May 2 & 3/06 Computer Mishap & Setup Nursery

Picture - Great Grammi Wilson gives the Twins a "Love Pat", April 30, 2006...

On Tuesday, May 2, 2006 Jess was in by the computer and she turned her torso to do something and oops...her "belly" knocked over a glass of water onto the keyboard. There was a mad dash to get towels to clean up the spill, but she just couldn't believe that she had done that! Good thing it was just water!

Friends of ours, Gail and Rob, gave Jess the highchair and playpen they had used for their boys, she will definitely be putting them to good use (the highchair and playpen that is, sorry guys). She also purchased a crib and change table, both in very good condition, from the daughter of a woman that I work with.

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 was the setting up the nursery night - of course the nursery is also known as Jess's bedroom - she will not be able to escape from the twins! It really is not too awfully bad for cramped space, you can still turn around in there.

S.P.O.T.T.O. Garage Sale, April 29 2006

Thank Goodness for S.P.O.T.T.O. (Saskatoon Parents of Twins & Triplets Organization), Jess purchased her membership ahead of time so she got to go into the garage sale a half hour before the general public got to. That was a good thing as Bruce went with her to help "haul" all the goodies as she was only allowed one helper with her for that first half hour and she got alot of loot. Then Lesley and I joined them and helped with more loot, Car Seats, Playpens, Stroller, High Chair, Clothing, Toys, Bottles, Mobiles, and the list goes on.

Prenatal Classes, etc.

We signed up for Three Monday night Prenatal Classes, Apr 24, May 1 and May 8 and they each ran from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. This may have been a mistake as the last hour was pretty hard to sit thru...got kind of uncomfortable and the yawns were widespread. The Monday of April 24, 2006 was the first class and I worked until 6 p.m. that day (forgetting about the class - another Mentalpausal moment) and when I get home from work I always take Roli for his walk around the block and as I was doing that my memory came to and panic set in. When I got back up to the condo it was 6:25 p.m. and I said to Jess, "We have to hustle, our first prenatal class is tonight"...seems even young minds wander as she had forgotten too. Then when we got to RUH we got lost and stumbled into class a good 10 to 15 minutes late...thank goodness it was just across the river.

Lesley went with Jess on the Tuesday, May 9, 2006 for the tour of RUH so she would have an idea of where and what would happen. She found out because of her tattoo on her back that she would have to have Dr. Martel refer her to see Dr. Campbell (the Anesthetist) before she delivered so he could check out her tattoo and see if it would interfere with the drugs, so that appointment is set for June 12, 2006.

To Emerald Lake we will GO - April 2006

Picture - Jess poses on Quad April 15, 2006...

We made a couple of trips to Emerald Lake for the weekend in April 2006. The first was for the Easter weekend and the Bunny did leave some treats for Jess and the Twins to find. Then we travelled that same rode the next weekend, April 21-23/06 to enjoy the peace and quiet & oh yes, the good nights sleep - we always sleep to well at the lake.

Milly and Andy came out with the quad and Jess decided that she would take the twins for a ride, just nice and slow, slow and deliberate. So now Jess has something else to add to the twins baby books - they have been quadding!

On April 21, 2006 Jess discovered her belly made a great table to hold her macaroni salad! Auntie Deb said, "Now that we know it's girls, and since cousin Jeremy had already said they would be SWIRLS, that their new names would have to be Bailey & Kahlua. Seems to be a real drinkin' name game going here.

Sharing with Hadi

Picture - Jessi Profile April 15, 2006...

One time around the beginning of April, Jess was talking to Hadi and told him that the twins felt like an octopus in her stomach because of 8 limbs punching in all directions...to which Hadi replied, "don't call them octopus!"

Then around the end of April, she was about to share the names she thought she would like to give the girls with Hadi...first she asked him if he had any suggestions. He said "Sophie", without Jess telling him that she had already picked that name, she thought it was a nice coincidence. The names she had decided on so far are - Stella Grace and Rowan Sophia.

Around the middle of May Hadi let Jess know that the pictures she had mailed over to him had finally arrived, took around two months or more, not two weeks like the post office said it would...surprise! He told her he was shocked to see her stomach!

Hadi called at 12 midnight on Friday, May 19, 2006 and again I answered the phone. He said that he wanted to marry Jess and would that be okay?

I really can't wait to meet this young man, maybe next February, who knows!

April 6 & 7, 2006 and April 13, 19 & 26 2006

Picture - Relaxing and enjoying some Jokes???, Saturday, April 15, 2006...

We made another trip to Value Village to catch some good deals for the twins on Thursday, April 6, 2006 - more onesies, receiving blankets, mittens, socks, etc.

Friday, April 7, 2006 was another ultrasound day, Dr. Martel said that both babes were just around 1 pound in size. Then it was off to another Beer Night at Joe Dog's to fundraise, no the kids didn't get into anything they shouldn't have!

Thursday, April 13, 2006 Dr. Martel completed another ultrasound at RUH and said that everything was looking good, they are "happy babies" she said.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006 Dr. Payton with great frustration at the constant movement said that Twin A is about 1 lb. 14 ozs. and Twin B is about 1 lb. 9 ozs. She said that the babies were beating each other up - kicking each other.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006 again Dr. Payton had a hard time getting the twins to sit still for their pictures, they are either doing lots of dancing or lots of fighting. Jess also had her first steroid shot to help the babies lungs develop. She went back to RUH on Thursday, April 27, 2006 for her second shot of steroids.

