Baby Shower

I'm finally getting around to posting about my baby shower. I have literally been "under the weather" for nearly 3 weeks! I must say that I had been looking forward to this day for so long. My baby shower was Saturday, January 9th. Sometime around New Years I came down with a TERRIBLE cold. Needless to say the day of my actual shower I barely had a voice and felt like I was running at about 5%, I was so bummed; although, nothing was going to stop me from attending my own baby shower. It was an AMAZING shower! My two cousins, Crystal and April, and my Aunt Darla hosted the event and I was blown away. The decorations were adorable, the food was delicious, and seeing everyone was great! Unfortunately, because I was functioning at about 5%, I didn't take A SINGLE PICTURE. Thankfully, my cousin Crystal (also one of the hostesses) took some picture. I don't know what I would have done if she would not have snapped these pictures, "thank you so much Crystal!"

The hostesses: my cousin, Crystal; my Aunt Darla; and my cousin, April.
The next two pictures are of the beautiful cupcakes. It was almost hard to eat them, they were so pretty! The butterflies on top were edible - I loved them!!

The table centerpieces. These trees were actually used at our wedding and it was so cool to see them re-used at the baby shower. This time the trees were adorned with butterflies that my cousin's and aunt cut out!!

Me, enjoying the delicious food!!

My sister, Erica and my friends, Wendy and Heather.

A diaper cake made by one of my friends, Christy. Is this not adorable!?! I think the girls will love the toys on top as well!

My cousin April made the owl applique's that are on the front of these onesies!

Two pairs of sheep slippers that were given to us by Steve's parents neighbor, Marcia. Marcia and her husband raise sheep (and..Steve spent MANY years helping out Marcia and her husband with their sheep - Steve also did 4H). The picture doesn't really do these slippers justice, they are ABSOLUTELY the MOST ADORABLE slippers!! Steve and I thank you very much Marcia!!

Sofia Grace Watts

Today my cousin Donnie and his wife Meghan welcomed their daughter Sofia Grace Watts in this world. She weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 21 inches long. Meghan and Sofie are doing great. Steve and I are very excited for Donnie and Meghan and wish them all the best!!

Is she not the cutest baby??? Precious....

28 Week Update

We hope you all are enjoying the New Year!! This may be a long post, I apologize....I wanted to share a few photos and give our 28 week update...

I realized I hadn't posted any pictures in a while, so I pulled some together for this post!! The first picture is from New Years. (I woke up at 11:58 to take this photo and promptly went back to sleep. Oh the joys of pregnancy!)

The second picture is of the diaper cake that my co-workers had made for me, for my work shower - I honestly work with the BEST group of people, I will miss them so much while I am on maternity leave!! (I just have to say....how adorable is that diaper cake??)

The last few pictures are of the nursery. Obviously, it's no where near completed, but you get the idea....things are happening in the Buschbach House!! (and as you'll see, Sophie isn't quite sure what to think of all the baby furniture - that room has always been her "tree room")

We had our appointment today and overall, it went very well. I passed the glucose test with "flying colors" (according to the nurse). Needless to say, I was quite happy about this! Sydney and Morgan also looked wonderful during our appointment, here were their stats:

Sydney - 2 lbs, 13 oz

Morgan - 2 lbs, 10 oz

With good news I guess there is always a little bit of bummer news..... My cervix shortened since the last measurement. Today it measured at exactly 3cm, during my last visit it was measuring over 4cm. I am now on weekly appointments until the babies arrive. Next week they will repeat the cervix measurement to determine whether or not it is continuing to shorten. Along with the shortened cervix, I have continued to have non-rhythmic, infrequent contractions. Due to the shortened cervix and continued contractions, the doctor has recommended that I work no more than 2 hours per day. So, I am officially on a VERY reduced work schedule. I'm not sure how well I am going to handle this minimal-work/take it easy plan, but we shall see.

In other VERY exciting news.....its only 5 days until the baby shower!! My Aunt Darla, Crystal, and April are throwing me a shower this weekend and I am SO EXCITED - I'm counting down the days/hours!!!! Photos to come (I promise)......

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