This blog was started the day of the girls births, so I thought I would finish it and continue from that day until now and make this a really long catch up blog.
So without further ado:
I can't believe today is finally here! I decided I would write today's blog, as I go to remember how I'm feeling throughout the day.
I didn't sleep very well at all last night which I expected and was finally able to fall asleep around 1:30am. I slept till 5:15am when my wonderful husband woke me up to a breakfast of scrambled cheese eggs, turkey sausage, and thick and fluffy eggo waffle drenched in syrup like I like it, skim milk and a cup of hazelnut decaf coffee. Yum, right!? Yea, I thought it would be too, but just like I thought I was so nervous I could barely eat. I did what I could to get some of it down and then actually was able to fall back asleep for a couple hours which was unexpected but nice.
I woke up to my phone going crazy with text messages, emails, facebook messages for well wishes which made me feel really good, but still nervous.
I got ready that morning and made sure I put on my makeup and did my hair knowing that at least I would look good in pictures no matter what happened. I used waterproof mascara which i knew i would appreciate later!
So we headed to the hospital around 11:30am and checked in. I was pretty nervous the whole time but tried not to show it. After check in we were ushered into a room that we would later learn was an overflow room because apparently everyone decided to have their babies that day!! I put on my lovely hospital gown and hospital issue yellow non-slip socks and laid down on the hospital bed. The first nurse assigned to us was Kim and she did all kinds of things to me; placed elastic bands around my belly with heart monitors attached to them to monitor the babies heart rates on the screen above me (which was very cool to watch), drew my blood for some tests, asked me a million medical questions, took my vitals, started my IV, and asked me some more questions. This process seemed to take forever!! And it didn't help that I was already really nervous and there was a huge clock right in front of my bed so the minutes to countdown were staring me in the face!!
Next the anesthesiologist, Hope came in and told me what would happen in the OR regarding the entire procedure, how the spinal block worked, and that she would be the one right by my head making sure I was ok. She was super nice and made me very comfortable, but still quite nervous!
Then the doctor came in and let us know that my 2pm scheduled csection was going to be pushed back because there was a scheduled csection of twins before me and then an emergency twin pregnancy had just arrived at the hospital so we would be pushed back behind the 2nd emergency twin birth. Great!! More time to lay in the hospital bed and stare at the clock and get more nervous! Justin and my mom stayed with me and also periodically went to the waiting room to update the other grandparents.
Justin had been given his scrubs, shoe covers and mask early on and he had put them on right away, and I must say I'm kinda bummed my husband isn't a doctor because damn did he look hot in those scrubs! Those nurses better back off, he's mine ladies! And yes I made him steal the scrubs and bring them home, ha ha! TMI!
Finally at 3:30pm it was our turn, and did I ever get scared in a hurry. I had to walk into the OR and here is how it felt/went in my mind. I walk into this white room with a million machines and lights and there are what feels like a million people in the room (really like 16) staring at you! I sit on one side of the table and immediately start crying because that is my automatic reaction when I am scared. The surgical nurse assistant, Andy (girl), has me hunch over and hug her while Hope the anesthesiologist starts to put in my spinal block. I'll have to say the most painful part is what they were calling (mushing my spine) to find the right spot to put it in. It made me cry harder. I just wanted Justin there and he couldn't come in until moments before the surgery began. So I held tight to Andy and cried. And the spinal block was in before I knew it and the only thing I felt was the bee sting of the numbing needle. Then they quickly had me lay on the table and things went VERY quickly from that moment on starting with the large blue drape being put up in front and over me so I couldn't see anything. My legs went numb and it felt like i was levitating on the table. Kind of a cool feeling, but i was still scared that maybe the medicine didn't work right and I'd feel something, luckily that was just my crazy thoughts and i couldn't feel anything painful. Then from there it was all about what I could hear and smell and Hope's face and concentrating on her to keep me calm.