Pregnancy Symptoms...

Picture - Jess with Bandage, April 6, 2006...

Jess feels like she must have had just about every pregnancy "symptom" there could be...

Let's see how many we can name - nausea & vomitting, good old morning sickness; B Negative blood type - requiring needles of WinRho; PUPS itchy rash; TTTS; fatigue; headaches; unable to sleep; increased urination; problems breathing; bleeding nose; back pain; constipation; stretch marks; hot flashes (this one is really weird as before she was pregnant the condo was never warm enough for her, now she's freezing us out); then in April she started to complain of Heartburn...what could possibly come next?

Jess was really scared to take the bandages off of her incision the week or so after she got back from Toronto, she was afraid that it would open and a babies hand would pop out, thankfully she survived the act of bandage removal!

Jess was to go for ultrasound every week for four weeks following surgery to keep on top of things. Dr. Martel tested her on Friday, April 7 and then again on Thursday April 13 but then she left for a two week holiday (which didn't turn out to be much of a holiday), so Dr. Payton did them on Wednesday, April 19 and again on Wednesday, April 26.

Day 5, Goodbye Toronto, Sunday, April 2, 2006

We were up early (around 5:30 a.m. Toronto time, which was the first day of time change so in Saskabush it was 3:30 a.m.), headed to the airport by taxi and went for breakfast in the airport while we waited for our flight to depart at around 8:30 a.m. Jess was a bit more comfortable on this flight since they had taken the 2 and a half litres of fluid from her and it was a direct flight home which took about 3 and a half hours. We need to note here that Jess had lost almost 7 inches (the fundal height measurement of her uterus) after the surgery, only measuring 27 inches at 23 weeks, before surgery she was measuring 33 inches at 22 weeks. Apparently you are supposed to measure an inch for each week of pregnancy but since she has twins we were to add on another 4 inches.

Bruce and Lesley met us at the airport. Lesley had a gift for Jess on her return, it was a keychain that says "Girls Rule" and a couple of chocolates, yummy. Early in the afternoon we both had to have a nap after arriving home, it was nice to be in our own beds again.

Booking Flights Home & CN Tower

Picture - CN Tower, Saturday, April 1, 2006


Picture - Jessi's feet on the Glass Floor of CN Tower looking down over 1000 feet...

Picture - Jess & I at dinner in the CN Tower, Sat. Apr. 1/06

When we went down to the business club to book flights home on the computer, Jess needed to rest, so while I finished booking our flights and printed up our itinerary, Jessi went back to the room. I emailed the itinerary to Bruce so he would know when to pick us up at the airport, then I read up on the Patty-Cat Stevens blog, then packed up the computer and headed up to the room. Jess and I relaxed there until about 4 p.m. when we got ready to go to the CN Tower for supper at 4:45 p.m. but before we left Jess had another coughing fit.

Jess and I arrived at the CN Tower at about 4:40 p.m., got a wheel chair to push Jess around in and headed up the Tower to the Restaurant. For around the first hour, we did the rotation of Toronto while we ate our supper. We had quite the view and a wonderful meal! After supper we went to the Observation Deck where the "Glass Floor" was. I was a real chicken at this point and could not go out on the Glass Floor as Jess did, it was just a quick step out and back. From the Glass Floor you look 1100 or so feet down to the ground, whew. Jess and I took a few pictures to bring back to show Bruce and Lesley and anyone else who was interested. After the CN Tower we just went back to the room to relax and get to sleep as it was early to rise to catch the plane home in the a.m.

Day Four, Toronto, Saturday, April 1, 2006

Picture - Jess and day nurse "Kristina" Sat. Apr. 1, 2006...

I arrived back at Mt. Sinai Hospital at around 8:30 a.m. No, there weren't any April Fools Tricks, although I did mention to Jess that I should have gotten her back for all the tricks that she had played on us over the years. I told her that I should have come into her room after stopping at the nurse's station and let her know that they said that she would have to stay overnight in the hospital again since the blood work that was taken at 6 a.m. showed that her Potassium levels were still too low. Jess did not think that that was very funny!!!

Jess's nurse Friday night was Karen. Oh yes, I forgot to add to the news on Friday that Jess lost 4.4 pounds in one day! WOW! Her weight was at 68 kgs. (150 lbs.) after surgery. Jess had a bit of a headache so I went and got her an ice pack. Jessi's blood pressure seemed like it must be going up as she was impatiently waiting to be released. I told her to take some deep breaths because if they came in to check vitals again and her blood pressure was up maybe they would make her stay another night. We waited for what seemed like forever for the results of her blood work which in the two previous days was done in about 1 1/2 hours...finally at just after 11 a.m., Kristina came to the room, gave us a hug and said that we were free to go. We packed up and went down to catch a cab to the Delta Chelsea at around 11:40 a.m.

Friday Afternoon, March 31, 2006

Picture, Jess and I waiting for Dr. Ryan to come perform an ultrasound, Mar 31/06...


