Weeks 36 and 37 Twins 3 and 4 weeks old "Party of five"

Mirror Image

Sunday was disappointing because we knew Kelsey had to spend some more time in the hospital. She may only be involved in a 3 day countdown instead of 5 days but we hadn't heard which. Life was usual for me, I went in to visit and feed Kelsey and then spent the rest of the day with the boys. We had our first 4 member family nap time (we do this at least one of the days of the weekend because we stay up later at night usually watching movies and need extra sleep. We hope that Kelsey will also be on board with this tradition haha! Later Paul took his regular turn to the hospital and gave Kelsey a bath while he was there! I was very proud of him :)

Monday  we had a new game plan. I didn't have anyone lined up for this week to watch the boys because we had thought Kelsey would be home so instead I went into the hospital at 8:00a.m. to nurse Kelsey and plan to do this the rest of the week until she is home. She finally latched on after not nursing for a whole week and she ate great and we actually got to cuddle. She stayed wide wake for our visit and it was very nice to visit with her. It was also my first day home alone with the boys. We had a great, quiet and relaxing day which included our now daily nap in the afternoon....ahhh if life could be this easy. I am nervous about when Kelsey comes home and this system is disrupted. Again like I said earlier, I hope she is on board with the whole mommy needs a nap plan :) One can hope right???

Tuesday Kelsey nursed well again but later in the day she had some eating related spells. The more dangerous spells occur when they are fast asleep and require the 5 day countdown. The feeding spells are either related to too much food intake, burping or reflux and only requires a 3 day countdown. So we are now looking at Friday for her to come home. Logan is doing great at home and I have already noticed his pattern of wake time during the day.

Wednesday Logan had a pediatrician appointment. He grew loads! He is now 18+ inches, when he was born he was 16.5. He is now 5 pounds 12 ounces. The Doctor was very pleased with our progress and it was a real accomplishment for me that I am doing my job right and that he is eating enough! Kelsey had an eating spell so we are on a three day countdown for coming home on Saturday. She also is tipping the scales at 5 pounds 14 ounces. It may just be a matter of days before they are both 6 pounds, I just cannot believe how well they are doing. I am doing awesome too! I stepped on the scale and was shocked to see that I am down to 119 pounds which I am really happy with. I only have a small pouch just above my incision. It's like a fat shelf hahaha! The "pouch" has barely any feeling sensation above or below but my friends have told me that the feeling will eventually come back and the pouch will go away too. Yay, hopefully in time for beach season next summer, although I don't know how much beach and pool going I will do with 3 kids but we will see.

4 weeks old and I am thin again!

Thursday my mom came up to spend time with the boys. I went in to feed Kelsey and ran a couple errands. It has been nice to feel like I have a Iife again(and to think) I wasn't supposed to drive yet until this Sunday! With talking to many people about the no drive period, we as a group decided that yes, it was a good idea to not drive the first two weeks in order to let my body heal but the second two weeks was okay because some people still take the pain medicine but I had stopped taking those, so driving would be fine.

Friday my lack of 9-10 hours of sleep caught up with me. I will confess that I slept through my 4:00a.m. alarm to feed Logan and he woke me at 5:30 fussing and wide awake ready to eat. He had gone 4.5 hours during the night. If only I could feed on demand I would be getting much better sleep. I am going to ask the Pediatrician at our next appointment on Tuesday when we might be able to stretch out the night time feeds especially because they are both gaining great weight. Speaking of, Kelsey has hit the 6 pound world!!! What a big girl :) Logan should also be passing this milestone in the next couple of days. Kelsey nursed well again this morning which makes me so happy. There is light at the end of the breast feeding tunnel. I had a pleasant surprise this evening when pumping, I produced 4 ounces of milk during one session!!! With just a couple days shy now of 4 weeks my milk production has increased loads! I am curious how much more my body is capable of producing during one feed. This is the most fun science experiment I have ever done haha! We have our fingers crossed right now because Kelsey is so very close to coming home tomorrow and it's become nerve wracking when each of us goes in to feed and find out her progress and either good or bad news for the day.

Kelsey coming home!

