent some time with family, registered for all things baby, and mostly enjoyed our time together... while we have it ;)

While we obviously have other things going on, I'm going to do my best to at least post something after doctors visits and since those will be every two weeks now this blog should be semi-regular again... now if only I could be! ;P

Life and Death

Irony is something else… just yesterday I wrote of daydreaming by the shores of Burt Lake and actually "publicly announcing” that we’re expecting our first child. Then the same day, later that evening, my dear Grandfather passed on. He was 95 years old, just. Apparently it was peaceful and I have no doubt that he had love surrounding him when he went. Everyone in his home told me every time I was there that Walter was one of their favorites. I have no reason not to believe them, they’re caring, big-hearted people who have an extremely difficult job, and enjoy it. I believe he was one of them that made it easier for them to.

My grandpa, Papa as we called him when we were kids, wasn’t really the type that you crawled up into his lap and fell asleep. But he was definitely someone you knew cared deeply for you. I think nearly every time we were at their house he’d get on the floor with us and build a car wash out of wood blocks for Danny’s matchbox cars to go through. He could ALWAYS pull a quarter out of your ear, no matter how many times you asked or even if you caught him off guard, we were none the wiser. I remember him being a busy man, I so wanted to help him tend to his roses that he took such good care of, but instead he found helicopter leaf after helicopter leaf for me to through into the air from the never ending supply in the back yard.

I’m finding this hard to write now - I truly miss him. He had that same gentle hand that Uncle Mike had, with just a touch, everything was alright. I knew two different Grandpa’s, three really. The one I mentioned, when I was a kid. Then when he and Grandma moved to Florida we were lucky enough to visit quite often. Those days I remember being amazed that his nightly walk was so important, and even more amazed that watching golf on TV could be so fascinating. And in those days when they would come visit here and I gave up my bed for him not once was a special note to me missing after they’d gone, thanking me for something I’d gladly done.

Then, when we FINALLY convinced him to leave “sunny Florida”, as he so affectionately called it, and move back to Michigan I knew another man. One that was proud and grateful all at once. You could see he did not like giving up his independence, but was also glad for the help. He did both with dignity, something I hope I can remember well enough to carry with me for the rest of my life. We had a lot of fun while he was living at mom and dads. He was always happy to see you when you stopped in and did his best with small talk. He had the best one liners, even the last visit Barry and I had with him on our own. I can’t repeat it; it’s no good without his delivery, but wow. He was full of them. Still to this day one of my favorites was when we were all gathered to celebrate his birthday (after he’d been with my parents for a summer, long enough to have eaten 6 meals a week straight from the grill) and not being one to lavish in gifts and celebrations was shown his birthday cake… “Bill probably grilled it.” Oh man, if you could have seen his face. Just a week and a half ago we had another wonderful celebration for his 95th birthday that I think he enjoyed quite a bit.

He didn’t change much after he moved into the home. He quickly won the hearts of the employees there (who happened to be mostly female) and gained a friend in each of them.

I’m thankful that we were able to tell him about our incredible journey to come and how thrilled he was to hear that we’re expecting not one, but two babies; I’ll just have to imagine what he looks like holding them.

I love him very much and he will be missed greatly.

1 1/2 weeks away!

So I find myself sitting here daydreaming about Burt Lake. And then in awe that I’m 31 years old and I still get just as excited about it as I did when I was kid. I’ll have to check with my mom about how long it’s been, but I’m fairly certain we’ve been going for about 20 years. The kind of excitement hasn’t changed either, the things we do hasn’t. I think the thing I still look forward to most is spending a whole week with my family, getting to see my cousins, my aunts and uncles, friends of all of ours. There is an unmistakable bond created by just being with extended family. You don’t have to say anything, you just interact, fun on each other a bit, play like you’re 4 years old again. And it’s all the things really.

Like driving to town with my dad because we need bread and it’s a foggy morning anyway, no good for swimming (of course it’s great for fishing but he recognizes that us kids need to escape for just a minute and happily takes us on his errand). Not like my mom who does her best to stay at camp not leaving unless absolutely necessary (or for ice cream), get as much relaxing in as can possibly be all the while holding down things at camp just like she does at home, which I also admire.

It’s things like sitting by the campfire and listening to each others stories, sharing games and the best part, just sitting with each other. Sometimes we talk about our best friends, sometimes we talk about each other, sometimes Uncle George will give his opinion on something like it’s the worlds bible, no one says much, all you can do is sit and reflect on how that could possibly be. Sometimes it’s scary at how much sense it makes, its so matter of fact you can’t argue.

It’s watching my mother-in-law finally get her time to relax and read a book by the lake in the sun, early in the morning. Admiring all the things my father-in-law can come up with the fix whatever problem you might have, truly boy scouting in the woods. It’s watching my husband bond with the family I’ve known my whole life and making them his, and him theirs. That brings a tear to my eye and I realize everyday how lucky I am for it.

I look forward to watching the next generation, Jackson and Cameron, play together in the water and run through the grass. And I look forward to watching Jake react to the sand for the first time. I also look forward to my own children someday experiencing all those same things. I look forward to playing volleyball and giving Aunt Debbie a hard time about making us follow “the” rules. Something that any place else you’d never allow such a group to play a game and call it a “sport”. Some may call it sport…

To me, it really is this magical place where the fog settles over the water and everyone is happy, all at once, and together. Not to mention it’s the magical place that Barry asked me to his wife!

Each year when we drive down Brutus road, leaving the campground, EVERY year, I have to try my best to hold back the impending stream of tears. The only thing that helps is knowing that there’s next year.


