37 Weeks

HAPPY FULL TERM!!!

It is with extreme joy in my heart, tears in my eyes and love in my heart that Trae and I can successfully say that we are now full term with our baby girls and set to deliver bright and early tomorrow morning at 37 weeks, 2 days on February 27, 2014.

This pregnancy has been exactly what our Doctors told us it would be: an emotionally draining, mental challenge with physical hardships to overcome... but we did it.  There have been MANY nights where I sat here fighting Braxton Hicks or was frustrated I couldn't move more than a few feet without it feeling like my pelvis or back was severly injured and I worried that making it this far, just simply wasn't possible.  But the days ticked on and the weeks forged ahead... and we couldn't be more proud of the fact that my body, the one we were so mad at a year ago for failing our boys.. has held strong with the assistance of my Abdominal Cerclage, and carried these girls to a healthy gestation.

While I'm so proud of my body and my personal sacrifices as a Mommy to these girls, I'm so proud of my Trae and all that he has done & sacrificed as both a husband and a Papa to our girls throughout our entire pregnancy.  Trae has made it to every. single. Dr's appointment I've ever had. EVERY ONE!! He has asked questions, when needed and been the perfect partner, supporting me through all the great times and hard times- never blaming emotions on pregnancy or weakness.  He has learned to cook (or pick up food) when I've been to sore or tired without complaint, spontaneously brought me home breakfast as a surprise when I didn't sleep well the night before and has runn 100% of our errands for the past 10 weeks or so that I've been on restricted activity.   Our marriage has endured more than one's 3.5 years should have to, but we can confidently say that we have come out more in love and more united than ever.. and we are SO looking forward to all the fun & challenges that come with parenting our sweet daughters together.  What a blessing! 

Tomorrow we go in at 5:30 AM for our 7:30 AM C-Section with Dr. Reue.   We will have our family in the waiting room for us, but we know how many friends & family we have praying for us & our girls.. excited for us & understanding what tomorrow brings for our family.. and we thank you ALL for that.

Of Course we go in with baited breath and excitement to become parents again.. to hear 2 LOUD cries when born, long legs and healthy reports from their nurses, but we go in remembering their brothers Sawyer & Tristan who we are confidant are with us in that operating room.  We know they are overjoyed that we are getting the opportunity to be parents again and probably think its both silly and amazing that we were blessed with 2 little girls after our 2 little boys made such a profound impact on our hearts, forever.  They will be talked about, prayed for and thanked tomorrow... never forgotten, as they are THE reason why their sisters are here with us today.

We promise to show lots of pictures of our beauties in the coming days & weeks and look forward to all the fun times ahead as a family.

SO! A final pregnancy update:

How Far Along?  37 weeks 1 day

Stretch Marks? None! Just a pesky Outie that is VERY OUTIE that Trae likes to laugh. It's like my 3rd accessory (earrings: check, necklace: check, Outie: check)

Sleep? Sleep is almost non existant at this time. Laying down in bed is very uncomfortable and it takes more effort and pain getting out of bed than it's worth to get into bed.  Thank Goodness Trae bought me my trusty recliner- it's been my only way to sleep a few hours here and there!  George, our boxer has been very sweet in sleeping next to me in the living room throughout the night and making me feel a little more normal when I wake up and hear a friendly snoring in the middle of the night.

Best Moment of the Week? While I think the best moments of our week are to come in meeting these 2 little girls tomorrow, the best part so far has been enjoying our last OB appointment together and celebrating this pregnancy with our parents, who are both in town today.

Food Cravings? Pizza, Lime Water, Juice, Fruit, Scrambled Egg Whites (random, I know)

Genders? Fraternal Twin Girls

Symptoms: Ongoing SPD Pelvic Pain which is SO painful, Pregnancy Insomnia, Braxton Hicks that are off and on, leg muscle pain.  No crazy swelling or high blood pressure though- which our OB was REALLY surprised by!

Weekly Dr Appt:

After graduating from Dr Berry last week, we only had a final Dr Reue appointment to go to this week. It was so CRAZY walking in for the last time pregnant and all our nurses commenting how excited they were for us.

I have been losing a pound or 2 a week for the past few weeks, which Dr Reue has said is normal and I'm not complaining about!  I've gained somewhere between 40-45 lbs this pregnancy which considering my complete lack of activity, and 2 healthy sized baby girls, I'm very happy with.  Having that said, this Momma is going to have some WORK to do to get her body strong & lean again.

