Ultra-Sounds....NOT SO FUN ANYMORE

Here's a little twins update - I'm sorry I have no pictures to go along with this entry but I wanted to let you know what we/they have been up to lately.

DISCLAIMER - MIGHT BE A LITTLE TMI FOR SOME PEOPLE

Around a month ago our Doctor notice that baby A and baby B were different in size. Baby A was in the 11 percentile and baby B was in the 24 percentile. He told us if there is a 10 percent difference between the two there is some concern. To make sure everything was ok he had us go an see the Maternal Fetal Specialist at the Evergreen Medical Center to do an ultra sound and get a better picture on what is going on. During the first appointment they noticed that the twins were different in the size but they also noticed that Kristi's cervix was really short. They told us that they weren't too concerned about the difference between the actual size of the twins but they were concerned about her cervix. At that point they told us that we would have to come back so they could determine if the cervix was just dynamic or if it was weak. How do they determine this? Do ultra sound after ultra sound and just keep on measuring it. I think we have done so many ultra sounds that the hospital has now given us our own parking spot in front not to mention that the first ultra sound bill was $950.00 (THANK GOD FOR INSURANCE) We used to also love getting ultra sounds but really they're not that fun anymore.

-SPEED FORWARD TO MONDAY-

On Monday we did another ultra sound(SURPRISE) where they determined that Kristi's cervix was not dynamic and it was weak due to the pressure of the twins. Dr. Paek recommended that we do a surgery that consist of putting in a stitch, called a cerclage. ASAP. The cerclage is supposed to hold the cervix together so it doesn't open and Kristi doesn't go into pre-term labor. There was a less than 5% chance the twins wouldn't make it through the surgery but if we didn't do the procedure there was a greater than 5% chance that Kristi could go into pre-term labor and being only 23 weeks the twins wouldn't make it. If we were going to do the surgery it had to be done before the 24th week otherwise it would be too late. After talking to our doctor Dr. Morell and also getting his recommendation we agreed to get it done so a routine drive over to Grandma and Grandpa Pairs turned into, turning around in our tracks, getting back on the freeway, and heading back to the hospital to go through all the pre-operation procedures.

On Tuesday Kristi and I packed everything that we needed, said a prayer and headed into the hospital. We got there at noon, and at 2:30 Dr. Paek came out and told me that everything went well. It was a pretty straight forward operation she told me that they did monitor the twins through the whole procedure and they did just fine. Kristi's cervix is now at 3 cm and should be good to go. She then just had me wait till Kristi came back from la-la land to go back and see her which was right before 4:00 pm. If you're curious during Kristi's operation, I did get a chance to finish my finances while I waited and was actually looking forward to watching Oprah in the waiting room but right before it came on the doctor told me that I could now come back and see Kristi and I thought it might look a little bad if I asked her, "Is it ok if I wait till after Oprah." (Now if I wasn't done with my finance book I would not have been able to go back until I was finished but I was already done so that did not become an issue. j/k)

On Monday, January 5th Kristi will have to go back in and...yes..you guessed it... get another ultra sound to make sure everything looks good and is doing well.

Our doctor has also put Kristi on permanent bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy. If the cerclage works and does what it is supposed to do there is a chance that she could return to "very light activity" the doctor won't let her return to work, pick up Addyson, or run a 10 mile run but she will be able to get up and go to the kitchen and little stuff like that. I'm sure she would love some company so if you are looking for something to do feel free to drop by and visit but if the house is messy it's her fault. (J/K)

We will keep you all posted if anything changes. If you have any questions feel free to let us know and we will do our best to answer them.

Number of babies in Kristi's stomach 2

Number of Ultra Sounds so far during this pregnancy 9 and counting

Having two healthy babies PRICELESS!!

Take Care and have a SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Ryan, Kristi, and Addy

Merry Christmas

We want to wish everyone a Happy and Merry Christmas. Kristi, Addy, and I can't express enough how thankful we are for our family an friends. All of you guys do so much for us and we just want to say Thank You and that we Love you all!! We hope you all have SAFE travels and get a chance to enjoy this special day.

Here is a picture of Addy this Christmas morning next to the tree in her awesome Christmas pajama's from Gradma Pair getting ready to open her first Christmas present. I am actually at work right now so I'm not able to take part in all the fun festivities but I am supposed to get off at 2 pm so I should be home to take part in the Christmas dinner.

Take Care and Again,

MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!!

This isn't Minnesota...Right??

It snows so little at our house every year that in most cases it's not even measurable and when it does it's gone by the next day so when we got dumped on, we grabbed the only measuring stick we had in our house and placed her outside to see exactly how much snow we actually got. According to our very accurate measuring device we are about thigh high or 11 inches. The worst part is we got about another 4 inches after this.

(If you can, you need to check out these pictures at full size so if you have time double click on them because you can really see all the snow and Addy's face is PRICELESS!!)


