The fall....

Well, the title kind of explains. Yesterday, I was leaving a site visit for work and slipped and fell in the icy parking lot. I had both hands full and wasn't able to catch myself. I got in the car and immediately started crying, after talking to the doctors office, to let them know what happened, they advised me to go to the hospital to be checked out. My mom and I arrived at the hospital around 5pm and again, they hooked me up to the monitors. Steve thankfully arrived shortly after they hooked me up, which made me feel much better.

Unfortunately, this time things didn't look as good, I was having pain (likely caused by the fall) but I was also having consistent, rhythmic contractions. I was scared to death. The good news was, the babies looked great! Both Sydney and Morgan were moving, hiccuping, kicking, and their heart rates looked fantastic. But there was the issue of the contractions...the doctor first tried having me drink about a liter of water over 20 minutes to see if the contractions would ease up, but they didn't. He came back in and explained that as a precaution, they were going to give me a dose of Betamethasone (steroid) to help develop the babies lungs and I was going to be given a dose of Terbutaline to hopefully stop the contractions. As long as they could get the contractions stopped, I could go home. They also sent me down to ultrasound to check my amniotic fluid levels and ensure the placentas weren't damaged during the fall. Thankfully, the ultrasound looked very good and the Terbutaline stopped the contractions within the first 5 minutes. I must say, modern medicine is AMAZING and God is surely watching over Steve, myself, and the girls. Although we didn't get home until 10pm, I was released!

Steve and I do have to go back to the hospital today for my second dose of Betamethasone. But right now, for the time being, I'm trying to stay inside and off my feet. Bummer news - we were issued a winter weather warning for more snow and freezing rain - looks like I'll be staying inside until the weather clears up (except for the trip to the hospital, but I'm sure I'll get curbside service from my dear husband)! I must say, I'm terrified to walk outside if there is a chance it could be slick, So it looks like I'll be relying on someone to walk with me or I'll get curbside service.

Welcome to the 3rd Trimester!

First according to our tickler, we are in the 3rd Trimester. It's crazy to think that at the most, we have 77 days left until we meet the babies, what a crazy thought! Our Christmas was wonderful - I must say my husband spoiled me this Christmas...I got this beautiful diaper bag that I have been eyeing for sometime (pictures to come).

Today was a somewhat long day as Steve and I spent the afternoon at the hospital. NO WORRIES - the girls and I are fine, we at home watching a movie as I type this! Last night I was having some really bad lower back pain and through the night it spread to my pelvis. As the night went on, it was getting hard and harder to get up and walk to the bathroom (the pain would shoot down my legs, making it hard to stand and walk). This morning I decided to call the doctor to see if there was anything else I could do to relieve the pain and he decided that he wanted to see me at the hospital to rule out a bladder infection and make sure I wasn't having contractions. We got to the hospital and I was hooked up to fetal heart monitors and a contraction monitor. Turns out I was having contractions, but they weren't rhythmic, which is good. He ran some tests on my urine, which looked good, no infection. He did another FFN test, which was negative, whoo hoo. Long of the short, after nearly 5 hours, he let us go and said that he wanted to me start taking Ibuprofen to ease the pain and help "settle down my uterus". Now I am just at home, relaxing and watching a movie with Steve, Stella, and Sophie.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!

Fetal Fibronectin Test

Today Steve and I went to the doctor for our 26 week appointment. Here are the highlights:

Both girls are head down.
I'm not dilated and my cervix has good length.
And the big news....my fetal fibronectin test came back negative. This negative result means that the chances of going into pre-term labor are VERY slim (at least for the next 10-14 days). Here's some info about fetal fibronectin test if you're not familiar: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fetal-fibronectin/MY00128

We go back to the doctor on January 4th. At this next appointment we will have an ultrasound for growth and a more precise cervix length, and I will do the dreaded gestational diabetes test. I picked the orange flavor, not sure that was the best choice, but we shall see!

Merry Christmas, hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!!

The Girls...

Steve and I got to see the girls again on Thursday (via ultrasound that is). Here are the statistics...

I was 23 weeeks 5 days pregnant.
Sydney Camille (baby b) was measuring 1 lb, 4 oz
Morgan Danielle (baby a) was measuring 1 lb, 10 oz

An update through photos....