My Blood Pressure was completely normal and all my vitals checked out- so Dr Reue went over the details for our surgery, did a final Bio Physical Exam on the girls which they passed quickly and sent us on our way!  We didn't get the girls' measurements on sonogram, but the sonographer did mention Baby A looking larger than her sister, Baby B.. maybe up to a lb larger, so we will see!

The last weight guesstimate was done by Dr. Berry and he guessed Baby A weighing a little over 6# and Baby B weighing close to 7.

Any guesses?!  Closest Guess Wins! 

The last night with my babies in my belly!

Trae joking around with the girls, excited to meet them!

 

 

36 Weeks

Happy 36 Weeks!

Oh Gosh!!  How long have we waited to say "Happy 36 Weeks?!" We have 1 more week until we are considered "full term" for a twin pregnancy, but are starting to feel very confident that our little girls will have no need for a NICU stay when born, even if we don't make it to our scheduled C-Section date of February 27th.

Experiencing no NICU time has ALWAYS been the ultimate goal for us and we feel so lucky to have made it this far.  

How Far Along? 36 Weeks 5 Days

Stretch Marks? Nope! Just full belly button "outie" still!  Thank you Mom for great genetics, because these girls have certainly worked hard at growing and stretching this skin!

Sleep? Sleep has become very sporadic & challenging.  I start off in bed with a Hydrocodone to alleviate my SPD pain enough to go to sleep, prop up my body pillow & wedge other pillows under my back & usually fall asleep fast when ultimately comfortable. This initial sleep lasts usually 3-4 hours. I then need to turn & usually decide I need to move to the recliner in our living room, which wakes my brain up, then keeping me awake for an hour or so. I can usually pull another 3 hours in the recliner, but because I'm slightly upright, Baby A's head starts migrating under my ribcage & I start finding it very hard to breathe, which inevitably wakes me up.  It will be much more rewarding waking up to my sweet child's face than a pain in my ribs.. and I so look forward to that in less than a week!

Best Moment of the Week? The best moment of this was graduating from our MFM appointment with Dr Berry saying how well we had done, over and over again. Trae and I left with our 36 week gold coin that we worked so hard for, hand-in-hand past the fertility clinic (that is located on the same floor as Dr Berry's office) that helped us have both Sawyer & Tristan and these baby girls and felt so grateful.  We drove home in utter disbelief, tears in our eyes and a full heart commenting over and over again how we couldn't believe how lucky we were & how excited we are to be almost full term with healthy baby girls.    We can hardly wait to meet them!!!

Our 36 Week Gold Coin "Award" given by Dr Berry!

Food Cravings: Pizza, lime water, fruit.. pretty much anything but meat.

Genders? Fraternal Twin Girls

Symptoms:  The SPD pain has gotten worse this week.  Walking is harder, sleeping is harder, shaving my legs has become something worthy of an Olympic medal, itself.  I'm very thankful for the hydrocodone that helps me get to sleep through the pain, but this week has been a fairly sedentary one due to the pain.

I've had a few days of Braxton Hicks this week that required one or two Benadryl to knock out. Almost any movement around the house causes them to kick in, so I've been spending lots of time on my recliner binge watching Scandal & other TV shows while trying not to think about all the nesting I wish I could be doing.  Thankfully Trae has been SO helpful in vacuuming when he knows it's driving me crazy several times a week, going to the grocery store & putting together anything I order for the nursery without complaint.

Weekly Dr. Appts:

Dr Reue:  Dr Reue is officially back from vacation, so I feel better already... aside from being 36+ weeks and knowing our girls are likely safe from any NICU time.  Dr Reue commended us for making it to 36 weeks, felt my belly and said "you sure aren't having small babies!" We all smiled, knowing this meant our babies were growing well & I was doing my job well.  My strep B test came back negative, Blood Pressure is still low and everything looked "great" according to Dr Reue. 

Trae asked if there would be any complications due to both girls being breech/transverse and Dr Reue assured us that the C-Section would be very routine (pending any unseen circumstances) and the babies' position wouldn't effect the difficulty or size of my incision at all.  

We see Dr. Reue for our last prenatal appointment next Tuesday at 37 weeks, where we will make sure we're still on track for Thursday and learn all the fun facts about what's to come on Thursday morning!! We're so excited!!!

Dr Berry:  Both girls passed their Bio Physical Profiles quickly proving that they were little movers & shakers and very healthy babies. Baby A's fluid had increased a little, but Dr Berry wasn't worried.  He just said to be aware I could be a little more uncomfortable in the next week since she is taking up a little more room.  While added discomfort is not an exciting thing to hear, I was just happy they were doing well & there were no indications that they would be here before our scheduled 2/27 C-Section date.

