I See Changes!

Whew!  These last couple of months have been pretty crazy. David and I have made a major change and the babies are changing every day.

First change: I have moved to Idaho with the babies and puppies. We thought it would be a good idea for me to come home ahead of David and get everything settled. Little did we know, it would take much longer for him to get home.  We are still waiting for him to get his ratings back from the VA but once he does, we will only be separated for another month. 

David and I have gone months without seeing each other. And while it does suck to be apart from my husband, it's much harder when there are kids involved. I know he misses them so much and feels like he is missing out, but this will all be a memory someday. We make sure to Skype throughout the week and I am always sending pictures and videos. Fingers crossed that we will hear something before the end of September. I'm ready for my family to be together again. 

Onto other news, the babies!!!  Oh man, they are getting so big!!  They are seven months old and so heavy!  

Emmett is closing in on 20 pounds and is my chunky monkey. He still is the happiest baby and has the most hilarious belly laugh.  His happiness is completely contagious, you can't help but smile along with him. He loves to talk and is getting better at grabbing things. Emmett has his favorite toys and loves to watch his animal mobile, he's just so content.  The doctor said that he is a little lazier than Kambry but that's ok, he has a lot more to him!!  

Kambry is my little peanut, around 15 pounds.  She is the sweetest little girl ever!!  She loves to hear herself. Sometimes you'll hear her yelling from across the house but she's not upset, she's just talking very loudly. Kambry has the most adorable smile and the funniest little laugh.  She has become a pro at grabbing her toys and surprises me with how far she can scoot. Kambry also loves to bounce!!  All you have to do is bounce her and tell her how beautiful she is and she is a happy girl!!   And! My little baby has two teeth that have broken through!  It's hard to believe!!

Both babies are growing so well, you would never know that they were tiny preemies.  They have started eating solids, they both love rice cereal and prefer it over veggies or fruit.  They both love to stand and have really strong legs.  I love reading to them and they love watching sing-a-longs, particularly one about a hole in the bottom of the sea! :)  I do have to toot my horn a little bit, we have worked very hard in setting a nightly routine and because of that, both babies sleep at least ten hours a night. Emmett is definitely easier to get to sleep but once they are both put in bed, they are out until the next morning.  I won't spill my secrets though!!
It is so fun watching them develop their own personalities.  There are some areas where they are so alike and some where they are complete opposites.  It is quite hilarious watching them together now that they are starting to be more aware of each other. In the NICU, they weren't ever together and were never in the same bed until they both were home. Now that they are able to control their hands better, they tend to grab at each other clothes or their ears or hair but very often you will catch them holding hands and  it is the most precious thing.

Well we are having a fun summer and are trying to spend as much time outside as possible. Hopefully by my next blog, some pictures will include David!!!

The Best Kind of Insanity

I have been trying to write this blog for a month but if you can imagine, I've been a little busy. No, not just a little. I have been ridiculously busy. When you bring home a baby, it can be pretty overwhelming but when you bring home two, it is a whole different world. Everyone thinks that when you have twins it's just two of everything. Two car seats, two bottles, two diapers, and two cribs. While all of that is true, there is a lot more to it. No one tells you that your twins could be on completely different feeding or sleeping schedules. Or that both babies may want mommy at the exact same time that your trying to make bottles.  Needless to say, our world has changed in a huge way but I couldn't imagine it any different.

Emmett is my sweet boy, my little monster. He is the sweetest little boy with the biggest blue eyes. He is very patient and relaxed and loves to be in his bouncy chair or on his play mat.  Emmett's smile is pretty constant and huge, but don't be late on feeding him him or he will wake up everyone in the house.  He has rolled onto his back a few times and is getting pretty good at kicking his legs.  Emmett is David's twin through and through but is a total mommy's boy.  He is a great sleeper and averages about 6 hours a night which is amazing. He is freaking adorable and it takes everything I have to not constantly kiss his cheeks.

 

 Kambry is the most beautiful baby. She is my little twin with my almond eyes.  Unlike Emmett, it is a rare day if she is happy on her play mat or bouncy, she just prefers to be held.  But when she is happy, she has the sweetest smile in between her chubby cheeks.  Kambry makes the cutest squeaky noises and the funniest faces.  Her favorite thing is laying on the changing pad (don't ask me why) and she is even happier when she's naked and getting a massage. Kambry doesn't sleep as long or as easily as her brother but once she lays on her daddy's chest, she is out like a light.  I love having one-on-one time with my little girl, she can be very talkative just like her momma.