Saturday yay! Today is THE day. Kelsey is given the go ahead to come home!!!! Hip hip hurray!!! I went to the hospital one last time to sign the paper work and bring Kelsey home while Paul stayed home with the boys! I was more than elated! How nice it will be to all be home and not shuffling back and forth to the hospital. Our first day/night home went very successfully. I switch off nursing and feeding each a bottle every 3 hours. While I nurse, Paul feeds the other a formula bottle. This way we are done in about 20 minutes and back to life with our toddler or back to sleep. It is a very good system :)

First morning home snuggles

Grammy and her 5 grandkids

The rest of our weekend was spent with Family. First Paul's family came to meet the babies and have dinner and then my family came to have dinner for the holiday. We also had our first month well check-up for the babies. Kelsey is weighing in at 6 lbs 10 oz. and Logan is 6 lbs 8 oz. Because we are doing so well with weight gain we are allowed to extend the bed time feeds to every 4 hours! I'm am really excited about this as I will get better sleep. I cannot complain though, I have been getting around 6-7 hours of broken sleep now anyway so I am pretty lucky as it is. We are also allowed to demand feed during the day which ends up being about every 2.5-3.5 hours. We always wake the other baby when one wakes up to feed to keep them awake and asleep at the same times. This has proven very successful with only some hiccups in the system! Overall, we are doing awesome and aren't exhausted which I find very surprising. I was wayyyy more sleepy with Austin but then again before Austin I used to sleep like 11 hours and after Austin I sleep 8-9 hours on average. I am excited to announce too that Kelsey has joined the afternoon nap routine and I get to take a nap while all 3 kids are asleep. This definitely helps with my energy level and why I am coping so well with 3 kids.

Grandpa and his 3 grandkids

Cute new jammies from Grammy

I will no longer be doing daily updates. I think I will just post each month with some checkup updates and photos, so until then......

Matching outfits for our 1 month photo

Week 35 Babies 2 weeks The warm-up before the race!

Snuggle time in the nursery

Sunday the babies are two weeks old...what? Yowza really??? What a roller coaster the last three weeks have been. As slow as my week of hospital bed rest went the last two weeks have been a time warp. I can't believe their progress and just cannot imagine what it would have been like to still be pregnant and in the hospital, if things had gone differently. We feel things worked out the way they were supposed to because Austin needed me at home and my body just couldn't handle the size of our growing babies. Speaking of body size, my recovery has gone fabulously. I have lost most of the 42 pounds and have around 10 pounds that will probably slowly linger. My waist has also shrunk incredibly, I am really in shock that my skin looks normal and I have one tiny tiny stretch mark by my belly button, man I really lucked out! Who's to say what might have occurred if I went to a further gestation. So anyway, back to the babies :) My mom came up so that Paul and I could go alone to be with the babies together for the first time since we were at the hospital. They both gained weight and are eating like champs. Paul bottle fed Kelsey my pumped milk and I nursed Logan. We snuggled with them and had a mini photo shoot of the babies cuddling together. It's only the 3rd time they have been next to each other, I am sure they miss each other very much and they seemed so content with their heads together. I really cannot wait to have them snuggle with each other at home. Paul and I then went to lunch alone which we cannot remember the last time we ate just the two of us and to be honest we aren't sure it will ever happen again lol. Later in the afternoon my mom and I returned and she held the babies for the first time, it was wonderful! So, all in all it was a very good baby day and with no tears!! I also pumped enough to feed both babies in one pump session, that was really exciting for me that my supply has gone up that much in just one week, I am producing double of what I was!!!

Monday  was an interesting day. For the second day in a row Kelsey would not nurse and I had to bottle feed her. Even Logan was not great and drank a bottle much better. I am starting to get freaked out that they are getting too used to bottle feeds. I am only able to go in and nurse once a day so they are not getting enough practice and I truly hope when they get home that they pick it back up because I really would not prefer to pump just to bottle feed. Our big news for the day is that Kelsey has finally surpassed her birth weight AND has broken into the 5 pound world!! Our growing little girl is being quickly chased by her brother which I am starting to think he is going to catch up and pass her very soon! I didn't get much cuddle time with them today because I had to spend all my visiting trying to get them to eat, I pray that tomorrow goes better so that I can just rock and hold them. My time everyday with them is so limited that its small things like this that mean so much to me and set me up for either a good day or a sad tear filled day. I am keeping my depression at a manageable level but I think it's just a given that moms with babies in NICU go through some kind of Postpartum Depression.

Tuesday Kelsey yet again did not want to nurse. I spoke with the lactation consultant and got some tips on getting her back in the groove which will likely go smoother once she gets home. Logan was a good boy and nursed on both sides again( lucky him). Logan also passed the car seat test as we are preparing for him to come home. We found out today that he would be going home tomorrow as long as he has a good night. I was given some prescriptions for him that I needed to fill for home use and we went home to cross our fingers, hope and pray. I installed a car seat base in each of our vehicles really hoping that I didn't jinx ourselves.