I took the tour back down to "Imaging" at around 1:40 p.m. to see if they had heard from Dr. Ryan's office, but they hadn't. Since "Imaging" closed at 4:30 p.m. and it was not open on the weekend, I decided to pay to have a VHS and a DVD shipped out to us once we are home.

Kristina was by to give Jess a present, two horse tranquilizer sized pills to increase her potassium levels so that she might be able to check out of the hospital on Saturday. I headed back to the hotel around 3 p.m. for a nap and to pick up some supplies for Jess to shower since she had to stay overnight again, at least she was able to wear her own p.j.'s this time. I returned to the hospital around 4:30 p.m. or so with a Powerade drink and another banana to help increase Jess's potassium. I forgot the hairbrush so I went down to the Pharmacy on Main and purchased one...wasn't that great of one, but better than nothing.

At 6 p.m. Dr. Ryan performed another ultrasound and said that things were looking good. He would not however, autograph the Twins Toronto postcards for their baby books as he is Irish and superstitious. He said that when the babies are born healthy, he will do it then. He then affirmed that Jess would have to stay overnight again to have more bloodwork done at 6 a.m. to recheck her potassium levels.

At around 7:15 p.m. I went over to Sick Kids Hospital across the street to get some supper (hopefully to find a Milkshake for Jess at the Burger King there - but no such luck, they do not serve milkshakes) and take it back to the hospital while Jess had her shower. Jess spent about an hour or so combing knots out of her hair after the shower and shared my chili and ceasar salad that I had purchased for supper. It had been another long day so I headed back to the hotel at around 9 p.m. hoping that all would rest well.

Day Three Toronto - Friday, March 31, 2006

To start off her day, after a very restless sleep thanks to her coughing and worrying about the IV in her arm, Jess had bloodwork done at 6 a.m. The results of the bloodwork showed that Jess's potassium level is low...should have eaten that banana that was on her lunch tray on Thursday, March 30, 2006!

At around 10 a.m. Dr. Ryan stopped by and ordered a chest x-ray done on Jess due to the coughing. He also removed her "patch" from her shoulder and said that he would be back after his clinic to check on the ultrasound. I asked Dr. Ryan if we could get a copy of the VHS and or the CD that they took of the laser surgery on Jess and he said that we could but we would have to go down to "Imaging" on the first floor to purchase them.

At 10:30 a.m. I went down to "Imaging" on the first floor to "Graphics and New Media" to purchase a VHS and a DVD of the surgery, but they did not have them yet. They said they would contact Dr. Ryan's office to get them so they could dubb them for us.

Jess was taken for her chest x-ray around 11 a.m. Dr. Matthew Morten came in to see Jess after she got back from Radiology and he told us that her x-ray looked pristine and he suggested to Kristina (RN) that she give Jess some Codeine for her cough, which she did.

At 11:45 a.m. Jess was taken to Ultrasound and Diana (RN) performed it and said that both babies have bladders working fine and are looking quite healthy. Diana gave us pictures from the ultrasound, one of each baby - Oly was the one that was in "Saran Wrap" before surgery Thursday, March 30, 2006.

Jessi's Hospital Roommates

When Jess got back to her room after the surgery she had a roommate that had moved in. We met Amy and Kevin from Hamilton, Ontario who had been at Dr. Ryan's office the day before, when we left at 6:15 p.m. They were expecting Triplets!!! She was in her 16th week of her pregnancy and two of her triplets were identical twins and had also developed TTTS, unfortunately, Amy was at stage four and as they started the laser procedure on her, the weakest of the twins died. The other two seem to be fine. We hope all goes well for them. At around 7:40 p.m. Amy was moved to another room.

After coming back from the recovery room at 1:10 p.m. Jess had this "happiness" smile stuck on her face thanks to the "happy drugs" from Dr. Devito and she was humming a little tune. RN, Melva Foreman-Pottinger took Jess's temp, pulse and BP while Kristina was on lunch break. She also sang Jess a little lullaby as Melva thought she looked tired and needed to get some sleep, (maybe she just wanted Jess to hum a different tune). Jessi was the happy hummer. I went back to the hotel at around 3 p.m. for a nap for about an hour and to give Jess a chance to try to catch some zzzzzz's if she could. When I got back to the hospital around 5 p.m. I had Jess a game of Crib, then started a game of Golf but Jess was too tired, so we gave up on that one.

Around 7:30 p.m. nurse Laura came and gave Jess a shot of Rhogam, something to do with the B Negative blood type that she is. At 8 p.m., Jess's night nurse Patricia came in and tested Jessi's temp which was up a bit at 37.5. At 9:15 p.m. Patricia tested for the babies heart rates. Lower babe @ 136 and the babe on the upper right @ 142.

At about 9:50 p.m. Jess got a new roommate named Liz who was also expecting twins and was at Mt. Sinai due to Preeclampasia, Gestational Diabetes and her legs were swelling, she was in about her 33rd week. I headed back to the hotel to get some rest, so ends Day 2, Toronto.

Laser Surgery for TTTS

Picture - Jess "After Laser Surgery - all doped up", March 30, 2006...