 

When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I kind of assumed that I wouldn't deliver full-term babies but I never imagined that I would give birth 11 weeks early.  I may have been naive, but I didn't know that preemies were such a big deal.  I knew they would just be little but thought they would grow up like any other baby.  Although they are are almost five months old, they are technically only two months old.  So instead of my 19 week old babies hitting 19 week milestones, they're only expected to to hit eight week marks.  Most five month olds would weigh much more than 12 pounds too!  It's all pretty complicated and can be very confusing sometimes.  The way I look at it, I am just very lucky to have been able to spend extra time with my babies.

Now to shift the focus a little bit, my family will be living in Idaho very soon. We are waiting for David to be medically retired from the Army. He suffered a back injury while he was in Iraq and it is continuing to get worse. I know this isn't how David wanted to finish his career  in the military but I don't know if the timing could be more perfect. It is going to be a huge transition for us (bigger for him than me) but I think we're ready for a new adventure. This year has already been full of surprises and challenges and I know there are many more in store for us. We can't wait to be around our family and raise our babies in such a beautiful place.

Now let's keep our fingers crossed that I have the next blog written before the babies are crawling.

Babies.

Birth stories.  They are always very intriguing and interesting but are also very creepy and weird.  But now that my babies have made their way into the world, I figured I would share their birth stories too.  I will try to not put too much personal stuff in this story, but I am not making too many promises. 

My pregnancy started out as a strangely normal pregnancy.  Like I mentioned in an earlier blog, I didn't have any morning sickness, slept very easily, didn't have any weird cravings and hardly gained any weight.  It was hard to believe I was pregnant, let alone pregnant with twins.  But as soon as week 21 came around, things started to change.  I had horrible, horrible back pain and learned about round ligament pain which was insanely painful as well.

At the beginning of December, David and I went on a marriage retreat in Dallas where we spent one day at the zoo and the next day at the aquarium.  By the end of both days, I was completely worn out with a sore tummy and swollen feet.  I should have taken it easy, but I had been wanting to go to Dallas for so long that I wanted to make the best of it.  When we went back to Killeen, I had a regular doctors appointment where I had complained of some cramping and being very uncomfortable.  My doctor wanted me to go up to Labor and Delivery to be monitored for a little bit to make sure that I wasn't in labor, I was only 24 weeks and 5 days.  David met me in the waiting room and we sat there forever and ever.  Two hours later, we were finally called back into a room where I was going to receive a pelvic exam.  I thought that was a little strange since I hadn't received an exam in months but figured they knew what they were doing and I was just being paranoid.  I should have listened to my gut.  After they started the exam, it didn't take any longer than two minutes before everything went wrong.  Before I knew it, a nurse was rushing out to get a doctor, David was holding my hand and asking the other nurse if "she did this."  After an ultrasound was performed, they concluded that a sac had been ruptured which had started labor and I needed to be admitted to the hospital.  That wasn't comforting.  Hospitals are not my favorite place so the thought of spending the night was so scary.  Then the doctor came in and told me that not only did I need to be transferred to another hospital, I needed to be prepared to give birth within 12 hours.  Not comforting either.  While we were waiting for a helicopter to come and pick me up, they started pumping me full of magnesium and steroids to try and stop the labor.  I couldn't believe all of this was happening.  I was not prepared to have babies so early, and the babies were definitely not ready to come out.  But I had no choice but to go with the flow and see how everything played out.

 Two days before I was admitted, 24 weeks and 3 days

When the helicopter crew showed up, I was already three centimeters dilated and having steady contractions.  Everyone was very friendly, but I was very anxious to get this flight over with and get to the hospital in Austin.  It's too bad that my first helicopter flight was spent having contractions because it would've been nice to be able to enjoy the Christmas lights but the combination of the uncomfortable gurney and loud buzzing and pain all over made the flight pretty horrible.  Once I arrived in Austin, I was able to relax a bit and had another ultrasound done.  I probably will never forget that first ultrasound.  It was so relieving to see both of the babies and hear their heartbeats...it was literally the highlight of my day.

The next day, a doctor came into reaffirm that I was ruptured and that the best bet for the babies and me would be to stay in the hospital, on bed rest, until I delivered.  That was December 10th, my due date was March 27th.  The thought of staying in the hospital for four months was so scary.  Who would take care of my puppies or the house?  Who would get the nursery ready?  Would David have to go back to work?  And if he did, would I be alone in the hospital and for how long?  It was a lot to take in but I forced myself to stay as positive as possible.

A few days later, I became stable enough to be transferred to the Antepartum Unit.  This unit was so much more relaxed than Labor and Delivery.  I only had to be monitored twice a day, didn't have to have an IV and got an ultrasound every three days.  Getting used to only being able to get up to use the bathroom or shower was pretty difficult, but it got easier and I found ways to keep myself busy.  About a week after everything happened, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.  It felt like there was always something!!  Having to watch what I ate was such a pain, especially since I had to eat hospital food all day!  I ate a lot of salad, oranges and crackers with cheese and salami.  David and I stayed in the hospital for Christmas and for New Year's.  The holidays for 2012 were not anything exciting but I was happy to still be pregnant and be with my husband.

