The boys are one month old

The boys are one month old today. I can't beleive it. It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital waiting on my test results to come back to see if we would need to deliver the boys. Yet it seems like ages since Bradley was in the NICU.

We've already experienced so much in this month and have started to settle into a comfortable routine. I can't help but think about what the next 11 months hold. There are so many milestones in the first year. As anxious as we are to experience those milestones I don't want these crazy days to disappear to quickly. As I type this Dylan is curled up in the fetal position on my chest (I'm multitasking). Granted these frequent feedings could be spread out a little bit more. Currently I feed for an hour get a break for an hour, feed for an hour, get a break for an hour, feed for an hour.... you get the picture. Its all I can do to get laundry done, empty the dishwasher, wash bottles, and grab a bite to eat. I'm getting a little sick of watching tv and try very hard to get some computer time in too. But I wouldn't skip these days for anything, its great being home with the boys. They are such good boys.

Today is my first full day all by myself with the boys. So far so good. (knocking on wood).

So, in these pictures... Dylan is the fussy one. Bradley is looking really laid back. And that beautiful little girl is my princess Samantha. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought the St. Patty's day shirts in size 0-3. Poor Dylan was swimming in it. Oh, and if you could only see the jeans on them. When I held the boys up the jeans would fall off.

They're BOTH awake!

This is so hard!

I knew this would be hard but geez newborn twins are exhausting. The thing is... they sleep all the time, so why is it this hard? Because they insist on eating at the same exact time. And how am I supposed to feed and burp two little babies at the same time? It is such a help to have our mothers around the last week or so. But they're worth it. They are super adorable.

I'm starting to get bored already. I wish maternity leave started when they were about 3 months old because that time with them is a lot more interactive.

Samantha is doing great with her brothers. She is totally fascinated by them. And I'm FINALLY feeling like my old self (just exhausted). Samantha and I have been having plenty of one on one time the last few evenings. And it feels so good to do that.

Feeding time...

Pride and Joy

This blog has been titled Our Pride and Joy, Our Samantha since I created it back in 2004 after Samantha's birth. Today I changed it to Our Pride and Joy, Our Family. Because now we are a family of five (plus the kitty). I couldn't be more proud or more joyful. Bradley William and Dylan Robert joined our family on Tuesday, February 19th. Bradley came in at 9:59 p.m. weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces and 17.25 inches long and Dylan at 10:00 p.m. weighing 4 pounds 12 ounces and 18 inches long. Bradley has been in the NICU since his birth but we are hoping to bring him home on Saturday (tomorrow). He'll be on monitors for apnea, probably for a couple of months. But we are getting the necessary trainings and can't wait to get him home to be with his brother and sister.

Samantha has been amazing. She is so excited and so proud of her brothers. She has been such a big help and is interested in everything Dylan does. She places her stool next to the changing table and climbs up to watch and help during diaper changes. She took her stool to the counter when we were giving Dylan a bath. She helps us feed him, gives him his pacifier, covers him with blankets, gives him kisses and lots of hugs. She is an amazing sister.

I often heard parents of children say that they didn't think they could love their younger children as much as their older kids. I know what they mean. I didn't know what it would be like to have more than one child after having such a beautiful girl for 3.5 years and spoiling her with all my love and attention. I realized that my love for Samantha has changed in the past week. I think I have so much more respect for her and I'm even more in love with my little girl. She is acting so mature, so grown up, and I've seen her heart grow with the love she has for her brothers. And that makes my heart grow so much more for her. And the love I feel for her brothers is amazing. The worry I feel for Bradley, the sadness I feel that I can't spend more time with him, and the love I feel when I hold him and he looks into my eyes. Especially that first time when he just looked at me and seemed to recognize me. It was amazing. And Dylan who seems to trust me beyond belief. I especially enjoy the middle of the night feedings, when its really dark but we just stare at eachother.

We can't wait to have all our kids home, to start taking family pictues, to figure out what it really means to have twins and a toddler, to face the challenges and the joy that lay ahead. Ken and I are so lucky to have such beautiful children. Its amazing how blessed we feel. It has been so scary to have a surprise bonus kid join us, but somebody up there knows we can handle it, and I know it is going to be tough, but I'm starting to think that we can handle it too.

We can't thank our friends and especially our families enough for all your love and support. During my miserable pregnancy, helping out while we try to visit Bradley and take care of Samantha and Dylan, staying with Samantha while we were in the hospital. And most of all for your prayers and well wishes. I am so proud to be a part of this family and to have so many friends that have supported us. Thank you, we love you.

The Twins Birth Story

Short story: Bradley William and Dylan Robert made their grand appearance via c-section on February 19th at 9:59 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Bradley weighed 5 lbs 7 oz and was 17.25 inches long. Dylan weighed 4 lbs 12 oz and was 18 inches long. Their gestational age was 34 weeks 3 days. Both boys have had no trouble breathing but are having trouble staying warm. Bradley was taken to the NICU because he was pale and they wanted to put an IV in to give him a higher blood sugar reading and Dylan in the regular nursery.

