My miracles are here...before you were an hour old...I would give my life for you!

Only a mother who has looked into the eyes of her child for the first time can understand the fullness of my heart when I saw Collin and Holden for the first time. They are 16 days old today and I still am spending my days and a good part of my nights looking at them in complete amazement. I am so full of love and contentment. How could I ask for more?
Both boys are perfect! They are loving and both have a gentle spirit. They have been adorn by so many visitors. I believe that so many people look at them and see many answered prayers. Thank you to everyone that prayed for these little miracles to come into this world healthy and happy. I am so blessed!

Miracles Coming Very Soon...July 23rd at noon!

"Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were an hour old I would give my life for you
This is the miracle of life"Maureen Hawkins

I have held on to this quote for years now, dreaming of the day when I would actually be holding my little one at only an hour old. I am truly standing amazed that this moment is about to happen and that I am going to be a mom to two very special little boys.

My last appointment with my OB/GYN prior to my c-section was last Thursday. When I was about to leave, she told me that Dr. Crochet, her office partner that delivered my triplets, asked to assist during the c-section. She said we all needed to experience these little ones coming into the world together. Everyone has worked hard to make sure that I have healthy babies and now are ready to celebrate such an accomplishment. The office staff and nurses all told me that they would come over to Baylor Hospital to meet the boys!

Tomorrow, July 22nd, I am going to go to my Fetal Care Specialist Office for the last time as a patient. Dr. Magee asked me to be a part of a photo shoot celebrating his practice being awarded a VERY significant amount of money to further expand services for high risk pregnancies. I think he chose me because I am probably the MOST pregnant woman he could think of. The photographer is going to take picture of Dr. Magee looking at the boys on the sonogram with Karry looking on! The pictures will be published to help to announce the donation of money for the practice. He told me last Thursday that his office would have an "emergency" at the hospital on Thurs so they could come and meet my sweet little guys!

I think that I am nesting! I have washed everything I have owned, packed for me and the boys and keep thinking over and over about things left to do! There is only one day that we have left in our home without the boys!

I guess it is normal, but I feel so many things right now. I am anxious about the birth, still praying that they are perfect in every way. I want to leave the hospital with both boys healthy and thriving. I pray every day that I will have wisdom even at the very beginning of establishing a happy life for them focusing of growing them up as men of faith. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the people who want to be such a big part of the boys' lives!

Thank you to the many people that have prayed for these little boys. I know that this outcome is a product of those prayers and faith.

The next post should come with pictures of the cutest little boys ! Between my mother, family and friends it sounds as though there will be a hand full of cameras represented.

I will be dreaming of Thursday and looking forward to the magical moments!

A Special Prayer...

I have been on bed rest since May 7th. For an active and on the go person, there are times when the days get very long and it seems that time is standing still. To get me through each day, I think about what it will feel like to hear them cry for the first time, imagine what their sweet faces will look like, try to organize (in my mind and with tons of help from Karry) our home to prepare for them and relish the thought of walking in our front door with them! I have had so much encouragement from so many people! I am overly blessed and try to stay focused on that as I am going through this journey!
I go back to the doctor on July 2nd and think that I will know more about the expected delivery date. If they deliver at 35 weeks and 4 days, they will be able to eat on their own! I have 14 days until that time! I think at this point that I will be scheduled for a c-section no later than 36 weeks. If they stay on track with their growth, they should both be around 6lbs each! When I think of carrying even more baby in the Texas heat...well...let's just say that clothes are not appealing to me!!!
I can't believe that I am so close to meeting these little guys and am humbled daily with the gifts that are about to be given to me!
Thank you Charlotte for the special prayer for my little family!

Addition to the nursery....and already 4 1/2 lbs!

The boys will be staying in a daycare about 30 feet from my office next year! We are opening the daycare for employee's children. The teacher lead for the daycare, Elsa Tarango, painted the tricycle and airplane on the nursery wall. I am so impressed with how cute they both look! The nursery is ready for two boys that today weighed in at 4 1/2lbs each. If you add that up and add a couple of pounds for the amniotic fluid for both babies...you can visualize my belly! If you have ever been pregnant, you also must know how my back feels! I have arms, legs and several other body parts making it very hard to get comfortable!