Fast forward to the week of January 6.  I had been in the hospital for five weeks and was days away from being 29 weeks.  I had finally gotten wheelchair privileges so I got to go outside for the first time since December 10th and was looking forward to the weekend so a friend could bring my puppies.  A doctor had also started to talk about sending me home since it seemed like the rupture had healed itself.  The babies were very healthy and I was very stable, everything had turned around, it was kind of miraculous.  That Friday, the 11th, David was able to come be with me since he had been in Killeen all week.  About two hours after he arrived at the hospital, my doctor came in and ordered a test to see if I was still ruptured and that test would determine if I would go home or not.  As she started walking out of my room, I felt fluid and lots of it.  Scary.  My water broke.  Oh no.  Luckily, my nurse wasn't too concerned and said that we would just act like nothing happened and go about our business.  I felt fine for about 20 minutes, I even had David go to Panda Express to pick up some dinner, but very soon after that, I started to feel a lot of pressure and tons of pain.  45 minutes after my water broke, I was being wheeled to the operating room to have a C-section.  I was in so much pain by that time, I didn't care what they did, I just wanted it to end.  Everything had happened so quickly, that instead of going with a regular C-section, they chose to put me under general anesthesia and deliver the babies.

Some time later, I woke up while I was being wheeled into the recovery room and could feel a huge incision and burning.  Since my labor had progressed so quickly, they didn't have time to give me an epidural which would usually keep the pain of an incision hidden for awhile.  Lucky for me, they hooked me up to a nice dose of pain killers and that got me through the night.  Two hours after surgery, before I was wheeled to my room in Post-Partum, my nurse snuck me into the NICU where I saw my sweet babies for the first time.  They were so little and skinny, and really hairy, with wires and tubes everywhere.  But they were here and they were healthy, what more could I ask for. 

Emmett Anthony Cole was born on January 11 at 7: 53 p.m. weighing 3 lbs. 3 oz., 15 1/2 inches long.

Kambry Rae Marie was born at 7: 55 p.m. weighing 3 lbs., 16 inches long.

 My first time seeing them.  (That stuffed bear was given to me by my dad, it stayed on my bed every night and even made it through surgery!)

 Sweet Kambry, 1 day old.

 Now that the babies were here, the thought of being able to go home very soon was exciting.  Obviously, the fact that the babies wouldn't be coming home with us wasn't what either of us wanted, but I couldn't help but look forward to the day that I would be able to leave the hospital!!  I was told to expect to be discharged on Monday the 14th, but the day after I delivered, the doctors noticed an infection in my uterus.  I still don't know what caused it, but the infection is the reason why I delivered so quickly...my body was trying to fight the infection by getting rid of everything-including babies.  So naturally, I was hooked up to three different kinds of antibiotics that would be running around the clock for three days.  On that third day, which was Monday, I was told that I would be discharged the next day just to make sure that the infection was gone.  When Tuesday came, I got sick.  And I don't mean cough-cough sick, I mean really, really, REALLY sick.  No eating or drinking, no talking, no moving.  I had never been sick like this before and the doctors couldn't figure out WHY!!  It was the most excruciating two days of my life, I was even quarantined!!  And because of this weird sickness, I wasn't able to see the babies and that was rough.  Finally, they stopped the antibiotics, since I had been on them for five days straight, and I miraculously felt better.  I had color, I could move and I could even drink water and eat some crackers.  Once Thursday came, I had made a HUGE turn-around and would be discharged just in time to pick my mom up from the airport!!

 Moppy's first time holding one of her grand-babies.

Our sweet babies have progressed beautifully.  Just a few days after they were born, they were taken off oxygen and about two weeks later they began bottle/breast feeding.  Kambry is now getting close to five pounds and Emmett is getting close to being six pounds.  Of course they are absolutely beautiful...and they don't cry!!  Seriously, I've maybe heard Kambry whine for a couple minutes during a bath but that is it!!  I wonder how long it will last...

 David's first time holding baby Kambry.

 My first time holding both babies at the same time.

These last few weeks have been tough: mentally, emotionally and physically.  Since we live about 60 miles away from the hospital (and insurance won't transfer them closer) we aren't able to be with the babies as much as we would like.  Thankfully, we have had the opportunity to stay at the Ronald McDonald House during the weekends and that has literally been life changing.  I can't believe how lucky we are to have healthy babies.  I have met so many people in the NICU who have had babies in there for over 90 days...I can't imagine.

 Our first family picture.

Currently, the babies are 36 weeks and 6 weeks, 5 days old.  They are absolutely precious and we are so in love with them.  We can't wait to have them home and start our new life as a family of four plus two puppies.  :)