The Krauses in Rhineland: Birthday post

Today is my birthday and I'm 28 years old. I don't really care much about getting older, I don't think I'll be one of those people to have a breakdown when I turn 40. I feel pretty good about my life right now and what I've done with it. I have a college degree (yes, I'm aware that it took many years, and if it takes you 7 years to finally graduate, you should be a doctor), I have two beautiful babies, I have a husband who loves me and although, sometimes begrudgingly, I've been able to see a little bit of the world.

Those of you who know me well, might get tired of this story but it is my favorite story in the world and I love to tell it. Two years ago today, I found out I was having twins. Mike was TDY to San Diego, I was supposed to take a few days off school and fly out to meet him for my Birthday. Several things kept me from actually going and I figured I was doomed to spend yet another birthday home while my hubby was out of town and I cried for......a long time (I won't tell you how long and I'll chalk it up to raging pregnancy hormones). It turned out it was a good thing I couldn't go- God has a way of tapping me on the head while saying "calm down you silly child, here is yet ANOTHER lesson of not being in control". I woke up around 3 am Saturday morning on my birthday, 8 weeks pregnant and bleeding. Thinking I understood what was happening and being alone, I didn't know what else to do other than going back to bed. Before we got pregnant, my Dr told me it looked like I had PCOS and that it might be difficult getting pregnant. Once we found out we were, only a few months after trying, we were ecstatic. (And yes, my dear friends who have actually struggled with this condition for years, I am thinking about you as I write this). Once I woke up I went to urgent care to get checked out. I cried on the phone with M while in the waiting room, not thinking about how helpless he felt. After about 3 hours they said I would have an ultrasound to see if the "pregnancy had been terminated" and I wanted to die after hearing that. They got everything set up and I asked the ultrasound tech, if I was still pg, could I see the baby. I knew that at 8 weeks, there isn't much else to see other than the shape of a kidney been, but who cares. She said she usually wasn't allowed to, but would let me look once she was done with all the paper work. I sat there for 20 min waiting for her to say something, finally she said "OK, it looks like you are still pregnant". After the sighs of great relief, she asked me if I was ready to look. She turned the computer screen around so I could see it and said "Honey, your having TWINS." Of course I broke into tears- of sock and terror. She said it was pretty common to have signs of miscarrying if your pg with twins, and happy birthday to me. I sat there on the table seeing two little kidney beans and their incredibly strong heartbeats. Of course that was the most amazing birthday gift I've ever been given.

This last weekend we tried to take a little birthday trip to Trier. We stayed in a great hotel that over looked the entire city that I'm sure had some amazing history and was ridiculously old. The weekend didn't turn out exactly like we were hoping. The weather was not ideal, it started pouring 5 min after we got in the car for some sightseeing, the girls never nap when its convenient for their parents and my car started smoking when we FINALLY made it to the cathedral. Heading home early seemed like the best way to go. SO the next day M watched the girls and I drove back to Trier to see all the things we missed. It was really nice to take my time, actually slow down and take some pictures. I have a mommy friend who told me once, its always nice to have someone watch your kids for you so you can have a break, but that doesn't always mean you want to BE alone during those times. I can't complain, M did a great job watching those monkeys of ours and I got to see all the things we went to Trier for. And a little stop at H&M never hurt either.

View from our room