Bob came and picked up Jess (got her to walk out of her room and get on a stretcher cot) and her gave her a ride down to the O.R. @ 8:57 a.m. As Jess was waiting for Dr. Ryan to arrive, she had a pretty major coughing attack. When Dr. Susan Devito, the Anesthetist, heard her coughing, she became concerned about the laser surgery with such a bad cough. Dr. Devito discussed it with Dr. Ryan when he arrived and they decided that there was only so much of a window to do the TTTS, so they needed Jess to tell them if she was going to have any coughing attacks while Dr. Ryan was performing the laser surgery. Jess told them that she would be able to give them enough notice, so onward and upward. There was quite a bit of "setup and preparation" for this procedure, so even though the actual surgery was about 1 hour, the total time in the O.R. was more like 2 hours and 15 minutes.

First, there was a bit of technical difficulty with the Technology used to Video and CD Record the procedure. Then just as they were going to start, there was a problem with the Laser, it just quit, for no apparent reason, but the RN, Liz Dunn (whom has also helped Jess out and gave her a pillow for under her leg to make her more comfortable) got it going again along with other helpers and they were about set to go. Dr. Devito had by that time set everything up and was monitoring the narcotics that she had given Jess. It turned out that whatever she gave Jess, worked superbly and Jess did not cough at all during the procedure.

Dr. Rory Windrim came in to assist Dr. Greg Ryan actually do the laser. First, they made a small incision, about one inch to the right of Jess's belly button and inserted the camera. Dr. Windrim told Jessica that when they were zapping the bigger veins, she would be able to hear them "pop". They did some searching around in there first to check out the veins that they needed to zap. Dr. Windrim started off the lasering procedure and he was pretty accurate with all of his zapping, he did get a bit too close on one and did burn Jess a bit.

When Dr. Ryan took over the zapping, he seemed a bit more cautious and took more time to do his zapping. When the zapping was finished, Dr. Ryan had one of the RN's suction off 2 and 1/2 lites of fluid so Jess would be more comfortable (around 2600 mls.). Then, he said that before he took the camera out, he would take us on a bit of a tour. He showed us "Baby Oly", the donor baby that looks like it is "shrink wrapped in saran wrap" and said that the baby looked like a robber with a nylon stocking pulled over it's head. Then he moved on to "Baby Poly", the recepient baby and started with the feet, up the leg to the bum where he said "Oh, looks like your having GIRLS" and the nurses all chimed in to say "she didn't want to know", to which he added "oh, well they just might be boys then" - NO, NO, NO, Dr. Ryan - We SAW!!! He showed us a hand and arm and the head, then said, "Okay, time to close up", this was a most spectacular event! He then videoed a bit of the Ultrasound before signing off.

Day Two Toronto, Thursday, March 30, 2006

Well, sadly, Jess didn't get much sleep Wednesday night as I kept waking her up SNORING!!! After she had to get out of bed twice to nudge me I told her to use her back scratcher and just poke me, sure enough, it worked like a charm - poor Jess.

It was a good thing that Jess stayed in the hospital Thursday and Friday, probably got some much needed rest. We had a wake up call for 6 a.m. that we didn't really need since I kept waking Jess up...I finally got up at 5:50 a.m. for a shower.

We found that the communications were not too good...they told us to go to the 7th floor of Mt. Sinai Hospital, which is what we did and went to the South Nursing Station. The RN, Clarissa, taking care of Jess, took her to her room (#716) and got her settled in while I got to go back down to the Third Floor to Admitting to fill out the paper work to get Jess admitted (we were not informed that we would have to do that before going up to the 7th floor, oh well). At 7:30 a.m. there was a shift change and Jess's new RN was Kristina Bozicevic, who took all of her vitals before she had to head down to the 5th floor for her laser surgery.

The Close of Day One Toronto

Just thought I'd insert a few of the stats that were posted on the screen while we were in the Ultrasound earlier in the day that first day, for information's sake -

These stats were for Twin A (Poly)

0 lbs. 15 oz.

BPD Had 82 5.44 cm 22w5d
HC Had 82 20.01 cm 22w1d
AC Had 82 17.21 cm 22w0d
FL Jeanty 3.39 cm 20w6d

Unfortunately I did not get the stats for Twin B (Oly) as they were not left up on the screen. Aseel had said that we could have two of the pictures from the Ultrasound but then as she was performing it, she noticed that there was a yellow light on on the printer and no pictures were coming out...darn!!!

We finally left Mt. Sinai around 6:15 p.m. and took a $5.00 cab ride, as per Dr. Ryan's instructions, over to the Delta Chelsa which was just four blocks down the street. Room #1209 was to be home for the next few days.

Bruce phoned that Wednesday evening to say that the Kinsmen Foundation said that they would help with the funding of the trip. They would pay for the flights, taxi's, hotel up to $100 per day and meals at $30.00 per day, I thanked the Lord for answering that prayer.

We setup a wake up call for 6 a.m. since we had to be at the hospital at 7 a.m. to have the laser surgery at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 30, 2006. Jess had to remember not to eat or drink after midnight, no worries...at 10 p.m. after a very long day we said "Goodnight".

Meeting with Dr. Greg Ryan

Dr. Martel had asked us to go to the seventh floor of Mt. Sinai hospital to see Dr. Greg Ryan. When we got there, we were told that we needed to go down the street to the Ontario Power building as Mt. Sinai Hospital has the whole third floor for obstetrics, Special Pregnancy Program, etc. We did just that and after waiting for between 30 minutes to 1 hour we were asked to go in for an ultrasound prior to meeting with Dr. Ryan. It just so happened that one of Saskatoon's 3rd or 4th year medical students from the U. of S., Grace Park was doing part of her "practicum" at Mt. Sinai and was to sit in on and assist in Jessi's appointment, she took Jess's history.

