Bedrest Sucks!!

Ok, So Ive been on bedrest for 35 days now and I am so tired of it.  TV sucks (excep for Grey’s Anatomy) and Im finding it hard toconcentrate on reading which is weird cause I love reading..  And Im getting on Shauns nerves!!  He has been great but he is having to clean house, do laundry, take care of the dogs, make meals, and get me decent snacks at least every two hours, oh yeah, and go to work.  And to think, this is nothing compared to the adventure we are about to embark on!!  He bought me a PSP the other day which was awesome of him.  That I can play for a long time and has helped to pass the time.

I still havnt figured out what to do about school.  i have to let them know if Im quiting or what.  Dont know if they will give me a 5 year leave.  Personally I would like to be a stay at home mom who volunteers at school and takes pics for fun in my spare time. 

We found our dream house in East Sooke.  Its 2600 sq ft w/ 4 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms and a den.  It looks very open, sits on over 1/2 an acre, and has a veranda that wraps around the front and sides.  Oh how that would be a perfict fit for our new family!

It seems lately that the Straker family has been hit hard with health issues.  My cousins daughter kendra has cancer, my auntie Carole has cancer, I have a pregancy that couldnt be more high risk, my cousin Lorelie is in constant physical pain.  Our family has always seemed pretty healthy despite a few bumps and bruises.  Hard to see what Gods plan is with all of this.  I just pray that at the end of allthis we all come out healthy and stronger in our faith because of it.  I have to admit, I definitly struggled w/ my faith throughout my pregnancy.  It seemed like every time we went to the doctor (which is a weekly thing) I was getting more bad news and being faced w/ decisions I dont wish upon anyone.  But I came back to God each time and chose to keep all of my babies despite the risks.  I figure God put them all there for a reason and He can see the bigger plan.  As hard as this has been, God is getting me through it all.  Right now I really hope that noting bad happens before the weekend b/c my parents are going to Europe for 3 weeks and I really want them to go.  They  deserve this trip and i want them to enjoy themselves.

Baby Talk

OK, so just a warning, Im going to be writing some about pregnant stuff but if there are any guys reading this post, which I dont mind if you do otherwise I wouldnt be writing this, I’ll just put a warning like Baby talk as the heading so you are prewarned!

I was going to type tis on the triplet message board I go on but it was going to be way too long so thought I would write it here.  So here is what I was starting to type about Twin to Twin Transfusion (TTTS)

So on the triplet message board there seemes to be a lot of people w/ id’s and a single.  My twins are mono
di which means they do have their own amniotic sac but share the placenta.  They knew they
were ID’s b/c the membrane b/n them was so very thin compared to the membrane (I dont even know if
thats the right word to use!) the twins and my boy.  Twin to twin transfusion happens more
commonly in mono di twins.  I sugguest to any of the mothers of ID’s to go to the twin to
twin transfusion Syndrome Foundation site (tttsfoundation.org).  They have good ?s to ask your dr and you can even get them to send you info.  They sent me a huge booklet that has been very helpful.    They also have info on what they can do to stop TTTS.  One of those things is to go in w/ a laser and sever some of the veins that the babies share in the placenta so that they are not sharing so much.   TTTS is a prolife organization and I havent found that they ever suggest reduction.  They are very supportive and you can even give them a call w/ questions. 

In my situation, my twins started showing signs of TTTS at about 17 wks.  There was a 20% size
diff b/n the two, and you dont want the size diff to be more or they start looking at what
they can do to correct it.  To make matters worse for me the TTTS switched directions after
going the same way for a month.  Plus my smaller twin (who you would think would get more
nutrition b/c of the switch back but she is staying small b/c her cord didnt attach to the
placenta properly.  What is now happening is when she tries to pump her blood back to the placenta, not of all the blood goes through and gets pushed back to the baby.  This is causing her heart to have to work harder.  Her heart has become large and is surrounded by fluid, as well as her liver and stomach.  She is surrounded by a lot of amniotic fluid and is swallowing alot and peeing alot to try and get rid of it all.  Amazingly she is moving a lot which is a good sign.   

So her health is failing b/c of the poorly attached umbilical cord and TTTS.   But Im still pregnant and try to focus more on that than anything else.  Ive made it to 24 wks and only have 2 days until Im 25!!!