So I know I haven’t posted in long while. We have actually had our fair share of excitement. I still owe you an update on lots of things, including my doctor’s appointment – all blood work came back great. My cholesterol was still lowered, my folic acid was off the charts and in fact that same day we found out we were expecting our first child! But, more on that later. I have a feeling this blog may be shifting a bit in content ;)

Birthday presents!

It's been so long that I didn't ever write about our great trip to Traverse City... wine touring (Barry's birthday present)! We had lots of fun...
let's just say that we ended up with 14 bottles of wine! :) We highly recommend the Old Mission Peninsula over Leelanau too, at least for tasting. 

And before that even, we went to the Lion King (my birthday present), which was AMAZING! I'd heard it was good, but I had no idea how good. This is a photo courtesy of Jackson who spent the weekend with us

Obviously it's a little late to write about what actually went on, but these pictures are fun to have! :)

Oh, and as a follow up to yesterday, you'll have to wait... just like me. The doctor had something come up so I have to wait until tomorrow. I'm so curious to see how running has effected things, if at all! Anyway, I'm sure I'll write about it... at some point.

Another great one in the books!

Seems like they just keep coming, great weekends that is! How glorious it is to have some Spring, finally! Last weekend was great, of course, because we spent it celebrating two of the best Mother’s any couple could have. Barry and I always consider ourselves so lucky that we found each other but that we also found some pretty great in-laws in the process. We spent Saturday with my mom which worked out well so that we could all be together since Jackson was going to be spending mother’s day with his mom. We went out for breakfast, did some very rainy flower shopping, had a nap, and then a terrific dinner. Sunday we drove to Trufant and had grilled burgers (made by mom? but I think she likes to do it!) with the whole family… mmm!!

And wow, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted anything… I won’t bore you with every detail (although we’ve had lots of fun and we wouldn’t call it boring! ;) But we did run our 5K the weekend before Mother’s Day! It was a lot of fun, mostly because of the people ;) We (I; Barry probably would have been much faster had he not stayed with me, for which I’m very grateful he did! I probably would have walked half of it had he not been with me) finished right about 40 minutes, which I realize is not great, but faster than the walkers! I’m approximating we walked for about 7 minutes of those 40… now we have something to shoot for next time… guess we’d better sign up for a next time soon! We finished up the race with lunch in Royal Oak with the other 50+ people on team K-rock and then had a fabo night in Hamtramck with some of the WMTU crew at the St. Florians strawberry festival and then drinks at the Roosevelt Bar. Those guys are pretty great hosts! Also that weekend we got to spend Friday night with baby Jake, who I’m sure looks totally different now, since that was 2 weeks ago! Then got to spend a lot of the day with the Vanderford’s on Sunday, which was awesome since we haven’t seen Madeline since her first birthday and now she’s 18 months! Missy drove out and spent the day too – she and I talked a little bit on facebook about how weird it is to miss people so much more if you haven’t seen them in so long when you finally do get together! Must mean you miss them for good reasons J

I suppose this weekend didn’t start off so great, but only because I decided to start it Friday night by watching Marley and Me. I knew it was sad, but I also heard it was good… so I had to see it. I was stuffed up for an hour afterward, but it didn’t effect me so that I thought about it all weekend… it’s just such a sad part of the cycle. But it got better and better from there…

Saturday morning I went to have my blood drawn for my physical coming up. I know this sounds crazy, and it’s not normally this way, but I’m looking forward to my appointment. While I’ve gained a significant amount of weight back since I quit smoking, I still eat healthier than I ever have. I’ve also been “running” periodically, which is probably the most regular exercise I’ve had in some time. And I’ve been taking folic acid for at least a year in anticipation of someday being pregnant, and supposedly the longer you have it built up, the better. So I’d really like to see what the doc has to tell me. I’m hoping for good news, for the most part, I know shedding some pounds has to be a priority, but other than that I’m thinking I’ll like what he has to say. Let’s hope I don’t get my hopes up just to be let down! I’m not anticipating that though :). Barry and I met my mom, Danny and Jackson downtown for a parade celebrating Lansing’s 150th year! It was nearly 3 hours long and would not have been worth it without a 4 year dancing around to the music and entertaining us. And if you’ve seen my face, or Danny’s or my mom’s or Jackson’s even, we were surprised (pleased at the time because it was so cold!) by the sun. We’re all pretty red. That’s the best (easiest) time to get burnt, is when you least expect it. Barry got home at about 7 (he left the parade a little earlier, escaping the burn, to play some D&D) and we just started talking about when we might do for dinner when I decided to call over to my parents to see if they were as red as I felt. Yes. It ended up that we were invited over for pizza and a fire! S’mores on a May night have never hit the spot so well!

Sunday we wound up at a new park to run that a friend recommended. It has a 5K trail that we opted not to run quite yet… we’re still building back up from our week off after the first 5K… oops. But it was a nice park, good run, my hips are still angry, but they’ll get over it – they usually do! My mom and sucked it up and wore our red faces to the East Lansing art festival and craft show later in the afternoon. TONS of people, cool stuff, a couple of really neat purchases and another yummy dinner at the folks, most importantly a win from the Wings and entertainment from Jackson wrapped up the weekend :)

Two and a half more work days and we’ll be on the road to Georgia to hang with family and celebrate two graduations! Cousin George from UGA and cousin Charlotte from high school. Let’s just hope there isn’t never ending fruit to cut up this time! JK Aunt Sue, I meant it; I’m bringing our melon baller! ;)