Wednesday morning came and I called the hospital right away to see if it was THE day! The nurse said he had a good night but we needed to wait for the doctor to make rounds before it was official! We took our time getting ready and once my cousin Katie arrived to watch Austin, we headed into the hospital. On our way in, we got the call that Logan is officially ready to come home and to make a pediatrician appointment for Friday to finalize the checklist for discharge. We fed Kelsey, ate lunch at the hospital (which has great food BTW) and then went over all the discharge guidelines. There sure are a lot of things you need to watch out for with preemie babies.
1. No being in public with the babies especially grocery and other stores because there are too many germs and chances to get RSV.
2. Take temperatures often to make sure they are warm enough which includes wearing 2.5 layers(hospital style wrap top, fleece jammies and a fleece halo sleeper)
3.Wake babies every 3 hours around the clock to feed a minimum of 40 ml. ( just over an ounce) even at night, no sleep for us :(
4.No extra visitors besides family and a few close friends and limit exposure to children.
5.Absolutely NO bouncy chairs and swings. They must lay flat at all times besides being held(Esophagus is not mature and airway can be pinched and cause suffocation. We have to wait until they are 10 pounds.)
6. No trips and long durations in the car for the above reasons of being in the car seat too long.
7. No naked photos until they gain an appropriate amount of weight to maintain temps.
8. No sleeping together, in order to lower the risk of SIDS they are to each sleep in their own cribs.
9. Parent vaccinations. We need and grandparents that will spend the most time with them need DTaP and the Flu shot.

Logan coming home

I know their are some more rules for preemies but you get the idea, we are on lockdown until they get older and that also means I won't be working for a long period of time in order to limit germs in our home.
After all was said and done we loaded Logan up and home we came!  The first night went fine because my adrenaline was flowing good and I got about 5 hours of broken sleep.
Austin did awesome meeting his new little brother. He had a huge smile to share and he handed over his beloved duckie blanket to Logan, it was very sweet and so cute that he would make such a gesture.

Austin meeting Logan

GiGi meeting Logan

Thursday the first day home with Logan! I had written out a schedule to follow in order to feed Logan and pump milk for Kelsey. It worked out well and I was able to go in and feed Kelsey at her usual 11:00 a.m. and take her milk while cousin Katie stayed home with Austin and Logan. We had a trickier nights sleep this night because I discovered that Logan is a great sleeper which makes nursing hard. I again got about 5 hours of sleep and in the morning I certainly could tell it was catching up to me. It eure is wonderful to have him home though!

napping with the boys

Friday morning Logan had his Dr. Appt. and we learned that he broke into the 5 pound world. Yay! I am doing my job right and feeding him a sufficient amount of milk each day. Also, aunt Michaele brought my Grandma Margaret and Great Aunt Rosie to meet the babies. Katie and Michaele stayed with Austin and Logan so we could go to the hospital and be with Kelsey. We had a very nice visit and lunch together! I discovered that the boys take a nap at the same time everyday so once our visitors went home I got a nap with them. Tonight I also got better sleep (7 broken hours) I learned to just pump at the night feeds and feed Logan bottles becuase it was more time efficient. I woke up feeling so much better and plan to stick with this until Kelsey comes home and we need to learn a new system. We think Austin realizes that Logan is staying for good. He always goes to his bed at night as if to say goodnight and again in the morning to say hello. He does say baby but more often says mwa mwa which is his baby cry sound meaning baby :)

The men of the family all together for the first time

We might have another thumb sucker, when he finds it, he loves it !

Saturday we were hoping that Kelsey would be coming home this weekend so we did some things to get ready, make her Dr. Appt. and she passed her car seat test. We had also switched to a different bottle (Dr. Browns) because they were having too much trouble with the large nipples on our Tommee Tippee bottles. The Dr. Browns are much better for preemies and they did wonderful. Logan and I had another pretty good night and I got about 6 hours of broken sleep. Up until this point I haven't had Paul help during the night except to attend to Austin if he isn't sleeping well. I can manage one baby, we are waiting for Kelsey to come home for him to be up with me at night. I also got another nap with the boys. Kelsey unfortunately had another spell during the evening so now we are looking at later in the next week...so sad she's not coming home but better she is in the hospital for now :(

Naked baby :)

Kelsey alone at the hospital

As you read this you will notice that the babies are now 3 weeks old but that will be in next weekends post as I have been documenting each week daily.

Week 34 Babies 1 week old "Graduation"

Logan and his drowsy self :)

We started off this week with yet another round of good news. On Monday the babies were upgraded to the Continuous Care Unit which is an extension of the NICU located next to the healthy baby nursery one floor upstairs. Mainly, the NICU is a very busy place and there was a flux of new babies who need lots more attention. Our babies are on the most stable end of the spectrum so they were moved to the nursery style room. They no longer need as much observation because they no longer have any IV's or tubes (Kelsey's feeding tube has been removed) or no extra monitoring. They are still on their heart monitors to make sure they catch any spells that they may be having. They will remain on those monitors until they are discharged. They are also in the final round of temperature stabilization before they go into the open-air tub cribs.

