Happy "I Met You" Anniversary

Let me take you back to the time before I never even knew Gian. It was February of 2009, me and one of my best friends, Jessie, lived right next door and hung out alllllllllll the time in Provo, UT. It was a dream come true - us girls doing everything fun together and we would just show up at each other's place and lay upside down on our beds discussing what the perfect life would be!

One day, Jessie went to campus {at BYU} because she thought she had a dance lab {whatever that means} and shows up and is the only person there...and figured out she got the date wrong. So to make the most of her time, she decided to go to the library to study. As she ploped all her books and whatnots onto the table, she heared a loud, "JESSIE!!!" She turned around to find the familiar voice which led her eyes to an old friend. She shuffled her belongings into her arms to relocate to Gian's table where they sat and laughed and caught up on each others lives. Some point along this conversation Gian asked Jessie, "So..who's your hawtest Asian friend that you can set me up with?" Without a second thought, Jessie blasts out an excited noise that sounded like, "McKINLEY!!!!" {At this point of the story, if the story was being told in person, our closer friends would interrupt saying, "Wait... McKinley is Asian?!?!?! hahahahahha} Gian then rudely questioned Jessie's epiphany with a, "Is she Asian?" But of course, Jessalicious knew me too well and said, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, but she loves brown boys!" Then there was a series of questions that followed, and that eventually lead to Jessie  showing Gian Facebook pics, and at that point he was anxiously excited to get this blind date moving. 

Later that night, as Jessie was walking back to our apartment, she called me to tell me all about my future!  As she waltzed through my door and up my stairs into my bedroom, she eagerly showed me pictures of Gian. I was impressed and was willing to go on a date as long as it was after Valentine's Day, since I had previous engagements. We were like two little 12 year olds giggling with excitement. At that time, Jessie gets a call from Gian and puts him on speaker {hahahahahhaah so cruel but we had good intentions}. She confirmed that I as ready and willing but wanted to wait until after Valentine's Day, at that point the joy and excitement escaped Gian's voice leaving him with a sincere sentence "Jessie, I really want this date.... don't let too much time pass by!" Before I even met him, that sentence made me feel secure.

It was Tuesday, February 24th and I rush home from work and hopped in the shower to make myself the most glamourous I could possibly look. Both my roommate, Amber, and I were sharing the mirror since she too was getting ready for a date. I had a vivid memory of that moment... I remember thinking "I am so excited for this date, I feel like he is 'the one' !! Wait, McKinley, calm the freak down... you have never met him before this could turn out to be the worse date of your life!!! Who thinks of the person they never ever even met will be the man they marry." Right at that moment I was finishing up the final touches of my dolled up face when Amber looks at me and says, "Are you excited for this date?" It's like she just heard the conflicting conversation I just had with myself! I replied as honest as I could, "Yeah, I am abnormally excited for this date, and I am trying to keep a leveled perspective. What about you are you excited?"

Next thing I knew, our doorbell was ringing. I shuffled down the stairs to answer and it was Gian. My first thought was, "Wooooow those eyes!!!" We exchanged a few brief words while I searched for my coat and hugged Amber goodbye and wished her luck. Gian took me to California Pizza Kitchen, which is always a good place to eat. We had a great conversation and we were so comfortable around one another.... everything seemed so natural. I even had the guts to ask him, with no shame whatsoever, if I had anything in my teeth. To this day, he says that's one of his favorite parts of our date. Our date didn't end there. We bounced around from place to place until we wound up back at my apartment where Gian began to share with me his life story and how he joined the Church when he was 16 years old. At that point I remember having a thought, "I'm going to fall in love with him!" 

Gian thought it would be hilarious to show up at Jessie's door holding hands convincing her something that neither one of us can remember. The only thing we can recall is after the doorbell rang Gian looked at me and said, "Hold my hand!" So I did and it wasn't strange or weird at all. We told Jessie how much fun both of us enjoyed our dates and we all continued to laugh and have a great time at her apartment. As Gian walked me back to my door he was already making plans of when to take me out again. Of course that was music to my ears and I felt like I was on Cloud 9 with how perfect everything turned out. But guess what the best part was.... we didn't wait for that second date, Gian came over the next day after work and I was thrilled. From the day we met, on February 24th, we literally spent everyday together until after our wedding. 

