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I've written no less than 3 half blog posts since the last one I posted. Every time I try to write one, something happens and I don't get to finish it. I think I may put the partial ones together for the babies book to show what a crazy time this has been. We are close to our new additions being here and it seems like I have less and less time for everything. I've still managed to get Jay to his Boy Scout meetings (2 days in a row) while timing contractions with Mommy via text. The church they meet at is only about a mile away so I'm still close by if needed. The meetings go from 6:30-8:00. They're important to him and we're trying to keep life as normal as possible for the boys. Right after work has been tough but we manage.

Happy New Year! 2012 has already started with a bang. Karyn is 2 days shy of 36 weeks, which has been our goal since we found out we were having twins. Remember when the doctor said "34 weeks is a big win and 36 weeks is a huge win."? Huge describes it perfectly. Mommy is huge. Bless her heart. The past week has been the most painful, by far. All of Karyn's pregnant weight is in her belly. If you look at her from behind, she doesn't even show. We think that has a lot to do with the pain. She's absolutely beautiful. I've been trying to take lots of pictures of her belly but she only allows it sometimes. I try to be sensitive to her wants and needs. After all, she IS carrying my princesses. I think... no... I know that I picked the perfect queen. I'm all about protecting her and my family and keeping my eyes on the prizes. This year is going to be a special (and challenging) one for the Smiths. I look forward to it. I thank God for the blessings and struggles of 2011 but I'm ready to turn the page.

We had been looking forward to today for a couple weeks. We knew this was a milestone and we would get another chance to see our angels via ultrasound. We knew that if we could get this far, our babies would both have a better chance of being healthy. It was an exciting day, to say the least, but lets go back a couple days first. Friday, December 30 was when my bride first started feeling these really hard contractions. Where she would lean back, with her hand on her belly, and cry out. We both knew she was getting closer. Every night this past weekend was pretty much sleepless. She had to pee more often. About every hour, on the hour. When she wasn't peeing, she was switching positions. Each time she moved, I woke up and asked if she was OK and if it was "Go Time". I think she got tired of it. She would sigh and say "I'm fine" or "I'm just uncomfortable". The morning would come and we both looked like we had been rode hard and put up wet (that's not a dirty reference, just southern). We were haggard looking (if that better "shakes your bacon"). We still had to go about the business of being parents to Isaiah and Jay. New Years Eve, we managed to watch a movie, kiss at midnight, then off to bed we went. No sleep though. More pain. More cramps. More unhappy Mommy. I hope my beautiful little girls read this one day and hug Karyn. She has been a trooper. We took down the Christmas tree and cleaned a little. Karyn did most of it. She is nesting and as long as there's no painting or furniture moving, go for it.

We both had Monday the 2nd off and K tried to take it easy but the contractions were getting stronger and more frequent. As the evening went on, we started counting contractions. Which, I must say, I'm a pro at now. Mommy moans, I time it. 5-7 minutes apart and lasting between 45 seconds to a minute and 20 seconds. Oh my, they look painful. Someone told me that " They're worse than they look!" and I believe it. I felt, and still feel, so bad for her. She called the doctor on call to ask about the painful contractions, the shooting pains "down there", and a couple other things. The doctor told her that she thought she should come to the ER to be checked out but Karyn decided that she wanted to wait and see her doctor today. Last night (Monday) was the worst so far. We counted contractions until 12:30 and then she tried to lay down. I followed her to bed about 1:00. No sleep. Audrey flipped into a weird position, with my hand on Karyn's belly, and has been there since. She's lower and her knees (we found out via ultrasound) are sticking out her side and pressing hard. When we did doze off, it was just for minutes at a time. Our heater started blowing cold air and so I googled it and we got it to work for a little while then the cold air came back. This went on all night with the contractions. At several points, I thought about making a trip to the store for electric heaters but it never got cold enough for that. Thank God. I really didn't want to leave her side. In case. We're having the system looked at soon. Supposed to be today but never got anyone to answer their phones. My mom gave us a couple electric ones to use tonight until we get someone out here. Her van needs new spark plugs too but that will have to wait as well.

Karyn woke up at 8:00 on the nose this morning and, out of instinct, panicked. She said "Jason!" Scared the living crap out of me. I said "What???" She said " It's 8!" and for a second she tried to jump out of bed. Hahaha. It didn't work. Only a grunt then back to the pillow. That's what time I was supposed to be at work. We had decided to call the doctor's office first thing to see about an earlier appointment and they don't turn their phones on until 8:30. We were scheduled for an ultrasound at 3:00. We got it bumped up to 10:30. We managed to get up, get showered and dressed, and the boys ready. We took them to mom's since school was out one more day for the Christmas break. We made it right on time and I dropped her off at the front door to go sign in and I parked the van in a handicapped spot. I walked in with a limp so people wouldn't think I was just some lazy bum beating the system. I found her in the waiting room and joined her. I didn't even write during the visit. Too tired and excited to gather a reasonable thought. They called her name and we went back. Took a pee sample (she had plenty, I waited outside the door for her), and to the ultrasound room we went. This was another "not so favorite" ultrasound tech. Karyn was VERY sensitive on her left side and the lady kept pressing. Karyn had tears in her eyes and told the lady to stop pushing so hard. It was too painful. I told the lady that Karyn never complains unless she means it so it's REALLY hurting her. We flipped her to the left and we flipped her to the right. You couldn't see much. At this point, the girls are so bunched up, it's hard to tell who's who. We saw good little heartbeats. 122 & 136. We saw the girls practicing breathing. A... wait for it... mazing! They're getting ready! We got K cleaned up from the belly goo and were sent back to the waiting room. We were called back and the nurse came in. Karyn's blood pressure was a little high but the nurse said not to worry. The doctor came in and we explained what had been going on and he examined her. She's dilated to 2 cm and 50% effaced. The doctor wants the babies to stay in as long as possible but said when she's at 3 cm, the babies are coming out. We're to watch for stronger contractions or more frequent ones. He set an appointment for Friday the 13th for a c-section but said she is only 4-5 days away at most. Basically, next time we go in, the babies will come. Every doctor is different and there's a good chance that the babies would be here if we had went to the ER at the peak of the pains. We want to have a good balance of mommy's comfort and babies health. We want her to go as long as possible for the babies' sake but she's ready. When we were ready to check out, she was still in pain from the exam and I held her in my arms and let her cry. I asked if she wanted to sit down and let me take care of this part. Of course she said no. We came back home and got her settled in. Resting. Waiting. I went into work for a little while. Trying to get as many hours in as possible before my princesses are here. We're counting contractions again tonight and our blessings. We held hands on the way home from the doctor and prayed. For her and the babies safety, her comfort, and our sanity. I went into preacher mode and started talking about praying and faith until she said "Shut up. I'm calling my mom." That's my baby. We'll keep you posted in these final days or hours before delivery. Please keep those prayers going up. We need them now more than ever. I cried reading the last paragraph to Karyn. I told her it was funny. She said "That's not funny." Shrug. Love her.