TWINS!!!
I've been meaning to write this post for weeks but with twins time is few and far between, but it is of utmost importance for me to document this, so here's to hoping I get through this before a baby wakes (I did NOT. It took me several weeks to write this post, lol):
My mom and sister arrived on January 5th, and it was so nice to finally have them here! As always it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could finally relax and focus on having these babies. I had a doctor appointment this day and when my doctor saw my legs and feet she said "Oh my God bless America". They literally were that huge! As we continued the appointment I expressed my concerns that my sister needed to leave the following week, and that I wanted her to have time with the babies (at this point my induction was still scheduled for January 14). We decided that it was better for me to deliver on Saturday, January 10 because my doctor was on call that entire day. I was so nervous the days following up to it because I knew that I only had 7am-5pm to deliver if I happened to go into labor beforehand and I also knew that my doctor was off on Friday the 9th. It was extremely important that she delivered this time because Baby B was breech and Dr. Ponder was completely comfortable with breech extraction. She said that if it wasn't her to deliver, she would recommend a c-section if the baby couldn't be turned.
Photo sent to me to show me they were on their way. I was panicking at the doc office so this photo calmed me down
THE FEET!
3 days before delivery
Girls so excited to see Grandma and Auntie! Ella was at school :(
Here's a picture of the finished carseat covers. So cute! Jared did such an awesome job!
The nursery all ready for them!
Jared practicing with the new Moby wrap!
We spent the week just hanging out and waiting for the babies to arrive. It was nice to finally just take it easy. We did go to the mall one of the days and spent some time at Carters, ate at the food court (Chick Fil A), and I got my ring checked. Funny thing is, I hadn't been able to wear my wedding ring 4 months pregnant, but it fit at this time. Weird. Ella had her first day of art class on Wednesday, so Grandma and I took her. She had so much fun!
I had a non-stress test on Thursday, so my mom went with me. Babies both cooperated and it went by pretty quickly!
Mom took a pic of the back of me to show that it didn't even look like I was pregnant from the back.
Friday the 9th we went and saw my Uncle Dee and then on the way home decided to stop at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Jared met us there. It was yummy and really helped to pass the time.
Last night as a family of 5!
When I got home I happened to miss the call from the hospital giving me instructions for my induction the next day. In the message, the nurse kept referring to "my surgery" and I started to get a little nervous! I called and had them clarify and was told that the nurse had misunderstood. Phew! I was told to call around 5:45 the next morning to see what time to go in for my induction.
Saturday the 10th I got up and called the hospital and was told to wait until I was called. I called again around 7:45 and was told to come in at 9. We arrived at the hospital around 9:30.
I really needed to use the bathroom but waited just in case they needed a sample. I got on my gown and Jared and I sat and talked while we waited for the nurse.
My feet! Left foot is top 2 photos, right is bottom 2.
It wasn't until nearly a half hour later that the nurse came in. Come to find out, they hadn't told her I was there. Wow. About the same time the nurse came in, so did my doctor! Dr. Ponder wanted to check me before she broke As water but I really needed to use the bathroom, so she had me do that first. Then the nurse put my IV in and got everything ready in that regards. She started the pitocen (immediately the heart arrhythmia that B had went away and baby was able to be monitored the whole time) and hooked me up to the monitors. Dr. Ponder came in and checked me (I was a 3+) and proceeded to break As water at 10:10am. I cried because I felt really bad for being induced early and that there was no turning back. I started to feel the contractions but they weren't painful, just uncomfortable. I started to breathe through them, but didn't feel the need to ask for the epidural I had decided to get due to the possible complications that could arise during delivery. At some point between As water being broken and the next time I was checked, I got up and used the restroom. It's always fun to have all of the cords draped around you. They checked my blood sugar and it was 56 which is low, so they added a glucose saline to my IV.