I am continuing to be monitored 2 times daily for contractions. I have had as many as 10 in an hour and as few as 1 in an hour. I had a doctor's appointment today and they adjusted my medicine. Hopefully this medicine works or the next step is to have a pump that administers medicine continuously. They will insert a cathedar in my stomache and I will have to wear the pump that contains the medicine. The same company that monitors the contractions will also monitor and adjust the medication in the pump. Hopefully I will not get to that option!

If these little miracle boys stay put, I will more than likely have a scheduled c-section in 3 weeks. Collin, baby A, is breech. His little bum is sitting at the top of my cervix. Holden, Baby B, is spread out high in my abdomen!

Just thinking about seeing their sweet faces for the first time floods my heart with joy!

We ready for these baby boys...but they need to wait a few more weeks!

After a 5 day stay in the hosptial, Karry and I are so glad that the doctor's appointment yesterday landed us back at home and not back to Baylor Medical! My cervix is short and softening and I have been having contractions. I was given steroids at the hospital to help the boy's lungs develop and medication to help stop the contractions. I am pretty stable now at home with a monitor. I monitor every morning and afternoon for contractions and electronically send the information to a company. A nurse calls within a few minutes to discuss the results of each monitoring session. My threshold for contractions is 5 in a 60 minutes session. I have had anywhere between 2 to 10 contractions in a hour. I have had to start taking something to help me sleep and medication every 4 hours to stop contractions. I am hoping that all of this will buy us at least 26 more days. If the boys are born now, they will be fine but will have to spend time in the NICU. I really want to take them home with me when I leave the hospital, so I keep telling them that no matter how crowded they feel it is more comfortable where they are now!

I am in the hospital...but the nursery is ready for the boys!!!

I am so excited that I got the nursery done before I was admitted to the hospital! I went for a regular check up on Thursday and my cervix length had shortened and the cervix had also softened. While I was getting a sonogram, I had a contraction! I was admitted to labor and delivery and they monitored the boys and my contractions. I had several throughout that night, but they are giving me two different types of medication to stop them. As of Friday afternoon, no other conractions have been detected by the monitors!! They also have given me steroid shots to help the babies' lungs develop quicker. The needle for that shot was HUGE!!! If all goes well, there is a possibility that I could go home with a monitor on after a week! That is probably a long shot, but it helps to think that it is a possibility! Our goal is still to try to keep these guys incubating inside until 35 - 36 weeks!

Bedrest and growing baby boys!

I have accomplished nineteen days of bed rest and counting! I was hoping that I could finish the school year and then think about delivering these boys. I went to the doctor on May 7th and Dr. Magee discovered that my cervix length was shorter than expected. I was put on restrictive bed rest effective immediately! Thank goodness I had an urge to really organize my office the day before! Being on bed rest has maintained the length of the cervix and my goal is to keep these babies from meeting anyone until week 36! I am finishing my 29th week, so I think that I can do anything for 6 more weeks!
The pictures of the boys are from May 15th. Baby A is Collin Reed and Baby B is Holden Grey. Dr. Magee was looking at Holden and said he might be the next Brad Pitt...that he looked beautiful! Collin is a little more reserved than his brother, so we did not get as good of a look at him. I know that he is just as handsome as his brother! I am completely in love already and can't wait to kiss all over their sweet faces!

Beautiful Baby Boys!

The baby on the top is Holden (Baby B) and the baby on the bottom is Collin (Baby A). Now that they are bigger, I am amazed at how much their sonogram pictures look like their brothers. Holden's profile looks like Jackson's did and Collin's looks like the twins (Hudson and Weston)!

I go to the doctor now every week. Last week I saw Dr. Magee and he was thrilled with how things were progressing. Both boys look perfect and they are exactly the same size! Every day that passes, some of the anxiety that I feel just praying that the boys continue to be so perfect and healthy lessens. I already feel so blessed and know that being the mom of these miracle little boys will make me a better person.

The belly...22 weeks!

I finally have a belly picture! I was visiting my dear friend Denise and she took several pictures of these boys stretching their mom's tummy!