Kelsey is often awake when we visit

Tuesday they both had and passed their hearing tests and Logan's circumcision has been ordered for later in the week. I was able to speak with the doctor during his rounds and he thought they were on track to leave in a week if they can just kick those spells. He also confirmed that the mark on Kelsey's temple is also a Nevus. Both Austin and I have a Nevus on the same side of our heads as well. Mine happens to be in the exact same place as Kelsey's. We have not noticed any birthmarks on Logan as of now.

Kelsey in the open-air crib

Wednesday evening both babies were transferred to open air tub cribs for their next test. They need to maintain their body temperatures between 36-37 degrees Celsius for a minimum of 24 hours, let's hope they check this box off. Kelsey did have spells so the 5 day countdown has started over :/ I am afraid there are going to be many more disappointments when it comes to these spells but she is better off in the hospital, I won't be able to relax if I am worried about her breathing 24/7. This was a hard evening for me. I had been doing well being separated from my precious babies and hadn't cried since the night I left the hospital but I knew it couldn't last forever and I shed some tears wishing that I could spend the night holding them. They didn't nurse well this evening which probably caused the disconnect that I am feeling. It really is the worst punishment ever that I cannot drive myself to the hospital and I have to keep relying on rides let alone the task of always needing a babysitter for Austin.

Logan in the open-air crib

Thursday Grammy(Paul's mom) Uncle Jason( Paul's brother) and Aunt Mira came to visit and meet the twins all the way from Boston! They were very lucky because both kiddos decided that they would wake up and show off their pretty eyes. Kelsey is almost always awake so she was no surprise but the fact the Logan woke up was a even nice for Mommy and Daddy to see. Logan has officially surpassed his birth weight but Kelsey has about 3 ounces left to be back to her weight. Logan had his circumcision also and the nurses said he did great and didn't cry much.

Friday came with our very first step back. Most likely due to being outside and undressed for his circumcision, Logan's temperature dropped too low and he was placed back in the incubator for a couple of days along with this both babies had spells so we have to start our countdown all over again with the earliest discharge for Tuesday now. My poor little babies are just so young and not ready for the world. For the medically savvy the episodes that they are having are called Apnea of pre-maturity and Bradycardia if you would like to look it up and educate yourself. Both babies did eat well for me and I had a load of milk to drop off since I didn't get the chance to nurse on Thursday. Both babies lost their umbilical cord stubs too and now have cute little belly buttons. It has been another sad evening for me as the tears stream down my face as I write today's update entry.

Fast asleep after her feeding

Snuggle time with Logan before I left for the day 

Saturday not much has changed. Logan is still in the incubator for the time being since their is no rush to get him out and both babies had spells during the night. Countdown starts over again for Wednesday...ugh! It makes me feel like they are never coming home. Three babies left our room today and went home which drives the nail in harder that ours are not ready but I try to remember that they are doing really well besides the spells and I really do keep forgetting how premature they are. I have really adjusted to their small size and they just seem like normal babies to me when they really aren't :/

My milk supply is starting to stabilize due to the fact that my mature milk(a bit more watery than the transition milk I have had since last Wednesday) has finally come in. I had been having quite the range of amounts when pumping but as of now, I seem to be producing one feeding for only one baby from each pumping session. Yes, that means I am only producing enough for half of their feedings in a day. They receive formula (Similar Neosure-preemie formula) for the other half. My parents have been gracious enough to buy us lots of formula which is a tremendous help for when they do finally come home because it's unlikely my supply will ever reach full capacity to satisfy both. We have been instructed to give them each a minimum of two formula feeds a day (at home) because of their pre-maturity, it provides extra calories than my milk. Logan will need to stay on the Neosure until he is 6 months and Kelsey only for 3 months from their original due date, after that we can put them on a regular formula(cheaper). I plan to equally rotate the babies from breast to bottle that way each will get 4 breast feeds and 4 bottle feeds a day.

For those who are interested in what my daily schedule entails it's as follows. I wake up at 8:00 a.m. to pump. At 10:45 a.m. I get dropped off at the hospital (family and friends have been helping , I cannot drive for 4 weeks) they return home with Austin to watch him. I change, nurse and cuddle with Kelsey at 11:00 a.m. then the same with Logan at 12:00 p.m. My ride returns at 1:00 p.m. to take me home. I pump at 2:30 p.m. and take a nap while Austin naps to re-cooperate because I have weened myself off of the Oxycodone and only take the Motrin during the day if needed, I am still taking the Oxycodone once a night for good sleep for now. I pump again at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. I set two alarms and pump at 12:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. and the next day starts all over again. It works out really well helping me adjust to the babies schedules. I will only need to add one feeding during the night and alter the times slightly when they get home.