At 12:00, I was checked and was a 4+. Dr. Ponder asked me if I would like to get my epidural at that time and actually recommended it because the anesthesiologist was about to go and do a c-section and it would be a while before he could return. I decided to go ahead with it. At 12:15 the anesthesiologist came in and had me turn on my left side and scoot all the way to the edge of the bed. I had an epidural with Ella and it didn't hurt at all, so I didn't expect to feel anything. This time it was different. Besides the sting of the needle to numb the area, I also felt a dull aching in my hips as he injected the medicine. It wasn't very comfortable at all. After the epidural kicked in I could still feel each contraction because it would push baby B's head up into my ribs. It wasn't painful just pretty uncomfortable. My contractions were starting to get pretty regular, every 3-4 minutes at this point, so they turned the pitocen off after only increasing it to a 9. I think the max dose is 20ml/hr but don't quote me on that.
At 1:45 I was checked again and was a 6. I asked the doc about how much longer she thought it would be, and asked if she thought they would be here before 4. She said she thought so. At this point I decided I wanted to try to nap, but B's head kept bugging me. Poor Jared wouldn't nap either unless I did, despite working the night shift the night before. Stinker. I was feeling the contractions and they were starting to get really uncomfortable but not painful. Since I had an epidural I didn't see why I should be feeling the contractions, so I asked for them to turn up the medicine a bit. Pretty much all that did was numb my legs more. I could no longer lift my left leg. What an interesting sensation. I just remember my legs feeling fuzzy. Like I had really soft, hairy legs. Weird.I was told that if I felt any pressure to let the nurse know because they didn't want A to be born on the bed. I don't see how they expect you to know when you feel pressure when you have an epidural, but okay.
Our birth plan this time :)
These photos are taken right about 2:23pm
A nurse came in at 2:45 to let me know that my nurse would be back in about 10 minutes from lunch and quickly asked if I felt any pressure and if I wanted her to check me just in case. I told her I wasn't sure if I felt pressure or not but I was starting to shake which happened right before delivery with Cienne. She decided to check me just in case. I remember prior to her coming in, feeling a gush and drop but didn't think that was the pressure they were referring to. Apparently it was because I was complete and the nurse got pretty panicked. She called my doc and all the other people that were supposed to be in the operating room for the delivery. My doctor was on a phone call with another patient and the nurse was yelling in the phone and my doctor was very confused. Finally she was able to get the message and we began our journey to the operating room. They had Jared put on a suit and got all gowned up themselves.
Being in the operating room was pretty scary. Everyone was in a gown with face masks, hair covered, etc. I felt very vulnerable because I was the only one not covered. My doc is most comfortable with delivering on the operating table "just in case", so she had them move me onto it. It was kinda difficult because I could only move my right leg, my left was almost completely numb. They put this mat under me so that they could roll me onto the operating table. They then had me put my legs in these blue boots instead of the usual stirrups. Doc checked me and they had her hurry and gown up before we proceeded.
Once everyone was ready (when I say everyone, I mean about 15 people! I had my doc, another doc, a student doc, 4 NICU nurses, anesthesiologist, and a bunch of other random people) we got ready to start the delivery. The room was small and it was so crowded. They had Jared stand by my head and offered him a chair if he got queasy haha. They had me grab my legs and at the next contraction I was instructed to start pushing. I remembered someone telling me that I could still breathe the baby down even with an epidural so I tried doing that. My doctor then informed me that that wasn't the case and that I did, in fact, need to push, so at the next contraction I pushed. I didn't feel like I was pushing very hard but apparently I was doing a really good job! Within a few minutes, at 3:02 pm, Baby A was born! They put her on my chest just long enough for Jared to cut the cord and announce gender. They then whisked her over to the right corner of the room for the NICU nurses to look at her and weigh and measure her. She got a 10 and a 10 APGAR!!!