The ultrasound was performed by Dr. Aseel Hamoudi, and she did a fine job - although, Jess did ask for a break after about two hours as it was quite a lengthy procedure. During the break, Grace did up the history and Dr. Ryan came in to see how it was all going. He then asked Aseel to continue with the ultrasound. She got some more info for him, then it was a waiting game as Dr. Ryan was phoning Mt. Sinai Hospital to see when he could book an operating room for the next morning (Thursday, March 30, 2006). Finally getting things somewhat organized, Dr. Ryan came back in to go over some of the ultrasound, do some more of his own testing, then asked Aseel to check Jess's cervix to make sure things "down there" were okay too. He left again, on another mission, so again we waited.

We then moved into the "Counselling" room down the hall and after a bit he came in along with Grace and Dr. Hamoudi, gave us a step by step run down on what was happening and what the options were, Jess was in stage two of TTTS. If Jess does nothing, there was a 10% survival rate. Jess could have an amnio-reduction to drain fluid from the "recipient" Twin but that would have to be done continually and there would be about a 29%??? survival rate. If Jess went ahead with the laser surgery to have one of the vessles zapped to kill the connection between Twin A and Twin B, there would be an 80% survival rate for one of the Twins and a 50% survival rate for both of the Twins. Twin A's name on the ultrasound was Poly because that twin had a large amount of fluid (or "P") to swim in and Twin B's name on the ultrasound was Oli because there was next to no fluid for this twin to swim in (like that twin was wrapped in saran wrap).

http://www.twinhope.org/centers_ww.html

Toronto, Day One - Wed. Mar. 29/06

Picture - Jess in the waiting room of Dr. Greg Ryan's Office, Toronto, March 29, 2006...

Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Bruce drove Jess and I to the airport to catch the 5:40 a.m. flight to Toronto. We had one stop over in Winnipeg, probably a good thing since Jess had a chance to "stretch" and relax a bit before getting back on the plane for another 2 1/2 hours of flight. It was a bit of an uncomfortable trip for Jess but we finally got to Toronto at 11:45 a.m. We grabbed some lunch at the airport then a $48.00 taxi ride to Mt. Sinai Hospital. We hadn't booked a hotel before we left, thought we'd see what Dr. Ryan suggested...therefore I got to lug the luggage around all afternoon until we reached the Delta Chelsea after 6 p.m. Am I whining, yeah...that was one tiring afternoon. I thought afterwards that maybe we shouldn't have brought the laptop with us as we couldn't use the internet in our room anyway, however, I did type up some notes that I have put to good use in this blog (Thanks to Murray for the suggestion)! The good thing was that since we waited to reserve a room we got a reduced rate because we were "guests" of Mt. Sinai Hospital. Point of interest to some - our room cost us $119.00 for Wed. & Thurs. nights then $109.00 for Fri. and Sat. nights - the price posted on the back of the Hotel room door was $320.00 a night!!!

Dr. Martel discovers T.T.T.S.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 Jess had an appointment with Dr. Jocelyn Martel at 10:00 a.m. for a check-up. Dr. Martel was suspicious with the "size" of Jess so she asked her to go to RUH at 3:15 p.m. for an ultrasound that she herself performed. During the ultrasound she said to Jess, "Are you okay with flying?" and Jess said "Yes", then she said "How about tomorrow?" and Jess said "Okay". Then Dr. Martel told Jess, Lesley and I that the ultrasound she did just confirmed what she thought and that was that Jess has "Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome". She therefore booked Jess in with Dr. Greg Ryan in Toronto to have the disease dealt with and that someone would have to travel with Jess and the twins. With that news, we left RUH and headed for home to start making phone calls. We called Bruce to fill him in on the news, he was on the road between Melfort and Saskatoon and I asked him if he was sitting down (of course he was, he was driving)...since he heard that, he pulled over to the side of the road and stopped to listen to what had happened with the doctor. We then called the Kinsmen Foundation to see if there was any possibility that they would help pay for the costs of the trip to Toronto. Joan Steckhan emailed us an application form for Jessica to fill out. I then phoned Grant (my boss) to let him know that we would be off to Toronto tomorrow for from 2 to 5 days and he said "Okay kiddo, take care, see you when you get back." The rest of the day was spent planning, packing, phoning people, emailing info, etc. We went to bed and set the alarm for 4 a.m. since the flight to Toronto left at 5:40 a.m. and we needed to be at the airport an hour early.

http://www.twinhope.org/facts.html#TTTS

Life is Complicated & A Wild Ride

Picture - Jess Profile at the cabin at Emerald Lake March 26, 2006...

While watching the movie "6 Days and 7 Nights" Harrison Ford say to Anne Heche, "My life is too simple, I just want to complicate the Hell out of it." Jess mentioned how she could relate to this but Bruce chimed in that she also complicated our lives too, funny how fast life can take a turn.