Dr Berry congratulated us for making it so far, gave us our well deserved 36 Week Gold Coin Medal and remarked how well we looked and were doing to be almost full term with very healthy-sized babies! We hugged Dr Berry and thanked him for everything he did to care for us and our family.

It had been almost a year, to the day to the first time we met with Dr Berry in his office to discuss our loss with Sawyer & Tristan.  He took his time to listen to us, care for us and put a plan together when we were pregnant again.  When we saw him pregnant with our 2nd set of twins, he put his game face on and said "let's do this! You can do this!" So to hug him and say "we did it"... it was a very special moment for us all.

Trae said "when do we see you next" out of habit and Dr Berry replied "next pregnancy, of course!!"  

We all laughed and I said "I'll start with bringing the girls by to meet you soon."

Although I'm uncomfortable with it, I know how much I'll miss this massive baby belly!!

35 Weeks

Happy 35 Weeks to us!

This Valentine's Day week we celebrate all our LOVES and our official 2 week baby countdown has officially begun!!

I am laying pretty low these days, only getting out of the house for quick errands that include Trae and little walking, so we knew our Valentine's Day would be a special, low key day for us both.  Trae brought me home red roses, a beautiful card and (my favorite) breakfast tacos from work mid morning on Friday. It was a wonderful surprise for this sleepy, hungry mama!  Friday night we went to one of our favorite Austin pizza places, Saccones to share a pizza & salad before getting me home to fall asleep in my recliner by 10:30.

It was a long weekend for Trae, as he had off today for President's Day.  We were able to spend some time with good friends over dinner, finish some additional details in the girls' nursery and spend some quality time together watching the winter Olympics.

We are enjoying our last moments running quick errands & enjoying quiet moments just the 2 of us here at the house as we know they will be a thing of the past in less than 2 weeks with our two little girls finally home with us.  The countdown is on!!!!!


How Far Along? 35 Weeks 6 days

Stretch Marks? No! But the Belly Button has been a FULL outie for many weeks now.

Sleep? Sleep was starting to get more interrupted between the girls moving & waking me up and my pelvic pain which would force me to move to my recliner after 3-4 hours in bed.  Dr Berry prescribed me Hydrocodone to alleviate my pelvic pain and it has helped me sleep 5-6 hours in bed now before I have to move out to the recliner! I have been good about resting & taking a mid day nap, which helps keep me rested, as well.

Best Moment of the Week? Trae and I made major advancements to our home organization & preparation for babies to arrive, with the help of a trip from my Mom.  Nana Young (my mom) helped do several loads of baby laundry, put together bouncy seats, helped finish organizing our kitchen to include spots for baby items where Trae had moved some of our cocktail glasses into the bar and helped organize and stock our changing table downstairs, where the girls will spend most thier time for the first several weeks.
Aside from some small decor additions to the nursery, we are feeling as prepared as we can and looking forward to meeting our baby girls soon!

Food Cravings? Avocado, Fruit Juice

Genders?  Fraternal Twin Girls!

Symptoms: I still wake up with numb fingers and sore joints, but it gets a little better throughout the day.  For 10+ weeks my only main concern has been hip/pelvic pain that my Drs thought could be round ligament pain. After talking to my sister in law, Mandy about this pain, she suggested I look into a condition called symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD).  I was so grateful to learn that others had experienced similar pains and agreed this was EXACTLY what I was suffering from.  Dr Berry agreed this was likely what I had, suggested I wear my pregnancy support belt 24/7 to help alleviate pain and start taking Hydrocodone at night to help ease the pain throughout the night enough to help me sleep.

• The Symphysys pubis is a stiff joint that connects the two halves of your pelvis. This joint is stregthened by a dense network of tough, flexible tissues (ligaments). Your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens your ligaments in order to help your baby pass through your pelvis. Your pelvic joints move more during and just after pregnancy. This can cause inflammation and pain, and may lead to the condition symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD).

Weekly Dr. Appt: We had appointments with both Dr. Reue and Dr. Berry this week! We are nearing the end of the pregnancy, so more monitoring is being done to keep everyone safe, which we are grateful for!

