Wednesday, March 23, 2011

30 Week Ultrasound ♥

We had our 30 week ultrasound to check the boys for Twin to Twin Transfusion. They are still showing no signs of it, thank goodness. Their fluid levels were perfect, and they are putting on weight.

In 2 weeks, Baby A went from 2 lbs 14 oz to 3 lbs 14 oz, gaining a pound. He is in the 59th percentile.

Baby B went from 2 lbs 11 oz to 3 lbs 5 oz, gaining 10 oz. He is in the 41st percentile.

They look great and are getting big! The right baby is the chunker, and is the baby that always hurts my ribs ;)

My cervix looked great, it measured 2.5 cm. The doctors are very happy with it. Bedrest is keeping these boys where they need to be, and I could not be happier!

Thank you for all the prayers, they are working!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

High Risk Pregnancy ...

When I found out it was twins I was shocked to say the least. I would have never imagined we would be having identical twins. You never expect that when you go in for an ultrasound. I was immediately having a "high risk pregnancy." So, I had doctors appointments every 2 weeks.

The first trimester I was sick, but other than that perfectly fine. The boys were doing great & all was well. Second trimester I felt AMAZING! :) On christmas break we went in for our ultrasound & the boys were starting to show a difference in their fluid levels. One baby had 18 and the other had 8 units of fluid. This was the first scare we had with the boys, and it was awful. I was put on bedrest for the rest of christmas break. I was told to add protein to every meal and to drink as much water as I could. I went back 10 days later, and their levels were 13 and 6 units. This was good news because their levels were closer to each other. I went back 10 days later, and she did not need to measure their levels. She could tell be looking at them that they were perfect. We were so relieved :)

The rest of January and February went by and there were no issues. I felt great for the most part. My back hurt after teaching all day, but that is to be expected. I loved the 2nd trimester. My appointments were going great. The boys were putting on weight, and I felt amazing.

On Monday February 28th, I went in for a routine OB appointment at 27 weeks pregnant. My doctor measured my cervix, and everything about my pregnancy changed in an instant.

It had gone from measuring 3.7 cm to 2.6 cm in two weeks and was 1 cm dilated. Anything below 2.5 cm is concern before 34 weeks pregnant. Basically, the weight of the 2 babies is tricking my body into thinking it needs to start preparing for birth. 

I had an appointment with my high risk specialist the next day in the same building. My doctor told me if the specialist got a measurement of less than 2.5 cm I would be on hospital bedrest. The specialist has a more accurate machine to determine the real length. She was putting me on home bedrest at that moment.

Brandon and I were COMPLETELY freaked out. I had taught that day, and felt great. It was a good day with my kiddos, and everything was going well. We decided to go down to my specialist and see if she would measure it then. I did not want to stress for 24 hours about whether I would be put in the hospital.

My specialist took me straight in, and she measured 2.4 cm. We went straight to the hospital, which is across the parking lot. I was admitted, and put on monitors for the boys. They also monitored contractions. I was contracting, but never felt any of it. So, they put me on Procardia to stop the contractions. I was in the hospital until Thursday. They said since my contractions had basically stopped, they felt home bedrest would work. I had my last baby shower that weekend when I got home.

The following Monday March 8th, I went in and had my cervix checked again at 28 weeks. It was 2 cm. My doctor said she was willing to let me go home and re-check on Wednesday. While she was finishing writing things in my file, she said she could not let me go home. Looking at my length and knowing I was only 28 weeks she just could not let me go home. So, back to the hospital we went.

On Wednesday at 28 weeks 3 days, my specialist checked my cervix and it measured 1.4 cm. I was devastated. I had been on bedrest and it was not helping. The boys were doing great and weighed 2 lbs 14 oz and 2 lbs 11 oz. They looked absolutely aborable in the ultrasound. I cannot wait to love on them.

On Monday March 14th, I went in and they measured around 2.4 cm. I felt so relieved. Laying in bed ALL DAY was helping. Thank goodness!

On Monday March 20th, I went in and they measured around 2.6 cm. YAY!

I have another ultrasound on March 23rd with my specialist. She will give me new weights for the boys and re-check my cervix.

I have been in the hospital since February 28th, except the 4 days I was released. It seems to really be helping and the boys are doing great. I am 30 weeks 3 days, and praying to make it to 36 weeks.

