We’re Getting Close!

Sorry I didn’t post last night. I was busy watching the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Championship over the Miami Heat. I’m sure you understand.

We are now past 33 weeks so we’re getting really close to having babies at this point. After going to the doctor last week, it appears we’re actually closer than we thought. The babies look great and are moving all over the place. It’s the greatest thing to see and feel them rolling around in Kristi’s tummy. They actually seem to be on a bit of a schedule right now with them getting very active between 7:00 and 9:00 pm. I’m sure the schedule thing won’t last once they're born. Of course, if I know Kristi, she’ll have them back on a schedule quickly once they’re born. She’s just like that you know.

Here is a picture of Mackenzie from last week’s doctor visit.

Here is the two of them head to head.

While at the doctor’s office, the nurse takes Kristi’s blood pressure and current weight as soon as we get into the exam area. The place they do this is out in a hall very close to the check-in desk and waiting area. The scale they use is a digital scale which pops up a number after Kristi stands on the scale for a few seconds. I guess Kristi was not ready for her weight this time. When that number popped up on the scale, Kristi screamed, “Ahhhh!!!!” making everyone—the nurse, the receptionist, people out in the wating room, the doctors—jump and turn to look. Kristi then started laughing as did everyone else in the office, except for the poor nurse who stood staring with eyes as big as saucers. All she could say was, “I’ve never had anyone do that before.”

While the weight gain led to a funny story, it wasn’t all good news. I mentioned we may actually be closer than we thought. Well, even though the babies are doing great, Kristi has begun showing signs of preeclampsia. For those of you who are like me and didn’t know what that meant, its pregnancy induced high blood pressure which is the result of all the added fluids in Kristi’s body along with various other protein things (I won’t bore you with what I’ve read about it). With it comes all the problems of regular high blood pressure except it can get out of control pretty quick. Because of this, we’re going in to see the doctor weekly now just to make sure things don’t get worse. They check it by measuring blood pressure, weight gain and proteins. While Kristi’s blood pressure is good, she did have greater than normal weight gain because of excess fluid and there were proteins found. Kristi is working to control it by doctor assigned "modified bedrest"-resting for a few hours in the middle of the day, which is much easier now that she is out of school for the summer.

The good news is there is a cure for preeclampsia; it’s having babies. With the babies pushing 34 weeks they would be early if they came now but would likely be just fine as their weights are good and their lungs are mostly developed. We would love for them to wait until July but the doctor thinks we may have them in June. I guess we’ll just see. Every week they stay in is good but we certainly don’t want to put Kristi at risk.

Kristi is still feeling pretty good however. And, as you can see is looking really good as well.

I’m very impressed with her because she is still laughing, smiling and sometimes still being an ass to me (in a fun way I assure you); basically she’s still the same fun Kristi that I have always loved. She’s just got two babies inside of her and can’t take baths anymore. I can tell you, she looks like a lunch-lady in the shower caps she bought. Here's what she thought of that comment.

With the news from the doctor, we have been thinking more about actually having these babies. Kristi has started packing for the hospital and I have started cleaning the house and keeping the yard up for when grandmothers and grandfathers come. I guess this has got Kristi a little on edge. For example, Kristi went to sleep in one of her maternity shirts last night instead of a PJ’s. In the middle of the night, she rolled over and felt a sharp pain in her side. She immediately thought, “Oh wow! This is a contraction.” She looked at the clock so she could time it and laid there with the pain. Eventually she moved a bit and the pain went away and she went back to sleep. A bit later she moved and the pain hit again. She again looked at the clock thinking it was a contraction. This time however it didn’t go away and in fact got worse the more she moved to one side. Well, turns out it wasn’t a contraction at all. It was the tag of her maternity shirt digging into her side while she rolled over. See what I mean by on edge.

We go back to the doctor this week. I’ll post after the doctor’s visit so you will know what’s going on. Thanks for all the wonderful thoughts and prayers you send to us. We’re still amazed with all the love you have shown us and amazed at how many people are taking an interest in our lives as we move toward our new family.

Until next time, have a good week.

Dr. Daddy.