Since I have had so much time to sit and think while I have been here, along with some insights from others, I thought I would share with you some of the things I am thankful for. I know a lot of people saw this experience of me having to go into the hospital as a negative one, but I have always looked at it as my first "mommy duty," and never even thought twice about it. I tend to be an optimistic person, and I try to surround myself with positive people.
1. First and foremost, I am thankful that God has chosen Jake and I to tackle this task to parent these little (beautiful, may I add :) girls. I can't imagine going through this experience with anyone else, and I am very grateful that Jake has had such a positive attitude since day one. I am very excited to see him as a dad. I know that this wasn't in our "plans," as we were only trying for one, but as you can see, God has quite the sense of humor. He would not give us anything we couldn't handle.
2. I am also extremely thankful for all of the love and support we have gotten from family and friends alike. It is hard for me to fathom how many people are even following this blog. I'm sure that it helps that Jake and I are from small-town Iowa, so it doesn't take long for news to travel, but we are both extremely grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers. I know I say this a lot, but it is true! We are so happy that our family and friends have supported us through and through.
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| This is a portion of the "Card Garland" that I have strung up in my room. People have sent me cards of encouragement and I have hung them all up to remind me of everyone who is thinking of our little, growing family :) |
3. I am thankful that we found out about our situation as early as we did. We found out that we were having twins at 10 weeks, and just a few days later we found out we were having Mono/Mono twins. This gave us PLENTY of time to prepare for what was coming later in the summer. There are so many pregnant women who end up having to go into the hospital and don't realize that they have to be on bedrest until the time comes. I had plenty of time to figure out what I was going to do for the eight weeks I was/am in the hospital. Knowing about our situation so early also gave us time to mentally prepare that we are going to be parents of premature babies. Again, many parents don't have this privilege and they find out only when something goes wrong that their baby will be premature. We have studied up on a few books and know that the girls will have to spend some time in the NICU. I understand that there may still be some surprises, but we are somewhat prepared for what is coming.
4. I am thankful that I am spending my time in the hospital in the summer. As much as I would love to be spending all of my time outside doing fun things, it is nice to see the sun shine for the majority of the day. If I was here in the winter, I feel as if I would feel gloomy the entire time because of the weather and the sun wouldn't be shining very much. Also, I don't know what I would do if I had to spend the most wonderful time of the year (No, not back to school time, but the Christmas season) in here. I know that there would be plenty of family and friends that would come visit me, but that is seriously my favorite time of the year. I think Jake could agree with that, too. It must be hereditary, because I know my mom is the same way. I automatically let the Christmas music start playing on Black Friday, because I know it is officially Christmas season. Along with this, it is nice that I don't have to worry about road conditions. Both for people coming to visit me and for Jake and I to visit the babies once they are born. What a relief!
5. As sucky as it is that I am here all day long, I am thankful that I get to see my daughters everyday during an ultrasound and hear their heartbeats several times a day. I know I am being spoiled with this pregnancy, knowing (or hoping) that this won't be the case with my next one. (I know, I shouldn't even be thinking about that yet!)
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| I know we get a lot of pictures of Baby B, but I was so excited to see how chubby her cheeks looked yesterday! |
6. I am thankful for how understanding everyone has been. It has been really nice that my employer has been so lenient with my circumstances. It has been a huge weight off of my shoulders knowing that I will still have a job at the end of all of this! Jake's employer has been extremely understanding as well. So, thank you! :)
7. I am thankful that everything has gone as smooth as it has, pregnancy wise. It is easy to stay positive when everything is going so well. It also makes it easier with Jake not being here as much as he would like to be due to the long drive. I can't imagine going through this with complications and Jake not being able to be here with me. Again, I think it is because of all of the prayers being sent!
8. I am thankful for Pinterest, Netflix, Skype and the art of crocheting. Holy moly, I'd be extremely bored without these. :)
9. As much fun as it would have been to have two boys, I am thankful that we are having two girls. They say that girls develop much quicker (especially premature girls) so hopefully that will give us an advantage when they are up in the NICU.
10. I am thankful that these are our first children. I couldn't imagine leaving a child at home and not being there for him/her. It is hard enough leaving our dog at home and not being able to see her everyday, I can't imagine not being able to see a child. Let alone the extra stress that would put on Jake. Again, God had all of this planned out for us! :)
I know there are a lot of things that we are all thankful for, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am not looking at this experience as a negative one. This is definitely not a cumulative list of things that I am thankful for, but I just wanted to give you all an idea of my thought processes (hopefully I'm not completely losing my mind, yet!)
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| Since Baby A won't give us a good picture of her face, we figured we would snap a shot of her cute little butt! :) |
Thanks again for all of the love and support!
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