Babies age 0 weeks- Life in the NICU

The NICU is not as scary as I first thought it might be. It was awkward when I arrived for the first time but I quickly adjusted to the daily protocol. On Sunday after delivery the babies where put on CPAP. They were needing a slight bit of assistance to breathe which is completely normal and expected with preemies born at 33 weeks gestation. We visited them that evening and it was hard to really see their faces with the oxygen masks and the CPAP which pushes fluid out of their lungs causing bubbles to form around their mouths.

Kelsey on CPAP and Oxygen

Skin to Skin with Kelsey and my first time holding her

By the time we visited the next morning they had been taken off the CPAP and oxygen masks. It was the start of our ever changing and steadily advancing babies! I was also able to finally hold both babies. I stripped down and held them skin to skin and it was just amazing! There are many benefits to holding your baby with both bare skin and I certainly have no problem with it :) I was finally feeling like I had given birth. I also delivered very small vials of colostrum (early milk) that I had hand expressed. There was only a drop or two in each vial but the nurse showed me how they swab their mouths with it to give them the antibodies it provides. We are allowed to visit whenever we want and we can bring guests whenever as well. Austin unfortunately has not met his brother and sister yet because sibling have to be age 5 to come into the NICU and non-siblings must be age 14.

Logan during his first bath

Kelsey during her first bath

On Tuesday the babies were taken off their feeding tubes and I was able to nurse both babies which would help tremendously with my milk to come in. Both babies latched on with their first try and life was good. I didn't have nearly as much luck nursing Austin but the last couple weeks of my pregnancy I had been dreaming at night about breast feeding so I just KNEW it was going to go much better this time around. In addition, I really knew what I was doing this time and that makes a HUGE difference. Paul also was able to feed Kelsey a bottle of formula that evening. He still hadn't held them yet but this was a good first step.

Paul feeding Kelsey

Collage by our NICU nurses

 Wednesday on day 3 my milk came in and I spend the entire day nursing them at each feed to get my production up! They are on a rotating feeding schedule Kelsey receives feeds at 8-11-2-5-8-11-2-5 and Logan receives his feeding as 9-12-3-6-9-12-3-6. This allows me and the nurse to feed each baby and then have a nice amount of down time between while they sleep.

Thursday their IV's and their quantities of milk at each feeding were upped to compensate for the fluid they were receiving through their IV's. Each day it increases by 5 ml to promote weight gain. It is pretty crazy how much milk I will need to supply. Just as I think I am producing enough then the next day it increases and I fall behind again. It will be a constant process of nursing, pumping and supplementing with formula. Because this was my last day in the hospital before being discharged that evening, I again spent the whole day with them cuddling and nursing. I went down at 11 changed, fed and cuddled with Kelsey and then Logan at 12. I then returned to my room for lunch between 1-2 and then went down and did it over again returning to my room from 4-5 and back down. After Logans feed at 6, Paul and I packed up and I was discharged at 7:30pm.

I sobbed the entire way home and a lot that evening. It was the hardest thing that I ever did. I just wasn't sure how I was going to come to grips with the fact that our babies were not home with us. It was a pretty aweful evening and I stayed pretty quiet and depressed. I showered when I got home which helped a lot to unwind and I set up my pumping schedule which included setting my alarm for one early morning pump at 4:00a.m. which coinsides with my medication dose of oxycodone and motrin.

Friday, Sarah (Paul's sister) came to assist me for the day to make sure I was taking it easy. She dropped me off at the hospital at 10:45. I nursed and supplemented Kelsey and Logan, changed and cuddled with them. I also dropped off the milk that I had pumped since being home and then she picked me up at 1:00. It was wonderful to be with my babies and I found out that this is a very nice schedule that works well to visit each day. The babies were also in clothes when I arrived today as they are slowly getting ready to be put in open air cribs. We also decided that Paul will visit once a day in the evening as well so he can bottle feed one or both babies and spend his time bonding with them. This day also marked when the babies stopped losing weight and officially started gaining weight back Yay!

Their first photo shoot

Their first photo together!

