The twins have arrived!

(The ugly but totally necessary right after picture).  Sorry to all who follow my blog for up-dates.  It has taken me a while to find a chance to sit down.  But, I have forced myself to set this time aside to let you all know that our twins have arrived.  They finally came at the best possible time.  I was to be induced Monday, November 19th if they didn't come on their own before.  I was really hoping they would come on Saturday, November 17th because my Mom was coming into town on Monday, and I was hoping to be home by then to take advantage of the full week of help I would have.  Plus, that was the day the result of my final Group B strep would be back, and if they had come before, they would have put me on empiric antibiotics to cover me just in case.  And, Friday night we had agreed to have our nephews stay at our house since their parents were out of town, but we were planning to trade off with Steve and Diane Saturday afternoon.

My sister Kylie was a godsend this pregnancy.  Last minute she decided to fly out for my last pregnant week.  She totally took my mind off what I had termed "pre-partum depression."  I seriously had spent the week before crying every morning and night when I was still pregnant and had to face yet another pregnant day.  She helped with Liv, cooked us dinner, did dishes...and just hung out with me.  Liv was particularly fascinated with Aunt Kylie's make-up (mascara and pink lipstick...found her like this in Ky's bathroom surrounded by a pile of Ky's make-up and she says I'm getting pink lips!)

And, Liv loved Aunt Kylie for getting my lazy bum to plan a fun outting to the Thanksgiving Point Farm.

Anyways, Saturday arrived and Kylie and I decided to bust out a prenatal yoga video that she had sent me during my pregnancy with Liv.  Sadly, I never used it once this pregnancy until Saturday.

So, Kylie and I are doing some yoga squats around 11:30 when I can feel a contraction coming on and it HURT!  Then, I had another just like it maybe 4 or 5 mins later.  Derek starts asking me to help pack up the nephews because his Dad was on his way to pick them up.  Then, Liv pees on the floor, and I have to semi mop it up.  Then, Chase (my nephew) needs me to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  (I am running up and down the stairs, on the floor cleaning pee, at the kitchen counter making sandwiches...craziness).  All that happened in about 20 minutes and all the while I am having contractions that HURT every 4 or 5 mins apart.

Finally Chase and Grandpa take off, and I decide to lay down to see if contractions will settle down, but I am so uncomfortable I decide to sit the bath instead.  Before jumping in the bath, I tell Derek (who is outside covered in mud and dog poop as he likes to focus on) that he needs to probably come in because I am having a bunch of contraction.  He was irritated at me for doing a prenatal yoga video because I knew it would do this to me, and he was planning on having the weekend to work in the yard.

Okay, I hop in the bath and the contractions don't let up.  Now I am starting to think this is the real deal.  Plus, the contractions are hurting, and I am starting to not care if it is false labor...I just want to go to the hospital because it hurts.  So, Derek and my sister jump in the shower while Liv is in her high chair eating lunch.  In between they are running into the bathroom to get orders from me.  We don't take Liv to Steve and Diane's house as planned because I want to get to hospital ASAP because it HURTS, and I don't want to spend an extra 20 mins driving around town.  I want to go straight there.  So, we call my neighbor who was luckily home, and she sprinted over to get Liv.

It's now like 12:15 and we are getting in the car to head to the hospital.  Kylie and Derek describe me during the drive as Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.  When I am having a contraction I am trying to breathe but really just whimpering and annoyed at Derek for not taking a faster route to the hospital.  During no contraction, I'm pleasantly conversing about a wide variety of subjects.  We get to the hospital, they wheel me up to the 5th floor, and I pick up the phone.   The lady on the other side says "Labor and Delivery..." and I say, "I think I am in labor."

They open the door and have me fill out some paper work.  The put me in a room and nurse comes in to check me after ten LONG minutes.  So she is checking me while I am begging her to please let me bring both my sister and husband in the operating room with me (where they always deliver twins in case of last minute emergency but typically only allow one family member present to keep the room sterile) because I am having twins and need two people.  She gets this panicked look on her face says something like, "Oh frick!  You are a 9!" and rushes out of the room.  I start bawling because it is happening so fast, and I almost had twins at my house or in the car.  Next, a bunch of people flood the room.  They wheel me frantically to the operating room as nurses are chasing me with tubing to throw in an IV, and the anesthesiologist is rushing there to place an epidural in case there is a need for a quick emergency C-section.  All the while I am just begging the doctor to please let me have both my sister and husband back there with me.

Well, Ky and Derek were both allowed admittance and walk in the room dressed in sterile drapes and gowns.  The epidural is placed, they roll me on my back, I'm now a 10!  The doctor breaks my water and a few pushes later Camden is born at 1:25 pm weighing in at 5 lbs 13 oz and then Carter at 1:36pm weighing 5 lbs 4 oz.  I was literally at the hospital less than an hour before both were out.  Camden is blond with tons of hair.  He was the talk of the nursery.  Everyone kept commenting about how they never see blonds with this much hair.  I guess they are usually bald.  I have no clue where he got that hair from, but it is cute.  Carter is totally the opposite with dark hair and sweet as can be.  I guess they came out wanting everyone to know they are individuals!  Of course, I'm already in love with my boys and can't imagine them being anything else.

 
It was pure madness!  (By the way, if anyone nearing the end of pregnancy would like to borrow my prenatal yoga video, just ask.)  As much as I was so sick of being pregnant at the end and wishing to go into labor each day, they came at the perfect time.  Carter had two hours in the NICU right after delivery.  He was on CPAP and needed a little IV glucose, but then was good to join his brother down in the regular nursery.  And it wasn't long before both boys were watching football with their Dad in our hospital room.

Both came home with me after just two days in the hospital (which the pediatrician says for breast fed twins at 37/38 weeks is probably less than 10% ), had not a lick of jaundice, and are nursing fabulously.



They had a weight check yesterday and they are both just 2 ounces shy of their birth weight (usually want to see them back to birth weight by the two week appointment).  The pediatrician said I must be made to nurse which I think must be true because I am seriously thinking that I am going to be able to make enough milk for these twins.  We haven't supplemented at all, they are gaining weight like champs, and I already have a freezer-full of milk stored up.

Liv is doing pretty well.  At the hospital she was a gem, came in and immediately asked to hold a brother.  She sat and held him and stroked his hair and face so gently.  Then, said she wanted to hold the other brother and did the same.  She loved ordering room service hospital food and eating it as much as I did.  I love that I can eat comfortable again (and I am starving all the time)!  Now that we are home, Liv is a little clingy to me, but over all seems to like the babies and handles the fact that I pretty much just sit and nurse all day (and night).

I don't think I will ever sleep again!  They seriously wake up every two hours to eat and the hour I have in between is usually filled with changing someone's poopy diaper, changing them out of the outfit that just got spit up all over it, and trying to get them to go back to sleep when I realize dang you look hungry, and sure enough when I look at the clock it is time to eat...again.  But, they are sure cute sleeping next to each other, so that makes it more manageable.


And one random pic for good measure...first snow of the year a couple weeks ago and go figure today (on Thanksgiving) we are in the 60s!