Thursday's Visitors....finally!!!

Yay, we're home!!! I was released from the hospital very quickly considering I had major abdominal surgery 48 hours before discharge. I was encouraged by many people before the c-section to take advantage of being in the hospital and to stay as long as possible since the nurses are there to help you. Honestly, I found the nurses to be more of an annoyance and disruption than help. They actually did not help us with the babies at all which was nice for Scott and I because it allowed us to be really hands on. As Scott and I learned how to be parents it was comforting to know the nurses and doctors were there if we needed them but since we were able to do it on our own we felt good and comfortable about going home after just 2 days.

Here is where the girls spend their time sleeping during the day in their bassinet. Thank you Michael and Marne for letting us use it!!!

Now that we are home we are finally able to introduce these cuties to their family and friends. Here are all the visitors they had on their first day home.

Aunt Linnea

Sonja using my pain meds as rattles. How cute is she in this jacket :) Also, she seems so big to us now compared to the babies.

Gwen meeting her cousin Addison and Linnea checking out her small legs and feet. Seriously, so small!

An attempt to show just how small her legs and feet are. I am not sure if this really gives you a good sense of how small.

Gwen holding Addison. She was so great with the girls and was so genuinely excited to meet her cousins. She would say things like "they are so cute," "they are so adorable," "I would be a good mother to Caroline." There are more things that she would say but I can't remember all of them.

Here she is with Caroline which at one point she said was her favorite but was quickly followed by saying that she liked both of them. She also at one point put a burp cloth on her shoulder and wanted to hold them like she saw my mom burping one of them. Gwen could seriously not be more cute and great with these girls but I don't think anyone would be surprised to hear this.

I love Gwen's little smile in the picture. She would also get upset if she was not able to hold one of them. This is funny to me because I remember being the same way when she was born but not as vocal about it :) People didn't know this but when Gwen was born I could not stand being with her and not being able to hold her. It was almost heart breaking to me. I was always jealous when others were holding her and not me. It melts my heart that she is now that way with my daughters.

My parents meeting their new granddaughters. My family just keeps popping out girls. Again, no one would be surprised to hear this.

They were over yesterday again and were trying to help us find some distinction between them so that we are able to tell them apart by some feature instead of what they look like when they are next to each other. We have yet to find something.

We told Gwen that she could not touch their faces or give them kisses just because we want to try and keep germs away. Gwen had the hardest time sticking to these rules.

Proud and happy mommy. It is so weird and surreal when people call me their mommy. The blanket in my lap is also something we got at the hospital made by volunteers. Of course, we got two :) If you are someone who makes these blankets and hats or know someone who is a part of this we just want to thank you! We really appreciate them and I know other parents who receive these gifts do too!!

Happy Mor Mor. Honestly, I could not tell you who she is holding. Sorry girls, there are going to be many pictures that I am not sure who is who. Their identical, give me a break! Also, I decided I am not going to feel guilty about not always knowing who is who in pictures. It is inevitable especially at an angle like this.

And finally, the hats that I made them fit! I love that they come to a point at the top :)

So those are Thursday's visitors. My uncle Scott and Aunt Nancy came today too but I am realizing that we didn't take any pictures with them. I am bummed. Sorry about that!! More pics and visitors to come!

In the Hospital

Here we are at the hospital. At this point I was just trying to not think about what was going to happen. I knew I needed to keep my blood pressure down and thinking about becoming a parent in just minutes would have put my nerves over the edge. I was surprisingly calm throughout the prepping process.

At the hospital ready and excited to become parents!!

Getting ready for the C-section to begin

Tiny hands

Caroline - Addison

The girls in their new hats made from volunteers

Caroline - Addison

I tried to get these pictures higher in the post but I could not move them. Not sure why. Anyways, the girls are finally here!!!!

The first picture of Addison Marie (baby A)

12/8/09 - Born at 8:37am - 4 lbs, 6 oz - 17 inches

The first picture of Caroline Sere (baby B)

12/8/09 - Born at 8:38 am - 5 lbs 3 oz - 18 inches

by the way, you pronounce her middle name seer-ee. It is my Grandma, on my dad's side, middle name

Proud and happy Daddy!!

They have a little blonde fuzz for hair and pretty blue eyes. It will be interesting to see if their eyes get lighter.

You can see how small Addison is here next to Scott's hand.

