There and Back Again.....Disney October 2014- The Journey Home

After over a year of planning, waiting and more planning, the day was finally here. My niece Brynley put her last sticker on her calendar! 

This trip would feature my parents, driving their own car following us and mom using her personal scooter to get around.  Then there is my family of course, with the twins at 14 months old and not yet walking.  We were also driving and using our own double city mini stroller from home, plus William walking.  Then my sister’s family with their two daughters, almost 4 and 2. They were flying instead (smart I tell you!). 

We had done lots of prepping- making stroller license plates, laminated itineraries and held Disney movie nights! 

We planned this trip last year around William’s school break. While they don’t have a real fall break, they do have a half day on Thursday, then that Friday and following Monday off.  So we planned that week knowing he would only miss 3.5 days of school (first grade) vs a whole week. Well then the school district released the calendar this summer and guess what, no more break at all.  They removed the days off and now we get a full week off at Thanksgiving instead (used to only get Wed-Fri off).  Oh well, so the kid was going to miss a week of school.  Good thing though, I hear that several other kids were also doing Disney that week and the principal actually was at Disney week before! So I didn’t feel so bad.  It was unexcused, but we filled out the form so the school and district were aware.

So we planned to pick up William early from school at 1:45pm.  My parents came over and Alan left work early.  We had both cars packed and ready and picked him up and off we went on the road by 1:45pm! We hit traffic early into the drive- in the first hour, before really getting out of Dallas.  Trying to take a shortcut to 20, we hit where they were paving a road and literally had the road closed so traffic could go one way at a time.  So that was a nightmare.  Cut into our drive big time.  We drove all the way to Tillmans Corner area just West of Biloxi for our stop for the night.  I had tried booking a hotel further West, but literally everything was booked up.  We ended up at a Baymont Inn and Suites which was a complete dump, but considering we were only there for like 7 hours, it was fine.  We literally had the last two rooms available.  I had called to remind them of our late arrival to ensure they didn’t give our rooms away (this has happened to me before, at the Gaylord Texan no less when rooms were paid in full by the company for a holiday party, talk about pissed!).  So we arrive at 12:30am, and those last 2 hours driving were bad, so tired! I can’t sleep in the car well and especially not when I know Alan is tired from driving.  He drove the whole way as did my dad despite my offers to drive.

Magic Bands were ready too! 

On the drive, I made sure William was loaded with fun.  We had a backpack with books (he loves to read), including the Guide to the Magic, which I purchased before the trip and he enjoyed reading up on all the attractions.  It has stickers and tips for the kids.  Highly recommend it.  I also ordered the WDW travel journal, but he didn’t use it, I think he just was overwhelmed and we will save it to use next trip instead.  We also printed out license plate bingo off pinterest and he loved that.  He enjoyed trying to find rare license plates from all over.  

Guide to the Magic- http://www.guidetothemagic.com/shopping.htm

We were up by 7am and loaded back up to continue our drive.  The babies were okay in the car, but not great.  They don’t sleep well in the car at all for some reason, so getting them to nap some was hard.  We had lots of snacks, toys and milk/water.  We finally arrive the Orlando area around 5ish, but end up missing a turn on Disney property and that takes forever to get back turned around.  We usually fly, so it was fun to drive in and see this sign!

We finally arrive at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, our home for the next 7 nights!

Mandy and her family had already arrived earlier that morning via their American Airlines flight.  They had already checked in and requested a high floor room.  Here are Brynley and Olivia at the airport- flying on American out of DFW. 

They had started out at Animal Kingdom, but the heat, crowds and just being exhausted had them coming back early.  But not before getting in a safari ride and seeing D-vine!

We unloaded the car and some stuff my parents had driven down for my sister.  We literally used almost four whole bell carts.  One was just cases of bottled water.  Talk about “stuff”, we had a lot of it! Babies require a lot of stuff.  


The only downside of being DVC is that you don't get daily mousekeeping. With a 7 night stay like ours, you get trash and towel service on day 4 and that's it.  They don't vacuum, don't change your sheets or anything.  Just take out trash and leave more towels and stuff if needed.  We usually get more toiletries, but didn't this time.  I was going to call for more since I take them home, but never did.  If you stay more than 8 nights, you do get a full cleaning once.  You can also pay for mousekeeping if you want a full cleaning.  There is a trash storage closet on each floor where you can take out your own trash, which was important to us with three kids in diapers. Here are a few pics of the awesome dedicated (versus lockoff) 2 bedroom villa (lakeview) at Bay Lake Tower.