Right after Baby A was born my doc reached inside and looked at the ultrasound (I never saw a machine or her look at it but Jared relayed this to me) to determine the placement of Baby B. I remember her saying "uhhhh" and I was so nervous she was going to say I needed a c-section. After she figured out Bs placement she reached inside and pushed baby's feet up and pushed the head down externally. Thank goodness for an epidural. She then shouted that Baby B was now head down! Hooray! I remember being so distracted by Baby As crying and wanting to know what was going on with her, but trying to pay attention to what was still going on with the delivery of Baby B. After B was turned head down, I was instructed to push as hard as I could because we needed to get B's head in the birth canal before I started to lose dilation. I pushed as hard as I could! Finally B's head was in position and we waited for a contraction to proceed. When it was determined that I wasn't having contractions anymore, and it didn't look like I would, they instructed me to just start pushing. I pushed and Baby B was born quite quickly, at 3:11pm! They put her on my chest just long enough for gender to be announced and for her cord to be cut and then whisked her to another room where they had the other NICU nurses (there wasn't enough room in this operating room for 2 warming stations). I remember her being not as pink and not crying very much. Jared asked to go with Baby B since she was in a different room and of course I agreed.
The babies were actually delivered by the student doctor, but my doc was there through the whole thing and if anything had happened she would have taken over. They were born 9 minutes apart! I remember thinking, and saying that they were sooooo tiny! I kept being reassured that they were a good size for twins, but really, they were so so tiny! Skinny little things with teeny heads.
After both babies were born, my doctor inspected me and announced that I didn't tear at all! I merely had a bruise where my episiotomy scar was. YAY!!!!! They were all very impressed! Doc pushed on my belly and got the placentas to deliver and announced I was officially not pregnant anymore! Dr. Ponder then grabbed the basin with the placentas in it and sat down next to me to show me them. It was pretty cool! She explained each part of it and showed me the veins and arteries, each baby's sac, and where they connected to my body. It was really interesting. She also showed me that they were starting to calcify which usually doesn't happen until a baby is overdue. This was an indication that I probably was pre-preclamsia and it was a good idea to have delivered the babies when I did. This made me feel a lot better about being induced early. They were able to externally monitor both babies through the entire delivery! They usually have to monitor A internally and B externally. At some point they had me move back to the hospital bed from the operating table to wait for my babies.
They handed Baby A to me and we waited to see what would happen with Baby B. Apparently B didn't want to cry so she didn't get a very good APGAR at first, but finally she did and she ended up with an 8 APGAR. Woohoo! At one point they weren't sure if they were going to take her to the NICU or not, but FINALLY they decided she was okay and brought her to me!
My first experience holding both babies! Laughing because it was just the beginning with the crying.
When they handed both babies to me all I could do was look from one baby to the other and think "oh no. What am I going to do now!" They wheeled me back to the Labor and Delivery room at around 3:30pm to recover from my epidural and to enjoy my babies a bit. I believe it was at this point that we called Grammy and Grandpa and talked to them. They did NOT know we were having twins so Jared had fun teasing them before he finally revealed that we did, in fact, have TWO new little ones! He started the conversation by sending the pictures of the girls on the scale with their weights. They were very confused! When he Facetimed them, he was holding one baby and I was holding the other. My baby began to cry while his was quiet. They questioned this and Jared tried to tell them that we were rooming with another patient. I finally urged him to just tell them. Stinker.
Once I could kinda get into a wheelchair they moved me to my own room. This was around 4:45pm.
Baby A: Haven Aye Winston born at 3:02pm weighing 6lbs 4oz and measuring 19 1/4 inches.
Baby B: Hazel Bea Winston born at 3:11pm weighing 5lbs 15oz and measuring 19 3/4 inches.
Aunt Danielle came and visited first:
Followed by a friend, and then Grandma Smith:
The days in the hospital blurred together. Hazel's blood sugar got really low and I was told to start supplementing with formula. They both passed their hearing tests and everything went really well. They just had to keep poking Hazel until she was able to keep her blood sugar up. We were visited by Aunt Danielle, Grandma Smith, and a couple other friends during our stay. I even had a friend bring me some flowers! So nice!