The girls first visitor, Uncle Cam! By the way, that is a preemie outfit and Addison is swimming in it!

All ready to go home :)

More pictures to come......

OMG!

I never say OMG and I rarely even think it but that was my first thought when I saw this picture. Greta just sent this and said that the nurse had just brought her these hats. How cute are these little girls?!

(this is still Linnea, by the way)

The First 24 Hours....we survived!!

Well, I am happy to be writing this with a feeling of being somewhat well rested. This is after a good 2 hour nap that Scott and I were able to get this afternoon while Addison was getting tested for sitting in her car seat. Funny how much easier it was just to have one baby instead of two in the room and that was the time we got quality sleep. Caroline has to do the same test around midnight so that will be great timing for some more quality sleep with just Addison in the room.

Anyways, I still can't believe I have two beautiful and healthy daughters!! Yet, as the cliche goes, it feels like they have always been a part of my life. Scott and I are truly blessed!! We really don't deserve them but we will try our best to be the best parents we can and we already have so much love for them.

So yesterday morning at 6:30 we arrived at the hospital. It was a beautiful drive in as it was the first big snow of the season. The c-section went well. Before we knew it we had two beautiful baby girls (I was right!!). My doctor thinks that Addison and Caroline were in the same sac after all because when she broke the sac of Addison, Caroline's feet slipped out. Thank God there were no serious complications. I am kind of happy we did not know because it would have made the pregnancy more stressful and I would have been on hospital bedrest. No thanks to that!

They were born at 8:37am and 8:38am. Both kind of sounded like mice squeaking at first but we could definitely tell that their lungs were nice and developed :) Then they were off to the nursery for a couple hours and I was stitched up. Scott stayed with me and I was soon in the recovery room. Then the babies were with us around 11 and we were moved to the Mother and Baby unit an hour later.

Our first night was not too bad. Well, I didn't think it was too bad but I don't think Scott would agree with me. He did get more sleep than me last night I should add. I was told that because of their low birth weight that we should try to feed them every 2 hours so I was up for most the night feeding one or the other or trying to feed them at the same time which I found to be successful once or twice. That should change as I become better at nursing and they are better as well and bigger. There were a couple times I woke Scott up to help me with something and it took him a minute or two to realize where he was. He was a bit humorous at times being that sleep deprived. He did a good job though helping me with the babies and he has certainly changed some diapers now :) In fact, I have yet to change one!

Up until this morning I was on a Morphine drip that was controlled by me. That was great! I certainly did not feel the pain when I was on that. Slightly different story once I was off the morphine but the pain has been manageable. I got up for the first time this morning and I was happy to be able to do that pretty much on my own. I really have not needed much help moving around which has been great. I am able to get in and out of bed myself and I love that because it really allows me to be independent.

At this point we are hoping to go home tomorrow, Thursday. I think the only hold up could be the girls weight which I am hoping will be back up by tomorrow. Addison passed the car seat test and I expect Caroline to pass it as well since she is bigger. We are excited to get home mainly because no one has been able to meet these beauties yet due to strict visitation rules by this particular hospital. They are driven by the swine flu but personally, I find them ridiculous considering even the grandparents are not even allowed to meet them in the hospital. I understand the safety reasons but at least allow close family to meet them right away. However, to be honest, it has been kind of nice at the same time to have this time on our own as a new family and to allow me to recover however I need to without entertaining visitors. Also, I seem to be feeding one of the babies or trying most of the time so it is just easier to not have to entertain people. It just stinks that the Internet connection here is bad as well so I can't even post pictures!!! Arg...

Well, that concludes this quick update. Addison is getting fussy which will soon be followed by Caroline. Time to nurse but I will get pictures up quickly once we are home. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We have felt them and your love. We truly are blessed!!

More!

It's Linnea again...I got some more pictures from Scott's phone.

I hope they are always as peaceful and content as they look in these pictures :)

I couldn't figure out how to rotate them, sorry!

Scott's hand is on Addison....gives you an idea of how small they are!

And there's Caroline sleeping with her mouth open! :)

Pictures!

This is happy aunt Linnea sharing some pictures Scott sent from his phone. I'm glad Greta told me how to get pictures here so you can see these cuties ASAP! I'll let Greta or Scott post when they get a chance (it could be a while :) but this will have to do for now.

Everyone is doing well, the babies are with Greta and Scott in the Mother and Baby Unit, so that is great. Still no visitors (probably not at all, boo) but we're so happy and blessed that everyone is healthy!