Courting with Gian was one of my favorite times of my life. He showed me that we could have disagreements and conflicts without raising our voices. He showed me that he would literally make me happy for the rest of my life while I was crying over a hard day at work and he could still manage to make me laugh. He showed me he was responsible, caring, loving, compassionate, and committed. He showed me that he was exactly the man I had always dreamt of! From the day we met to the day he proposed was exactly four months. Now as I look back, I begin to go into shock trying to believe how fast that went... how did I not marry an Ax Murder?!?! But it also confirms to me how much we both knew it was really the right decision and how much it was all spiritually led by the spirit. Marrying Gian has been the greatest decision of my life!!! He has brought more joy and love into my life than I could have possibly imagined!! And even though everything has always moved so fast for us, I can honestly say it feels like we have known each other for millions of years. It feels like it was always meant to be this way!

So Happy "I met you" {belated} Anniversary Gian!!! Meeting, dating, and marrying you are some of my fondest memories!! 

Hospitalized Bed Rest

As many of you already know, I have been admitted to the hospital for extended bed rest. I have been so overwhelmed that I haven't been able to get back to those who have reached out or give an update of the situation.

Let me first of start by saying, THANK YOU!!! For all the amazing support that we have received. I have been so touched by the acts of service from others that I am constantly left in tears!! It has been really hard these last few days and all of you have done more then I could have possibly imagined to help lift our spirits. I feel eternally indebted to you and I promise I will somehow find a way to return the favor and express my full gratitude.

From the beginning, this is how the whole story goes. Since the kind of twins I am carrying {one placenta, two sacks} there are a lot of high risks, so to eliminate things going undetected or getting out of control too fast, I went in to get an ultra sound every week. There they would measure the babies, their fluid, and the length of my cervix. I always felt like the twins would do great, and they passed the whole second trimester without any concerns. They passed every test with flying colors and usually my cervix was always measuring great and never had any concerns.

So last Saturday the 9th, I woke up at 5:20am to some of the worse contractions I have ever had. Even with my first pregnancy I never felt contractions this strong. I tried everything to get relaxed and calm my body down. They were so strong I couldn't count them so I just committed to an hour and if they didn't stop we would just go straight to the hospital. Luckily they stopped exactly an hour later at 6:20. I just assumed they were Braxton Hicks and didn't think twice after that. Then at my weekly high risk appointment {at the time I was 28 weeks and 2 days} I shared that episode with my doctor and ultra sound tech and she instantly had a concerned look on thier face. As my cervix showed up on the ultra sound screen, I could instantly tell it was completely different. I could see it was opening up and the length was extremely smaller than it had been in the past.

The Tech and high risk doctor came in and asked why didn't call when I woke up on Saturday and impressed the importance of the situation. My cervix usually had measured a healthy 4.3cm long in the past and fully closed, and at 2cm they usually will put you on bed rest. My cervix was starting to funnel and had shortened down to 1cm. This was a huge and dramatic change in one short week. I have never been told bad news from a doctor before, and the look in their eyes was enough confirmation to know that this was a big deal. She ordered me to go next door to the hospital and be admitted into Labor and Delivery where they were going to give me steroid shots to help develop the twins lungs develop and measure my contractions to see if I need further medication. I was all alone at that time. My girlfriend was watching Ekemona and we were making plans to celebrate Valentine's Day for the Young Woman's in our ward {the youth group that we both volunteer for} and Gian was at his usual schedule of studying and going to to school. Everyone I called wasn't able to talk or didn't pick up. Gian and I could only communicate through text. My voice was shaky, my eyes were damp, but I felt strong and confident that things would be just fine yet concerned about the seriousness of the situation.