This room can run $1200-$1500 a night if paying rack rate.  We were using our Disney Vacation Club points and it was 315 points for the 7 nights.  Even at $1200 a night at the low end, this would have cost us close to $8500 for JUST the room, this isn't including tickets or dining or anything else.  With just four trips, we've already made up what we paid for our initial membership in DVC and we still get 200 points a year to use for the next 45 years or so!

Notice the floor has hidden mickeys?

So after unloading, we headed up to our room, our magic bands were already working. William couldn’t wait to try it and open the door.  We ended up  in room #8202 on the 12^th floor. I had called and requested just like I do every year- high floor, even numbered room and north end.  Those requests are supposed to get you a better chance of a corner room that would have a partial theme park/fireworks view. We had booked a lakeview and all three prior trips we were given either the lake/pool view or a partial lake and monorail view facing the Contemporary.  I had never scored the coveted partial Magic Kingdom view while only booking the lakeview.  But this time we got it! Our master bedroom balcony had a great Magic Kingdom view with the castle and Space Mountain! 

My tip- always call a week out to the resort DIRECTLY and put in your requests.  Even as a Travel Agent, when I put requests in for rooms when I book, that is through a whole other entity, not the resort itself and often times those requests don’t transfer over to the resort or are lost in translation, so call a week out or fax them.  Also reiterate your requests in person at check in, again, sometimes your requests are lost or not noted, despite your best attempts. Often they will do their best to meet your request, but it can mean waiting for that perfect room to be ready until after 3 or 4pm (or later).  If you are willing to wait, your chances are better.  They will text you when your room is ready.  We were once assigned a low floor and I simply asked if they had anything higher and they did, so just ask. 

I found this on our bed!

There is a little area that slides open and shut where the tub is, so you can have a view out the window while enjoying a soak!

 There is a large living room with pull out couch that sleeps two plus a chair that folds out into a bed to sleep one.  There is a balcony for the master bedroom that is accessible through the living room too.  There is a breakfast area with built in seating/table which we used daily.

The second bedroom features two queen beds, private bath with tub, one sink etc. There is also a third full bathroom in the hallway- again, tub, one sink. The second bedroom has a private balcony too.  

We got settled and started unpacking and our Garden Grocer order was sent up. www.gardengrocer.com is great for ordering some snacks, bottled water and perishables for your room.  I’ve had perfect service every time with them.  They are pricey, with a $40 minimum order and $14 delivery fee, but worth it for us to avoid shopping for groceries during vacation when our time is limited (or if you don’t have a car).  You can order months before even and edit your order.  I had our order placed 2 months out- they do provide small discounts when you order early too.  We had ordered some perishables such as fruit, juice, yogurt etc. Our luggage came up too and I gave the bellman a hefty tip for unloading all those carts!

My extremely generous parents had goodie bags for everyone.  So the kids enjoyed opening those.  I got two adorable shirts, two scarves including a haunted mansion one I love! Thanks parents!!!  it was a nice treat to start off the trip. The girls got matching ELSA dresses! 

We got all organized and got the babies down for a little rest while I took William down to the pool area. Mandy took the girls down too and we all enjoyed a little fun and we enjoyed an adult beverage! 

The kids had a ball playing at the pool area.  It has a zero entry area, plus mickey shaped splash ground.  This is strictly the gated BLT pool. There is a separate pool for the Contemporary too with a huge slide we could have used as well. 

Life jackets are provided at the resort pools and they have all sizes, including baby/infant/toddler etc.  This pool is gated and while all resort pools are not yet, they soon will be as this is a project Disney is working on now.  Your magic band opens the gate.  There are free towels provided at all moderate and deluxe resorts.  At value resorts, you must bring your own towels (can bring from your room and get more from mousekeeping).  

After a short swim, it was time to freshen up for our dinner at Ohana! Stay tuned for our dinner review. 

Twin Debut

August 1, 2013. The day was finally here.  Our C-section had been scheduled for almost a week now, so I was prepared and ready. My family was all ready and my mother in law had come in to help care for William while we were in the hospital.  I wasn't sure Alan needed to stay every night with me until I was released, but boy was I glad he did in the end!

And here I was, huge on my last pic before delivery!

My c-section was scheduled for the afternoon. I think I had to arrive by 2pm at Presby Plano.  And go figure- one of my best friends was delivering her baby girl that day.  In fact, when we arrived- we found them in the room next to us- she had just delivered.  I was getting all set up.  It was too funny to be in rooms next to each other even for a short time.  What a great and special memory to be part of each other's day like that.

