A hard day

Today was one of the hardest days of my life.  Over the weekend, I had to make a decision, one I know was right, but one I never wanted to make.  We needed to say Goodbye to our Gunner.  Our little man was 14 years old and has been struggling for the last couple months.  His body just couldn't keep up with his spunk.  We said Goodbye to him this morning.  Our hearts are shattered.  He was Weston's best friend, Chris' pain in the butt and my constant companion.  Gunner, we will miss you everyday and wish you could have met Spencer.  Gunner loved babies!

 

Life is so precious.  Along with the bad, came the good.  With our loss of Gunner, Chris was able to stay home an extra day and go with me to my doctor's appointment.  The first one he has gotten to go to since we found out we were expecting twins.  He got to see Spencer moving around, his little heart beat and his smooshed up face! I also had to take my glucose test today.  There is nothing more fun than chugging a drink full of sugar and being on a sugar rush. 

Third Trimester

Today is the first day of the third trimester!  We made it! Weston is still so excited to have a brother and he talks about it all the time.  Since cousin Lilly has gotten here, he has been asking how many days until my brother is here.  So we check the countdown almost daily now; 14 more weeks left!

I went to the doctor on Monday and had quite the lengthy conversation with him.  I started having braxton hicks contractions a couple weeks ago and that concerns him.  We are still about 4-6 weeks away from starting braxton hicks, so I have been put on an even higher risk for preterm labor.  I have a couple strikes against me.  Braxton hicks has started, we have the vanishing twin (which we haven't seen in a quite away, still a risk), the anterior placenta, IVF and my age of 35.  He said no heavy lifting, no shoveling snow, try not to bend at the abs and take it easy.  Taking it easy always sounds nice, but it gets boring pretty quick.  You can only do so many projects on the computer, watch tv, read, puzzles, before you start to go absolutely insane.  Even grocery shopping has to be done online and picked up.  I have to go see the doctor every two weeks to make sure everything looks good and preterm labor hasn't begun.  Our ultimate goal is to make it to week 39-40, but we are really shooting for week 34.  So, I will sit and behave myself.  If you see me misbehaving, bring me a coke and tell me to sit down.

Cousin Lilly!

Cousin Lilly is here!! And she is perfect! She was born on January 12th and has won the hearts of our family! Weston was so excited to hold her and meet her.  He said he is really excited for his brother to be here, but he really wants him to be able to play right away.  Sorry buddy, it will take a little for that to happen, but when it does, oh boy! We will be in trouble!  I still can't believe that Mandy and I are having babies only a few months apart, who would have thought!

25 Weeks

We are 25 weeks today!  Over halfway there, where did the time go? It's amazing how my pregnancy with Weston was so different than this one.  While pregnancy with Weston wasn't easy, it wasn't terrible either.  This pregnancy has been down right difficult.  My round ligaments have been giving me troubles this go around; could be due to the freaking cold weather we are having, or my old age or 35, haha! I'll blame it on the old age.  We are a week away from the 3rd trimester, a whole week! The countdown is on!

Don't mind Indiana Jones in the background! HA!

Fetal Echo Cardiogram

Today (in the bitter bitter cold) little man Spencer and I made our way to Primary Children's hospital for a fetal echo cardiogram.  The ultrasound took about 45 minutes to do.  It was fun seeing how the heart was moving the blue and red blood around.  We have learned so much of the heart it was interesting see the flow work the proper way.  After the ultrasound, I met with Dr Pachowski, who remembered Weston and asked all about him, and he said Spencer's heart looks great.  He also said we really don't have anything to be concerned about, but to remember that we still have a higher chance for Spencer to have a hole (PDA) in his heart.  Which is completely normal for newborns.  All in all, we feel really good about the outcome.

24 weeks and 1 day today! Over halfway there!

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years from the Remkes fam! We are still on a Disney and Christmas hangover! 2016 was a great year! 2017 is going to be even better! Can't wait for our little man to be here with us the end of April!

Spencer's First Trip to Disneyland!

For Christmas, Chris surprised with a trip to Disneyland! We opened it on Christmas morning and left the next morning! 

 First day at Disneyland! And we had a blast!  We didn't stay at our normal hotel, but one with a shuttle.  It was nice to not have to walk as much, especially for the prego mom! We still walked 5 miles that day, but still had so much fun!

 I finally got my Disneyland Pickle I have been craving the whole pregnancy! I ate one (or two) everyday! Pure happiness for me!

 Matterhorn Monday! And Weston got picked for a photo shoot from one of the photographers! It was so much fun! The sun was shining and we had blue skies that whole time we were there.  The morning we left, it was raining, perfect timing!

 By the end of the first day, my body was done.  I plopped myself in a wheelchair the next two days.  It ended up being beneficially for rides.  Plus, I had somewhere to sit while the boys rode all the big rides.  The crowds were crazy busy and Chris said, never again will we go around Christmas! But it was so much fun and so worth it!

We can't wait to take Spencer back when he is here! I sure hope he loves Disney as much as us!