I finally had the babies! I looked at my last post and saw that I was 34 weeks along. From that post until delivery things went pretty smooth. All my non-stress tests came back normal, my blood pressure never was a problem, and between my 35 and 36 week appointment Baby B flipped and turned head down! I just got more and more uncomfortable and thought for sure by 36 weeks I would go into labor. Well 36 weeks came and went, and so did 37. After 37 weeks I did everything I could to go into labor! I went on walks, ate spicy food, I even started doing squats and lunges. But nothing worked. So, on my birthday, I spent the morning waiting anxiously for the call from the hospital so I could go in and get induced. When I made the induction appointment, I thought there was no way I would go that far. But like my sister told me, I have an iron uterus and even with twins I went clear to 38 weeks and had to be induced! So from now on, I have two little buddies I get to share my birthday with! Cinco de Mayo really is going to be quite the celebration at our house!
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| 38 weeks. My eyes are all puffy because I had been crying all morning. I was emotionally unstable at this point. |
When we got the call to head up, we all loaded into the car and drove to the hospital. Joy's husband Kahea was going to meet us there to pick up Asher and watch him while we were in the hospital. He watched Asher all day and Asher had so much fun! Well, we got to the room and I got all hooked up to IV's and monitors. The doctor came in and broke my water and we were off! Right before they gave me to Pitocin I asked for the epidural. I was glad I asked so early because they said that put me right at the top of the list! I hate pitocin and knew I would need the epidural to get through it. It wasn't too long before I was able to get it and life was much better afterwards. Well, except the nausea. Being on my back with my huge belly made me so sick. But I was able to get some medicine for that and things were better after that.
I was so glad when halfway through my labor my mom showed up! She knew when I was being induced so she started driving that morning to be there for me. I felt bad that she just kind of sat around all day watching me sit in the hospital bed, but it was awesome to have that support. The nurses heard that it was my birthday so they put together a little gift basket for me filled with an adult coloring book, lotion, and a few other little things. Everyone was so nice!
Labor went pretty normal, and before I knew it it was time to deliver! With twins, delivery is a little different. I had to deliver in the OR in case they had to do an emergency C-section. David also had to get in a full gown and there were tons of people in the room to help out if needed. There were probably 10-15 people in the delivery room with us: my L&D nurse, 2 nurses from the Nursery for each baby after they were delivered, a midwife there to guide the second baby down after I delivered the first, one nurse was there and just took pictures for us, maybe one or two other people, and lastly the doctor catching the babies! This delivery was a lot more difficult for me because my epidural wasn't as strong. Half way through delivering the first baby I just couldn't stop thinking "I have to do this again..." and feeling like I was never going to be able to do it. But we made it through and everything went so smooth!
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| The nurses were holding her up so I could see. I couldn't hold her yet because I still had one more baby to go! |
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| Baby A! |
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| And Baby B! |
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| Birthday buddies! |
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| Family picture! |
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| Mia Elizabeth (Baby A) born 6 lbs 3 oz and 18 inches and Ava Jane (Baby B) born at 6 lbs 6 oz and 18 inches |
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| Meeting the sisters |
Later that night Brian, Brittany, Joy and Kahea came to see us and bring Asher to the hospital. After their visit my mom took Asher home. For the rest of our hospital stay things went good. Mia had to have her blood sugar levels checked regularly because she was just under the normal weight range and when we left Ava's bilirubin count was a little high, but checkups on both girls after the hospital came back normal! I am amazed and feel very blessed that my pregnancy, delivery, and everything after went so smooth. I think Heavenly Father knew that I wouldn't be able to handle much else!
Recovery from this delivery went much better than my recovery from having Asher. I was able to get up and move around MUCH sooner and didn't feel nearly as sick. I think that's partly because my epidural wasn't so strong this time. When we came home from the hospital, my Dad and two sisters were there and my mom made us an amazing lunch. It was so fun to see them and they made David and I go and take a nap while they watched the girls and Asher. My mom was able to stay with us for a little while longer and she was so nice to entertain Asher, cook meals, and clean for us! We had a few days of just us and then David's mom came to stay with us and do the same thing. We really appreciated all the help we got and I don't know how we would've done it without them! Now that they've gone, Asher gets bored a lot more, I don't really cook meals, and our house is a mess. But we are all still alive, so that's the good thing! Here are some pictures, although I'll probably post again soon with pictures from the girls' newborn photo shoot.
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| Asher holding Mia! It took awhile for him to want to do this. |
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| Grandma cuddling Mia right before she headed back to Rexburg. |
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| David cuddling Ava. Ava is definitely more of a cuddle-bug than Mia, she always wants to be held! |
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| Asher really does love the babies. He pulled the bouncer over to the couch so he could sit next to both of them. |
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| Mia falling asleep during tummy time. |
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| Asher likes to get involved with tummy time! |
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| Making cookies with Grandma! |
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| I put Ava down for a second and she fell asleep like this. She was worn out. |
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| This is how they sleep most nights. They don't seem to mind having the other person up in their face! |
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| Asher spending time with Mia. He pulled the other bouncer over so he could sit next to her. |
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| He climbed into the crib with Ava. He likes to be very involved in whatever the babies are doing! |
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| Watching the babies sleep. |
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| We went to a parade the city was putting on. I took Ava in the front loader and David stayed home with Mia. We were able to walk over to the route and we sat next to Asher's friend Monty. I was worried about having Ava outside in the heat and with all that noise, but she did great! And the only one that got sunburned was me! |
Now the girls are officially 1 month old. I feel like that's a big accomplishment! I miss being able to drink pop and I've found that I can't have too much dairy, but I feel blessed that I've been able to nurse both girls with only minimal supplementation. I am hungry all the time and drink so much water, but it's all for a good cause.
Now that David is out of school for the summer, I have help from him and don't feel so overwhelmed. Most of what he does at this point is just hold babies. When I get done feeding one he'll burp her or if they're both having a hard time going to sleep or if they are fussy after bath time. He's been so helpful to me and he's also been great at taking Asher out of the house and letting him have some one-on-one time.
I'm so excited for when these girls start smiling and laughing and start sleeping at night more! Hopefully by my next post I'll be able to tell you all about those! Until then, here's to keeping everyone alive for another month!
