Summer 2016
Summer 2016. My entire series of posts on the Journey With Twins details the majority of our summer; a blur of doctor appointments, ultrasounds, nonstress heart tests, the laser surgery, our scheduled c-section and eventually culminating in the loss of our precious baby Aiden. And yet throughout all the stress of the pregnancy, life was still happening for our little family. Here are a few of the more positive snapshots, although in reality much of my time was spent trying to act cheerful to keep things normal for our little family, but feeling like our world was collapsing around me.
June Recap
1) Darcie helping to wash Grandpa's new mini cooper. Alan has wanted a mini since his mission to Ireland over 40 years ago and finally got one! He was (and 6 months later still is!) giddy as a school boy every time he drives it.
2) Burke attended the grand opening of the Western Ag Credit Richfield Branch's new office. Outside they installed a bench in memory of Jay Holt who died of cancer about 6 months after Burke started the job with Western Ag. In the short time he knew him, Burke loved Jay and was so sad to see him go.
3) We keep "copying" Kjerstin Carter (Burke's bosses daughter) when it comes to babies. She had two girls about six months older than each of our two girls and then identical twin girls, Savannah and Hannah. Burke sent me a text with a picture of them one day and asked, "Are we ready?!" The image of those two chunky sweethearts filled me with such hope and longing for our identical boys to join our family!
4) Jade and Daphne having a picnic in Cath's backyard.
5) Daph graduating from Upstart - an amazing free online preschool. From day one her rep was blown away that Daphne was already reading, but this program definitely helped solidify and advance those skills as well as introduce math and science concepts that I hadn't touched on with her yet. She loved it! For those in Utah with kiddos who aren't in kindergarten, definitely get on the waiting list.
6) Burke sending me pictures from the cattle auction since I had never seen/been to one before.
Daphne's 5th birthday. Chelsea sent her the spot-on bug birthday card. Anyone who knows Miss Daphne knows that she is crazy about bugs. I've said it before, but I'll say it again...who's kid is she again?!
Case in point. Daphne caught several gigantic butterflies this summer. Then Darcie amazed Grandma Marie by catching one in her garden as well, but not quite knowing how to handle it as gently as her sister.
A few days before we moved, Daphne finally figured out how to climb our giant tire swing tree. She was SO proud of herself and had to show her best friend Sophie when they stopped by to help move a load of our stuff (thank you Quintanillas!)
I can not say enough good about this man right here! Our amazing across-the-street neighbors, Curt and Melody Johnson were the absolute best neighbors to us over the past 2.5 years. They became another set of grandparents to our girls and (Curt especially!) showered them with love and attention, always so kind to let the girls love on their dogs. On Halloween they had a special bag of treats set aside for them and on Christmas they brought them over matching teddy bears and goodies. Curt's cobbler is to die for and he was always looking out for us - snowblowing our driveway several snowy mornings, bringing Daphne cool bugs or roses, mowing the lawn for me once when I was majorly pregnant with Darcie, giving Burke and I gardening tips, lending tools and always up for a good conversation in the driveway. When Darcie started to talk, he would scoop her up in his arms and she would hold his beard and call him "Papa" in a super soft whisper. We miss them!
Two days before we moved, we woke up to find this sign in our yard! Our neighbor Riley Howard had nominated us for Yard of the Month and I guess they decided we deserved it. Burke was so sad, "Of course we get the yard the way we want it right as we're moving!" Of course. :) See our "Moving Saga" post for all the awful details of how we moved 3 times in 6 weeks from June 8 to August 1.