Saturday the nurse went over all the things that the babies need to accomplish to be able to go home.
1. They must continue to gain weight and stay above 4 lbs as a minimum
2. They must maintain their body temperature in an open air crib for at least 24 hours
3. They must receive all feedings from a bottle or breast NO feeding tube for at least 48 hours.
4. They must have no spells ( forgetting to breathe) for a minimum of 5 days straight.
5. Car seat test. Able to sit in the car seat for 90 minutes with no drop in temperature, heart rate or spells and hold their heads safely.
In the meantime there is a small checklist of things for us as parents to do and learn while the babies are in NICU such as, kangaroo care(skin on skin) change diapers, take temperatures, observe bath time, weigh the babies, learn infant CPR, nurse and feed babies bottles and change babies clothes.
Today marked the day that I first held both babies at the same time. Wow, was that a moment of realization. I hadn't really wrapped my head around the concept that I had two babies to tend to. With their NICU schedules, I am always just one on one with them. The nurses say that they almost always stay on this schedule when they go home. Well, I must say that is definitely one perk to NICU. They are very manageable with their back to back feedings and a very nice break in between. My brother Ryan and girlfriend LeAnn came to meet the babies this evening and they got quite a show during the care hour because it was weighing and bath time so the babies were awake and perky!

Mommy holding both babies for the very first time

Can you tell we are twins??

Sunday my mom and I went in and she got to spend some time with the babies and took some new photos of them. She has chosen to not hold them yet because she has a case of Poison Oak and we are taking precautions. Paul also went in to feed and cuddle with Logan since he spent the last couple nights with Kelsey.

And our last update for this post! Our babies are officially a week old today and their  current conditions are this. Kelsey is gaining weight, she maintains her temperature well, she is slightly jaundice but needs no intervention, she still has a feeding tube because she sometimes doesn't finish feeds and needs it directly inserted into her stomach. She has spells but usually comes out of them on her own and only sometimes needs assistance. Logan is gaining weight, he maintains his temperature okay but does cool down during feeds if not wrapped up. He eats all meals and is our little piggy. He is slightly jaundice but even less than Kelsey. He has started getting spells as well.

Week 33 Real Labor and Delivery

Just when I was getting used to life in the hospital and I was upgraded to a larger more pleasant room, things went bananas! I had an amazing nights sleep in my quiet new room and I had been taken off the check every 4 hours list. I woke on Sunday morning with lots of cramping and back pain. Hmmmm, I kinda recognize that back pain! It was the same I had while in labor with Austin. At about 7 a.m. I started to notice contractions and informed the nurse that I needed to hydrate and see what happens. About an hour later the contractions became more frequent and by two hours later the Doctor came in to check me. She warned me that if I was over 3 cm we were going to prep for c-section. Well, at that time I was still only 3 cm but my contractions were regular enough that I was given one dose of meds to try and stop the labor also a new IV was inserted to speed the hydrationation process. It was time to wait and see what happens.

The contractions kept coming with a series of noticeable steps. First my back would cramp, then I would feel a shortness of breath then my cervix and uterus would tighten. Yep, I was in real labor and the drugs were unable to stop my progress. By now, I had called my mom to get on the road and meet Paul at the house so she could be with Austin and he could be with me at the hospital. Laura had arrived at the hospital to accompany me in the c-section if we needed. Right when everyone got where they needed to be the doctor checked me and I was nearly 4 cm. It was GO TIME! I was casually prepped for surgery. The anesthesiologist gave me all kinds of anti-nausea meds. Laura and Paul packed up my room to take everything to my postpartum room, Laura got dressed in her scrubs and they wheeled me to the Operating Room. I had a spinal block inserted and before you know it I was numb and waiting for the babies. C-section by the way is just AWFUL! I really hated it. I felt like like I was being tickled to death when they cleaned my skin and the tugging feeling was so awkward I wanted to scream. The pressure was just unforgetable. Luckily, soon enough Kelsey Rea(Paul's grandmothers maiden name)was delivered weighing 4 pounds 15.8 ounces (only half an ounce shy of 5 pounds) at 2:59pm and within the same minute Logan Rylan(a combination of my brothers names Ryan and Dylan) arrived weighing 4 pounds 5 ounces. The doctor put him up over the screen to say hi! He was sooooo tiny. I swear the only reason I was able to make it through the surgery was because I could hear my babies crying their lungs out. Laura took some quick pictures of them and they both said hi to me all bundled up before they were rushed off to NICU for observation.

Kelsey and Mommy 

Logan after birth

My surgery ended with the doctor tying my tubes which will make it very unlikely to have anymore children. Three is definitely enough, 4 children scares me and with a possible chance of twins again, 5 children is really scary hahaha! I then enjoyed the recovery. Anything was better than that surgery! I made phone calls and texts surprising many friends because I was perfectly coherant, alert and upbeat. About an hour and a half in recovery and they wheeled me to the NICU to see our babies before heading to my postpartum room. They were so tiny and so precious.