Justin came in about 5 minutes later and things began immediately! Hope guided Justin and I through what was happening and kept pumping me full of drugs for pain and because I kept getting nauseous. Her voice was very calming and reassuring. And then before we knew it the doctor says Baby A is first and here she comes, Hope yells out Baby 1 time 3:46pm and all of a sudden I look right and see this beautiful baby girl that the doctor is holding up and I start crying and I knew, Frankie Paige was here! Then about 15 seconds later the doctor says here comes Baby B and I notice lots of pressure because someone was sitting on top of me pushing her out. And then Hope says Baby 2 time 3:46pm, and the doctor says, ummm that is the same minute, and Hope says ok wait, wait, ok Baby 2 3:47pm. Ha ha! I would learn later that insurance and the birth certificate people freak out for some reason if the babies are listed as having the exact same birth minute, but I will always remember to tell the girls that actually they have the exact same birthday down to the minute. And with Baby B the doctor once again brought her over and I knew, that was our beautiful little Georgia Star. And this whole time Justin is snapping away with the camera and was able to capture some of the most amazing first pictures of our girls, and I am so grateful for that because honestly I kinda felt like I was in shock the whole time I was in the OR.
Damn, my eyes are closed!
And from my vantage point once the girls were born I could only see Frankie's warmer and I kept seeing them yell at her to breath and put an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth which was adding to my shock and being scared. I just kept saying over and over, is everything ok with me, with them? And Justin kept reassuring me that everything was ok, but Frankie was having some issues breathing. The nurses then brought the girls over one at a time and then together so I could see them and take pictures with them while they were putting me back together again. And I must say the 2 things I remember very clearly through this whole time is 1, my sense of worry for these 2 little beings I just met was so great and 2, the smell of burning flesh. Ok, yea weird! Nuff said! Guess I should mention the girls were:
Frankie Paige: 5lbs 11oz 19inches
Georgia Star: 5lbs 14oz 20 inches
(Great weights for twins at 36.5 weeks gestation!!)
So after pictures and sewing me up, Frankie was rushed to the NICU for her breathing issues and Justin accompanied her while they tucked Georgia in my arms and took me to a recovery room.
My poor baby girl, Frankie!
The next few hours are quite blurry from all the drugs they gave me, but I remember being in recovery, trying to nurse Georgia, and throwing up quite often which you can imagine is quite painful after abdominal surgery. Also I remember all 3 sets of grandparents coming in to see me and Georgia Star. They were all excited to see her, meet her and hear her name. It was very cool to see how excited they were. I was pretty bummer that Frankie wasn't there and I constantly worried about her. Justin also decided to give me my push present then which was a beautiful diamond, pink Sapphire band to wear with my wedding ring as a band. It was absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait till my swelling goes down so I can wear my wedding ring and the band!
After several hours in recovery, they moved me to a regular room. But on the way we stopped in the NICU in my hospital bed so I could see and hold Frankie. It was so awesome to hold her, but so hard because she was hooked up to all these machines and looked so helpless and tiny. And it was difficult because I was so sick and nauseous that we had to cut our visit short because I was so sick.
The next day and a half I spent recovering in my hospital room and spending every 3 hours feeding Georgia, while Justin would go down to the NICU to visit Frankie and help feed her.
Justin hanging with Frankie
By the 2nd day I was feeling a little better and got to go visit Frankie by wheelchair and also started moving around.
Justin, Me, and Georgia
Georgia Star
The next 2 days were pretty much the same with us establishing a 3 hour routine with both girls and ourselves of changing diapers, feeding, burping, swaddling, loving and kissing them and putting them back to sleep around the clock. In the hospital there is always someone coming into your room about once an hour to check your vitals, give you meds, check the baby, etc, so sleep isn't something you get much of, so this 3 hour schedule seemed pretty easy to adhere to because you were always awake anyway. And I think Justin and I were running on straight adrenaline because we were so excited and in love with Frankie and Georgia.
On Friday, I was feeling good enough to have visitors besides grandparents, and it was nice to have friends and family come up to meet our little bundles. We also had visitors on Saturday and Sunday although at times the amount of visitors was a little overwhelming for me because all I wanted to do was sleep. One awesome surprise we had was a visit from my fertility doctor and the nurse Shawnee!! We knew Shawnee was coming for a visit, but they surprised us with the doctor coming as well! It was so awesome and a full circle moment! Yes, I cried a little!
My doctor checked on me daily and decided since Frankie was in the NICU and probably would be for several more days that he would pull some strings and find something to keep me in the hospital an extra night so we could all stay near Frankie and visit her regularly. She was making great progress daily and each time we visited it seemed there was some sort of improvement or another positive update.
On Monday evening Georgia and I were discharged from the hospital and headed home without Frankie.
