24 weeks

We are now at 24 weeks!!!! 24 weeks is a huge milestone, this is considered the week of viability. At this point if they were to come now there is a good chance they would make it with a long NICU stay. But as of today they look great! They are even measuring BIG for normal babies, not just twins. Only by a couple days, but that's still something :) Their fluid levels look good and everything. They also move like crazy..... I am inhabited by ninjas! It's nice to have the constant reassurance that they are there.

Now it's just preparation and survival mode. This pregnancy has been so very different than the first. I am tired all the time and in some pain. My first Physical therapy appointment was last week and the therapist said that it looks like I had some muscle damage from my pregnancy with Isaac, because I became so big at the end, and the stretching is causing pain and irritation. Plus apparently I have some pelvic displaysia (sp?) which she basically described as increased pelvic discomfort. So from this point on I just have to take it pretty easy (which is a little difficult for me, but healthy babies are more than worth it!)

My next apt. is in 2 weeks and they will check on our girlies again. In the mean time, as we have energy, time, and help we are working on getting Isaac's big boy room ready for him to move in to, and then make the nursery twin ready. Progress is being made on the mural of the Dallas skyline :).

I also splurged ($6 for both) on these pajamas at old navy, and the bumper pads I ordered from Land of Nod came in. The excitement of meeting them is starting to outweigh the initial fear that they would not make it.

22 weeks- K photography!

Sporadic post this week, but I wanted to highlight the photo session done by my dear friend Sarah Kallansrud of K Photography. She is my partner in crime and my creative co-hort, and she did an amazing job in a very short amount of time on these photos for our Christmas card. Between having a tight schedule, a grouchy first trimester twin mama, and a not even to year old she faced the challenges like the pro she is and made us look good! 

In other news, I start physical therapy on Monday, and we are going to try and get quite a bit done on Isaac's big boy room this weekend. The girls are moving like crazy, so much so you can already even SEE them. These next two weeks waiting for our next appointment and the milestone of 24 weeks (viability) seems to be inching by, but thankfully there is plenty to fill the time. I am very tired all the time, but I take that as a sign that they are growing, so I take comfort in that. 

Love from our little family.

21 weeks

We are more than half way, whew. A lot has happened. We have had our 20 week apt. and still everything looks good. With all the growing, and my fibromyalgia pain our Dr. recommended that I start physical therapy to help with how large and uncomfortable I might become.  Our OB said going forward they will do a big scan to check on the girls and see how they are growing every 4 weeks. We won't go back to the Dr. until 24 weeks, which is a little unnerving for me because I like to see them, but it is good, because it means they are not concerned.

Since 18 weeks, we decided to put our cat Henry, to sleep. He was getting quite frail and grouchy and throwing up all the time. At 14 he was having a hard time. We knew that going forward he would have a hard time adjusting. When we brought him in the vet said he was definitely not looking well, so we knew it was time.  It was very hard. Henry had been a wonderful companion through illness and the move to both Lafayette and Dallas. He will be missed.  

We still have Indecisive, Indeterminate, Incomparable, Inde to keep us on our toes. Life will never be dull :) He is adjusting to life as the only kitty, and I rather think he prefers it. Except for the fact that he is now the sole focus of Isaac's torment (hugs and kisses, chasing). 

We had a wonderful Christmas, Isaac got an Ikea kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa, topped off by my in-laws Gwen and Andrew McGuckin coming at New Years and helping us around the house. Gwen helped me cook a ton of food for our freezer (mostly she did the cooking and I cleaned up) Luke and Andrew hung out our awesome shelf (1st picture) and helped us get some work done on the bathrooms. They also moved out some furniture to make some room in Isaac's new room!

When I have energy and time I have been sorting through closets, packing up little boys clothes, sorting through little girls clothes that I have been picking up at garage sales :) Things are starting to come together. It feels like we have a long way to go sometimes, and then I feel like we have a lot to do in not very much time.  For now it's just keep busy enough to pass the time without doing to much to make me tired.

For now over and out from the Benders.

18 weeks and.......

Girls!!!!!!!
 

We had our 18 week Fetal Medicine appointment this week. The beginning of this journey was so scary worrying about our littles being in the same sac and all the other complications that can come with identical twins, but this appointment was almost nothing but encouraging! God is so good, sometimes it blows my socks off! Our girls, GIRLS! look great! They are right on track growth wise at 9 oz. each. In fact they are now measuring a day BIGGER than their due date. (Oh my if we are headed for 2 Isaacs :)

They were moving all over the map, kicking each other, flipping around, all kinds off mess that make it fun for the dr.'s to chase them around for measurements.