Both babies are transverse, so they are laying side to side. They are at a pound each and look perfect! I am often out of breath and at times feel like I have feet in my ribs. I can only imagine what I will feel in a few weeks! I only have 14 weeks to go!

I had some friends over last night and we worked on putting the baby beds together! After dinner and enjoying visitng, we managed to put together one crib! We have another crib and a changing table to go! The nursery is going to be so cute!

Getting bigger and bigger!

I just came home from Dr. Brothers' office. I am now having to go to the doctor EVERY week. I see Dr. Brothers every other week and the opposite weeks I see Dr. Magee! I have gained almost 17 pounds and am now at 21 weeks. Dr. Brothers said the average amount of weight gain for a mother of twins is 40 lbs...YIKES! Her comment about my weight today when I frowned on the scales was, "I want these babies to get so big that you are miserable pregnant and are ready to deliver!".
The concern at this point is premature labor, so she told me that I would possibly have to have a company come to the house to install a fetal monitor that would be connected to our home phone. I would have to wear the monitor for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. The monitor would alert my doctor if there was any detection of contractions. I am hoping that everything continues to go so well that I will not need that added monitoring.
These sweet boys are SO active. Holden was moving around so much today that Dr. Brothers had to chase him around with the heart dopler. It sounded like he was kicking at the monitor. He already has a mind of his own...not a big surprise!!
Thank you for all of the continued prayers and support!!

Their named!

It has been difficult to think of boy names after using our favored names for the triplets! After so much thought, the boys finally have names! The active little guy that has settled at the top of my tummy...formally known as Baby B...is Holden Grey! Holden means "gracious". My sweet, calm little man that always has his brother laying on him...formally known as Baby A... is Collin Reed. Collin means peaceful! It is nice to be able to call them by name! They already are sporting their personalities. I believe my strong willed guy will be Holden and my laid back man will be Collin!

Dr, Brothers told us on Tuesday that we should expect to be in the hospital around July 16th. They will take the stitches from the cerclage out on that day and typically that causes labor to be induced! Time is flying by! All of the boys furniture and bedding has been ordered. I will post pictures of the nursery when I have it ready! I have SO enjoyed buying clothes and shoes for them!

Baby boys love their moms!

It is confirmed...two baby Crumley boys are on their way! Dr. Magee was surprised that we found one more "penis" after having one boy twin already and the triplets being all boys! Everyone is thrilled! I have been asked so many times what I would like...boys or girls. I did not have a preference when I was pregnant with the triplets, but when I lost them I really wanted little boys! I am imagining being sprayed during diaper changes, live animals being in my house and flamable liquids being fascinating! So many people that hear that I am having boys tell me..."Little boys so love their moms!". Dr. Mageee will take major measurements on March 9th and give us more pictures! I will post them when we get them! So excited about welcoming two sweet little guys!

A little boy and a little stubborn!

Our visit to Dr. McGee (neonatal specialist) on Monday was great! Both babies were active, had strong heartbeats and were growing exactly as expected. As we all watched them interact with one another, their little personalities are already being revealed. Even though it is early, Dr. McGee was able to get a great picture of one of the baby's little bottoms. I have that picture posted and it is clear that this baby is a boy! If you look closely at the sono picture, you can see his little bottom, his legs and evidence that he is without a doubt a boy! It may seem that he is mooning us all, but I choose to think that he is practicing football moves! The other baby is so much more calm and reserved. I am sure thinking..."my brother is already embarrassing me!". When Dr. McGee tried to determine whether Baby A was a boy or girl, he said, "Well, I know one thing about this baby...it is stubborn!". Karry said she had no idea where that baby could have inherited his or her stubbornness!! We tried and tried to see, but Baby A was dodging every attempt. I again prefer to think that Baby A is much more modest than stubborn! My favorite picture so far is the picture that I posted of the two of them together! It looks like they are in bunk beds! Baby B ( baby boy) is closer to the top and Baby A is on the bottom! We are going back to Dr. McGee on Monday, February 23rd and he thinks that he will be able to see the sex of Baby A. I still think there are two little boys, but almost everyone else thinks that Baby A is a girl. We will know in a week!

What a relief!

