Making our way to the land of Bountiful Beehives

Carrie, Gabe, Ollie, Axia and I are making the drive down to Utah to spend Mother's Day with her family.Not only will this be our first road trip together, but it will be the first time that the Gaboli show has hit the road. Personally, this will be the first time that I will have had the opportunity to visit the great state of Idaho.


When we come back, our household will have an additional member :) Stay tuned!

Excuse Me!!!

Saturday morning, I went to the bakery to pick up coffee and treats for Carrie and myself. If you've ever been to Columbia City Bakery, you'll know that after 9 or so on the weekends the place is packed. The line for coffee and treats was almost going out the door, and all of the tables were full.


So, you would think that people, being cognizant of the fact that space was at a premium, would behave accordingly and not expect the sea of people to automagically part at their merest approach, wouldn't you?


Into the pictrure comes stereotypical passive-aggressive bearded slacker Seattle guy. He's taking his order of coffee and scones to the high-top where his generously smiling girlfriend is waiting for him. He is about to pass in front of the couple who are in line ahead of me. Does he utter those magical words that have served as the sociospatial lubricant for generations - "Excuse me"? NO! He simply waves his food in the general direction of the table, and, not even looking at the people that he's pushing his way past, proceeds to - push his way past the people whose mere existence he can't be bothered to acknowledge.


Time passes. The couple ahead of me is served. My order is taken. I stand to the side to wait for coffee. Meanwhile, Mr.Stereotypical passive-aggressive bearded slacker Seattle guy, along with his girlfriend, Ms. I'm obviously the better socially adjusted of the two of us, finish their meal. He, avoiding my gaze, pushes his way past me and seems genuinely puzzled as to both why he is tripping over my unmoving size 13 foot and why he needs to exert something other than a cursory amount of force to make his way past my mostly unyielding elbow. She, for her part, smiles as if to say “Yes, I am with him, please don’t hold it too much against me”, gives me a quick and quiet “Excuse me” as she works her way by, and I gladly stand back to accommodate her passing. He glares at me, as if mad that I dare to accede to her spoken request whilst not doing the same for his unspoken one.


So - they leave. But if you think that’s the end of the story- fear not! For here comes Ms. Stereotypical passive-aggressive I live in a trendy gentrified neighborhood and you are just a visitor here Seattle older woman! C’mon – didn’t you know that there’s a table open, and this gal has to eat? Sure, I may be 6’0 and 230 pounds, but be sure that she will make sure that all 5’6, 140 lbs of her will somehow find a way to attempt to violate the first law of physics with your self before she even thinks about giving you a dirty look.


*Sigh*


Since when did saying “Excuse me” become passé? Is it because saying those two little words could be considered being tantamount to admitting that you are not in total control of the space around you,? Or have people just become that damn lazy and inconsiderate? Okay, okay – I’ll not tar all of humanity with the same brush – it just seemed to me, on that day in Columbia City, that certain individuals were going out of their way to be rude.


At least that didn’t color my entire weekend. Since Carrie wanted to clean the house in preparation for my parents’ visit, I elected to take los Gemelos out for a ride. When I came back two hours later, the house was sparkling clean, and the mama was beaming, happy with her progress. Sunday, I went for a run around Green Lake (2.8 miles in 27 minutes 6 seconds), and then, meeting a friend for the Top Pot 5k, walked for 3.1 miles around the same body of water. I came home, tired, but feeling otherwise pretty good, and spent the rest of the day as a pretty quiet day with Carrie and the kids.


Two more days to go!

Yesterday...

Yesterday was one hell of a day.

I stayed at home so that I could watch over the kids for part of the night (allowing Carrie to get more than 4 hours of straight sleep), and had planned on working from home the rest of the day after a brief nap. So, as planned, I took over Gaboli duty (Gaboli being the portmanteau that Carrie and I came up with to refer to the twins collectively) at three in the morning, and proceeded to stay up with them until around five, at which point they calmed down enough so that I could get a couple more hours of sleep. When I woke up around seven, they were stirring a bit, so I took them to Carrie so that she could feed them.