Dr Reue: Our appointment with Dr Reue was good! I've lost weight little by little every week for the past 4 weeks, but Dr. Reue isn't worried about it at all since the girls are growing well. We think the girls are just leaving little room for food to go in my stomach, which has me trying to eat several small meals throughout the day when I get hungry. We measured my cervix via ultrasound and it is still remarkably long- almost 5 cm thanks to my abdominal cerclage we had surgically placed in April.  We left the appointment feeling good, except that Dr. Reue is out of town until next Tuesday- so if the girls decided to come early, it wouldn't be our favorite OB delivering them. I was given instructions to go home and rest/put my feet up for a week to ensure we can get at least another week out of this pregnancy.

Dr. Berry: Every week we go in to have bio physical profile (BPP) exams on the girls, which involves an ultrasound that measures several health checkpoints on the girls. Each baby has to prove that she is practicing her breathing, move her arms & legs several times showing good movement and have good, healthy heartbeats. The ultrasound technician gives 30 minutes for the babies to pass their test before hooking me up to a Non Stress Test (NST) to check the babies' heartbeats more closely.  Usually our girls pass their test very quickly, but on Tuesday Baby B must have been very sleepy- she was all curled up in a ball and despite several pokes and prodes by myself and the ultrasound tech, she didn't move around much or show proof that she was practicing her breathing. I was hooked up to the NST and while her heartrate proved to be strong and consistent, it didn't vary much- which meant we had to retest her on Wednesday.
Our Wednesday appointment was completely smooth- both babies passed thier BPP test quickly, making Trae and me very happy (and relieved.)
We walked out celebrating that we only had 1 more appointment with Dr Berry, where we would earn our GOLD medal for making it to our 36th week!

Trae has made several trips here as we've been setting up our nursery! (Not his favorite)

Colbie's 6th Birthday was 2/14 and George's 3rd birthday is 2/20 - all our babies are born in February!

34 Weeks

We are SO grateful to be almost through our 34th week.  Trae and I used to talk about 34-37 weeks like they were the "ULTIMATE" goals. They seemed so unattainable to us, yet we dreamed about all the fun things we would be doing during this time, like watching the Olympics... which we now find ourselves doing! What an amazing to be dreaming of dates and goals & acheiving them.  It makes us feel like almost anything is possible!!

Having that said, I've worked really hard not to complain at all this pregnancy. Partly because I have an (understandably) overprotective husband who worries about me with any grunt or face grimace I make and I don't want him to worry more than he already does. But, also because I am genuinely, extremely grateful for every moment I have in this pregnancy. My Dr's have recently been making it a point to say "how are you" and when I say "oh.. you know.. a little uncomfortable, but mostly fine" they'll raise their eyebrows and say "Cyndi... really, how ARE you? It's ok to complain about something if it hurts- you should be uncomfortable and hurting at this point."  How can I complain about sore back & not sleeping when it just means my baby girls are growing quickly, which means better health for them?
.....BUUUUUUT.... if I'm treating this blog as a true pregnancy journal, I should be honest here:

Pregnancy is hard. I've only ever been pregnant with twins and can only comment on my experiences.. but oh man... it's hard, especially now.

• Moving too quickly from a lying or reclined position to a seated or standing position means I have 2 babies who have to switch positions in utero and they are often unhappy with this new positioning and let me know it with 8 limbs pushing, kicking & jabbing themselves into a more comfortable position, leaving me gasping for air.

• Sneezing, a very common occurance in Austin in the Fall thanks to our abundance of Cedar sounds like I'm dying a little everytime I do it because the sound I make is a combined "achoo ughhhhh". I attribute this to my stomach muscles being blown out over two 5lb+ babies and not appreciating the quick contraction of a sneeze over said baby bump. Ouch.

• Dressing myself is a team sport, depending on my outfit. At this point, my daily outfit usually involves a black maternity legging, maternity tank w/ layered sweater & boots. I have to sit to put on my pants as I can't lift my legs high enough/bend down low enough to put on my pants standing. Putting on socks involves me lifting each leg with both hands over my knee while grunting & getting out of breath. Yes, I get out of breath putting on socks. I also get kicked several times during this process due to bending over and squishing the girls in order to reach my sock.  Now boots... that involves Trae's help to put on and take off. I simply don't have the ability to bend down in order to pull on a boot or take it off, unless its a loose UGG-style boot.

• Sitting anywhere too long puts my legs or hips to sleep, making it that much harder to get up and walk. Laying anywhere too long puts my hips to sleep & means I have to get a good "rocking" side to side to be able to get enough momentum to roll off the bed/couch and then attempt to walk.

