A Twin Birth Story

I woke up Sunday morning, September 28th around 5 am. It was a strong one.

Since 28 weeks I was restricted to mostly relax on the couch. I had many Braxton hicks. All the time. I drank lots of water and avoided heavy activity. My husband wouldn't let me do anything fun. Like garage saling, going to the fair, attending church. I just sat on the couch and caught up on tv and facebook. Talk about boring. I also crocheted over 50 projects. Hey, if I was going to sit there and do nothing, I was going to make some money. I had my teenage sister staying with me to help with the boys during the daytime.

So Sunday morning I woke up and started my contraction timer app. It was actually consistent. Every 4-6 minutes for 45 seconds to a minute each. After an hour I took a shower, then called the doctor. I told her that they didn't all hurt, but they were consistent. I was 36 weeks 4 days. She said as long as they're consistent, come in. We stopped at Tim Horton's on the way in, because I know they don't let you have any food while your in labor. On the way to the hospital I noticed the contractions were slowing way down. Oh great, I'm going to get sent home. I know it. But we continue on. We get there and I'm 1 cm. Woohoo! I wasn't any before that so something happened! They left for awhile to see if I progress more. They gave me a few hours. This whole time I worried I was going home. I didn't feel contractions anymore. My husband kept assuring me there were some contractions registering on the machine. They came in around noon and I was at 2 cm!

We had agreed to a C-section. Baby A was head-down and baby B was breech, which was fine and do-able. The problem was that baby B was bigger, so there was more risk of complications. We didn't want to do an emergency C-section after delivering the first one vaginally, so we decided to only have only one area to heal.

They said I was in labor and they could start prepping for the C-section or they could send me home until I dilate more. So obviously we didn't want to go home and wait. They came in and asked me a few questions and who knew you couldn't eat for 8 hours before surgery?! So we had to wait until 2 pm to go in to the operating room. Oops. It was okay because it gave us time to make some phone calls and for my husband to change in his scrubs.

They wheeled me in and I'm not sure why, but I started crying when I got in there, and could not stop the entire time. They rolled me over for the epidural, which by the way, hurts more each time. They were prepping equipment and getting me ready. I could see them doing things to me but couldn't feel any of it. They brought my husband in, and soon after that, out came baby A, at 2:23 pm. He was on the other side of the room getting cleaned up and I heard them announce baby B's arrival at 2:24 pm. Shortly after, they assured me both babies were doing well. Baby A weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces, and baby B weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces. My husband brought them over to me, and I fell in love.

After they finished stitching me up I was brought to a recovery room. It took a while for me to recover from the medication they gave me. I was finally able to hold my sweet babies after I could sit up without being dizzy. They didn't take to nursing right away. They said it was probably because they were preemies. They also had to be monitored more closely due to their gestational age.

It's a huge eye-opener the first time you're left alone with two newborns. I enjoyed being in the hospital this time. I was recovering from major abdominal surgery. The nurses brought the babies to me when it was time to nurse. {I couldn't quite walk across the room for a while.} The nurses even changed all the diapers! Being so small, they did have a few difficulties with their temperatures, weights, glucose levels, and nursing.

For the first few weeks I had to {try to} nurse, bottle feed previously pumped milk, then pump. Every three hours. That was exhausting. After about three weeks they stopped taking bottles, and kept gaining weight, so we quit them. That was a huge break.

In the end, I'd have to say I'd do it all over again. I don't want to, but I would.

Life with Twins

"Your hands are full!" Yes, my hands are full. Actually, my arms are full. I carry them in my arms. It's getting easier to do now. It'll be nice when I can carry them both on my hips at the same time. Actually, it'll be nice when they can just walk. {Wait, maybe it won't.} That's actually quite scary.

"Do they sleep through the night?" Um..... no. C was sleeping through the night. Then he stopped. D was getting up once each night. Now they both get up at least once to eat, usually around 4 am. {Which makes it 8 hours, so maybe they do sleep through the night. Ha. Cool.} But they wake up several times for their pacifier. Each. Oh, and they got moved to their own room down the hall a few weeks ago. So that's about five trips down the hall each night. Before 4 am. On a good night. Soooo I'm tired.