On Thursday, March 23, 2006 Bruce & I, Lesley and Jess all took a somewhat "Wild Ride" in the Toyota 4Runner up to the lake, good old Saskatchewan roads. The back seat was quite uncomfortable for Jess as her and the twins and Auntie Lesley all got jostled around a fair bit. Needless to say, Jess took the front seat on the way home from the lake so she would hopefully be more comfortable, so I got to test out the back seat with Lesley - they are right - it is a very bumpy ride.

Setting Up the Nursery & Jess is done Work

Picture - Jess "Practicing the Couch Potato Position" March 14, 2006...

Wednesday, March 15, 2006 was Jess's last shift working at Aroma Restobar in the Radisson Hotel. It was really quiet in the restaurant so after 2 1/2 hours Jess offered to go home early, she didn't mind at all.

Sunday, March 19, 2006 was Jess's last shift working for the City leisure centers, now it will be - keep those feet up, hopefully she will not go too stir crazy.

March 17-19, 2006 Bruce and I stayed home from the lake to work on re-arranging bedrooms and took the computer, desks and filing cabinet out of Jess's bedroom to make room for the furnishings we will need to help make the twins comfortable upon arrival. Bruce also installed a closet organizer in that room to help with storage issues.

Monday, March 20, 2006 Jess and I attended a Baby Shower that was put on by the Welcome Wagon at the Travelodge Hotel. Unfortunately Jess didn't win anything but it was somewhat interesting.

Another Pregnancy Symptom & Twins Visit

On Monday, March 13, 2006 Jess had another doctor's appointment with Dr. E. at 3:15 p.m. to find out what was with the itchy rash on her abdomen. Dr. E. said that Jess has P.U.P.S. and that she will have it until the twins are born. Dr. E. gave Jess some cream (Lyderm) to relieve the itching. Apparently this is something that comes from Bruce's side of the family - we need to ask Nana and Auntie Judy if either of them had it. Dr. E. gave Jess a medical note to go off work.

Also on Monday, March 13, 2006 Twins Barb & Brad and his children Kiara and Colton came over for a visit and we laughed too hard and got Jessi laughing so hard that her belly was jiggling like a "Bowl Full of Jelly - like Santa". A little later that evening Auntie Deb, Kami and Colby came to visit and Jess mentioned how she felt sorry for her belly button, gave it a loving pat and said "sorry to see you go, see you again soon I hope" ~ again we laughed.

Jess Blossoms & There's Movement

Picture - Jess Belly Profile March 14, 2006...

In the first week of March, Jess really "blossomed" let's say and some people at her work (Aroma Resto Bar in the Radisson Hotel - one of her jobs) said something to the effect of - "Wow, last week you weren't pregnant, but this week YOU ARE PREGNANT!" Her co-workers like to play a game called, "Let's drop things on the floor and watch Jess attempt to pick them up!" They said it resembled something like an awkward giraffe attempting to drink water out of a river???

Jessi's next specialist's appointment is on Tuesday, March 28, 2006. We wait for the next big moment; she should be feeling movement pretty soon (starts out feeling sort of like little butterflies inside you).

WOW, Jess said that she started feeling some "gastrointestinal bubbles" the evening of Monday, March 6, 2006. So there you go, she has started to feel movement, that's super exciting. Of course, before we figured out that the bubbles were the twins moving, Jess said "it feels like they are farting inside of me, isn't that just disgusting?"

Meet Dr. Jocelyn Martel, Specialist & Ultrasound

After Jessi's appointment with Dr. Carla Eisenhauer on Monday, January 30, 2006 and the ultrasound on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 which revealed twins, Dr. E. setup an appointment with a "Specialist" for Jess's next baby appointment. Jess saw Dr. Jocelyn Martel on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. Dr. Martel setup the appointment for the next Ultrasound but at her office instead of at Associated Radiologists for Monday, March 6, 2006 at 10 a.m.

Monday, March 6, 2006 at 10 a.m. proved to be quite a "show" in the Ultrasound room. Bruce and I and Lesley all showed up to check out the twins. Twin A, the babe who will enter this world first as far as their positioning is right now, was quite calm and relaxed but as we watched further, Twin B, looked like they were dancing up a storm already. The tech that did this ultrasound said that the twins are "Identical Twins" and both are 8 ounces at this point (Jess is 19 weeks pregnant this week). Twin A's heart rate was 130 beats per minute and Twin B's heart rate was 150 beats per minute. I thought that the tech said that Twin A was around 11.6 cm in length (4.64 inches). The tech gave Jessi two pictures of the crowns of the twins heads so that they can each have one in the baby books. She told us that next time we come in, if we bring a blank VHS tape that we can have a movie of the ultrasound to take home with us.

From Beer Night to I'm Sorry to Pictures

Picture - February 28, 2006 "Buns in the Oven" profile...

Friday, Feb. 24/06 was the twins first trip (thanks to Jess) to a "Beer Night" that was put on at Joe Dog's Bar in the Pat Hotel from 8 to 10 p.m. Jess of course did not indulge in alcoholic beverages which is best for the twins but she went to support the event. The funds from the beer night were raised to help bring down the costs of the Houseboat vacation that is planned for August 7 to 11, 2006. Since Jessi's due date is August 1, we hope that she will be a bit early so that her and the twins can join us on the holiday.

Jess also ventured to Thyme to purchase her first "maternity" clothing, yowsa specialty clothing sure can cost a pretty penny.