I spent the evening adjusting to the slow process of coming down off the IV drugs and onto Percoset and motrin. Paul spent the night with me for the first and only time during my entire stay in the hospital. It was the only night I felt uncomfortable being alone because I could not function on my own. I did have my first catheter ever and I have to say it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and it was nice to not get out of bed to pee :)
I had a very painless night, rather dizzy but comfortable. I started pumping to urge my milk to start as soon as possible and got up twice during the night. In the morning I was accessed and all was well. My catheter and IV were removed. I got out of bed and ate a nice breakfast.

I am working on the next post which will focus on the babies first week in NICU!

Week 32 Preterm labor and Hospital Bedrest

I know everyone has heard by now the craziness that has occurred this week but I thought I would let everyone know the chain of events that took place in order to land me in my indefinite hospital bed rest.

Saturday we had an amazing time visiting cousins Katie and Chris in Columbus and friends Gina and Eric and their new home. I took it very easy knowing that I might be nearing the time in my pregnancy that I should stay off my feet as much as I can. Saturday night I had some mild uncomfortableness in my lower abdomen and just stayed calm and relaxed. It was not contractions so I just thought maybe my belly didn't like something I ate. Sunday morning I woke up fine and it wasn't until about 1:00p.m. that things started. I had a handful of randomn contractions which have been very common for me since week 15. We decided we should probably get on the road home because Austin was also getting more out of control.  My contractions continued for our drive home and by the last hour my contractions were becoming regular. Every five minutes to be exact! I had already crawled to the back and reclined as far as possible and rested on my left side. We were driving through some crazy weather, hail and thunder storming(if my contractions weren't nerve wracking enough). Once we arrived home, I phoned my doctor's office and was given directions to empty my bladder, rehydrate and rest in bed on my side and give it an hour. Well, luckily within the hour my contractions stopped and life seemed good. The doctor suspected that the car ride had irritated things and most likely all was well.

Monday came quickly as I slept very well and I was off to the Doctor's office for my routine non-stress test and appointment. During my 30 or so minute test I had 3 contractions on the monitor so the Doctor chose to check my cervix. What do you know, I was 1.5 cm dilated and she quickly suggested that I go to the hospital for further evaluation.
As calmly as possible, I made my way to the hospital and to triage. I was connected to the monitors and within the hour I was told I was going to be admitted for possible preterm labor.

Ever since then, I have been in this same room. I had gone into preterm labor and was given a steroid shot for the babies lungs to develop, in case they were coming very soon. I was also put on a drug every 6 hours to try and stop the contractions. I was checked again and had dilated to 2.5 cm, things were actually progressing :( That evening, Paul and I were visited by the NICU team to inform us of what to expect if we are delivering soon. It was a very scary talk yet very informative! I had no idea that even though their weight is good at over 4lbs each, there are many other things that the babies could deal with. One being underdeveloped lungs. So, our first goal was to make it another 24 hours to receive the 2nd steroid shot. Second the babies would not be able to maintain their body temperature so they would be in an incubator and third, they don't have a suck reflex yet so they would be fed by tube. Many of these traits develop around 35 weeks so we really want to get to that point and possibly the babies won't need to be in the NICU.

Well, the night went on and my contractions managed to slowly stop but at the same time I developed a localized sharp stabbing pain in my back which wrapped around my side and down to my groin. The nurse suspected that it may be a kidney issue and I had some more blood work to try to narrow down an infection or stone. It was a very rough night. Although my contractions has stopped my kidney pain was intensifying. By the morning I was screaming in pain and sobbing. The doctor checked me and she suspected that I had a kidney stone. I was immediately put on one of the best drugs EVER through my IV. In about 30 seconds the drug hit me and life started to be very good. The pain stayed away for about 2 hours before I was asking for more. Slowly, during the day the time between doses did span out and around 7:00pm the pain stopped and I likely passed my stone which had broken up and left crystals in my urine samples. I slept very well that night finally no longer in pain and thouroughly wore out from two days in the hospital.

Wednesday morning arrived and I was in extremely high spirits thinking that with no contractions and no pain I would be going home. It was at this point that I learned that when I was checked last my cervix was now 3 cm and the Doctor could feel baby FEET not her toosh which we assumed she was complete breech! Oh no, this is bad :( She advised that I needed more time in the hospital until they came up with the best plan for me. So I spent the day with a handful of visitors still very optimistic about going home.