"How are you feeling?" I don't quite understand this question. The babies are 4 1/2 months old. Should I still be in pain?? I don't know how to answer this one so I always honestly answer, "Tired. Very tired."

"Did you know it was twins?" Seriously? Of course I did. I know not everyone gets ultrasounds, but how often does a twin pregnancy not go noticed? {I know it does happen.} Or maybe you meant before the ultrasound? I had mine at 8 weeks. No I did not know before my ultrasound. Strangely enough though, my husband did.

"Do twins run in your family?" They do now. Give them a year or so and they'll be running all over! My cousin does have twins, though. But it's from his wife's side. That's too much explaining to do to complete strangers, so I usually just say no.

"Are you going to have more?" This one shocks me the most but I usually say, "Not today." They laugh, and say, "No, really, are you going to try for a girl?" {I have four, yes 4 boys.} "It depends on the day. After today, no. Tomorrow if I see a cute baby girl, yes. I don't know." I don't like this question because it kind of seems personal. I always wanted a big family. Seriously when I was a teenager I wanted 15 kids. {Mostly because I had 15 names I liked. yeah.} But, I want to be able to enjoy my kids while they're little. Get on the floor and play with them. Chase them around the house. I couldn't do that for most of this twin pregnancy. I was on bed rest for the last few months. And now, they'll want me to play with them but I can't because I'm nursing. I'm always nursing. I kind of want a break. Most people assume because I've had four kids in three years that I'm trying to compete with the Duggars. Maybe I'm done with four. I like my boys. Yes, I've always wanted a girl, but... I was one once, and I'm not sure I want a teenage girl. Just a baby one, please. So, as of right now we're done. Maybe in a few years. But not anytime soon. So please don't watch my left-over-twin-baby belly.

Most days I don't mind the attention. I think when people see I have twins, they give me more sympathy. I've probably asked some of these same questions before I had my own. I love having my twins and watching my older boys interact with them. They are awesome big brothers. They are very loving and tender-hearted toward them. Even R, who is a big clumsy brute, tries to pick them up and burp them. L, 3 years old, is the biggest helper. If I'm staying home with the three youngest, I'll often ask for my oldest, too just because he's such a help.

No, my older boys do not use pacifiers... they just like to steal them.

It's about time for a Pregnancy Update

I came across this picture on Pinterest a few weeks ago, and it is very accurate:

I've been keeping very busy these last few months. My twin pregnancy is going well. Everyone seems healthy.
Even before I was pregnant I researched cute ideas for tracking belly growth. I was going to wear the same clothes every time, stand in the same spot, and the onlt thing that would change is the size of my belly. Ha. I'm not sure what happened, but that totally did not happen. I'm lucky if I remember to take a picture every three weeks or so. Seriously, the following pictures are the only growth pictures I've taken so far. (We're 32 weeks + 3 days)

At about 26 weeks my doctor told me I'd need help with my two small boys for the end of the pregnancy. My sister and some family friends have been out to help me since then. MY husband is actually stricter, and he gives me more restrictions than my doctor. They can be party poopers sometimes, but all in all they work as a good team to keep these babies in as long as possible.

He doesn't even let me cook or do dishes. He's taken over shopping, and as scary as that normally is, he's shown more self control at the store.
One Saturday I was getting really sick of staying home and he wanted to go to the new Cabela's in our area. He said I could go ONLY if they had a riding scooter. Sure! Anything to get out of the house, right!? Wrong. It was probably the single-most embarrassing thing I've ever experienced. Next time I'll go for the ride and sit in the car, thank you.

So pretty much all I'm allowed to do is sit on the couch. Even when I try to help cook or clean up dinner I get scolded to go sit down. As awesome as that sounds, it's really hard for someone with nesting instincts to just sit all day and let everyone do all the work... especially since they don't know how to do it as good as you! ;)

 Trust me, I have plenty to keep me busy on this couch. You'd think I'd post more often, but my brain went on vacation somewhere, and it doesn't want to come back. I do, however keep up great on Pinterest and Facebook. It's not a good thing, but what else have I got to do? I've also probably completed at least 40 crochet projects, and fully planned out the babies' room. I have a list of thirteen more projects to complete. They shouldn't take more than a few days.
On that note, I'm currently taking orders for crochet projects for the next few weeks! :) Help keep me busy, if you want.