Caroline Sere (baby B) 5 pounds, 3 ounces

Scott said she sleeps with her mouth open :)

Addison Marie (baby A) 4 pounds, 6 ounces

It's......

GIRLS! They're here!!!!!

Addison Marie (Baby A) was 4 lbs, 6 oz and

Caroline Sere (Baby B) was 5 lbs, 3 oz!

Greta and the babies are doing well. I'll post more details (and hopefully some pictures!) when I get them! YAY!!!!!

(this is Linnea by the way)

December 8, 2009

That is the date of our babies birthday. The c-section is scheduled for 8am!! Scott and I are going to be parents tomorrow and finally get to meet our babies :) Needless to say, a lot of emotions are going through us right now but most of all we are so excited!! It is weird to know the exact time and date which certainly will make sleeping tonight a bit of a challenge. Well I guess the sleepless nights will just start one night earlier. The nice thing about having this scheduled is that I won't have to go through labor and we are able to prepare tonight.

Today I had an OB appointment. My final numbers are a total pregnancy weight gain of 27 pounds and I ended up being dilated 2-3 cm but that doesn't matter now. I don't have a size measurement because one of the babies was sticking either a foot, knee or arm out so it made the measurement pretty skewed.

So, the final pregnancy pictures and I went back to the original outfit. Enjoy!

Some fun pregnant pictures that Anne and I took yesterday at church. Good thing we took them since this was our last chance! Can't wait for Anne and Jed to have their little girl in January!

This was my project of the week that ended up not getting finished. I am making burp cloths that are slightly cuter than plain cloth diapers. I have 5 different fabrics. Some of them are measured, some cut and pinned but this is the only finished one. Hopefully I will find some time to finish them when we get home or my mom can finish them :) She doesn't know that yet.

Last year, because of the wedding, we decided to not get a Christmas tree which I was sad about. So this year we made sure to get one. It will be nice to come home to a pine smelling condo with 2 babies. I just hope it will still be alive when we get back to from the hospital.

Well that is it. Tomorrow we become parents and this still just seems so weird. Part of me thought I would be pregnant forever. Please pray for us and we look forward to sharing the news tomorrow morning. By the way, Linnea is on facebook and blog duty so she will be posting info pretty quickly for me tomorrow. I will get pictures up as soon as I can. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

36 Week Update!

I can't believe that the babies and I have made it this far. To a lot of doctors twins are considered full term at 36 weeks!!! It is weird and great to get to the point where it would be ok if they were born after so many weeks of hoping that I didn't go into labor. I can finally relax and attempt to enjoy these last days of being pregnant. I am allowing myself to do a little more this week and run some errands for Christmas before my chance is gone. My thoughts are stuck somewhere between knowing how much easier it is to be pregnant and the chaos that 2 newborns are going to bring versus wanting to finaly hold these babies. I think Scott would prefer the chaos over me being pregnant. Let's just say that since I have basically been stuck (in size) in the final month of a single pregnancy for several months that he has had to deal with a lot from me :) Yet he always gives me a foot rub or back rub when I ask for it, stops at the store more often than he would like (no midnight runs though), and has basically been the reason I have managed to get through this somewhat easily. I don't say thank you to him enough for putting up with me and just being a great husband and support system. He is going to be an even better father!!

Ok, enough of that cheesy side track. I don't have much to report as far as my appointments have gone this past week. Both babies are still doing great and my non-stress tests last Friday and Monday were the fastest yet because both babies behaved!! When I first started to see the specialists they recommended that I not go past 37 weeks. I was curious if that recommendation still held since Baby A started to fall behind in weight gain but I found out yesterday that as part of the report for my fetal assessment ultrasound that I had last week that delivering no later than the 37th week was again recommended. So it is up to my OB if she wants to follow this but I can't imagine her going against their recommendation. She is in the office tomorrow and I have an appointment with her on Monday so I imagine we will be scheduling a c-section for next week on one of those days!! When I know the date I will be sure to let everyone know.

So that is about it for now. So far so great!! Thanks for all the support and prayer. That is what has made us get this far and Scott and I really appreciate it. Can't wait to welcome the babies. They will be here before we know it!

Tall Trees Turkey Trot

This year a bunch of my family members decided to participate in the Tall Trees Turkey Trot which is the neighborhood where my grandparents live. Unfortunately, I could not participate but I was happy enough to be able to just be there.