At this point, I had planned on taking a quick nap for a few hours, and then getting up so that I could do some work. So, I crawled into bed and was about to doze off when I received a call from Sarah’s (my ex wife) stepfather, Sonny. It seems that she had opened an account at a credit union and listed me as a co-owner. When she had passed away, full control had reverted to me. So as not to disturb Carrie and the kids, I took the call outside of the bedroom. While I was talking to Sonny, I decided to pull up the bank accounts on my Mac and confirm that I had primary control. Seeing that I did, I then went about talking to both Sonny and the bank to see what needed to be done so that Sarah’s husband could get the money out of the account.

Upon hanging up, I noticed that my computer was acting strangely. Despite clicking around the desktop, I was unable to access any applications, and there was no response to my keystrokes. With a sinking feeling – I had seen this before – I hard-rebooted my computer, only to get the dreaded Mac OSX Question Mark of Death.

For the second time since I had bought the machine, my hard drive had crashed. Damn.

Luckily, I had my work computer with me, so I was still able to get some work done and make an appointment at the Apple store in Tukwila so that I could get my computer fixed. But replacing the internal hard drive on a Macintosh is not an inexpensive proposition – I ballparked the estimate at $300. But it had to be done. Needless to say, the culmination of events left me more than a little upset. I had to jump through some hoops to help Sarah’s husband get the money that he was rightfully due, my hard drive had crashed, I would have to drive twenty miles to get it fixed, I would have to spend money, and a good deal of my music and photographs were gone. 

So, I did what any self-respecting man would do to deal with all of this.I went for a run. 

I ended up doing two miles in slightly under twenty minutes, and I found myself at my favorite spot nearby, Columbia City Bakery. I treated myself to my usual quad shot of espresso, chilled for a bit in the cool, sunny outside area, and walked back home, having gained a bit of perspective.

The rest of the day went pretty well. I got some work done, helped out with the kids, and took my computer in to get fixed. Pleasant surprise: since there have been so many issues with the hard drives on Macbooks, they replaced mine free of charge. Even better surprise: since the smallest hard drive they had on hand was a 160Gig model, they slapped that one in there for me. Sweet!

Baby Pics!

I've started a new gallery just for the kids. Here is a sampling of the pics inside. 
Gabe:

From The Kids

From The Kids

And Ollie:

From The Kids

From The Kids

The Babies are here! The Babies are here!

Carrie Ann Anderson and Charles Anthony Burrell, III would like to announce with much happiness the birth of their two beautiful baby boys, Gabriel Anthony and Oliver Russell Burrell. Both were born on February 10th, 2010 at Swedish Hospital, First Hill, Seattle.

Gabriel was born at 5:25 am weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces.
Oliver was born at 5:27 am weighing 4 pounds, 14 ounces

The boys will become grandsons to Russell and Beverly Anderson of Richfield, Utah, and Charles (II) and Carolyn Burrell of Frederick Maryland. They will also be proud nephews to Carter Burrell, Rodney Anderson and Carla Anderson. Lastly (but certainly not least), they will be great-grandsons to Dolores Burrell, Charles Burrell (I),Dorothy Skinner, Corene Anderson and Nea Ramsay. We look forward to having all of their family in their lives.

Almost 34

One day passes and we're closer to 34 weeks. At this point, we're thinking that each day that passes with the kids in the womb means perhaps 2-3 days that they won't have to spend in the NICU of they are born before 38 weeks. Of course, if they make it that far, then we might not have to worry about the NICU thing - and be able to take both of our beautiful boys home with us.

Yeah, that's us being greedy :)

Of course, Carrie is going through a lot of stress right now. Her blood pressure is yo-yo'ing like crazy, she has headaches, and the physical pressures of having two human beings in her can be too much to bear at some point. We both realize that, in seeing the benefits to her health, the decision to induce could be made and enacted sooner than later.