They only potential complication they saw was baby A seems to have a tiny hole in her heart, but the cardiologist said she's not even worried about it. At this stage it is most likely going to close up as she grows, but even if it doesn't it won't cause serious complications and will most likely heal itself after birth. We are going back to see the cardiologist as 28 weeks for a better look when their hearts are more fully formed. 

So far there is no sign of TTS, or any type of nutrient stealing. They didn't even recommend us come back to the specialist unless our normal OB sees something at our appointments.

I wonder if at a place where so many people have to go for complications, it was nice for them to give some parents some good news!

So now comes more prep work for these little people. I am currently packing up the boy clothes, although I'll still hold off on handing them down for a couple more weeks for them to make double sure these girls are really girls, but the Fetal Med Dr. had no doubts. 

I have had to change my picture location to in front of the pantry due to there now being an Ikea kitchen in the former area. Maybe next week I will get around to posting pictures of the progress we have made on the house so far especially thanks to my awesome in-laws Gwen and Andrew! But for now I have to catch up from the holidays, whew.

Thank You all for your prayers. I am just amazed at the miracle of these little people and feeling more and more excited about their being here!

16 weeks

Well 15 weeks got left by the wayside but.... oh well. The babies are growing, mama is still tired, but doing a little better.

Our biggest news this week really has nothing to do with me. As some of you know, we have been trying to figure out what has been happening with Luke's health for quite a while know. We've been to countless specialists with no real results, but a couple weeks ago Luke went in for a routine physical and talked through everything with his Dr. The Dr. ran some test and Luke can back positive for mono again, for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. The Dr. thinks it's a chronic version of mono which could explain a lot of what Luke has been going through, from the constant fatigue, even the asthma like symptoms. Luke is going to go see a infectious disease Dr. at the beginning of the year, and we may get some ideas as to where to go from here. I also purchase a book from a lady who suffers from chronic mono and learned how to deal with it by more natural methods so we can know what our options are. Prayers would definitely be appreciated as we move forward in this journey.

So it's seems we have the corner on weird in our family. Rare mono, identical twins.... I know God has a plan in all of this, but sometimes it seems like just a lot to handle. 

But on a positive note, Wednesday I get to go back to the dr. for a normal appointment and see the littles again and maybe even find out for sure what they are! So exciting! My mom is going to come with me and we are going to bring the little man so he can see the babies on the ultrasound. 

I think I might also be feeling those little first flutters of movement. That is the most fun part of pregnancy!

14 weeks

Whew, 14 weeks, not much change, how long do we have to go?

Here are the before pictures I promised. I haven't really gotten much farther than this, so when I have the time and energy we will be hacking away. With Christmas to prepare for as well the rest of the year will probably go by pretty quickly. I have never wanted time to pass more quickly and get so much done in the time that I have. 

Good bye guest room. You were nice for company and extra stuff....

Just scary, that's all I have to say.... And I need to move a bunch of stuff from the guest room in here...

Not a crazy amount to do here, no big changes

Stay tuned for more changes in the Bender world!

13 weeks : Nest prep begins

13 weeks and a good appointment have made me realize we might need to start getting ready for this momentous event in the lives of the Benders. So nesting has begun.

When we have time I have begun the process of transforming the guest room into a new big boy room for Isaac, which means finding a home for the multitudes of stuff in the guest room..... The studio is getting an overhaul to make room for wrapping paper and ribbons. Next week I will have some before shots of each room. For now I am color coordinating tissue paper and recovering shoe boxes that Luke put dowel rods in for my ribbon collection.

Then will come the process of making the nursery 2 kid compatible.... and (maybe?) and some girlieness to the room, but there won't be much change there. 

Check back next week to see what's happening in the nest!

12 weeks and looking good so far

So, today we had our 12 week apt, and everything looked good! I got to see the little munchkins again, and one seems to be pretty lively, the other a little lazy, but who knows. I am getting more and more excited and optimistic that this is really happening. Luke and I have decided we should document the tummy growth to see if I can possibly get any bigger than I was with Isaac. Everyone constantly asked me if I was having twins with him. This time I can say, why yes we are!

                12 weeks : twins  

40 weeks : Isaac (this is me saying, ok come already!)

If you see me wearing this same shirt every Saturday for the rest of the pregnancy you will know know why. It's one of the only shirts that expanded enough for me to wear at full term with the I-man.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support, we could not have asked for better friends.

Now it's just the 4 week waiting game for our next appointment.