While most of this is uncomfortable & challenging, it has Trae and I laughing about it in some form or fashion, every day. We feel so grateful and work to enjoy every moment, even if some of them are at my bodies expense. There will be so much I miss about being pregnant:

• I love making Trae laugh while I dance with my big baby belly around the house, I love snuggling with George up to my belly & having the girls kick him when he lays to long on them, I love listening to the girls heartbeats using our at home doppler every night before we go to bed and Trae kissing my stomach after hearing them. I love feeling each roll, kick, bump & jab these girls give me and know I'll miss feeling them so much.  I really love the look of general "awe" I get from women when out in public. I feel proud my body has held up this long and grown these little girls so well.

I know we are mere weeks..even days away from meeting these girls and am so glad to know I've taken the opportunity to enjoy and really feel every moment in this pregnancy.. the good, the uncomfortable and the silly.

This belly deserves multiple pictures for us to remember it!

Trae "rooting" on 34 weeks & Team USA in Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

How Far Along? 34 weeks 5 days

Stretch Marks? No!! Amazing!

Sleep? I can't lie.. sleep is challenging. I fall asleep with 2 pillows under my head, one beneath my belly on whatever side I'm lying on, one behind my back supporting my back and one between my legs supporting my hips. Trae jokes I'm in a fort, but its the only way I can get to sleep.  Even with all this pillow support, I find myself switching sides frequently as my hip falls asleep and wakes me up, or the girls kick me, letting me know they are ready for me to switch sides. Then at some point, my back starts hurting.. that's when it's time for me to give in and just get up for the day and move to my recliner.  Challenging, sometimes tear-provoking when Trae is soundly asleep next to me, but still grateful I'm able to get some sleep.

Best Moment of the Week? This week was an emotional week remembering Sawyer & Tristan. Trae and I donated chancel flowers to our church in memory of the boys, talked about them to many people this week and tried to incorporate additional items of theirs into their sisters' nursery. Trae and I had a nice time continuing preparations for the nursery and checking things off our 'to do' list. We met with a doula to discuss our transition from hospital to home and are enjoying every additional day we get in this pregnancy, knowing our little girls will be born healthy, very soon.

Movement? Baby A loves to move throughout the day, especially after I drink fruit juice.  Baby B is still my snuggler- I don't feel major kicks, but instead can feel when she is curling into a ball "nuzzling" into her sister.

Food Cravings? Fruit, Iced Tea

Genders? 2 Girls (Fraternal)

Symptoms: Swollen Fingers, Achy knuckles, sore hips & back with ANY standing/walking.  Also, Braxton Hicks contractions have started to be more consistent this week. I take 10mg Procardia twice a day to keep them at bay but have been finding myself having to take a Benadryl or two to calm them down, further. At this point if I were to go to L&D, Dr's have told me they will no longer try to stop labor, so I am resting, hydrating and popping Benadryl as much as I need to, to carry these babies as long as possible. We want to avoid any NICU time, if possible.

Weekly Dr Appt: This week we saw both Dr. Reue (OB) and Dr Berry (Perinatologist).
Both appointments went very well!  Dr Reue gave us some additional details on "what to expect" when we go in for our C-Section on the 27th, wrote me a prescription I'll need to help with breastfeeding and high-fived us for making it to the important 34-week mark!  Here on out these babies are just gaining weight, which is music to mine and Trae's ears!

Our Dr Berry appointment was equally as positive- both girls passed their BPP (Bio Physical Profile) pretty quickly- Baby B was a little less active, so it took her a little longer to get her 5 movements tracked, but that just fits in with what is her "normal"- our Baby B is our snuggler/sleeper- always moving much less than her sister.  Both heartbeats sounded great and Dr Berry was very happy with my blood pressure and the minimal swelling I'm having so far.  We were reminded that from here on out, Dr's will not try to stop any labor that my body goes into, so its important to take it easy & not push my body too hard.
All in all- everyone is VERY happy to be this far in our pregnancy and planning on making it to our scheduled C-Section on the 27th!

Posing with the Chancel Flowers we donated to St. Martins in memory of Sawyer & Tristan.

They were located on either side of the alter & were beautiful.

The nursery starting to make progress! 

We organized all the frames before hanging them on the walls

Flowers sent to us on the boy's Heavenly birthday from our friends the Tenery's

33 Weeks

Happy Birthday to our twin boys & Happy 33 weeks to our twin girls!

This week I successfully finished my last week of work at March of Dimes on Friday and am now on official "Maternity Leave".  I feel very proud to have continued working through my 33rd week and am very much looking forward to "nesting" and resting at home.