Still, we can hope. We both have faith that our sons will come out and be just fine in the end.

I stayed with Carrie again last night at the hospital. Before making my way home, I went on my longest run / walk ever. I'll not say how long this took me. On the other hand - maybe I will. 66.5 minutes really isn't too bad for this distance, seeing as how I actually ran up all the hills and walked four times after each of those sprints.

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This run took me from First Hill to Capitol Hill to Belltown (skirting along lower Queen Anne in the process) to Pioneer Square to Downtown Seattle to Cascade. I tripped once and ruined my running gloves catching myself. But I made it in the end :)

33 going on 34 (hopefully)

There was the possibility that Carrie would be induced today, but her blood pressure results have come back as being relatively unchanged, so (for now) we are focusing on a new goal: 34 weeks :) Neither one of us thinks that the pregnancy will last much past that point, even if it reaches that point.

We are so looking forward to seeing our two boys! We've had the names picked out for the two of them ever since before we found out what the genders were. Our place is (mostly) ready, and we are awaiting the arrival of our two beautiful baby boys!

Here's hoping for 33!

There was a scare n Friday morning concerning both the length of time between and duration / severity of Carrie’s contractions. Things had gotten to the point to where the doctors put her on the drug of last resort –Magnesium Sulfate. The side effects were tolerable for a little while, but after a few hours, she started to really notice her own wooziness and lightheadedness, and experienced some shortness of breath during the night.

Right now, we are thinking that it’s a matter of days, not weeks. We’re hoping to make it one more day to her 33 week mark; it would be really great if she could make it to 34 weeks. But that’s really out of our hands, at this point.

I’ve been staying at the hospital during the nights; poor Axia has had to pretty much fend for herself these days. I’m really grateful to our friends and neighbors for pitching in and helping us out.

Day by Day

Because of recent developments,  we might not be looking at having the twins in the 3-6 week timeframe - as we had last thought - but rather, sometime within the next couple of weeks. We would be extremely lucky – and grateful – if our boys made it to 34 weeks. Regardless of when they come, though, it’s inevitable that they will need to spend some time in the NICU.

We won’t be able to take our kids home with us. Carrie might not even be able to hold them after they are born. What’s worse is that I would have to follow the first kid to the NICU, leaving my wife alone in the operating room to give birth and recover. As mentally ready as we might be for these possible eventualities, there really aren’t any words of consolation that can be said, no comfort that can be offered, that makes up for the enormity of what is to come.

For right now, we are treating each and every day that our sons are in the womb as a gift to both us, and to them; perhaps that will be one less day that they spend in the NICU, one day less that they spend away from the place that their loving parents call home, one day less that we, their loving parents, won’t have their kicking, cooing, cuddling, crying selves safe with us in our happy abode.

Nicu Tour

Yesterday, Carrie and I took a tour of the NICU at Swedish. The person conducting the tour did a lot to help assure us that, in the unfortunate case that our kids end up there, they will be well taken care of, and that the staff is used to dealing with babies who have been born as early as twenty weeks. It was still a pretty emotional event, seeing all of those really small children in there. However, I’m not personally too worried about either one of our kids ending up there; Carrie is at 30 weeks, and our kids are well ahead of the curve when it comes to both size and weight.

Only time will tell, though.

Thirty

30 weeks down - eight more (at the most) to go!

Carrie’s been in the hospital for the past couple of weeks. For a couple of days, she’s had pretty severe contractions, but the staff at Swedish has managed to get it under control by adjusting her medication. She’s due to go in for an ultrasound on Friday; if everything looks fine, there’s a good chance that she’ll be coming home this weekend.

Both of the kids are doing fine; both are close to being 4 pounds apiece, which, for twins at this stage, is pretty amazing! They’re becoming more active, and even responding to music; I’ve yet to expose them to Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, People Under the Stairs, Ministry, King’s X or Rush, but so far they do move to Emmylou Harris and are kind of blasé when it comes to the White Stripes.