Here it is Thursday and the real shocking bomb was dropped. Because of baby A being footling breech and me being dilated I am officially a part of the highest of high risk deliveries in pregnancies. The scenario goes as this, my water may potentially break which would result in the the chance that the umbilical cord could exit first putting me in a very dire situation. Because of this, I would not be safe outside the hospital where immediate action could not take place. I am in the hospital for the long hull. The only chance I have at going home is if she happens to change positions but that is very unlikely.

I spent this evening officially moving into my new residence. I had my mom pack my real hospital bag and Paul delivered it with our daily evening visit with him and Austin. If was absolutely amazing to put my own under garments and clothes on....ahhhh! For the first time in days I also with normal clothes on felt brave enough to venture out of my room and into the mini food area. I decided I should get aquainted with my home for now! I am hoping for a very pleasant sleep tonight as I have come to terms with my situation and now just truly hope for the best!!

I will close this incredibly long entry with the couple scenarios that may play out in the next couple weeks. One, baby girl moves positions during my next ultrasound and I get to go home. Two, I start contracting again and they do their best to stop it. Three, we get to 34 weeks which is August 10th and labor starts again in which case they will just prep me for c-section delivery and things go smooth (mostly). Lastly, the worst case scenario, my water breaks anytime while I am here and we will be rushed to have an emergency c-section and it is very likely I will be put under during this option and not be awake for the birth of our babies.

So the dice have been rolled, we just don't know which way they will land!

Weeks 29-31 The turning point

The third trimester has arrived with a vengeance and reared it's ugly head! Uncomfortable has become my way of life. Uncomfortable to stand, the weight on my legs makes me feel like I ran a marathon everyday. Uncomfortable to sit because that's all I do, SIT. My tail bone is just about numb from all the sitting and I am not even on bed rest. Uncomfortable to eat because I can only fit small amounts. Uncomfortable to shower because I need to find a bench to sit on.(anyone have an old person bench?) Uncomfortable to sleep because I switch sides every half hour, pee at least 4 times and my ribs burn from expanding but luckily not from kicks. I really don't know if there is a time when I am not uncomfortable(oh wait, in the pool) but then as soon as I hit the staircase out- it's like, "woah my aching back" UGH! I did not experience any of this with Austin so it's officially new and not so fun to be pregnant anymore! By the way, I have surpassed my Austin size around and weight gain but funny I am not as heavy with the twins yet because I started out 10 pounds lighter so I will most likely weigh the same at their birth as I did with him.

The weeks prior to this week alone, life was fantastic (awkward) but very manageable. I spent my free time assembling baby items that were stored in the attic and getting my ducks all in a row. I sure am glad I got almost all of the nesting done now that I can barely get around without moving like a snail, out of breathe or hurting all over from the simplest tasks! This will be my last week of work for a long time! I had to cut it one week short, I was hoping to get through July but it's just too much strain. August is going to be a very boring month (visitors are welcome to come keep me company and occupy poor Austin.)

Our 83 year old Bassinet from the Smith/Keller side. Our babies will be the 4th generation to sleep in it just like Austin!

Okay, I am done with the complaining, onto the good stuff. I have had 3 appointments since I last wrote with lots of items to report. One, my weight is good at 30 lbs so far. Two, my blood pressure is wonderful at 116/68 which is normal for me. Three, I have no swelling in my legs and feet. My ultrasound was very good except that we found out both babies are breech and that I am most likely having a c-section delivery. Baby girl weighs 4 pounds and baby boy weighs 3 pounds 12 ounces. That has really eased my worries. They are at a good weight for a projected delivery in 4-6 weeks hopefully being over 5 pounds then! I have been informed that if I go into labor soon, they will only try to stop the contractions if I am less than 34 weeks, anything after, we are a go for delivery. Also, if we make it to week 37 we will schedule an induction or more likely the c-section by week 38. My next ultrasound is set for week 35 and we will know more then!

Baby Boys cute little 3D face!

Today I also had my very first non-stress test. Pretty uneventful actually! The fetal Doppler monitor was connected to me to detect both babies heart rates and movements. Our son is an angel and cooperated just fine(like his brother) but man oh man baby girl is a trip. She was all over the place and gave us a real run around to track her. Maybe she will be better on Monday for my next test. Yep, a test every week until I deliver! I also had a tetanus booster and my arm is aching, more being uncomfortable(Geesh). We plan to have one more exciting weekend to visit some friends in Columbus this weekend and then it's home bound and boring life for me. The only exception will be to meet my twin baby cousins who are four months old already and will be in town to visit briefly in a couple weeks! I suppose I should take this time and enjoy the calm before the storm and the decent sleep before it all ends!

Until next time, the countdown has officially begun!!!!