Everyone hanging out before the trot

These 2 win for the best outfits

The group who ran and/or walked

Gwen at the starting line

and the race is on.....

Kevin

Jenny

Anne and Petey

Katie....a turkey trot drop out. She was done after this picture - Boo!

My dad

My mom

Cam and Linnea

Jenny - THE WINNER!!

Then we all had breakfast together afterwards. Thanks for cooking Grandma!! It was a great way to start Thanksgiving.

35 Weeks!!

I could not be happier and more thrilled to make it to 35 weeks!! Depending on what your reading, twins are sometimes considered full term at 36 weeks so we are almost there! That is my next goal but I was told at 20 weeks that I would not go past 37 weeks so at the most we will have these babies in 2 weeks :)

I decided to not take my update picture in the same outfit because it hasn't changed. I am still measuring like I am 38 weeks pregnant with a single baby and gained another 4 pounds (total pregnancy gain of 26 pounds). At this point, the babies are not really growing in length but packing on the pounds so it is ok that I have not grown over the last 4 weeks.

I had another NST on Monday which went well. Yesterday was my fetal assessment ultrasound which was going to determine if the babies were delivered this week or not. I am happy to report that both babies are growing great and there is no reason to deliver them right now!! They are still thriving in me which I could not be happier about. Baby A previously gained 12 ounces in 3 weeks (4oz/week) and this time baby A gained 11 ounces over a 2 weeks period (5.5 oz/week) which is great! Baby B also gained 11 ounces these past 2 weeks so they are sharing nicely :) The weight estimates are baby A is 4 lb, 1 oz and baby B is 5 lb, 5 oz. Baby A is still behind by a couple weeks and baby B is right on track.

The nice thing about my bed rest is that it is not super strict. From the beginning, I decided that it would still be ok to go to church every week. So below is a picture of how I do church on bed rest. Not a week goes by where I don't hear a comment about how all that is missing is someone fanning me and feeding me grapes. I am so happy that it has worked out to go to church every week for my sanity and it is great to feel and hear the support week after week of my church family.

One of my projects on bed rest was making these little hats. Since the babies will be so small I wanted to be sure to have hats that were small enough for them since most of the ones you buy are not made for 4 or 5 pound babies. These hats are meant to stretch and be snug to their head but they are so small! I can't wait to have the babies here. Soon enough!!

Sonja Walking

First things first, I am still pregnant. Don't worry, those who check in often to find out if I have had the babies yet I will try hard to get pictures and videos up as soon as possible. I may be pregnant this morning but that may not be the case as soon as tonight or tomorrow. I have an ultrasound this afternoon that will determine if the babies will be delivered this week. Stay tuned...

In the mean time, Scott and I have bought a video camera and this will be my test post to figure out how to post a video. Let me know if something is messed up. Thanks!

Since Linnea does not have good computer access right now to do her own posts I will update everyone on a Sonja milestone....she is walking!!! Here is a short video of Sonja showing off her skills. It is still weird to see her walking around and she seems to get better every day. By the way, who thinks she needs a hair cut!!! Linnea won't do it because she thinks she will have to get a boy cut. Boy cut or baby mullet....the baby mullet wins again!

34 Weeks!!

I am very happy to be able to write a 34 week update. Every week I stay pregnant feels like a blessing and more time for the babies to mature and develop.

A development from my last update is that my OB and the Specialist talked about the ultrasound results from last week and they decided to have me do the non-stress tests twice a week instead of once a week just to keep a closer eye on both of the babies. So in case you are keeping track, I have an OB appointment every other Monday, an ultrasound every Tuesday and an NST every Monday and Friday. These babies are definitely being watched and we will know if anything goes in a direction that is not healthy. My OB said that as long as the babies stay healthy and look good through all these tests that they will remain in me but as soon as one of them falls behind in development or looks to be under stress then they will be delivered.

Last Friday the NST looked good. There were no dips in the heart rate for either one so that was great! This past Monday baby B had a dip so I was admitted and had an ultrasound. By the way, I had to wait 2 hours for the transport to ultrasound! Anyways, they checked the fluid and watched baby B for a bit and everything looked normal. Yesterday was my ultrasound where they checked the fluid levels which still looked good. They also checked the heart rate which was normal and the doppler reading for baby A which measures the flow of blood through the umbilical cord which looked normal. All normal and looking good! So this next week will be an NST on Friday, an OB appt on Monday as well as another NST and a fetal assessment ultrasound next Tuesday. Hopefully these babies will continue to grow and stay healthy in the coming week of tests so we can get to 35 weeks! One of the upsides of these tests is that I am getting to know the nurses in the labor and delivery unit and they are remembering me. So when everything happens it will be nice to have some familiar faces around.