Single Digit Midget

Yesterday, we passed a pretty signifigant milestone - and we get to pass another one next week!

Normal pregnancies are said to last 40 weeks; however, since Carrie is having twins, two weeks are deducted from that figure since carrying around two good-sized babies presents a risk to the mother, and babies can be born that early anyway (normally) without complications.

So - yesterday, we broke the "Ten weeks remaining" mark, and passed 29 weeks, which means - nine weeks to go, at the most!

This has been a hard and stressful time for Carrie. She's been in and out of the hospital, and has had to accept significant changes to what she had previously depended upon as being her daily routine and normal surroundings.

But - even more importantly - we can't wait to see our two beautiful baby boys! Before too long (and it could be as close as five more weeks), we'll get to hold them in our arms - two squealing, cooing, crying humans who will be forever linked to and loved by the two of us.

In case you are wondering about the title, when I was in the Navy, some of my shipmates (particularly if we were stationed at a horrible posting or they were getting close to either retiring or getting out) would eagerly count down the number of days they had until they were able to leave. When that number was less than ten, they would refer to themselves as being a "Single Digit Midget".

Correcting the disconnect

Yesterday,m when Carrie read my post, she said that it seemed to be disconnected - an opinion that I agree with, since, in my laziness, I had mashed an update on her condition with an existing draft regarding my latest runs. Not the most seamless of transitions.

So...

Currently (and forever, I hope!!!) , Carrie is doing well.  She had been bleeding on Friday night, which raised enough concern that I took her to the hospital for her to get checked out. She was admitted early Saturday morning. There were issues with her cervix length and the amount of amniotic fluid present in twin 'A's gestational sac. She had an ultrasound yesterday that showed an improvement on both fronts, but the doctors want to keep her in the hospital for a few more days until they can be sure of stability in both areas.

She is currently at 29 weeks. We both have a feeling that the doctors may want to keep her in the hospital until 34 weeks, which is the safest point at which the twins can be born. That means in five weeks, we could both be meeting our beautiful children in real life for the first time!

We've gotten ultrasound pictures of both kids. From what we can see, twin B has a lot of hair (just like I did when I was born), and has the mother's chin, while twin A may or may not have hair, but has the father's chin. I personally think that they both have their mother's nose, but that's just me ;)

She's back!!!

Carrie is back home, safe and sound. We're hoping that she'll be back here for the duration, but we also know - both from the past experiences of ourselves and other couples that we know who have had had twins - that there is a distinct she might have to endure yet another hospital stay. However, for at least this week, she's here with me, where she belongs :)

Babies sweetly singing wordless lullabies

While Carrie was on bedrest at home recently, Axia had taken to laying on my wife's lap with her ears pressed against Carrie's babyfull belly. I suddenly received a vision of the two kids, in the womb, singing sweet wordless lullabies to the dog and to each other.

Update 8 December 2009

Long story short: Carrie is back in the hospital.

After spending three days here on the home-version of bedrest, we went in for an ultrasound this morning in the hopes that, at the very least, nothing had changed, or (even better), her cervix length had increased. Sadly, what was revealed to us instead is that the cervix length had shortened to below what the doctors consider to be the acceptable minimum length. She was admitted into the hospital almost immediately, and, judging from the language that the healthcare professionals are using, she'll be at Swedish for the duration, most likely until she hits the 35 week mark.

The good news is that the kids are okay; the bad news is that she won't be here with me.

Update 4 December 2009

I'm still waiting for word of when Carrie will be discharged from the hospital. She's tested positive for Gestational Diabetes, which means (at the very least) she'll need to monitor her glucose levels and watch what she eats. Additionally, she has to take medications which will work to slow or prevent her contractions, which she was having a problem with a couple of days ago. She'll be on bedrest for the foreseeable future. All that aside, she's doing well otherwise, and the kids are doing fine.

A quick update...