On June 8th we moved to Parowan with Burke's parents for 2 weeks until our rental became available. They took such good care of us. While we were there Daphne took her first session of swim lessons. She started out super timid and...stayed super timid! Haha! The kids were supposed to stay by the stairs in the shallow end when they did the individual swim practice with the two instructors, but Daphne kept trying to go further and further out. After both her teacher and I told her several times to stay by the stairs, she got to the point in the pool where it started to slope downward. Her little toes could no longer reach and I saw her eyes get wide and panicky as she slipped further into the water and began to go under. The life guard and I had both been watching her, so I didn't freak out, but instead stayed seated while I let the life guard walk over to the edge, reach down and pull her out by the arm. I shook my head at her and said, "That's why we asked you to stay put Daphne." She nodded with a terrified look on her face as she coughed a bit and went back to the stairs. Then she turned and bolted to me and bawled her eyes out while I held her. Thankfully it was free play and life jacket time after that or I seriously doubt if she would have gotten back in the water. Of course I didn't want her to be afraid, but I also felt it was a good experience for her to recognize the importance of listening and obeying, not to stifle her fun but to keep her safe.
The cute house we rented and Nellie and I in bunk beds! I ended up puking at 2 AM, so it was a good thing I was on the bottom bunk or I might not have made it to the bathroom in time!
Krissy introduced us to several delicious eats - Gourmandise reminding me of France with their amazing baked desserts lined up as a treat to the eyes as well as the mouth!
Outfits for the twinners
While we were out shopping, I couldn't stay away from the baby sections! I still hadn't announced beyond family members that we were expecting identical boys. I took a picture of this Batman/Superman combo and had planned on making a cute collage to post on FB, but found out the very next week that the babies were in trouble and never did get around to telling their genders.
While the ladies played, the papas were all awesome and stepped it up to play single Dad's for about 36 hours. Burke was wonderful to text me frequently throughout the days so I wouldn't miss our babies too much. I loved when he attempted to do Darcie's hair! Haha! The rest of their time was spent having fun fun fun at the farm and Grandpa's house.
I loved this series of Daphne out at the farm during the hay cutting as she searched for bugs and critters to put into her bug catcher. Also love the top right shot of my father-in-law, Alan, with his twin brother Alma. They have run the farm together for over 40 years now!
Two days after we went to our first high risk pregnancy appointment and found out the twins were struggling, we stole away to Salt Lake City for Burke's Western Ag Credit company party. They had a dinner right there at the Bees baseball game. I had never been to a professional baseball game before and despite the heat, we really enjoyed ourselves. Burke took the girls on the train ride around the park and brought them back completely sugared up on cotton candy - so obviously they were in heaven! :)
Only 22 weeks pregnant in this picture, but I was already measuring at 30 weeks for a regular singleton pregnancy! Yikes! No wonder I was in so much pain.
Burke explaining the game of baseball to Daphne.
The little ladies were loving this fun change of pace.
1) The girls took a drive one day with Burke to Robinson's Reservoir while I rested.
2) Burke stopped and showed them the ET rock which of course peeked Daphne's interest and we had to tell her the story of ET several times (even though it scared her!).
3) Burke helping on the farm one day - completely cowboy style.
4) The girls at the duck pond feeding the masses. This was the very last walk I took with the girls before the pregnancy became too challenging. Although it was only a couple of blocks, I remember I was majorly struggling to get that stroller back to Marie's on the way home.
5) Daphne finds the cabbage patch doll wig!
6) The girls playing in the rain at Elijah and Marinda's house which we moved into on June 28th.
Aubrey and Daphne feeding the ducks
On July 2 our wonderful nephew Emmett was baptized and we spent the weekend with the Ridings, my parents and the Kirbys. I was exhausted the entire time and really struggling in the St. George heat.
Shaved ice stand with Darcie and Daphne. Mom and GG resting in St. George (I love that Mom is one sprawled out on her 98 year old mother!)
Monday was the 4th of July and I did not feel up to anything. Having just moved again, I decided to lay low unpacking while Burke took the girls to hike Kannaraville Falls with the Ridings. Apparently Daphne fell down numerous times and whined the entire way. Burke had Darcie on his back, so Cassie, Emmett and Lydia were life savors to him and helped to carry her around a bunch. Burke was ticked as she hiked nearly the entire 5 miles last year and had a blast, but got upset about something early on this time and made it miserable.