Heading home with Georgia
It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I knew she was in good hands, we would visit her daily and she would be home soon. And in all honesty it had been good for Justin and I in the hospital to learn the ropes with one baby, and we assumed it would be an ease into things bringing one baby home at a time.
When we got home the first thing we had to do was introduce Georgia to her furry sisters! Annie was curious, but didn't seem to mind much, Pickles just barked at her when she fussed or cried and Delly just wanted to sniff her and seemed the most disturbed by her presence. I was relieved by their reactions and knew that they would adjust well after a couple days.
The first night was interesting but mostly non-eventful. We stuck to our 3 hour changing, feeding, burping, swaddling, back to sleep schedule and Georgia did fairly well with not much fussing. It seemed fairly easy for us to trade off jobs so that we could take turns, but oh how this would change when we had 2 babies at home. More on that in a minute. So for the next 5 days with the help of Justin and my mom we stuck to the schedule and just enjoyed having this awesome new little human in our world!
Georgia's first bath!
And every day my mom and I would pack up Georgia and all our/her and Frankie's feeding stuff and head to the hospital to do 1-2 nursing sessions with Frankie. It was very tiring and stressful, especially since I was only a week out from having major surgery, but it was all worth it seeing Frankie's face, getting to hold her, and putting she and Georgia together in her crib to get to know each other again after having been separated since birth.
A little sleep deprived, but hanging in there!
Georgia & Frankie hanging out
Mommy & Daddy with the girls hanging in the NICU
I'm sure they missed each other! Justin also visited Frankie 1-2 times nightly for her evening feedings which on top of all the middle of the night feedings he did with her while we were in the hospital really gave he and Frankie a special bond. I was in awe of how diligent he was with making sure he was with Frankie as much as possible.
Wednesday the 10th Georgia had her first pediatrician appointment for a weight check. The pediatrician said she looked great and had gained weight and that she should continue on the 3hr schedule for now and that the doctor was looking for another .5lb weight gain in a week. She said her feeding amounts were great and would probably start to increase. Let me just say, Georgia is an eater!! So we have no worries about her gaining weight and eating more!
Saturday morning the 13th we were told to call the NICU to see if Frankie had gotten her walking papers and could come home!! And guess what, they said she was healthy enough to come home!! I couldn't get out of the house fast enough with Justin to get up to the hospital to get our other baby girl home!! And I have to say we are forever grateful to the nicest, most amazing, kind, talented nurses and doctors in the NICU! They were so great with Frankie and so cool and kind to us and all our family and friends we brought to visit Frankie. We will forever be indebted to them. So at about 10:30 on Saturday morning we walked through our house door with Frankie in our arms and everything felt complete! Our family was all together and home! Deep breath of relief!
Frankie & Georgia's first baths together
Our family is complete and all home together!
Monday the 15th we returned to the pediatrician for a weight check and overall check for both girls. The doctor said they both looked great and Frankie, who needed to gain weight more than Georgia had gained 3oz in just the 2 days she had been home with us!! The doctor said she was very impressed and had no worries in our parenting capabilities. Yay! We passed the first of many tests as parents!
So it has been a week today since Frankie came home and Justin and I couldn't be more in love with each other, these 2 little miracle girls, and our new life! Is it life changing having 1 baby let alone 2 babies, YES!!! Are we so sleep deprived its amazing we are even awake and coherent? YES!
My mom has been here for the last 2 weeks and just left yesterday (Friday) and was a HUGE help in easing us into our new life with 2 newborns. She helped in every way possible; laundry constantly, bottle making, running a million errands, driving me to doctor appointments and to/from the hospital, rocking babies, feeding babies, changing diapers, making meals, running out for food. You name it, she did it this week for us! And Justin and I are forever grateful for all her help, love and support! We couldn't have gotten this far and established somewhat of a routine without her! So thank you Momma! We are forever grateful and indebted to you! Also thank you Bruce for letting us steal her away from you for 2 weeks.
Thanks mom for taking care of all of us the last 2 weeks!