As I changed into the hospital gown they place monitors on my perfectly large round belly. They were able to count my oxygen, contractions and the babies' heart beats. The nurse comes in and ask what level of pain I was in and I said "a zero!" She then continued to tell me that I am having contractions about every 8 minutes and they were going to start me on some medication to slow down the contractions. About an hour later, the contractions got worse and were every 3-4 minutes apart. Right at that point, Gian was there and I had been able to get in touch with my parents. My great doctor comes in and says that I would be admitted to the hospital for 4 weeks minimum  of a strict bed rest and his goal was to make it to 32 weeks. As we continued to ask the questions, he explained that I would be here for 4-8 weeks and it would be indefinite until the babies come because the cervix doesn't close back up, it can change but not by a lot.  I would also be taking the medication to slow down my contractions until the babies are looking good and ready to come and once I stop taking it that means everyone is ready for baby time.

So here I am, 28.5 weeks pregnant with spontaneous identical twins on a strict bed rest for the next 4-8 weeks. The reason why 32 weeks is such an important milestone is because it would give the babies a 99% of not having any long term health issues, but I say 7-8 weeks because that will make me 35-36 weeks which is full term for twins and I think I can make it. The reason it is so important that I am on bed rest is because my cervix can no longer give the structure my body needs to keep the weight of the babies in. Once it starts openening up indicates that labor is just around the corner and my water could break at any given point. So even though my cervix is funneling and shortened, I still have hope! The reason I can't be on bed rest at home is because anything can happen at any point, me and the twins are being constantly monitored around the clock. Also, my orders {not necessarily the same for everyone else} is I can only walk to use the restroom and to the shower, but even then I am not allowed to stand in the shower. I can't walk around, I can't fill up my own water bottle, I can't even sit in a seat to eat a meal. Not to mention the leash that hooks me up to the machine that monitors us three is only 4ft long!

I bet you are wondering what in the world has happened to Ekemona through this whole process? On Wednesday night my mom caught the next flight out from Maui to LAX to come and be with me as soon as possible. It was the perfect thing we needed! She was able to babysit little Eke while Gian stayed committed to law school and as plans and thoughts started to manifest, we made a family decision to send Ekemona to go live with my sister Brittany in Idaho. It was the hardest thing to swallow, but at the same time it was our first pick since it is family and I know they would provide the right amount of structure for his fragile age that thrives for schedules and consistency. On Saturday, Feb 16th my mom left with Ekemona to Idaho, until the twins are born or unless something else comes up. I am so thankful for my sister Brittany's jump to help and create a support system for us, along with all the sacrifices my parents made to be here for us during a time that was so important.

As you can imagine, the first night was traumatic. I only slept an hour and a half and then cried the whole time while patiently looking at the clock waiting for them to bring me my breakfast. It was a lot to take in, knowing that I won't leave the hospital until after the twins are born, no nesting, I am no longer able to help myself do basic tasks, let alone care for my family and mostly my little baby boy. who is my best little friend and helper! So it's been humbling!! I feel like I'm at the constant mercy of every human around me, but we are all doing better now. Things are under control and I know me and Ekemona are in good hands so that is all that matters.

So there it is, that is the full story.... and since I am processing so many emotions I bet you can count on me coming back here to write it all out therapeutically. Now maybe I will have actual time to catch up and read all the blogs I have been wanting to for ages now!! I have to say how much I love this hospital!! The whole staff is amazing and I love my nurses!!! Not to mention my doctor is so awesome and I am constantly hearing words of affirmation from people here around the hospital about how he is the best in the whole area!! So he is a good substitute for my last doctor all the way back in Utah, Dr. Ryan Ollerton!! If you have had the pleasure of having him then you should consider yourself pretty freaking lucky hahaha. I know I am biased!!! Want to know my favorite and best thing about this hospital? It is right on the ocean so I get to have this amazing view every day!!!

Have a great week and thank you again for all who have helped and supported us through this tough time! It has been heaven sent!! I just love you to a million pieces!!

2 Years

In October, Ekemona turned two, so via tradition we took him to get his photos taken. Since we no longer live in Utah and couldn't go to the place we wanted to, so we just winged it at Sears {which both Gian and I hated and will never do again}. So here is our little man being the serious stud that he is! ahhahah