When they got home, we were invited by the Adams family to come up to Co-Op and play on the new paddle boat Marie had gotten for her birthday. I really didn't feel up for it at all, but agreed to go if Burke would drive super slow. In hind site, that was a really dumb thing to do with the problems we were having with the babies, but I just felt like I was keeping my family from enjoying the summer and I wanted to participate in some degree.
Paddle boat fun on the 4th of July - check out Darcie's scowl! She stayed that way - silent and brooding the entire time!
The very next week we learned we needed to go to LA for an emergency laser ablation surgery to try and help save our babies. We left for LA on July 12 and I have written extensively about that experience HERE and HERE.
1) Belly pic for 25 weeks gestation taken July 8, the day before we found out we were headed to LA.
2 & 3) The flight to LA in a private jet was a wonderful experience (read the surgery posts linked above for how that happened)
4) Picture Marie sent to show us the girls were doing just fine
5) Dr. Chmait and our amazing medical team post surgery
6) A brief visit with one of my besties, Josie Kelly, the night before surgery at her apartment in LA.
The day after we got home from surgery in LA, July 14, was Burke's 35th birthday and the lamest one he has ever had. He was completely understanding and didn't even complain when his cake was a Papa Murphy's cinnamon pizza that our amazing Relief Society President brought over with dinner that night. What an angel - she rescued me! And the very next day we learned of the military coupe in Turkey, which meant after living in Elijah and Marinda's house for just two weeks, she and the boys would be evacuating and moving back to the house and we would need to find another place to live. *Insert lots of crying emojis here.* Again, see our moving saga post for more details.
Burke's super lame 35th birthday. We bought a TV the week before, so I counted that as birthday gifts and didn't get him anything to open the day of - worst wife ever! The surgery and doctor appointments were all consuming.
2) An empty Costco. Miracle.
3 & 4) Girls with Burke at the Aquatic Center for a Farm Bureau activity. I watched while they played.
On July 23 and 24th, Burke took the girls up to Co-Op for a two day Adams Extended Family Reunion. I wanted to go so badly, but there was no way with the heat and I was still recovering from the surgery the week before and house hunting. He sent me this picture of the t-shirts they had made for our family, including two for our twinners which was so very thoughtful of Aunt Andrea.
Daphne is the horny toad whisperer and managed to catch one again, making all of her cousins jealous. The lived it up, canoeing, riding the side-by-sides and 4-wheelers, playing games, eating food and getting dirty!
Look at that filthy, content face! I died when Burke brought the girls home this dirty! He said it was just proof that they had a marvelous time.
August Recap
Watching the beautiful summer sunrise from the porch of our new home.
The Plumb family reassured us that we would not have to move again until January at the earliest when they would put their house back on the market. After moving 3 times in 6 weeks during all the stress of our babies, this was such a tremendous relief to me. We loved the house and felt comfortable there immediately.
My mom was with us for the first week of August, went home for 2 weeks and then came back the day before our scheduled C-section on August 29. She put together my whole house and saved me as I physically could not take care of my family at all during this point in the pregnancy.
1) Burke and Vickie volunteering on behalf of Western Ag Credit to help run a station for the Tour of Utah bike competition.
2 & 3) Burke had to be gone for 3 days at a training in Spokane, Washington and got this awesome fortune in his cookie before taking a drive over to Coeur d'Alene. Thankfully my mom was still with us or it would have been awful to try to take care of the kids by myself.
4) Me and my sweet girls
5) Massive spider Daphne caught outside when Burke and I were to afraid to touch it! She walked over with her water bottle, said, "Cool!" and scooped him right up. Gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking of it and this little girl wanted to have him sleep by her bed! Ugh!
6) Burke, Mom, and the Meyer family (Marinda's sister Katie and family) helped set up the tramp and clear some of the weeds in Marinda's new backyard to welcome them from Turkey.
Lots and lots of doctor appointments during this time. The surgery did not fix the problem our sweet baby A was dealing with and this was an incredibly stressful time as we tried to time the right moment to take the babies in order to save our Baby A. Read the extensive details about our decisions with the babies HERE.
My favorite 3D ultrasound picture of the twins taken on August 8.