Long story: Warning--this may be too much information! I made a doctor appointment on Monday, February 18th for that day because I was very swollen and had a hunch that my blood pressure was high, call it mother's intuition. I just wasn't feeling like myself and felt like I should be checked out. Sure enough my blood pressure was on the high side, I had gained a lot of water weight, and there appeared to be protein in my urine. My OB sent me to L&D to be monitored in triage. I called Ken at work and told him to come meet me at the hospital and fortuantely my sister had taken me to my appointment so she dropped me off at the hospital. My urine came back with worse results and my blood pressure was higher than in the doctor office so they admitted me to be monitored. I had to have the 24 hours urine analysis done. This meant that I would be on hospital bedrest (with bathroom priveledges) until at least 5:30 on Tuesday and they would collect my urine that time. If my urine came back with high amounts of protein my OB would do a c-section and take the twins (you can see where this is going). Sure enough my protein count, which should have been around 300, was a 7,000. I had severe pre-eclampsia (which is NOT good). So we were on for the surgery. I was actually given the choice between a c-section and a vaginal delivery. It was a hard decision but ultimately I decided I could not take the chance of breaking my tailbone again like I had when I delivered Samantha. The limitations that caused me for the first year of Samantha's life made me opt for the surgery.

It was very scary, I've never had surgery before, I was worried about my babies, worried about my little girl, and scared for myself (for no good reason of course). The whole experience was so surreal. Once we got back in the OR they gave me a spinal and layed me down. It was such a blur. I started to feel really nauseous and told the anestisiologst who added something to my cocktail and within a minute I felt much better and things were much clearer. They brought my Ken in and started the surgery. I felt a lot of tugging and pulling and I told my Ken I almost felt like I was on a rollercoaster. After a few minutes they pulled the babies out but they didn't hold them up for us. I was able to look across the room and see them in the warmers. And they were both crying, it was such a relief to hear them crying. They brought them over to see Ken and I and my Ken even got to hold them each for about 10 seconds. Then Ken went with Dylan to the regular nursery and Bradley went to the NICU. I didn't like being by myself for the rest of the surgery. When it was finally over they took me to recovery.

I had a lot of clots during recovery and they kept me about an hour longer than planned, but it all worked itself out. We were originally told that no one would be able to visit me in recovery but I was so happy when I saw Ken pop around the curtain in his scrubs (darn he looked cute dressed like a doctor!) Even my parents and sister were able to briefly visit me. After recovery, when I could finally start to feel my legs agian, they wheeled me by the NICU on my way to my postpardum room so I could see Bradley, I was very grateful for that. I was ordered in bed for 24 hours after the surgery, so I couldn't get up until 10 pm Wednesday night, which was hard because I couldn't go see Bradley. And everyone else could go visit him. They also didn't bring Dylan down to my room until well into Wednesday because he was having trouble maintaining his temperature and they had to keep putting him under the warmer and keep him bundled. I also had to spend the day wearing the uncomfortable TEDS (stockings) and some crazy massage thing that was on my legs the whole time to prevent blood clots (I'm grateful for these amazing tools, but they were so uncomfy!) It was hard getting out of bed after the surgery but I had a lot of motivation because they took me down to see Bradley. And I got to hold him and he just looked at me like he knew it was me and he was finally happy to see me (he hadn't opened his eyes for the family until I was finally able to go). I stayed in the hospital until Saturday when we were able to bring Dylan home (after he passed his car seat test--barely).

That's it for the highlights of our birth story. I'm feeling much better these days, I'm getting around really well, I've even been making dinner!

Anxiously Anticipating

Well, we're doing pretty good these days. I haven't had much energy and we've been busy so I haven't had a chance to keep up to date with Samanta's blog. But she is wonderful. She is such a little princess and becoming quite the young lady. She and her daddy just finished playing hungry, hungry hippo. She loves to play games these days and it is a lot of fun for us too. Although she likes to play on the floor and its very hard for her mommy to get on the floor with her!

Samantha is VERY excited for her brothers to come join our family. She talks about them yesterday and even shared some crackers with them yesterday (through Mommy of course). She talks about giving them baths, playing peek-a-boo, feeding them dinner, and changing their diapers. She and I agreed that girls don't change diapers and that daddy should do them all. Wouldn't that be nice!

Samantha actually has quite the cold right now a high fever yesterday kept her home with Mommy. We read books and watched A LOT of movies. She wasn't herself at all. She seems to have her energy back.

Well, we're counting down the days until Samantha's brothers join us (50 days 'till my due date, not that I'm counting, and they BETTER not let me go that long!)

Christmas Angel