35 Weeks

Well, Tuesday was another big day for both Shawn and myself. We had an MFM appointment, and the babies are still growing like they are singletons. Kamryn is just over 5 pounds and Brooke is just over 6. I'm feeling good. I contract a lot in the mornings and evenings. But, during the day, not that often. Dr. Zaretsky checked my cervix though, and it's still long and closed. Thank the Lord. We are planning on me going to the hospital on Monday, the 8th, and then just wait it out from there. Hopefully, I can wait until the 17th, when I'm 37 weeks and Dr. Z is back in town from his much needed vacation... I'm looking forward to going to the hospital, just for my peace of mind of being there in case I go into labor. But, I start to cry when I realize that I'm going to be away from Hollie for what could be 2 weeks. I told Shawn yesterday that I'm going to leave the house on Monday the mother of 1 and then come home in 2 weeks the mother of 3. I still worry about Hollie, but I have given most of that worry to God. Worrying and stressing about a specific plan for her, once I'm in the hospital is literally wearing me out, and I just can't do that any more. I have promised myself to just take things day by day. I have to relax and take it easy from here on out. I started a list of things to do, and have started working on them. Shawn keeps asking me if I've packed my bag, and I think I have one or two night gowns packed and that's it. I'm definitely going to be working on that today. That's about it for me...

When I say that Tuesday was a big day for Shawn too, well, it was. He had his appointment with his urologist, the doctor that diagnosded his testicular cancer back in 2007. Although, the cancer infarcted (stopped growing on its own without chemo or radiation), Shawn has been ordered to have MRI's, chest x-rays, and tumor marker blood work every three months for the last 2 years. He
went in for his follow up on Tuesday, and his doctor said that
everything is still clear, and the cancer hasn't returned. He was
hoping to go in and have the doctor say, "okay, that's it, I don't
need to see you any more". Unfortunately, he still needs to see Shawn
two more times within the next year. Then, after that, it will be
once a year for two more years. Once he's done with those
appointments, then he'll be cleared. I should mention, that all of
those appointments will include more MRI's. These aren't just regular
MRI's. They are MRI's with contrast, which is a liquid that flows
through his body via IV and is quite uncomfortable for him not to
mention 1.5 hours in the "tube". These appointments are pretty scary
for him, b/c they not only bring back memories of him being diagnosed,
but it also reminds him about his dad. His dad was diagnosed with
Pancreatic cancer just one month before Shawn was diagnosed with
Testicular cancer. It can't feel good to go in there, even if it is
only 2 times a year. As you all know by now, Shawn is a fighter. He
has his sense of humor which has gotten him through these two cancer situations, among other things. Just to give you an idea of that humor... He and Hollie did Indian Princesses last year, and they had to come up with indian names to be in their
tribe. Well, Hollie's name was "Dancing Butterfuly". Shawn's name???
"Lonely Walnut". I'll just leave it at that...

We ordered some custom made bracelets to hand out to friends and
family when they come in and visit the babies in the hospital. We'll
take pictures of them tonight and put them on the blog. But, they are
turquoise, and say "Kamryn Hope - CDH". And then, they have bows on
either side. They turned out really cute, and I'm pretty happy with
them. I didn't custom order children's sizes, so Hollie put hers on
her ankle, and it looks really cute.

That's it for us this week. I'm sure we'll post more either this
weekend, or Monday evening.

Take care,
Stephanie