This was my first c-section, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect and while William's birth was a little traumatic (major blood loss for me), I was still nervous about a c-section too.  But both babies were not head down, so it was the safest for them. My OB was a pro at delivering twins and had a set of twin girls herself (teenagers), so I loved her.

I got settled in the room and they got all the IVs hooked up.  I was still in horrible misery with my itching and was already bleeding onto the sheets from it. I started feeling not so good for a short time, not sure if just nerves or the IV or what, but just felt really light headed.  Luckily that didn't last long. I was able to enjoy a little time with the family before they were wheeling me out of the room and into the OR.

Alan was all geared up to be in the room with me.  They only allowed one other person.  Plus there were so many nurses and doctors in there already.  It was very cold and bright, so different from my last delivery.  The sheet went up and I was pinned down.

And then they started.  I didn't feel much, just the numbness coming over me which is really weird. Before I knew it, they were already pulling baby A "Sam" out.  He was first and biggest.  Born at 4:19pm, 7lbs, 6.4 oz and 19.5 inches.  Pretty big for a twin at 37 weeks.  Heck, many singletons aren't as big as that at 40 weeks.  Then came baby B "Charlie", born at 4:21pm, weighing 6lb, 14oz and 19 inches long.

I was able to see both immediately and cuddle with them best I could considering I was pinned down.  Alan was able to follow them over while they got checked out.  Both were completely fine.  Sam was very quiet when he came out and Charlie was screaming.  They are still that way to this day- the quiet one and the crazy loud one.

After a short time in recovery, I was finally moved back to the room and everyone was able to see the babies and hold them.  Big brother was very excited. 

Both grandmas got practice at holding two at once. 

While recovery was difficult with a c-section, it was manageable.  Alan stayed every night in the hospital with me thankfully as I couldn't get up or bend over to get the babies out to try nursing them or change them.  He did all those diaper changes in the hospital. Those few nights in the hospital were rough.  I was still itching like crazy.  Delivery didn't help in my case.  It wasn't until I stopped nursing that the itching finally went away. 

We even got a pic of the babies with my BF's little one since they were all in the hospital together. 

and not the last time I'll be holding two babies at once! 

And we were released from the hospital on August 4th, after three nights in the hospital. We came as a family of three and left as a family of five.  Many more adventures to come!

Adventures in a Twin Pregnancy

I never got to finish my pregnancy or birth story, so here it goes! Life with twins and a first grader definitely got in the way, but trying to slowly pick my blog back up. Life continues to be busy as I do work at home part time as a  Disney Travel Agent as well and love it, but it does mean I am working during nap time, at night and on weekends a lot. 

So we were ecstatic to find out we were having twins.  Given our long struggle to even have one, we were thrilled.  We knew it would mean a lot of work, but being older parents, we were in a good place financially etc. to provide and of course had lots of support from family and friends.  And so my second pregnancy began at age 39.  The age 39/40 sounds so old so I don't consider myself "old", but this second pregnancy x2 was rough.  My first wasn't easy either.  

Already showing in January!

I gained a LOT of weight, I got up well over 200lbs (5'8 tall).  The babies were doing well each check up and I was able to see a fetal specialist due to my advanced maternal age and the fact I had twins.  Not all women having twins see one, only folks with high risk pregnancies or older moms like me. 

So I had a doctor for me and one for the babies which meant a lot of appointments. Thankfully I had a great boss and work environment that allowed me the flexibility I needed.  I also got extremely sick again.  While never throwing up constantly, I just had awful nausea all the time- 24/7 and wished I would throw up more.  It's hard to describe and hard to people to understand how completely sick to your stomach you can feel.  When you aren't puking everywhere, people just don't really know how bad you feel.  But it was bad. Same as with William.  I tried everything I did before and ended up on zofran and phenegran again.  Zofran didn't help much, but phenegran did.  Unfortunately phenengran made me extremely sleepy, which wasn't going to help while trying to work.  So I'd take half a pill in the am to just make it through the day at 50%.  

We officially announced to everyone in Feburary!

3D ultrasounds were a part of the package with a fetal doctor!

He’s giving us the finger.

By 20 weeks, I was huge already.

I was thrown a beautiful baby shower which was so nice.  It had been 6 years since my last baby, so we definitely needed a lot for our dual Mickey nursery.

William attended a ‘big brother’ class at Presby Plano which he really enjoyed.  They learned how to change diapers and care for their siblings.

