The Following Few Weeks

On the morning of July 8th Eric and I woke up and realized we hadn't held our babies yet!  They were whisked away and no one told us when we were allowed to see them or where the special care nursery was!  Eric went in first...I was in a lot of pain at this point.  A little while later I hobbled down the hall to the nursery along with my IV stand...fun times.  Both babies were in incubators, hooked up to monitors, and had feeding tubes.  Maddy had other contraptions attached to her to help her breathe.   After I was discharged from the hospital, I went back twice a day to visit the babies.  It was great getting to know the nurses and they were so helpful and knowledgeable.  Finally, after 2 1/2 weeks both babies were discharged!!! They had finally gained enough weight and were able to eat and breathe on their own.  It felt great!

 This is Maddy

 Jack has always loved sleeping on his tummy...he needed knee pads in his incubator!

 Jack bonding with mommy

 Jack's mini hand

 Jack goes home!  Friday, July 23, 2010

Maddy goes home!  Saturday, July 24, 2010

Catching You Up!

Hi!  I am totally new to this so don't judge until at least the third posting!  I have so much to catch up on...my babies are already 6 months old!  However, I finally feel like there is time to do things besides feed, burp, and soothe my babies.

So, I guess I can start with my pregnancy.  We found out we were having twins at 6 weeks and boy was I scared!!! So many things were running through my head.  How will we afford two?  How will I be able to work full-time and be a good mom?  How will I ever sleep again?  How will I feed two at the same time?  Anyways, after the initial shock Eric and I were super excited.  We couldn't wait to tell our family and friends.  Early on, we found out we were having one boy and one girl.  I was soooo happy!  The pregnancy was going really well!  I had a large cyst in my ovary for maybe the first 16 weeks so my back was bothering me.  But besides that I was feeling great...no morning sickness!  I found out I'm a carrier for Gaucher's disease but it wasn't a big deal since E has no occurrence of it.  So things were going really well and I was growing and growing and growing.  As I was getting closer to 30 weeks, the doctor started getting concerned because one baby was significantly smaller than the other.  However, I kept returning to the hospital for ultrasounds and non-stress tests and everything seemed fine.

 May 15, 2010

May 30, 2010

Luckily, I was done teaching in late June and figured I'd have the whole summer to relax since I was due August 21st.  WRONG!  On July 4th weekend I went to two barbecues and it was scorching hot.  It didn't seem like a big deal...I enjoy the sun.  When I came home from my friend's party I started feeling different...I was pacing the floors because I couldn't stay in one spot without being uncomfortable.  I thought this was normal since I was 33 weeks pregnant and pretty gigantic.  So I tried sleeping that night and could not get to sleep.  I literally walked around the house and waited until 5am to wake Eric up and let him know something wasn't right!  I figured that was a reasonable hour :)  So, we went to the hospital and it ended up being false labor...I was dehydrated.  The next two days were pretty low-key...I went to the hospital for a non-stress test and everything was normal.   

On July 7th, my back was bothering me but I didn't think anything of it.  My friend Katie and I were planning on going to our favorite place, Zack's, to get frozen yogurt but I told her I wasn't feeling so great.  So she decided to bring some over instead.  Meanwhile my water broke after just going to the bathroom but I had no idea.  Well, I think I knew it but maybe I was in denial.  After Katie and I had been hanging out a few minutes I started feeling contractions.  I wasn't sure they were contractions though.  It started getting really uncomfortable and I was pacing the floors again!!! Eric thought I was being over-dramatic so I just kept pacing.  Finally,  I decided to call the doctor.  In the car they were coming faster and faster.  I couldn't believe how bad they hurt at this point!  Our friend, Gary met us at the hospital so we could give him our keys to take the dog out.  He was right there at the door with a wheelchair for me!  It was pretty hilarious.  To make a long story short, after asking me a million and one questions they tell me I'm 4 centimeters dilated  and I need to be prepped immediately for surgery.  I knew I would be having a c-section but it was all such a whirl-wind.  I felt soooo much better after my spinal kicked in...it was pretty relaxing sitting there on the cutting board!  Finally, at 11:35 and 11:36 pm Jack and Madelyn were born.  I kissed them good-bye and everything after that was a blur.  I didn't end up seeing them until the next morning in the NICU.

 Jack: 3 lbs 12 oz

Madelyn: 4 lbs 14 oz