Pretty pictures from a drive and short hike up the mountain to Cedar Breaks that Burke took Daphne on with him and some of his family. Darcie and I napped. The more pictures I go through, the more I realize how out of it I was during those long summer months.
I spent a lot of time reading to the girls or playing games with them while I lay in bed resting. Daphne does not like to be in other parts of the house without me and sometimes she would climb up in the window and just gaze out at the world passing us by while I was bed bound. I felt incredibly guilty of the beautiful months the girls were missing out on.
1) Me and my girls at Sunday dinner in Parowan.
2 & 3) Putting stickers are my ginormous belly during sacrament meeting entertained the girls for 30 mins!
4) I craved clam dip during this pregnancy and Darcie caught the bug.
5) Came out one morning and Daphne was just hanging on the stair post as if it was the most comfortable spot in the house.
6) The girls using trash bags as super hero capes.
1) Preparation for Western Ags annual customer appreciation BBQ.
2) Yup...the t-shirt says it all.
3) Marinda and the boys arrived from Turkey and the girls loved to play with Danny at the park.
4 & 6) Two mornings in a row the girls discovered my old school glasses and wore them around for a bit.
5) Little ladies enjoying Grandma's brownies on the stairs.
Jacob's 11th birthday party at the Lake on the Hill. I had no idea that place existed! Per usual, the heat was a huge challenge for me and I had to fake like I was enjoying the party when I felt like I was about to pass out half the time.
August 14 I hit 30 weeks and felt like we were going to make it to our goal of 32 weeks after all. We started making plans with the NICU doctors and projected possibly 2 to 3 months of NICU time for the babies.
1) Sweet Darcie baby and I chillin on a Sunday evening.
2) Darcie was so precious at this stage.
3) The girls admiring themselves in a mirror I hadn't hung yet.
4) Large and in charge and using the belly as a table!
5-8) We had numerous beautiful sunsets that summer and the girls loved to pal around in the front yard until the disappeared.
This was the last ultrasound picture they took of the babies. Can you see our Baby A on the left kissing Baby B on the right on the cheek? His nose is covering his brother's eye. I was 31 weeks and 1 day along and they scheduled us for a c-section the following week. We were so grateful to have made it and couldn't wait to meet our little men!
On Wednesday, August 24, we invited the Bush boys over for a Back to School dinner the night before Daphne started kindergarten. We made crowns with each of their grades on it and Jacob was so kind to share his with Darcie so she wouldn't feel left out.
It broke my heart to have my Daphne Marie leaving me for school, but I knew she would love it.
1) Outing to Bulloch Drug for a candy run.
2) Darcie through the tube slide at the playground.
3) My poor swollen feet. I got to the point where I couldn't stand up/walk around for more than 15 minutes at a time before they would start to hurt.
4) My mom returned the day before we were scheduled to take the babies and brought the girls two little baby dolls to represent how big they might be (Baby A was still measuring 1.5 lbs and Baby B was around 4 lbs)
5) Darcie, Daphne and Danny playing
6) Daphne and her best friend Sophie Quintanilla on the first day of school
Last time going out to eat as a family of 4.
On Sunday, August 28, we headed down to St. George. Catherine (who was due with baby #4 in two weeks) hosted us and the Ridings for a night-before-babies dinner. We had settled on names on the drive down and were so excited to tell them that Baby A would be Aiden Burke and Baby B would be Alan David.
Cassie and Dan were planning on letting us live in their basement during the potentially long months of NICU time. They were amazingly gracious, generous and kind. Emmett made us an "apartment number" of 1234 and even put up a doorbell and told everyone the basement was going to be ours. He was so thoughtful.
Pictures as a family of 4 the night before our scheduled c-section.
That night we took the girls to the temple and reminded them about our temple covenants that bind us together as a family forever. We testified that we would see Aiden again.
The next day, Daphne went to kindergarten with Jade and Millie and the girls had quality cousin time while Burke and I took a little time to recover. It was a tragic ending to a very long, very emotional summer.
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