The One with The NICU Update...

I finally got a chance and have the energy to give everyone a little update. I will write out the birth story later this week, but for now I'll just let you all know what's been going on with the babies. 

They are both still in the NICU but they are doing well. They each have their own nurse watching over them & couldn't be in better hands...especially at night time when Emily Hugen is there taking care of them :) 

Faith has consistently been doing better. She was brought straight to the NICU after being born because of her size. Once there, she was put on a CPAP which helped her breath, but was able to come off of it by early Saturday. Since then she has been breathing on her own, has come off the IV and has started breast feeding. She has been a rock star feeding so far, especially for her size and age. So proud of her already :) It does take a lot of energy for her to feed and if it takes her longer than 30 minutes to eat, it starts being counterproductive and she burns more calories then she takes in. Because of this, she  they ended up putting in a feeding tube so after she feeds and is all tuckered out, she is given whatever I've pumped through her feeding tube. She is starting to show signs of having jaundice, but her levels aren't high enough to put her under the light, so we're hoping it stays that way. I love being able to have the special one on one time with her to do skin to skin, feed her, and to see her little quicks and personality outside the womb. 

As for Mr. Cole, he is making progress. He was originally taken to the nursery because he was good size, but after struggling to get good, deep breaths, they took him to the NICU to join his sister. All the nurses have told us that statistically, females tend to do better than males in the NICU as well as the 1st twin tends to also have a quicker recovery rate than the 2nd born twin. So poor Cole has both of those odds stacked against him :/ But he will get there and is already improving. He still has his CPAP on to regulate his oxygen and a picc line to give him everything he needs. We haven't been able to hold him yet which has been really hard. We get to take his temperate, change his diaper, and able to put our hands in the incubator and touch him, but until the CPAP is removed and he is more stable, we won't be able to hold him. Last night was actually the first time since he was born that I got to see him with the CPAP off his face. It breaks my heart that I'm not able to hold and cuddle him like I can Faith. They said we might be able to do skin to skin today which would be so nice to do before we go home. It's hard feeling like you have two babies when one is in your arms and the other is cooped up in an incubator. I know he will be out of there sooner then later and our time will come, but all I want to do is bond with him like I can her. I hope I'm explaining all of the correctly. Matt is the one who is good at understanding all the medical terminology :) I am so thankful to have him as my partner in this and to see him as a dad has made my love for him grow even more. I love watching him while I feed Faith, sitting next to Cole, looking at him in his incubator and watching his vitals.

 

I'm recovering really well and not in too much pain. Trying to walk around as much as possible and get as much rest as I can, which has been harder then I thought. By the time we check in and scrub in at the NICU, spend time with the babies, feed and get back to the room, it's time for me to pump. Then it feels like the cycle starts all over again. I know this is just a glimpse of the tiredness to come, but I think it's much more emotionally draining right now then anything. I'm home today which is going to be even more difficult having to drive back and forth each day. I'm planning on staying for 2 feedings in a row during the day and then Matt and I can come back later in the afternoon/night to do another feeding. We don't have a good idea yet of when they will come home. It's all hour to hour, day by day with how their progress goes. We probably won't know until the day before that he and/or she can come. I'm thankful that I have this time to recover and rest, and even more thankful that their conditions aren't more serious. We finally have our babies that we have prayed so long for. I think we can wait a couple weeks longer till they are home with us, we have waited this long :)

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations, and for all you encouraging words, thoughts and prayers. We are so blessed to have family and friends there for unconditional support and appreciate it more than you know. This is just another part in our journey and another one of God's blessings in disguise :)

We can't wait for Cole to join us for a picture!

The One with Less than 20 Days...

I can't believe we will be meeting our babies in less than 3 weeks! I am so thankful to have gotten this far & to have health, good size babies that are still cookin' away. Up until a week or so ago, this whole twin pregnancy hasn't been anything but a breeze, but things are definitely starting to get uncomfortable now. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with any morning sickness or heartburn, haven't been put on bed rest, and most importantly, there haven't been any complications with the babies and their development. I have made it a point to not complain about being pregnant because I consider it one of God's greatest gifts that I am able to grow these babies inside of me. This has been something that I have prayed, dreamt, and begged God for. There were times in our journey that all I wanted was to feel nauseous, or to have to use the restroom more than normal because that could mean I might be pregnant.  With that said, I don't want this to come across as complaining. Just stating the facts about what it's like at this point in my pregnancy growing these little ones. 