On a different note, it is looking like I will have a c-section. Right now baby A is still head down but baby B is kind of between transverse and breech. Since baby B is bigger than A this means the opening would not be big enough after A is delivered to deliver B breech normally. So for the health of baby B it is looking like a c-section is the best option. To be honest, I have been struggling with this. I know that a c-section will be done for the health of the babies so I am not against it but it totally changes the experience that I have dreamed and always thought about. Not to mention the recovery will be different and puts more pressure on Scott since he will have to be more hands on with the babies as well as help me through my recovery. I am hoping that the recovery will go fast and that people who said that they will help us will step up because we are really going to need it! I have never had major surgery before so I don't know how my body will handle it. I am hoping for the best and nervous for the worse. I am thankful to have this time to adjust and prepare myself for this change of plans as some of the changes just break my heart.

Finally, I seem to have developed a cold. I am hoping that it will go away quickly since I am already at home and taking it easy. I don't want to be sick at all even with just a cold when the babies are born. That will not help things.

So that is it. Another week and hoping to get to week 35! Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!!

33 Weeks...hopefully at least 2 more to go

This past Monday I had a regular check-up appt with my OB. I gained another 2 1/2 pounds (22 total pregnancy gain) and I am still measuring like I am 38 weeks pregnant with a single baby. There was no change from 2 weeks ago. More importantly, I have not dilated any more! So it is looking like making it to Thanksgiving is becoming more and more real. Cross your fingers!

I had an annoying experience after my Dr appt. I forgot that I was going to be starting weekly non-stress tests this week and because I have twins I have to do it in the labor and delivery unit. I knew it was going to be a bad experience when I was told I had to go to L & D because last time I did it I was there for 3 1/2 hours for a 20 minute test! They tend to forget about you if you are not in labor. I thought it could not be worse than my first experience but I was wrong. I got there just before 3, was checked in and someone took my vitals. All the test is, for those who have not done it, is basically monitoring me to see if I am having contractions and the 2 babies heartbeats for 20 to 30 minutes. So the person who took my vitals said that the nurse would be in to set up the monitoring. I made myself comfortable and waited...and waited...and waited.... To make it more boring, I didn't have anything to read (besides the manuals for our car seats and stroller) and of course the tv did not work. My phone also ran out of battery pretty quickly too. So after I had been there for 2 hours the nurse discovered me. Despite my attempts to be helped within those 2 hours the nurse didn't know I was there until one of the cleaning ladies, who saw me before, poked her head in there and told someone I was still there. Of course things could not just go smoothly from then on. There was a dip in one of the heart rates at one point during the test so an ultrasound was ordered to be safe. I then waited another 45 minutes for someone to transport me for the ultrasound. That took another 20 minutes and then I waited another 25 to go back to labor and delivery. I was discharged soon after that. When all was said and done, the babies are doing great and I was there from 3 to just before 9. Arg...and I get to do this every week!! Fortunately, they will be scheduled from now on so they should go more smoothly.

Yesterday I had my weekly ultrasound. This was my fetal assessment one that I get every 3 weeks. Baby A is 3 lbs, 6 oz and Baby B is 4 lbs, 10 oz. Now on Monday baby A was head down and baby B was breach. By the ultrasound, baby B was sideways again and his/her body went under A's. So baby A's measurements are accurate but B's are not because it was really hard to get a good picture of the belly and legs to get accurate numbers. There is now enough of a difference between the 2 that they have to be monitored more closely. So I will have a doppler reading where they test the blood flow from the umbilical cord for at least baby A every week and now I will have a fetal assessment done every other week instead of every 3 weeks. Based on those measurements, Baby A is 2 weeks behind in growth and baby B is right on.

At this point, I am really happy with how far I have been able to stay pregnant. My first goal was to make it to Thanksgiving and I am feeling more and more confident that we will make it! Not only do the babies need just a bit more time to develop their lungs but now baby A needs more time to put on more weight! So please pray that things continue to go well. At the most, I only have a month more to go which is really soon!!