Adam & Courtney: May 2014

Saturday, May 17, 2014

L&L 1 month old

I can't believe we've made it to this point. What an adventure it has been. So far L&L have been sleeping in their rock n' play's in our room. If you haven't heard of these, they are the bees knees for my little ones. They are are at an incline; so your babe isn't laying flat. They also vibrate and you can rock them as well. We ❤️ these.

L&L are setting their own schedule. I make sure they eat every 3 hours during the day, but they set everything else. They are pretty amazing. When one wakes up, the other follows shortly. I love that they are so in sync.

We have had some issues with weight gain for both babies. Lydia ended up needing to be bottle fed breast milk, so we knew exactly how much she was getting. Since then she has had problem latching. I finally went and saw a lactation consultant , which was a big help. I was almost ready to give up and start bottle feeding since both of them would nurse for 30-40 min and still be starving. It was nice to hear that supplementing was the right thing to do for our twins.

We found out Luke was tongue tied and also having a hard time eating. We got his little tongue clipped and he is doing so much better.

Around 3 weeks is when reality started to set in. They were having problems nursing. Sleep depravation was catching up to both Adam and I. I really started to rethink having babies. All I can say is just keep swimming (thanks Dori).

Things are getting better. With double the fun, you also have double the work which means you have to take multitasking to a new level. Each day I just remind myself how much I prayed to be able have them. They are my greatest blessing!

3/27/14

Luke 5lb 6oz

Lydia 5lb

4/2/14

Luke 5 lb 11oz

Luke 5 lb 3.5 oz

4/9/14

Luke 6lb 5 oz 19.75 long

Lydia 5lb 12oz 19.5 long

4/21/14

Luke 7lb 5oz

Lydia 6lb 6oz

Luke and Lydia's Birth Story

I have been trying to get this post done for the last 7 weeks. I am writing this down more for myself then for anyone else.

Luke and Lydia

March 25, 2014
It was a Tuesday morning, I had been up most of the night with contractions every 2-3 minutes. I wish I could say that this was an encouraging sign, but this had been going on for the last 7 weeks. I had a Dr. appointment and a Non-stress test that morning, so I wasn't too concerned that my contractions were getting a tiny bit more painful.
I went in for my appointment thinking of all the things I needed to get done for the week. I had an induction date set for March 31, so I knew the end was in sight. You have to understand that I used to work for my Dr as her MA before I went to radiology school, so I knew all of the things that could/should happen. The MA (Christina) came in and took my blood pressure, and then took it again. it was 140's over 90's. I know this is a little high, but wasn't too worried.
Dr. Ponder (Sam) came in and asked me how I was doing. She then told me my bp was high and I was protein in my urine and was 37 weeks with twins. I know what this means, pre-eclampsia. She said, "How about having some babies today". Of course I said "yes". I was shocked, scared and excited all at the same time. I was sent away with presents and so many well wishes from all of the "Gyno Girls". I knew I would be taken care of and looked after. Labor and delivery wasn't quit ready for me to go straight down, so I went and got some lunch and called Adam. I told him he had an hour to get to the hospital, because it was baby time.
I got to L&D around 11 and was hooked up and started on pitocin by noon. Adam got to the hospital not too long after and the wait started. I wasn't in very much pain and knew we would have a lot of waiting to do being a first time momma and all. Around 2 Dr. P came in to break my water. I was about a 2 1/2 and doing really good. Note to self, next time make sure you have an epidural before letting them do this. I nurse came in and asked if I wanted to be put on the list for epidurals when the anesthesiologist was done with his c-section. I didn't think I would need one by then, but said "yes" anyway. The hour I waited for him was the worst hour of my life. Hats off to you women who have more than an hour of labor without pain meds. Lucky for me, his c-section was canceled. The epidural was by far the best part so far. I was on cloud nine and was ready to kiss the ground that man walked on.
After my epidural, my contractions started to stall out and I was stuck at a 6 for a few hours. This let me get a little bit of rest and chat with my sisters for some encouragement. The nurse came in and checked me again, with no change. Baby A (Luke) head was facing the wrong way, so I was put in a few different position to try to get him to rotate. The nurse came back in 45 min later to check me again, and I was at anterior lip.
Dr P then came in to see if she could get the little mister to turn. She turned him and he would just go right back. She turned him again and had me do a little practise push to see if I could move me a little so he would stay put. With that push she told be she could see his brown hair, and had the nurse get the OR ready for us. I was not ready to be to this point yet. Holy cow, my babies were ready to make their debut.
I was wheeled to the OR (around 7pm) while Adam was putting on his "bunny suit" and would meet me in there. My Dr is a little superstitious and made me move over to the OR table, just incase a c-section was needed. Adam came in was I made him sit down, I didn't need him passing out while I was trying to birth these babies. The only thing that was on my mind at this time was how bad my heartburn was and all I wanted was a big glass of water. Pretty lame that this was my biggest motivator in getting these babes out.
I started pushing and realised very quickly that my epidural was wearing off. I thought I could power through it, and was reminded that I still had another baby and a repair to get through. I anesthesiologist came in and gave some more "magic" and I was ready to go. I had the best cheerleaders for nurses. They helped keep me motivated and encouraged. Mister Luke came into the world at 7:34 pm weighing 5lb 15oz and 19in long and screaming. I was able to cut his cord since Adam didn't want to. He was rushed into the other room to be assessed and cleaned up. I could hear him exercising his lungs and knew he was just fine.
It was time to get my little Lydia out to joined her brother. She was breach and tried to come out with one hand and one foot. They had to push her back up and grab her little feet. The nurses were reminding me the whole time, that her head was going to be the last thing to come out, so I needed to push like nobodies business. Miss Lydia came into the world at 7:37 as quiet as could be weighing 5lb 8oz and 19in long . They put her on my chest and then took her to the NICU team waiting. I was watching and waiting for her to cry, and never heard anything. I wasn't too concerned because I could see everything they were doing for her. I finally asked if she was ok, and they said she was great, just content and quiet.
I couldn't believe that my two little miracle were here and healthy at 37 weeks. I was shaking so bad that I didn't dare hold my precious babies. The nurse had to help me. I left to OR, back to my room holding them both and thinking that I didn't even know who was who.
Adam's parents and brother were in the waiting room and came in after the had fed both of them. It was such a surreal experience. I realized that 1-I hadn't even told anyone Luke and Lydia were here and safe yet and 2- That I didn't even have a picture to sent to my family. I had Adam snap a quick picture and sent it to everyone I could remember. I was so out of it that I got the babies mixed up in the message. I was wheeled up to the postpartum floor not even knowing which baby was which.
The rest of our stay was pretty uneventful. I had some issues with high BP. Lydia had a little trouble regulating her glucose, but it was resolved pretty quickly. Luke had a hard time learning how to suck, but eventually caught on. The babies slept in our hospital room most of the time. Adam finally convinced me to sent them to the nursery at 2am one night.
I was discharged after 2 days, but the babies had to stay an extra day because they hadn't had a regular eating schedule and hadn't had any wet diapers. I wish I would have been told that they needed to eat every 3 hours instead of just letting them feed on demand. I think this would have resolved the problem. I was a mess and couldn't imagine leaving them at the hospital without me, so I was able to do a "hotel stay" after I was discharged. We were all able to go home on friday and finally get settled into our "new normal".
Let me just say that the last 7 weeks have been trial by fire. I am so grateful for these two sweet babies and couldn't ask for anything different. It seems like everyday is a learning experience. I just have to remember that we are all learning and figuring things out together.
Adams parents put together this cute little video that captures the events of the day.