On November 10th Steve and I took a trip to Portland. We had tickets to the Elton John and Billy Joel concert but turns out Elton got a small case of Salmonella and had to cancel the concert. We decided to make the trip anyways and do a little early Christmas shopping. Oh and did I mention buy some things for the GIRLS!!! Yep, we found that we are expecting TWO GIRLS!

The nursery furniture arrives and Sophie and Stella were not sure what to think about the new furniture. (Just for clarification...that is Stella on Steve's lap and the Zerba's dog, JD)

My husband is quite the crib constructor. He put together 4 cribs in 24 hours - 2 at our house and 2 at mom and dads. Yep, grandma Laurie is ready for babies!


On November 22nd mom, Erica, and I hosted a baby shower for Donnie's wife, Meghan. The shower was lovely and Meghan looks fabulous!! We are very excited to meet baby Sophia Grace, due in January 2010.

Meghan, Erica, and I at the shower...notice anything strange about this picture??

Bobby and Erica displaying some adorable "baby goods."


Now for the real test....do you notice anything strange about this photo?? Did you say only one baby - you are right!! Steve and I are super excited to share the news that we are going to be auntie Lexie and uncle Steve in June 2010 - Bob and Erica are expecting!!!

And here she is at 10 weeks....

The Wedding of JD and Brianna Buschbach

Steve and I just returned from his little brothers wedding in Wenatchee. JD and Brianna got married at the Ohme Garden and the reception was at a local winery. Except for the rain, it was a beautiful wedding and the reception was filled with good food and good wine (so I hear...).

Here are a few pictures from the weekend!!

This picture was taken at the Ohme Garden during the ceremony. Funny how the men were all under cover and they left the women to stand in the rain with umbrellas. That just seems wrong to me...

JD and Brianna with Evelyn (Michael and Heidi's daughter).

Steve and his older brother Michael with their Grandma VanOort and Grandpa Buschbach.

Heidi (my sister-in-law) and I displaying our bellies. Heidi's due date is March 10th. Our twin due date is March 6th. We are a mere 4 days apart.

And for fun...Steve and Dave showing off their bellies!!

16 Weeks

Wow..this is a long awaited update! So much to report.

Last weekend was my birthday and I must say, the greatest part was waking up on Sunday morning and seeing green instead of brown. The day of my birthday we had a team of friends and family laying 9,000 square feet of sod. We were still 500 sqft short. If you ever have to lay sod, they can only fit 9,000 sqft on a semi. I owe my husband a huge thank you - for the past 3 weeks, he has literally worked day and night installing our sprinkler system. He would get up at 7am starting working in the yard and then go to work from 2pm-11pm. I don't know how he did it, but Stella and I are forever greatful. Here is a pseudo-yard photo... Our terrorist puppy Farihah Hayed Shi Thead al Stella has been busy planting SDD's (smelly doggy doodoos) in our yard and pulling up rolls of sod and shredding them. Good puppy! we still love her though.

On Saturday afternoon, after laying sod all day, we headed to Walla Walla to celebrate my

birthday. We started off at Garrison Creek Cellars for wine tasting and a tour - everyone said the wine was AMAZING, I only got to smell, swirl, and spit. (Of note, my mom even enjoyed the wine!) After wine tasting we went to dinner at WhiteHouse Crawford. If you have never been there, I highly recommend it. The steak was, as Bob and I put it, on the top 3 of all times! Here is Steve and I celebrating my birthday at WhiteHouse Crawford...

In baby news - the doctor says they are doing just fine. I'm now on the every other week doctor appointment schedule, which means lots of trips to Richland. At our last appointment, we got the results back of our Down Syndrome screening and the doctor said the results looked great...nothing to worry about. In gender news, I went prepared to my last appointment to beg and plead with the Dr. to tell me what they were. He explained that the ultrasound machine wasn't that great, but after he got done scanning the babies he did offer up his "guess" to which he said "I think pink." Not sure if that means one pink or two pink; but as we all know, I am still holding out hope for one pink and one blue! At any rate, he will take another look with the portable ultrasound on Monday (10/19) and then I have the big gender/anatomy scan on Tuesday, November 3rd! (this must be quite the ultrasound as it is scheduled to last 2 hours...but Steve and I will enjoy every minute of seeing the babies) Just to clarify, the doctor does a portable ultrasound at each appointment because a fetal Doppler monitor is quite difficult with twins. I leave you with my 16 week belly shot (as Steve says, something must be going on in there because my belly is GROWING)....