The cerclage on Thursday went well! Dr. Brothers was very confident and upbeat when we saw her in the pre op room. She told me that we were going to get these two babies here safe and sound. Her confidence made me feel a bit more comfortable but did not do much for lowering my blood pressure...very anxious! She told us that she would listen to the babies heart tones before and after the surgery. I asked if she would wait until after I heard their heartbeats to put me to sleep! Because I wanted to hear the heartbeats, I had to be awake for them preparing me for surgery....I saw WAY TOO MUCH! I did hear their heartbeats...very strong...about 160 beats a minute for both of them! Since the preocedure, I have been recovering from a not so pleasant reaction to the anesthesia. I am feeling better but still feeling nausious. I am not really sure if the nausia is still from the anesethia or from my morning sickness coming back with a vengance! I will have a post op visit with Dr. Brothers (Ob/Gyn) and Dr. Magee (Neonatal Specialist) on Monday. I think that Dr. Magee will be able to tell us the sexes of the babies in the next couple of weeks!!! I will also come home with new pictures of the twins on Monday!! I have been asked to post of picture of the pregnant belly...I will try to do that before long!

An Update for Aunt Chris!

It is 9:30 at night and I think this is the latest I have been up in last 10 weeks! I am feeling a little less queezy and getting my energy back. As I was driving home from work tonight, I listened to a voicemail from my dear friend Christine "Chris". When I tell the story, we met in the 7th grade and when she tells the story we met in the 8th grade. Either way, she has been with me during the very best times in my life and the most difficult...I LOVE HER! She was calling to tell me that she was following the blog and wanted an update (she lives in Houston).
So...for Aunt Chris...The babies are active and usually are ready to play about the time that I am ready to go to sleep at night. This Thursday is the surgery to stitch the cervix. I am pretty anxious, but trust that the outcome will be so much better this time! My waist is expanding exponentially! I think some of that has to do with the strawberry ice cream (I did not know that I liked strawberry ice cream), peanut M&Ms (never been that fond of chocolate) and queso! I have a follow-up appointment next Monday after the surgery and an apointment with my neonatal specilist the same day...so I will have new pictures to post then! I am getting closer to being able to find out the sexes of the babies....probably 2 more weeks! I think there are two boys and everyone else seems to think that would be statistically unlikely to have 5 boys in less than 2 years. We will know soon enough!

Chris...give Daniel and Sydney a big hug and kiss from Aunt Sugie

Our first trip to see the amazing Dr. Magee (neonatal specialist)!!

Wednesday, January 21st was our first visit to see Dr. Magee, the neonatal specialist! He has become more of a trusted friend than a doctor. He was my specialist when I was pregnant with the triplets and even gave me a sono the day they delivered.
Our visit on Wednesday was perfect! He measured them, listened to their heartbeats and told us that they looked wonderful. I have been scheduled for a cerclage to stitch my cervix on February 5th at 8:30 a.m. This procedure will keep me from dilating before it is time! I will go back to Dr. Magee a week after the surgery to see the little ones again! Dr. Magee is so good about trying to get really good sonogram pictures of them. He told us this visit that they already look cute...I don't think he says that to all the moms! :+)

All I want for Christmas is my...

I kept telling everyone that all I wanted for Christmas was to be expecting a little one (or ones!)! As each Sunday passed, our preacher talked about the four candles of Advent. The first was Hope and his message was about living a life of extravagant hope! My transfer date was December 1st and my blood test was the Thursday after the extravagant Hope message. As much as I wanted to protect myself from feeling disappointment, I was hopeful that I was carrying my gift! A few days after the positive blood test (with very high hormone levels), I began to spot. The next Sunday's message was about extravagant peace. If the last year of my life has taught me nothing else, I have learned that God's peace is all that truly soothes an aching soul. I trusted that my prayers for a peaceful few days until the sonogram would help me through my fear of disappointment. The third Advent candle and message was about extravagant joy! That Friday I saw my two little active babies and heard both of their heartbeats...extravagant joy indeed! The last message of the holiday season and last advent candle is love...extravagant love. I know what it is like to see a child who mirrors who I am. I already feel so much love for the twins that my chest aches! I am enjoying every queezy and exhausting moment of growing these two!