Fetal Medicine appointment 11/6

Today we saw the Fetal Medicine Dr. for them to see if they could see a membrane between our 2 littles. It was quite an unnerving appointment at first because the Dr. said the original Dr. we saw was afraid we might have had a hemorrhage, along with the possibility that the kids might be in the same sac. What that means, or would have meant I have no idea, but thankfully they found nothing wrong.

On top of that they found a very clear sac around both babies!! Praise God. That means their chances of survival went way up.

There is still the risk of Twin to Twin Transfusion (TTS).
From the TTS foundation website

What is TTTS?

-Twin to Twin Transfusion

Syndrome (TTTS) is a disease of the placenta (or afterbirth) that affects identical twin pregnancies.

-TTTS affects identical twins (or higher multiple gestations) who share a common monochorionic placenta.

-The shared placenta contains abnormal blood vessels which connect the umbilical cord and circulations of the twins.

-The common placenta may also be shared unequally by the twins

-The events in pregnancy that lead to TTTS are all random.

-TTTS is not hereditary or genetic, nor caused by anything the parents did or did not do.

There are also greater risks for identical twins to have heart defects, which they will monitor closely. The Dr. did not explain why this is true.

The last thing they will be checking for is that the kiddos do not try and come to early by putting to much pressure on my cervix (sorry if this is TMI), so there still may be the possibility of bed rest.

But again, right now everything looks good. We will have our next appointment at 12 weeks, so till then it's just grow babies grow.

We appreciate all your prayers and support. We know that God has truly blessed us with these littles and the people he has placed in our lives. For that I am truly thankful.

This is the letter we sent to some of our friends and family when we found out our news.

Hello all,

   The Bender clan thought we were only adding 1 new addition when we found out we were pregnant, but when we went in for our 8 week ultra sound the tech said, "Heart beat looks good..... and so does the other one...." 

  Luke said all I kept saying was, "seriously?" "Seriously!?!". We have no history of twins on either side of the family, and are not undergoing any type of fertility treatment, so we are just some of those rare people blessed with spontaneously occurring identical twins.

Our original appointment with our midwife for a typical second birth changed to consulting with a Dr. because we are now bumped up to a high risk pregnancy. We are also going to be consulting with a special high risk Dr. because, as of right now the kiddos have been diagnosed as mono-mono twins, which means they share the same sac and the same placenta. This is very rare (1 in 50,000) and very dangerous because not only will they have the potential common twin problem of Twin to Twin transfusion, the fact that they are in the same sac means they are also in danger of getting tangled in each others chords. Mono-Mono twins only have a 50 to 60 % survival rate.

The good news is that many people diagnosed with this find out later that the babies are actually separated by a membrane, but it was not readily apparent on early ultrasounds. This is our prayer.

What this means for us : If they are mono-mono I may be put under full time observation (hospital bed rest) as early as 24 weeks so they can intervene at the first sign of trouble. Even if they are not, the Dr.'s will be monitoring twin to twin transfusion very closely throughout the pregnancy and our little ones may potentially come early and have some stay in the NICU.

Right now our littles look GREAT. They have made it through a trip to Vegas, a church wide garage sale, and Momma's 2 ear infections and subsequent illness, so they are already some tough cookies!

I am still learning a lot, and won't know much more until 12 weeks when we have our next appointment and referral to the specialist. We wanted to let you all know now so you can be in prayer. Everything may turn out just fine, but we will still need prayer for adjusting to life as the parents of not only a 2 year old, but twins on top of that!

I will keep you all updated, probably through facebook or a blog as things progress. 

We want to Thank you all for being our friends, and the wonderful support we have received from you in the past and ask you for your prayers in the future. We know that God is Big and He can do amazing things. We also know that God is good no matter what the outcome of this is. We are very grateful that we know we are not in this alone. 

Luke, Erin, and big brother Isaac.

90's grunge

Well with the new baby in the house I haven't gotten a whole lot of opportunities to be creative. But fall is here, which means fall clothes, which means layering and combining whats in my closet to make al new outfits. Well now I also have someone else's closet to play with, and he is much more of a challenge. With a humungo head that is hard to get shirts over, large chubby legs, and a cloth diaper bum, this kid has all sorts of sizing issues. All of this means that mommy just has to get creative. Which is ok by me.


Take today for example

I call this, what Erin looked like in high school. All it needs is Airwalks. The pants are 2 T rolled up to kingdom come. All clothes were garage sale purchased, and I am so glad i bought so many different sizes! Who knew I would need them so soon! I think this is going to be a fun few days trying his "new" cool weather outfits.... well at least it will be for me... Isaac hates having clothes put on him :)

WEBSITE!!!!!