Anyway, back to what I was saying. How is our life changed now that we have twins? We are on an endless 3 hour schedule of changing diapers, warming bottles, feeding, pumping, rocking and trying in between all that to get 1.5 hour chunks of sleep. Sometimes it happens and sometimes one of them is fussy and that 1.5 hours gets cut to 30 minutes. But honestly I love every minute and wouldn't change a second of it! Why are we on a 3 hr schedule? Well since the babies were premature and small the doctors and our pediatrician likes to get some weight on them. So for the first month we are on round the clock 3hr feeds and we wake the babies even if they are sleeping at 9, 12, 3, 6, and 9. Aside from the baby schedule we try to keep up with their and our laundry, running the dishwasher constantly with bottles, and just making sure and checking in with each other that we are both still doing ok which I think is really important. Other things that have changed include I now have an audience of 2 babies in nap nannies when I shower (when I can get a shower!).
My shower audience!
Sometimes it's a choice between a nap and a shower and let me just say I choose deodorant as a coverup at this point just to get some extra sleep! Gross, but hey what can I say?! I also am now ambidextrous and can do most things one handed or with my feet, in the dark or with my eyes closed. Justin is the king of diaper changes and I am the bottle making/pumping queen! I have also learned to bottle feed both babies at the same time which makes feeding go much quicker, but requires a precise boppy/baby/bib set up for it to be successful! Practice makes perfect right!?
Double bottle feeding!
Frankie and Georgia are very happy babies and don't cry often except for a little cry or whimper here and there if they are hungry or have a dirty diaper. They sleep in our room for now in the twin pack and play on one side together. And it's the cutest thing when we lay them in there to go to bed we put them on opposite ends and somehow they end up squirming and laying right next to each other by the time we wake them up for their next feeding! You can tell they really like being close and touching each other when they sleep, and we notice they sleep more soundly when doing so. The babies also are very responsive to music and Justin is constantly playing music for them when we are changing them and feeding them and it seems to make them much calmer.
So cute!
Our biggest change at this point is the lack of sleep. It is unbelievable! I am actually not even sure how I am awake most of the time or able to even have a conversation with people because my brain feels like mush. Which is why we have decided to hire a nurse night nanny 3 nights a week to help with the sleep deprivation. We are interviewing the 2 nurses who work together tomorrow and hoping we love them and if so they will start Monday evening and be here Monday, Wednesday, and Friday overnights. I think this will be a huge help and hopefully 3 full nights of sleep will help make us feel more human and help us to feel like we are at our best for Frankie and Georgia!
What is the best most awesome thing about this whole journey?? Just staring at them for hours on end and not believing they are really mine, and most of all discovering that I now know what my job is in life!!! Being a mom! I love it! It feels like the job I have been searching for, for a really long time! It feels complete! I'm so in love with Frankie, Georgia, and Justin and everything about my life and I have never been happier!
Whew! Ok, I think I'm caught up on almost 2.5 weeks! Things I've forgotten to mention in detail but I will mention briefly:
Explosive poopy diapers are scary! Don't ever let anyone tell you different!
If you think you feet are swollen during pregnancy just wait till a week after pregnancy, holy moly elephantitus!
Wow, unbelievable! I had to show you!
Pregnancy hormones are crazy, but after pregnancy hormones are just as bad, and I cry at really stupid stuff!
If you have an amazing husband like mine, he will see and do things for you after childbirth that are asking a lot of someone and that will make you love him even more.
Oh and I went to the doctor for my 3 week checkup on Friday and Missy the nurse said everything looks great with me and my incision and I have lost........wait for it........30lbs in 2.5 weeks since birth!!! Can you believe it? Wow, I'm amazed! I just have another 20lbs, which is the weight I gained during the 3 years of hormones I ingested, so I'm more than half way back to my goal weight! I'm very excited to get back to my goal weight and jeans!
Their first big outing to my doctor with me! I had to dress them up with hair bows!
Me and my girls!
Snuggle photo!
Another cute sleepy photo!
I've decided that I will continue to keep a small update blog going on here to update what is going on with the girls because it has been so helpful in communicating everything to friends and family near and far. So if you continue on our journey with us, yay! If you've had enough of my ranting and crazy I understand that too!
That's it for now because I've got to go stare at my girls some more who are already 2.5 weeks old! Can you believe it! Wow, time flies! I want them to stay tiny forever!
Thanks for following our journey to become parents and here's hoping our journey as parents includes many more happy times!
All our love!
Jenny, Justin, Frankie, Georgia, Annie, Adel, and Pickles!
OR
Justin +6 girls