Also this week, we celebrated and remembered our first babies, Sawyer & Tristan on thier first birthday in Heaven.  It was an emotional and bittersweet day, but we concentrated on doing things in loving memory of the boys and spending quality time together as a family.

In other news, I'm officially running out of maternity clothes options with my growing baby belly.  I went to Old Navy to buy a few larger sizes and was shocked to learn that spandex, even in its XLargest size, is stretched to the max with this baby bump on board!  I'll gladly take a 100% spandex wardrobe for the next 4 weeks if it brings us home full term baby girls!

How Far Along? 33weeks 6 days
Stretch Marks? I think it's pretty safe to say I have escaped have any at all- and no linea nigra. But FULL on outie belly button. Everywhere I go women tell me my Button is out saying I'm "baked".

Sleep: It's either really good or really bad these days. I'm sleeping with pillows everywhere and still taking a Benadryl to fall asleep every night, which helps.. but I'm pretty uncomfortable throughout the night & morning. My back & hips ache anytime I move.

Best Moment of the Week? The best moment of the week was also one of the hardest: celebrating Sawyer & Tristan's 1st Birthday. We celebrate our baby boys lives every day, but celebrating their 1st birthday with them in church was something extra special.

Movement? Our girls still move all the time! Baby A is breach with her head up and Baby B is transverse with her head touching her sisters and her bootie sticking out to my side. My belly is always lopsided & funny looking. I'm guessing these girls are going to be very used to feeling each others jabs even when outside my womb.

Food Cravings? mandarin oranges, iced tea, basamati rice

Genders? 2 girls (Fraternal)

Symptoms: Hip & Back Pain and swollen fingers. I've been working on getting my wedding bands off for weeks and think they're officially stuck.

Weekly Dr Appt: Our 33 week Dr Appointment was great!  Both girls passed their biophysical exam very quickly: both moving consistently for 5 minutes and practicing their breathing consistently while under sonogram. Only 1 more week until Dr. Berry will no longer stop labor! Eek!! The girls need to stay in longer than another week, but yet another milestone for the girls and I!

Happy Birthday, Sawyer & Tristan

This Saturday, February 1st, 2014 was Sawyer & Tristan's 1st birthday in Heaven.

Trae and I talked for weeks about what we wanted to do to make the day special and both agreed that the most important things to do were things that made us feel good in remembering the boys.

One thing we knew we wanted to do was see the medical staff that took care of Sawyer & Tristan in their 6 days here on earth while in NICU.  While Trae and I wish we could have taken the boys home from St. David's NICU, we feel very grateful to have had the medical staff we had while there.  Both boys had dedicated nurses that cared for them so dearly that Trae and I felt they were always cared for and loved as if they were their own babies.  Trae and I picked up a "Happy Birthday" Box of Tiff's Treats and delivered it to St. David's NICU with a note of thanks & celebration in Sawyer & Tristan's name. We got to visit with 2 of the nurses we got closest to, share stories from the last year & give lots of hugs to one another. Walking back down those halls to NICU was so difficult as it brought back all the hard memories from a year ago, but we felt so proud to overcome those fears and hard feelings to see the professionals that brought so much to our life in that hard time.  It felt good to celebrate the boys lives with them & share the good news of their little sisters on the way in less than a month!

Saturday we ate bean & cheese tacos for lunch in memory of the boys.. I craved them & ate them throughout my entire pregnancy with them, so knew I had to have them on Saturday.  We then picked up 6 blue balloons that we brought home & wrote messages on them to the boys that we could release.  We released 2 at home (after Colbie & George gave each balloon a kiss, of course), 2 at our church and 2 in front of the UT tower where we know the boys would have had many good times.

We attended Saturday night church at St. Martins which is held in the chapel, where the boys urn lies in their columnbarium. While we visit the boys in the chapel every time we're at church, it's special to attend church in the chapel and feel close to them.

We then went to dinner with close friends, Kindra & Jack Poage where we had a birthday "cheers" to the boys & remembered fun times we had while pregnant with them and fun times we'll have in the future continuing to remember our sweet boys.

We had many friends reach out to us remembering our boys birthday, which we were so grateful for. 

Our sons continue to be so loved and remembered, which means everything to us.

We miss and love our sons so much and promise to continue their birthday celebrations every year with thier little sisters who will know all about their strong big brothers who fought so hard in their 6 days on earth.

Happy Birthday, sweet Sawyer & Tristan. Until we meet in Heaven, you're forever in our hearts.