We didn't tell the big sisters the babies' genders nor did we reveal their names, but they were told at church that they had sisters. Ella's teacher then told her their names, so oh well. It was so exciting to go home and see their reactions. We had to stay 48hrs, but it was nice to see my doctor again before I was discharged :). We sure had fun with the nurses! The babies liked to be in the same bassinet and so often it would be the wrong baby in the wrong bassinet and at one point we even had one baby with the wrong hat on! So funny!
I did request the lactation consultant come by to help me learn how to nurse twins (Hazel was not at all interested in the first 24 hrs) and she was a ton of help. She recommended not tandem nursing for the first 4-5 weeks, and I think I only did it once or twice before that time frame she recommended. She helped me learn how to nurse with a SNS system and gave me a couple different ones. She also explained to me why my milk smells rancid even when frozen immediately and how to remedy that. I have an excess of an enzyme called Lipase in my milk which continues to break down the fat in the milk making it smell and taste yucky. She told me to scald my milk prior to freezing. Luckily I've only needed to pump once.
Here are some random photos in the hospital:
He's the BEST, most hands-on, Daddy! Notice the A and B on their hats!
Hazel's foot
Haven's foot
Ready to go home!!!!
Hazel and Haven
Jared loaded down with all of our stuff, lol!
When we made it home, the girls were excitedly waiting for us! Ella was at school:
Their reaction was AWESOME!!!!
Cienne immediately grabbed the baby and wanted to hold her
We teased Ella when she got home from school and put dolls in the carseats to trick her. She was so excited to meet her new sisters!
Before Grandma and Aunt Danielle left, Danielle and I took Ella and Milee to the mall for big girl pedicures! They loved it so much! I was only asked twice when I was due, lol!
More random pictures:
The cradle that Daddy and all sisters slept in
Sharing the crib with Cienne
Snoozing
This is how they lay in the cradle for now. Until they get too tall.
On our way to the first weight check and Hazel had her feet sticking straight out!
In the swing
Cienne loves her sisters! (Hazel pictured)
Headed to a family dinner. First time with all 5 kids in the van together!
Hazel: newborn
Haven: newborn
Daddy with the babies in the Moby!
Despite being my 4th pregnancy and delivery, this was the easiest labor and delivery of them all! I was so blessed!
UPDATE: Well, it's been 7 1/2 weeks since the babies joined our family on this Earth. It has been filled with so many ups! They are such good babies! There was a couple of days where one baby, Haven, would be awake during the day, and the other baby, Hazel, would be awake during the night. That was not working out for me! After a couple of days trying to be up to nurse and put them back in their cradle (think several hours per night), I decided it was more important for me to sleep so I started to sleep them in the middle of the bed until they woke to nurse, then I would roll back and forth nursing them on demand during the night. Not a perfect situation, but it works and I get sleep, so I'm happy. They just love to be close to me and it melts my heart. Haven has to be touching me so she will reach her arm out as far as she can until she can find me, then start to scoot until she is right new to me. It's so cute! All of the big girls have transitioned so well to having twin baby sisters, and they all are such big helpers!
Haven and Hazel had a really hard time gaining weight in the beginning, Haven lost 12oz and Hazel 1lb (she got down to 4lbs 13oz!) so the doctor kept having us come back each week for weight checks, each time telling me that I needed to supplement. At 3 weeks he finally said, you REALLY NEED to supplement. At this point the babies had gained a little bit but were both under their birth weight and had only pooped once or twice since the hospital. I had been supplementing a little bit with some organic formula I bought at Costco, but I thought maybe it was stopping them up, so I researched a little and found that Gerber Good Start Supplementing was the best formula for breastfed babies, so I switched them over to that formula. They now are gaining weight and fat rolls, and pooping regularly (formula poop is sooooo disgusting!!!!!), so I guess the doc was right. It took them 1 month to get back to their birth weights and now they are off! We just transitioned them to size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes! Big girls!
Grammy and Grandpa Winston's first time meeting Haven and Hazel
Here's a few more recent pictures of the girls:
One of my FAVORITE photos!
