Custer State Park

 From Wall Drug, we headed to our cabin in Custer. I literally drove around a curve and came across the Custer State Park's buffalo. It was a good thing that I was driving slow or else I would have rear-ended the car in front of me. There was no warning whatsoever.

 The buffalo were roaming in between the cars. They are so big and they smell really bad. They also grunt a lot. It was both scary and exciting having them right next to us. They're used to people but also are unpredictable.

 The bulls were huge! You could tell which ones were in charge. They'd make certain noises and the females would go running. They're such neat creatures!

 I had to reserve the cabin 6-7 months in advance because they fill up so fast. It was pretty cheap to rent--around $40 a night. There's no television and no kitchen, but there was a small fridge and air conditioning.

 When we first walked in, I thought, how are we going to survive in this small space all together for five days? We basically slept in the cabin and spent the rest of the time outside. It worked out perfectly.

 We woke up one morning and the buffalo were right in front of our cabin. The kids loved seeing them so close. We happened to visit the Black Hills the week before the Sturgis rally. One of the park rangers told us that for some reason, the buffalo come down from the Hills once a year around the rally. We were lucky enough to see them!

 We loved having a campfire. We kept our meals pretty simple because that was our only source of heat. We ate a lot of hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers. We had scores every night and played games around the campfire. It was so much fun!

 

We all had such a good time! I've always loved going out to the Hills. It was one of my very first vacations as a child. I can't wait to bring the kids back! I highly recommend Custer State Park. It's affordable for families and it's right in the middle of the main attractions.

Wall Drug

We had to hit up Wall Drug on our trip. It's one of the things you must do when you visit the Black Hills. Wall Drug is a huge shopping center, restaurant, and pharmacy. It's a big tourist attraction but still fun.

We spent a good hour walking through all of the different stores. The kids liked the coon hats. Though, I don't think they knew what they were putting on their heads. I don't think the girls would have done it if they knew. :)

We let them each pick out a small gift. Ethan took the longest to pick his out. No surprise there! He ended up picking out a dinosaur and trick gum.

It was a fun stop on our drive. I remember visiting Wall Drug when I was little. We stopped and ate while we were there as well.

On to Custer State Park...

Family Vacation

 We went on our first major family vacation at the end of July! (After I got clearance from Dr. McNamara.) We decided to take the kids to the Black Hills. They were so excited to be going on a trip. My family always took vacations and I have some fond memories of those trips. It's definitely something I want to continue with my kids.

 Our first stop was at the Badlands. It's such a cool place. I didn't get overly adventurous by claiming on the rocks, but the kids sure had fun.

 This is as high up as I went. I wasn't wearing the best shoes and I didn't want to trip.

 This made me so nervous. There's a drop-off just beyond that ledge. Do you notice who I have my hand on?

 There are rattlesnakes in the Hills, so we made sure to stay on the paths. I could picture Ethan being bit by one.

I'm going to break this up into several posts. I have way too many pictures!

Cerclage Update

It's done. I can't say it was the most pleasant experience. I wanted to be put under general anesthesia for the procedure, but the anesthesiologist said that the baby would be exposed to the medication, so I opted for a spinal.

They wheeled me back to an operating room on labor and delivery. One of my old coworkers from the NICU is going to nurse anesthesia school and she was the student for the day. It was nice to see her and catch up. She kept my mind off of the entire thing, and made it go by a little faster.

It took about 35 minutes and they brought me to a room in triage. It took several hours for the spinal to wear off and they monitored me for contractions during that time. They let me go home and I was on bed rest through the weekend.

I go in again in a week to check my cervical length. Dr. McNamara is very optimistic that I will go full-term!

Cerclage

I was referred to a great perinatologist with this pregnancy due to my preterm labor. Dr. McNamara is very proactive and I completely trust his decisions. I started seeing him at 14 weeks and go in every 2 weeks for ultrasounds. They check my cervical length with each ultrasound and I have a growth ultrasound once a month. I also started progesterone shots at 16 weeks. They're not much fun, but I know it's something I have to do.

Dr. McNamara wants my cervical length to be at least 25 mm (or 2.5 cm.) He told me that if it dips below this number, I have to get a cerclage. For those people that don't know what it is, a cerclage is where the doctor sews the cervix closed.

My previous cervical length was 34 mm which was very good. I went in for my appointment today and my cervical length was 22 mm. Dr. McNamara came in and told me the bad news. I am scheduled for a cerclage this Friday.

I am beyond disappointed. In my mind, I am convinced that I'm going to have this baby early. I don't know why this stuff keeps happening to me.

Happy 4th of July!

 We made our annual trip to Chamberlain for the 4th of July weekend and family reunion. There weren't quite as many people there this year, which was actually kind of nice. Some years, there are 50-60 people there and this year, there were about 30.

 There weren't too many kids for them to play with this year, but that didn't stop them from having fun. They really like Mike's aunts and uncles and kept busy by playing with them. We did some boating and tubing on the river. The kids and I went at a snail's pace (just the way I prefer it.) I'm a chicken when it comes to tubing.

 We let the kids light off some smoke bombs and glow worms this year. They thought they were pretty special doing that.

 The girls like to ham it up for the camera. I love looking at the pictures and seeing their personalities shine through.

 One of their favorites is the parachute. They all run and try to catch it. I remember doing this as a kid. It was my absolute favorite! We bought enough parachutes that each child was able to get 1 or 2 of them.

 I love this picture. She is such a smiley girl and almost always happy.

Nice picture of my boy! I have to catch him off-guard to get a good smile out of him. He doesn't like getting his picture taken very much.

 Uncle Mark is a big geek and brings earphones because the fireworks hurt his ears.

Another one of my favorites. My silly sweet girl.