On Saturday, Feb. 25/06 Hadi called from Indonesia and I answered the phone. He said, "Hello, Mom - I'm Sorry" to which I replied, "Oh, don't worry, they will be a lot of fun". Then Hadi said, "but it's twins" and I said "Yes, isn't it exciting?" Many people commented on how amazing Hadi was to call and apologize, they felt that you probably wouldn't get an apology from any young man from around here if that happened to them.

On Thursday, March 2, 2006 Bruce and I, Lesley and Jessica went to Superstore to have a family photo done up before the family really expands - Jess wanted to do it before she "blossomed" too much. The pics turned out to be really good, we even had a "Weird Face" one taken, so I just had to purchase that one too.

Nutrition, B Negative Blood and Nausea

On Wed. Feb. 15/06 Jess made a trip to the Community Clinic to see the Nutritionist whose name is Rochelle Anthony. Rochelle has a set of five-year-old twins herself. After visiting the Nutritionist, Jess met with Dr. Carla Eisenhauer to have her blood pressure checked (reading was 100/160) and she found out that she has B negative blood and Dr. E. said that because the Twins could have A+ or O+ blood types Jess would have to get a shot of Rhogam. Apparently at some point during the pregnancy Jessi's B Negative blood type would attack the twins so the Rhogam will prevent that from happening. We also hope that once the nausea passes Jess will be able to keep the babes properly nourished. Dr. E. prescribed Diclectin at $51.18 for one weeks worth, sure do hope it helps the nausea subside. Jess thought that the nausea that originally started while she was in Indo was due to the food not sitting right or something, surprise...morning sickness!!!

Security Channel 88 - The Show!!!

As we were chatting one day, Jessi mentioned about how she had been checking into strollers and some of the Twin strollers are like the length of a car!!! We then had a good laugh at her next comment which was, "I can just see it, people in their condos having their TV's set to Channel 88 (security channel that shows where a person gets off the elevator and the front entrance of the building) and saying 'Hey, there's the girl from 608, get the popcorn and drinks, this should be a good show' as they watch me come off the elevator with this huge stroller." I guess she believes it will be a struggle to maneuver around with two babes and she may be the entertainment factor for a few people. Jess really has a great sense of humor though, so I'm sure she will endure.

Talking about Babies Names...

On Monday, Feb. 13/06, I came home for lunch and found that Auntie Lesley had come over to visit Jess and the twins. They were discussing "Names" and came up with a couple of names for boys - "Jack Daniels Mansell" or "Johnny Walker Mansell" - sure do hope for the twins sake that they are girls. When Jess asked Hadi if he had any suggestions for names, he said that if they were boys they should be named something meaning "Best in the World" (it's considered a gift in Muslim culture if you have a boy as your firstborn) and if the twins were girls they should be named something meaning "From Different Worlds" (to symbolize the miracle of being created by persons from completely different cultures). Hadi sent over two postcards to show us the islands that he comes from in Indonesia - Gili Trawangen and Lombok, they look like paradise.

Jessi had another headache; she might have to go over to the clinic to get her blood pressure checked to make sure everything is okay.

"Grampa" Mansell's Birthday

Bruce's 55th birthday was on Sunday, February 5, 2006 and Jessi and the twins decided to join us at the lake that weekend to help celebrate the big event. On the Saturday, we took a long snowmobubblin ride out into the Community Pasture where Jess drove Milly's two-up Yamaha and Milly rode on back. Taking one of the ditches turned out to be a bit of an upset, for both Milly and Jess on their machine and myself on mine. Hopefully the twins didn't mind "tipping" too much. We really enjoyed having Jess and the twins with us for the weekend...it was a good time!

On Tuesday, Feb. 7/06 Jessica was laid up most of the day with a headache...this is when she found out that she can only have regular strength Tylenol now. She used the Therabags (therapy packs filled with natural grains) to help get rid of her headache; hopefully she can stay good and healthy for as full term as possible.

Thursday, Feb 9/06 Lesley and Paul came over to join us for a "Birthday" supper for Bruce. Jessi got called into work so her and the twins had to enjoy the garlic ribs and apple crisp later.

Since Emerald Lake is my most favorite place in all the world, of course Bruce enjoys it just as much, I am sure, we headed back up on Feb. 11th & 12th to enjoy more snowmobubblin. Jess had to work so she had to stay home. Jess and Amy went out to the Old Navy store and made a couple of purchases from the baby department, two new bonnets and a t-shirt for Jess that says "Made In Indo". Great Auntie Milly bought the twins each a new pair of PJ's.

Houseboat Meeting starts "Twins Pool"

On Thursday, February 2, 2006 we had a Houseboat meeting to plan the meals for our trip to the Shuswaps this August, oh yes, we are definitely planning on the twins and Jess joining us too! Another of Jess's best buds, Nadine (also Adam's girlfriend) decided to start a "Twins Pool" for the blessed event. The buy in is $20.00, whomever enters, picks the date they believe the twins will be born and the winner takes half the pot, the other half goes to the twins.

So far the dates that have been chosen are June 28-Auntie Deb; June 29-Nadine; July 1-Jessica; July 3-Auntie Elaine; July 4-Bruce; July 5-Lesley; July 8-Doug & Adele (Nadine's parents); July 11-Roberta; July 13-Auntie Milly; July 15-Kayla (Nadine's Sister); July 16-Uncle Jon; July 17-Paul; July 18-Auntie Jeannie; July 19-Grammi Wilson; July 20-Auntie Deb (again); Aug 2-Murray.