It's getting hard and I am feeling the affects of having two good size babies inside of me. The days aren't too bad other then I just get winded & tired pretty quick. I went to Babies R Us to pick up a few last minute things today. I was there for maybe 10/15 minutes and when I got home I went straight in bed to take a nap because I could hardly function. Night time is when things start to get uncomfortable. Right around 7/7:30, baby boy starts to push his booty up into my rib cage and it stays there pretty much all.night.long. I dread going to bed because I know I will be getting up about ever 2 hours to pee. I know, great preparation for when they get here :) Switching back and forth from my left and right side has also gotten pretty painful. After laying on one side for awhile, all my belly weight settles, so when I move to the other side it hurts pretty bad. Matt has stepped up so much by doing the grocery shopping, helping with cooking, and bringing me things when I am just done. I definitely couldn't do this without him. Ok, enough with the venting :)

In other baby related news, last week we had another ultrasound to check their measurements. My doctor is extremely cautious and has me get u/s every 4 weeks to make sure their weight difference is less than 20%. So far they have been only off by a few ounces, but this last u/s showed that she weighs about 1 pound less than he does. This concerned my doctor because that could mean there is a discordance with their weight which could mean that she is not getting the nutrients needed due to problems with the placenta or umbilical cord. This is pretty common among twins and nothing to worry about yet, but just to be safe he sent us to a Perinatologist to get a more detailed u/s. She said everything looked great and they are both measuring within normal range. She is just on the smaller side and he is on the bigger side. Her cord blood flow looked great, heart rate was perfect, and all measurements are proportionate. She also said she could be measuring smaller because of her position and that she is so scrunched up, it is hard to measure her. Also, boys are usually bigger than girls, another reason for the size difference. She said they will continue to monitor them through the NST's and that it would be wise to move my c-section up to 38 weeks so that they weight difference doesn't continue to grow. So as of now we have a scheduled c-section for Tuesday, September 25th! I can't thank God enough that this is the most of our complications and that it has come this late in the pregnancy. I wouldn't even say this is a complication, just something they are going to keep an eye on. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed every part of being pregnant and I'm trying to soak in these next couple of weeks as this might be the only and last time being pregnant. Although the c-section is set and I am so eager for them to get here, I haven't and still don't worry about when or how they come into the world. I know God already has their birthday set and it's so comforting knowing He is in control and they are in His hands.

My big outing yesterday was to go to Target and get all the last minute things I still needed for my hospital bag. I saw a mom with baby boy/girl twins. It gave me some encouragement seeing her out and about by herself with both of them, even if that was her only outing for the day. Can't believe that will be me some day! Okay, enough rambling... 

I looked back at the last few belly pictures and it doesn't seem like my belly has grow! I don't know what is up with that, but it definitely has. This week my belly is measuring at 43 weeks. I thinks it's just getting longer instead of farther out :/

• How far along? 35 weeks
• Total weight gain: 46lbs. I guess I made up for last weeks lack of gaining :/
• Stretch marks? No new ones, but they are definitely there.
• Sleep: Let's just say I dread going to bed. The other night I woke up 6 times to pee.
• Best moment this week: Getting my c-section moved up to the 25th!
• Miss Anything? Energy. I am pretty much useless around here.
• Movement: Feeling a lot of rolls, wiggles, and hiccups.  
• Food cravings: Popcorn. I saw someone eating some last night on tv and it looked soooo good. 
• Food Aversions: None
• Gender: Boy & Girl
• Labor Signs: Nope! Still going strong.
• Symptoms: My overall body feels pretty good. I haven't had any hip or back pain. Mostly just discomfort from carrying over 11 lbs & 3 ft of baby. The belly has been itching a lot lately too.
• Belly Button in or out? Flat.
• Wedding rings on or off? Off
• Looking forward to: Meeting the babes! Now that everything is done and we are in countdown mode, I am just ready for them to be here! Oh, and Matt finally said we can install the car seats this weekend :) 

The One with The LAST Month...

Well, I wrote this big ol' long blog post a couple days ago, went to post it, and somehow it hadn't saved. Soooo...I've decided to just post my weekly update ( a week late) and I'll try to rewrite everything again and post it with this weeks (35 weeks) update in a couple days. Happy Tuesday!

• How far along? 34 weeks-one of the last big milestones for a twin pregnancy. Babies born now generally have an excellent chance of survival, without any major long-term complications, although they would still spend time in the NICU. Keep cookin' babies!
• Total weight gain: 42lbs still. No weight gain this week which is very surprising because I feel like my belly grew a lot.
• Stretch marks? yep
• Sleep: Waking up 2-4 a night to pee.
• Best moment this week: Being able to say the nursery is officially done.  
• Miss Anything? Cool weather. This heat is out of control!
• Movement: Still moving a lot. More Although I feel movement everywhere, I've been feeling a lot more in my pelvis. It feels like they are both trying to push their way down into my legs!
• Food cravings: Watermelon! I never did get my chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, but I made choc. chip cookies this week which have been holding me over :)
• Food Aversions: None
• Gender: Boy & Girl
• Labor Signs: Nope. Everything is still looking good. Thank you Lord!
• Symptoms: Swollen ankles and an aching belly.  
• Belly Button in or out? Flat most of the time.
• Wedding rings on or off? Off
• Looking forward to: Going to the 1st day of school for a few hours. It will be fun to see my kiddos from last year who haven't seen me since I was 22 weeks pregnant.