"OK DAD....THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE!!

This past summer our neighbors had a garage sale and after it was done they brought over this sled telling us, "This will be perfect for Addyson." at the time I was thinking, "YA...RIGHT....I'm going to throw this out the first chance I get." Now looking back I can admit I was wrong because Addy loved it and as you can see Riley did as well. (If you double click on this picture, it also shows all the snow.)

This is too Awesome!! Look how cute she looks. I pushed her over to the school behind our house but to get to the school parking lot you have to go down these steps. Instead of taking her down the stairs I thought it would be fun to let her go down the hill on the sled. I have to say I think she really liked it until she got to the bottom and tipped over and planting her face in the snow bank...then it wasn't funny anymore...well...It was funny to me but Addy didn't think it was that humorous.

Random Pictures

What have the Gamradt's been up too? Not a whole lot but we thought we should post some pictures on the blog about something, since we haven't done it in a little while.

Here is a picture of Addyson over at Grandma and Grandpa Pair's. In this picture she is enjoying a ride in her dolls buggy, for some reason she thinks it's hers instead of her dolls. I guess she will sit there, look at Grandpa, and start doing this grunt thing to let him know that it is time for him to stop what he is doing and push her around. In her mind Grandpa has nothing better to do except for push her around. I have not seen or heard her do this yet but I guess it's pretty funny especially when she does her grunt thing and I hate to say it but I do agree with her in that Grandpa doesn't have anything better to do except for push her around, SO GET TO IT GRANDPA!! (J/K)

We also took our first trip with the van. We drove it over to see Grandma Betty in Colfax. I have to say, I am so HAPPY with it!! We had so much room and it drove so nicely, although I have to mention two things.

1. It only took 15 minutes into our trip to have a truck spit up a rock, hit our windshield, and put a small rock chip in our window. I was kind of embarrassed because Grandma Pair got to hear me say a few words that I usually wouldn't even think about saying in front of her and kind of loose my cool but after a little while I did simmer down and everything was ok and the good news is that we are scheduled to get the chip filled in on Monday so we should be good to go.

2. It also didn't take long for Kristi to say, "Is it ok if I sit in back and watch a movie." so here I was driving the van with Addy, Grandma, and Kristi all sitting in back watching a movie and myself sitting in the front seat all alone, I honestly felt like a Greyhound Bus driver. I guess I would of done the same thing but I have to say when you are the driver and are all by yourself, IT'S KIND OF BORING!!

Here is a picture of the back of the van with all our stuff. Look at all the room, last time we drove the Passat over to Colfax and it was packed full with stuff, NOT ANYMORE!! I LOVE MY VAN!!

Here is a picture of all 4 generations together. We had such a great time over there. I wish we could do it more often. It's just that I don't get that many weekends off during the year and that makes it hard to find time but hopefully after the twins are born we will get another opportunity to get over there and have a nice visit.

We also took part in celebrating Andrews 2nd Birthday!! This year they celebrated it over at the Little Gym with Andrew and a group of his friends. Addyson didn't participate in every event but she sure did have a GREAT time!! Andrew is in the left corner of this picture and Addy is sitting across the table from him. I also have to give Lori a big shout out because for the cake she decorated these cupcakes that looked like Sesame Street characters and I have to say, "They looked PERFECT!!" Nice job Lori!!

Here is Addy dunking the basketball. Look at her skills, I have to say that's a perfect 10 when it comes to dunking!! She absolutely loved this part, I think she could of done it all day but I have to admit my arms were getting tired so when I heard, "Alright let's put the basketball's away." I was thinking, "THANK YOU GOD!!"

I think in this picture the kids were dancing but I can't really remember but no matter what we were doing Addyson looks like she was having a great time so all is well!!

My little brother is a dad!!

Kristi, Addy, and I want to say "CONGRATULATIONS" to my little brother Josh and my sister-in-law Laura on having their first baby boy. This is their first of 12!! Since I'm declaring that they are having 12 kids I'm guessing number 2 is only 10 months away.

Oliver Robert Gamradt was born on November 24th a little before midnight. I think it's fair to say that his entrance into the world was a 36 hour rollercoster ride but with all things said an done he and Laura made it through safely and are doing fine.

He weighed in at 7.2 lbs and was 18 inches long.

I haven't seen a lot of pictures of Laura when she was a baby but I do have to say I think he looks a lot like Joshua in these pictures. We can't wait to meet him in January and look forward to hearing many stories until then.

Here is my brother Josh with Oliver. I have to say one of the first things that my brother told me is that Oliver, "Poops like a champ"..... "GOOD TO KNOW!!"

Here is Laura and Oliver. They were able to bring him home from the hospital on Sunday and are now adjusting to life with a little one.

The letter is addressed from Laura's brother Nathan, who lives out in Colorado. I'm sure it's a picture intended for them but what can I say, he is too cute to pass up so I had to post it.