The youngens at this meeting came up with the brilliant idea that we should put on some beer nights to bring down the cost of the Houseboat trip. Sounds like an odd fundraiser, should actually be called a "fun"raiser, but whatever goes!

Spreading the NEWS on January 31, 2006...

Picture - Jessica's Profile January 31, 2006...

The journey next took us to our friendly neighbourhood Mac's so we could satisfy Jessi's craving for a Turkey Breast Sub, we all got subs to go and headed back to the condo to discuss the news and phone all the family to let them know, Bruce first of course.

It seemed like everyone we called would say something to the effect of "Shut up - you're joking" or they would think it was Lesley that was pregnant, not Jessica. Jess also phoned one of her best buds, Amy to let her know it was twins, as Amy knew Jessi was prego but did not know about "twins". So, as we sat chatting and discussing and chatting and discussing, Amy came over with the Twins first gift, their first pairs of booties (from the Trading Post), sooo cool!!!

When Amy left for home, Lesley and I took a tour over to McNally Robinson with Jess as she wanted to pick up a Names book. Lesley wanted to get Baby Books for "twins" so she got Jess to pick out the ones she wanted for them and they were the second gift for the twins, this one from Auntie Lesley and Uncle Paul. After Jessi and I drove Lesley back to the Weiman Household, we stopped off at Value Village and picked up a few outfits, a blanket and a couple pairs of socks to start off the wardrobe...all for only $15.91 (don't tell Great Grammi Wilson that the "twins" will be wearing second hand clothes...that's a no-no as far as she's concerned). Jess and I thought that maybe we would go there once a month or so to pick up a few more things of necessity. When Bruce (Grampa to be) got home from work we showed him the "picture" of Twin A and Twin B, he's one proud Grampa...then we placed it on the fridge for display. So ends January 31, 2006...

A SURPRISE at Ultrasound...

I decided that I too wanted to attend the first in a series of Ultrasounds, so Les and Jess picked me up from work at around 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 31, 2006 and we headed over to Associated Radiologists for the "picture". While Jessi was lounging on the bed with a bladder that was not full enough...the tech said, "Sorry for having to push so hard but you did not drink enough water". Jessica had received info that she should drink two glasses when in actuality she should have drank eight glasses!!! As Lesley watched intently at the baby moving about...there it is, oh, there it is...I was watching what I thought might be two but with technology so advanced, those cameras could be fooling me...that is until the tech turned the screen toward Jessi and said, "here are the two of them, but next time you should drink more...Jessi interrupted her at this point and said, "Wait a minute, back up the bus, did you say TWO???" The tech calmly stated, "Yes, there is Twin A and there is Twin B and for your next ultrasound, you had better drink more water before you come in", (we found out later that Associated Radiologists equipment is "old school").

You think maybe Jessi was in shock before, when she found out she was pregnant...yes, but she had come to accept it and was making decisions about how it would be okay to take a baby on the plane over to Indonesia to meet "Daddy"...now with the news of TWO, things about that decision changed drastically...how could one person take two babies on a ten hour flight over the ocean to meet their dad Sopian Hadi??? When Jess told Hadi that she was pregnant, he was shocked at first, then he said, "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You - I'll teach him how to surf". They may have to wait a bit longer for introductions, who knows? As Jessi, Lesley and I sat for a bit in the waiting room at Associated after the telltale ultrasound and looking at the "picture" of the Twins, Jess was uttering words of shock, like, "Les you have to take one, I just can't have two". Jess thought that if she was having twins she hoped that they were not identical because that would just be too creepy. Yes, we laughed and so did the three women tending the reception desk that morning.

Where to Begin???

Picture - Sopian "Hadi" and Jessica Mansell, March 3, 2005, yes the Twins Journey began in Indonesia, but not until November 2005...

On the evening of Monday, January 30, 2006 Bruce and I were sitting quietly in the living room with Jessica after she got home from work for about a half hour before heading off to bed at 11:40 p.m. or so. At around 11:45 p.m. there came a knock on our bedroom door and in walked Jessica. At this point she blurted out something to the effect of, "I know that you guys want to go to sleep, but I have some pretty BIG news." Now there were, I am sure, all kinds of ideas running thru our minds in that three second interval before we heard - "I'm PREGNANT!!" come rolling off of her tongue - if we didn't have pierced ears before, we now did.

WOW, that is BIG news...we chatted for a bit and congratulated her with hugs and even though it was midnight, we said that she just had to phone Auntie Lesley to let her know (after all, why should Gramma and Grampa to be, be the only ones awake for half the night?). Jessi told Lesley that she was going to be an Auntie and Lesley said "Who?" to which Jess replied, "Do you have any other brothers or sisters that it could be?" Grampa Bruce being the card in the background said, "Roli?". After talking with Auntie Lesley and her deciding that she would go with Jessica for her ultrasound the next morning, Jessi left us to try to get some sleep. After she left the room, Bruce lifted up his arm and asked me to pinch him to make sure that he wasn't dreaming...no sirry bub, he was NOT dreaming. Now the excitement really begins...