Brandon spends every night in the hospital with me. Seriously. I have been so blessed. He is laid-back and calm about everything in our lives. This is why I married him because I am SO NOT any of those character traits ;) In times like these, he makes me laugh and is supportive. I don't know what I would do without him by my side.

So, no teaching=no fun. When you are a teacher, your students are YOUR kids. I see them everyday, and genuinely care about them. I HATE that I am not there to teach them. They are reviewing for their TAKS test the next 2 weeks, and I feel so guilty not being there. I love my kiddos, and I know they will do great. I just wish I could see them, and remind them of the tricks I taught them in each unit. I called and spoke to each student to tell them their benchmark scores. They did GREAT. I was so proud of them. They made me a sweet card that each student signed. It made me cry :(

I know I am doing what I have to for my boys to be healthy and that is what keeps me going :)

♥ Nursery & Baby Showers

It has been entirely too long since I updated this blog! Hopefully, I will get better about it, and become as good as Jackie is about her blog! ;)

Since I last updated we found out the twins are Identical BOYS on November 29, 2010! We are naming them Drake and Hunter. We are still slightly debating on middle names. Hunter Paul Olive is definitely his name. Drake is the name we have not chosen yet. Drake Brandon Olive & Drake Arthur Olive are the two we are deciding on. If we go with Arthur, both boys will have their grandfather's name as their middle name. If we go with Brandon, both boys will be named after their daddy. So, we will see :)


When I found out it was boys I knew immediately what crib bedding I wanted! It is the only boy bedding that fit our style, and I LOVE it. Finding the perfect furniture took a little longer than expected. I was SHOCKED at the price of nursery furniture! I stumbled across the Graco Stanton set at walmart.com & fell in love! It has the Espresso finish that I like, and it was very reasonable! Brandon's family bought all of the furniture for us for christmas. My parents bought the boys' bedding for us for christmas. We are so blessed to have such supportive families! Pam, Lacey, and Nanny painted the boys nursery for us! We decided to paint the bottom of the room chocolate brown, then have a white chair rail. The room was already cream color, so we left the top that color. It turned out perfect, and cutting that chair rail was quite interesting ;)






I had a baby shower at work, and it was amazing! I am so blessed to work with the people I do. They are supportive, loving, and genuine. I love my co-workers, and I love my kiddos. How many people can say that about their job?? I was given many sweet gifts to start filling the nursery with :)





My next shower was thrown by Lacey, Theresa, Linda, Kaitlyn, and Kylie. It was beautiful! Our bedding set was being discontinued, and it was no longer carried at Babies~R~Us. So, I could not register for all of the neat stuff that goes with their bedding. Lacey decided to order it all, and use it as decorations for the "Deer" themed baby shower! It turned out adorable! Pam made the cake, and it was absolutely precious! Pop drew the deer from our bedding, and she used that to put it on the cake! The food, decorations, gifts, everything was amazing. We recieved more gifts than we could have ever dreamt of recieving. We are truly blessed!




The last shower was thrown  by Crystal, Cirby, Brooke R. and Lindsey. The theme was "Two Peas in a Pod" along with "We Olive Twins" When Brandon and I were in high school we would try to guess if the other said "I Love You" or "Olive You" So, "We All Love Twins" was perfect! It turned out adorable. There were so many creative ideas put into the shower. The cake was made by one of Crystal's friends, and WOW it was perfect. Again, we recieved so many sweet gifts that we were shocked.


Left frame: Boys Initials
Next frame: Collage of pregnancy photos and ultrasounds.
Next Frame: "We Olive Twins" spelled out in toys. Crystal and a family friend, Sandy, came up with this idea, and it is precious!
Last Frame: My silhouette at 23 weeks pregnant.




I was overwhelmed by the amount of gifts we recieved that were personalized, and took so much time. We got blankets, burp cloths, and towels that had the boys names, initials, or last name. It was incredible! I absolutely love personalized items, so it made me cry!





Brandon had a diaper shower with family and friends. The guys grilled and played poker. He recieved so many diapers and wipes. We certainly will not be buying diapers for a couple of months! Thank goodness :)

Between the three showers, Brandon and I will not need to get much for our boys. It was such a blessing, and we want to thank everyone for coming and being so supportive.

Drake & Hunter are blessed little boys! We cannot wait for everyone to meet them!