I was able to negotiate working some reduced hours and partly from home which was a lifesaver.  I had a laptop and could do conference calls etc from home no problem while on the couch.  I was so thankful for that. Other than the morning sickness, my pregnancy was complication-free other than getting huge.  By the end of the second trimester, i could barely make it up the stairs at work anymore.  Walking anywhere wore me out.  It was crazy how tired I got. 

Finally by June at 30 weeks, I was just plain miserable.  I could barely walk, function etc. My doctor wrote me out of work towards early June.  I started off working from home, but eventually work and I just decided it was time for me to take my leave early and rest.

Poor William spent his first summer NOT in day care with me at home.  But I was in bed or on the couch the majority of the time.  I was so thankful he is independent and pretty self-sufficient.  Bad mommy but he spent a lot of time playing the iPad and doing some workbooks.

Gigantic!

And then by July, I experienced the worst complication ever.  I started itching all over and breaking out.  Starting with my hands and feet.  It was horrible.  Sort of like chicken pox, itching uncontrollably.  There were two possibilities for it- either PUPPS- which is a rare pregnancy rash that while miserable, is not harmful to the babies or me (except just the misery of the itching).  OR cholestasis which is a dangerous liver condition in pregnancy where the blood isn’t cleansed properly and can cause the severe itching.  Both conditions are rare, but more common in multiple pregnancies and third trimester.  I was tested for the liver condition but it was negative.  But fetal doctor was certain that is what I had, which is dangerous.  My OB thought it was only PUPPS.  But regardless, I was monitored, given oral steroids since it was so bad and even prescription creams.  NOTHING helped.  I googled for other tips to try- and Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap helped with a cold shower (purchased in organic grocery stores), but only gave me like an hour or less of relief.  I was literally scratching my skin off- bleeding.  It was awful.  I couldn’t sleep or rest. Delivery of the babies is the cure usually for most cases.

After more than 3 week of this misery, my OB said at 37 weeks we would do the c-section.  The boys were large and she had planned to take them by 38 anyhow.  I was grateful at that point given how horrible the whole complication was.  Just in case it was the liver condition, she didn’t want to keep pushing it and the twins were a good size already, so it was decided.  I don’t have many photos from June/July as I was literally so tired and itchy, I didn’t leave the house or do much.  But you can see in this pic of the day I delivered, the bumps on my hands and scabs!

And then the big day- August 1^st! Stay Tuned.

How to Make a Baby...or Two

Well life with twins, even as a stay at home mom now is BUSY! But it is time to get caught up with the blog.  You would think with all the bed rest I did, I would have kept up, but nope.  So let's go back in time a little and I'll share a little bit about my twin pregnancy and journey.

First off, don't get pregnant with twins at almost 40 years old.  It's not fun. We began our journey to have another child in late 2012- November to be exact.  I am not shy about my journey with infertility.  I figure if it can help someone else, it is worth sharing my story.  Not everyone is so lucky to just automatically get pregnant at first try, or third, or 100th.  Knowing IVF worked for us the first time to have William, we decided this time to go straight for that again and skip all the other painful and expensive treatments we endured the first time. That made life a little less stressful.  I knew what to expect this time.  And while insurance doesn't cover it, we were prepared to start the journey again to grow our family.

So in November 2012, the process started, it can take 4-6 weeks for the entire process, with lots of pills, injections, appointments, ultrasounds and more.  It isn't pleasant and is financially, physically and emotionally taxing.  I take my hat off to anyone who has endured IVF, it isn't for the weak of heart. After managing all the self injections- up to three per night and minor surgery to retrieve eggs, we were ready to implant some embryos.  We decided, given my age (39) and the fact that this would probably be our last shot, that we would put in three embryos.  This isn't recommended for younger patients, but given my age and situation, we went that route. It was scary knowing we could end up with triplets or twins.  The goal with IVF is always a healthy singleton- one child.  They consider that a true success- just one, not two or three.

Yep, two out of the three of these embryos are our little guys! 

We had a Disney trip planned in mid November- so while we had a blast, I felt pretty miserable a lot of the trip due to the medication.  Not ideal, but it is what it is.

So after a grueling two week wait, the blood test revealed I was pregnant on December 14th, 2012.  We were thrilled.  My numbers were high, which aren't necessarily an indication of multiples, but we had an idea maybe it was.  The ultrasound on January 4th at 7 weeks pregnant revealed that in fact, there were two healthy little beans in there.  We were overjoyed! Nervous, but excited. We knew it was a possibility, so it wasn't a total shock.

And then the real fun began....

Knowing I had a miserable pregnancy with William, I was hoping there wouldn't be a repeat performance, but of course I was wrong.  It was a repeat performance x2! Find out just how miserable next post!