On Monday, Carrie was admitted into the hospital due to shortening of her cervix. She's been on bedrest ever since, and today, she's undergoing tests to determine if she has gestational diabetes and is taking medications to prevent the onset of contractions, which she started having in earnest this morning.  I miss here being here at the house with me dearly, but I'm happy that she's at least in a place where she can be monitored so that if anything goes wrong she'll be able to get help quickly.

Latest on Babies...

As some of you may have heard, at the time when Carrie and I found out what gender each of our children were going to be, we also found out that there might be an issue with Baby B. It turns out that there is a growth on its umbilical cord close to where it goes into the baby's abdomen, and that this could be an indicator of a chromosomal abnormality. In the weeks following the discovery, however, we had another series of ultrasonic scans, and the growth which at one time was thought to be originating from the belly is in actuality a good centimetre out. All of the baby's measurements are fine, and it's growing at rate that's consistent with a singleton at its stage (which means that, given that it's a twin, it's actually growing faster than is normal, which is a good thing). So, we and the genetic counsellors are guardedly optimistic that this will be a normal pregnancy.

Throughout all of this, Carrie's family has been greatly supportive, sending us many well-wishes and always showing thier concern by asking us about how the kids are doing. Her sister Carla has even come up for a few days and is helping us out with some of our lingering projects, such as the ever-present painting (more about this later. The two of us are very grateful to have them in our lives.

What we did during our (long) weekend

On Wednesday (the day before Carrie and I went to Utah), I had to take Axia  to be boarded at a place in Kent, Holiday Kennels. Seeing as how we'd be busy that night going to a three-hour class for future parents of multiples, I planned to take Carrie into work, then drop Axia off, then head to work myself a few hours late. Seeing as how the kennel didn't open for drop-offs until later, I elected to go for my very first downtown run along the waterfront.

First leg:

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I went to Downtown Cups, my second favorite cafe in Seattle, and the one to which I've been going for the longest time; I started going there ever since I started working in Seattle back in 2005, while I still lived in Silverdale.

Second leg:

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I did some stretches, and then went to Caffe Bella, my favorite cafe in Seattle, and the fist one that I visited just about every morning when I moved to Belltown in 2006.  In fact, the owner was kind enough to let Carrie and I host a get-together for friends and family on the night before our wedding over a year ago.

As I mentioned before, Carrie and I went to a three hour class for future parents of Multiples at Swedish. Although we didn't learn many new things  tonight (this class is part of a five-week series), we got a chance to be put in touch with other parents who were in the same situation as we are. I'm hoping that we'll be able to find one or more other couples with whom we can trade support.

Thursday through Sunday, Carrie and I were in Utah to visit her family and go to a baby shower which had been put together by Carla, my sister in law. The day that we flew in, Carla, Rus (my father in-law) and Rod (my brother in-law) all went out to eat at Red Iguana, which is easily one of the three best Mexican Restaurants that I've ever eaten at, and has, hands down, the best moles I've ever had. The place opens at 11 for lunch; we arrived at 11:20 to a packed establishment and eight tables ahead of us on the waiting list. The place is simply that good, and if you ever get out to Salt Lake City, I highly recommend making a special visit.


Richfield, Utah is a small town of about 6,000 people 1-1/2 hours south of Salt Lake City. I've been there once before earlier in the year, and things haven't changed much. We stayed at my parent in-law's place for the duration of the visit. Thursday and Friday were pretty much our days to relax, although Carrie and I did prepare some kick-ass slow cooked rubbed ribs and squash Friday night. Saturday was the baby shower, during which we got a ton of baby gear from Carrie's family and friends in Utah; after having met relative upon relative, I escaped with Rus, with whom I spent the next two hours driving around the countryside and generally B-S'ing with before we returned home.


On Sunday, Rus, Carla, Carrie and I drove back into SLC to meet Rod for brunch at Red Rock Brewing Company in downtown SLC. As brunches go, it was fine; as Microbrewerys go, I've seen better in Seattle.


So, we're both back in town now, Axia is resting safe and soundly back home, and life, as it is, has returned back to normal.


And I cannot wait to meet my two precious children!