It's quite a long time in coming but here it is! The website! There is still much to add and maybe some things to change but it is a beginning.

www.wrenbender.com

With the new website may fairly soon come a move of the blog. This blog will probably wait until there are new members of the nest and be a more personal look into my life, and the creative side will be attached to the website.

Enjoy the site and let me know what you think!

Website, website, website

Today's project, as it has been for it seems like forever is the website, website, website, and it's still not ready to show you! But I felt like blogging and at least sharing with you one of the pretties from my collection.

I guess because today is not really a normal blog, I have decided to give you a not really normal bird... But who can go wrong with a fish with wings?

Luke and I found this guy on our honeymoon in Durango, Colorado, and he combines Luke's enjoyment of tropical fish, and mine of birds.

In other news we currently have 2 doves nesting on our front porch. One in a plant right beside the door, and the other in a hanging basket on the other side of the door... I know I like birds but this fear of me causing baby bird abandonment if I leave my house through the front door is a little nerve wracking! Hopefully I will get the opportunity to take some pictures soon, and hopefully the babies will really hatch. I can't believe how appropriate that would be to be able to chronicle this adventure for you here on the nest.

Well have a great day, and if you come and visit take care when you walk up to the front door. You may be confronted by a frightened bird, who although she/they will not harm you, they most certainly may startle you as they themselves are startled from their perch by your arrival....

Garage Sale!!!!

All right ladies and gents, today's post has to do with one of my not very creative, creative endeavors this week. I have been making hot pink Garage sale signs! Woo hooo! I have also been separating out plants like a mad woman, battling ants, and being startled by lizards.  So come by and help me make room in my greenhouse for the ever expanding plants! The  money I earn from selling plants goes back into the greenhouse for soil and really cute pots like this one from Hobby Lobby,

who also happens to be the bird of the day!

It's a neighborhood wide garage sale and there are always great finds, so come prepared to shop! Let me know if you need the address and I will e-mail it to you.

Have a great day!

The Melissa Invitation

As today is Wedding Wednesday, and as I am finally DONE with my brothers wedding invitations and they are out for the world to see, I will now show them to you! May I present....

Hand cut accents, raised to give a subtle shadow, Cream colored card stock layered over a canon brown.

 

 Hand lined envelopes and custom designed stamps, really what could be any better?

FleetwoodCuellar.com

A matching custom website!

And for today's glimpse inside the nest here is my favorite door stopper who does not stop any doors

Matthew 6:26

All right Ladies and Gents, the spastic blogger returns. There has been a bit of chaos here at the nest. The two smallest occupants had decided that the whole house was now a litter box so a massive cleaning spree had to be called for! The house is much cleaner now and work has been happening in many areas.

    I have really been thinking hard about what direction I want to go as an artist and designer and how to even start! I feel like in some ways I already have a lot going for me, but nothing to pull it all together, and to many projects on my plate. So now that my brother's wedding invitations are done (more on those tomorrow maybe) I have decided to finish up the projects that I have been procrastinating on and then really start building a website and getting some other things under way.
  

   Today's bird is my procrastination project complete! (well almost

Proof that there has been work going on in the studio, look at this mess!

The finished bird project for my client and friend, Ms. Shirley Webster. Now I need to call her and tell her that after months of waiting it is finally finished and we can go get it framed.

This makes me wish I knew what else to draw....

Well enjoy, and stay tuned because soon enough I think I may have some more things to show you! Now I am very hungry and ready to start moving on to the multiple other projects on my list.

Wedding Wednesday

The nest is positively brimming with ideas at the moment, none of them fully complete and all of them surrounded by the complete mess that is my house so for today we shall look back instead of forward. Since it is Wednesday, and I am currently working on wedding things, I will give you some of my favorite things from my wedding. Hopefully next week I will have everything to the point where I can show you the completed current project!

These beauties were made for me by my amazing friends in Louisiana for my bridal shower. They were just so pretty that I couldn't help but use them in the wedding to go with the origami birds!

We definitely didn't have the most beautiful wedding location, or the biggest budget, and these added another tough of elegance and beauty to the occasion. Some of them still live in my house in my kitchen window sills, and today's birds have taken residence there.

These guys were dirt cheap at target after Christmas, and do they look like Christmas? I was so glad they had some left, and I will have to show you their red cousins at Christmas time, right now they are packed away. These birds are a lesson in shopping after the holiday season for things that transcend the holiday and can be used all year long!

