I had my follow-up appointment with my OB today. (All is well there.) He was asking about the babies and telling me about another patient of his who was pregnant with twins. She ruptured her membranes at 27 weeks and started contracting. They gave her all of the same meds that I had and she went into heart failure--a side effect I wasn't aware of at the time I was going through trying to stop labor. Her family has to deal with two very sick babies and a very sick mom. Scary.

That really put things into perspective for me. While it has been rough having the babies in the NICU, things could have been so much worse. I could have delivered at 26 or 27 weeks when I first ruptured Ja.son's sack. The meds could have failed to stop the contractions I had during those two precious weeks.

I could have had something happen to me from all of the medication I was on, something much worse than all of the drama I went through after their birth (which included being scheduled for exploratory surgery for a bowel obstruction and a quarantine among other fun stuff).

While things are not ideal, and won't be until the babies are actually home, we are fortunate. I definitely will remember that.

As 2007 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on the wildness of the past year. So much has happened! The pinnacle, of course, being our little Sh.awn and Ja.son. I look forward to this next year--bringing the boys home, sleepless nights, formula stained clothing for all of us, holding the boys until they are spoiled--and loving every minute of it.

Happy New Year! May 2008 bring much love and happiness to all of us!