If you're wondering how big I am now, this is me a little more than two weeks ago. I can't squeeze this shirt on anymore. Also, for those (like me) who would like the small details:

• The boys are both currently breech and the doctor says they look cozy, but she isn't scheduling anything yet.
• At 31 weeks they were weighing in at {3 pounds 13 oz.} and {3 pounds 15 oz.} My other two were 8 pounds each, so I'd like the twins to be good-sized.
• Yes, they do kick a lot.
• At 34 weeks, we will be considered "safe" but the goal is at least 37 weeks.
• No, the babies room is NOT painted yet! But hopefully this weekend will give somebody time to paint and set up the crib.
• Yes, I'm going to try to sleep them in the same bed. If it doesn't work, we have two cribs.
• Yes, I will have help when they come.
• Yes, we have names picked out but we don't like to tell. And yes, I can mostly tell which baby is kicking me or has hiccups.  

If you have any more fun questions, leave them for me in the comments. Hopefully it doesn't take me another four months to post another update!

Never Buy Chocolate Syrup Again!

I haven't bought chocolate syrup in over a year. Yes, I need extra chocolate on my ice cream and I love chocolate raw milk. It's like a treat. My boys get chocolate milk when Grandma and Papa visit. And no, I didn't stock up or stretch one bottle this long. I make it. I especially love that I can control what's in it. This is so easy, and you probably already have the ingredients.

Chocolate Syrup:
1/2 cup powdered cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sugar (I only use 1 1/2)
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Combine cocoa and water in saucepan on medium heat until dissolved.
Add sugar and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. *Be careful not to boil over! This happens to me as soon as I turn around.
Take off heat and add salt and vanilla.
Allow to cool and store in glass container.

Use within two months. If you have children, this usually isn't an issue.

Yum!

When God Hands You an Extra Blessing

Since my first pregnancy we've always looked forward to the first ultrasound. This was the one that would tell us if we were having one or two babies! During our first pregnancy we thought it'd be so cool to have twins. I mean, who doesn't think it'd be awesome to have twins? {At one point or another in their life.} Our first baby was just that. One baby. That's obviously totally normal and most common. Shortly after bringing out new baby home, we laughed {or cried} at the thought of having two of these!
At the beginning of our second pregnancy, it seemed we were always meeting parents of twins. We thought surely our days were numbered before it'd happen to us. I had an ultrasound at 7 weeks. One baby. {Phew} Now don't get me wrong. I love my babies. But two at once sounds more overwhelming, don't you agree?

In the last year we know of two families who just had twins. For the last month, after learning of our pregnancy, my husband's been paranoid about having twins. We talked about it a lot. "What if we do have twins? Do you have twins in your family? Could you imagine if this was twins?" My ultrasound was scheduled for early last week to learn my due date. Well, we had a serious snow storm that morning and my appointment was cancelled. I rescheduled for a week and a half later, due to my husband's work schedule. He told me that he'd rather I go the week before, and he would even drive me! He just couldn't stand the suspense. The drive there was really nice. He'd never been to any of my appointments before.
So... we started the ultrasound, and the first thing my husband saw when it started was a flash of two obvious black areas. I was watching his face since the monitor was faced away from me. He had this instant look of shock on his face. I thought it was just because it was a different experience. Nope. The next thing I hear is from the doctor, ever so calmly, "It's twins." Ha. I didn't believe her. She insisted there were two babies. We were in complete shock. My husband laughs about it now, but he got sick, took a nap, and then a shower when we got home.
It took a while to get used to the idea. After searching "twins" on Pinterest, I began to get excited. Even later that day my husband began to be excited about it. We're both very happy about it now. We've already been searching for baby items on craigslist, and bought a twin stroller.
We're so excited, and can't wait to meet our two little babies!