Encourage

 

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to a ladies retreat in Louisiana where we were encouraged to use our gifts and talents to reach the world for Christ. The retreat was with my former church, and these ladies are amazing. They really are what the title of the retreat called them to be "Dangerous Women". If they feel led to serve in a certain area, and there is not a ministry to serve in that way, they start one. They have already made a significant impact in Lafayette, Louisiana, and many other parts of the world. Their courage and faith inspires me to no end.

Today's bird is from one of the ministries highlighted this week, Raven & Lilly, a ministry based out of Los Angeles California. 

This beautiful coffee sleeve was made by women in Africa.  Raven & Lilly's mission is this :

• We are intentionally focused on creating economic opportunities for the disadvantaged.
  
• We support women's empowerment programs that comply with fair trade standards. This ensures women are valued and rewarded for their work.
  
• We seek transparency and accountability in all of our transactions.
  
• We encourage our artisans to develop independence.
• We desire all of our artisans to work in a safe and healthy environment.
  
• We use recycled and remnant materials when possible.
  
• Proceeds are sent back to the artisans' communities to help with education, healthcare and micro-loans.
  

We focus on women because many women have little or no opportunity to rise above the cycle of poverty or their circumstances.

• 70% of the world’s poorest people are women
• 2/3 of those who cannot read or write are women
• At least 2 million girls per year are at risk of undergoing Female Genital Mutilation
• AIDS is becoming a women’s disease with women increasingly bearing the brunt of the epidemic
• 80% of refugees & trafficking victims are women
• 100 million girls are expected to enter forced marriages in the next decade

I don't drink coffee, but this had to become the newest addition to my collection!
Raven & Lilly is so amazing to me because I am constantly thinking about how I, as a designer, can use my skills to impact the kingdom, and these women have done just that!

What are your gifts? How might you be able help through the gifts and talents God has given you?

Manic Monday

Today is a hectic day at the nest. A big project to finish, a house to clean before at least 10 people are coming over tonight for LifeGroup. I have a pretty slow paced life comparably, but there are definitely times when I get overwhelmed. I tell you all this in relation to today's bird.

This Little book is about the size of the palm of my hand and is a great travel companion. It was given to me recently by my friend Nancy, and it is a real treat. It now lives in my purse and helps me remember things. I have a nifty iPhone that you can store things in, but do I do it....... not really. I love the feel of pen on paper and making and crossing things off of lists, so I have little books everywhere. I am always thinking of new projects, or thinking of good blog topics, or just all the sudden remebering something I have to do. I believe the little book, or if your good at putting things on your phone is so important whether you are a creative or not! Inspiration is everywhere and you need a way to remember it on days like today when there are just so many other things to do!

A great book I was given this weekend put it like this :

"Take note of what you are doing when inspiration strikes. Maybe you'll begin to notice a pattern between your good ideas and your activities...... Carry a small notebook with you everywhere... and take the time to jot down ideas when they occur to you." 

Kari Chapin -The Handmade Marketplace

Some other great little books I have come across are these

1. Mini Moleskine, always wonderful, especially for sketching. Has a built in bookmark, an elastic      closure and a pocket in the back. I found this guy at Barnes and Noble
2. These are also Moleskine and the thing I really like about them is if you are working on multiple projects at once and want to keep them separated these are great. You can either write on the cover itself, or create labels for then and have a few of them with you at all times without feeling like you are weighed down by a mountain of notebooks
3. These little babies I found at Target in the dollar spot in a 3 pack. They would also be great for multiple projects, but they are not always available so you just have to keep your eyes open for them because every season they typically have something similar in that seasons patterns or colors.
4. Paperblanks also makes wonderful journals and mini notebooks, this one even has a magnetic closure, bookmark and pocket. I found this at an art museum, but I have seen similar products at Barnes and Noble as well.

What holds you thoughts from escaping into the unknown forever? My husband has a small pad of sticky notes with him at all times that helps his engineer mind remember things from details of a design, to "remember to get some milk on the way home".

Trepidicious Thursday

I am currently waiting on a very expensive box that contains all the paper for my brother and future sister-in-laws wedding invitations..... We are going out of town tomorrow early and I paid extra for expedited shipping. I feel a little bit like this guy.

 

Hopefully it will come soon, it is already 6:30... but while I wait I will share some World Market pretties with you, which is where I found this guy.

 

I am a big fan of pattern design, and right now World Market has some great patterns. This one is a rug.