I have been away!

     Can't believe I have not posted on my blog since the girls were 20 weeks old. I could beat myself up about not posting or I could pat myself on the back for spending every waking moment caring for the 4 blessings that I fought so hard to stay alive for. I guess I should start by doing a family update and then I would love to blog about whats been going on in each child's life for the last year.
    Well here I am with 4 kids its still weird to hear me say that since we were pretty set on the first two for awhile. But I absolutely love the moments we have now as a family of 6! Sure the grocery bill has sky rocketed and the schedule is packed and life takes a lot more planning to make everything work, but we do it. David and I have noticed over the past year our relationship has grown stronger than ever. We have lots of odds stacked against us considering we have two statistically devastating marriage factors in our lives. First being a law enforcement marriage and second being parents of multiples. But the statistics can pack their bags and move on!!
   I finally feel that I am emerging from this bubble that I have been in for almost 2 yrs. Feeling that somethings were just too hard to accomplish with two babies. David is studying for his Sergeants exam which is in October, Yes, 7 months away but he needs to know the stuff inside out to make it. So the kids and I have been venturing out alone a lot. So far I have tackled the beach and zoo with everybody and had a fairly enjoyable time. I knew that for the next 7 months if I did not figure out how to get out on my own we were going to be stuck at home a lot.
    Our home school has become our extended family we do pretty much everything together and they are the ladies who have been my encouragement through these tough years. They even helped me celebrate my one year anniversary of mom of twins by going on a weekend away with me. We visited Orlando and played like kids and had a beautiful dinner together. I know that nothing lasts forever but I sure hope their friendship lasts forever.
   I have now been out of work for 2.5 years and you know I work more at home than at work. I mean I only worked there for 8 hour days and here I definitely pull 14 hour shifts and way more when someone is sick and I miss lunch every now and then. I feel it in my heart that I was made in God's image to stay at home and raise my family. It brings me the most joy to bring my husband home to a clean house, schooled kids, and a good meal. Well sometimes, David has really taken on the role of cook since the girls were born. He enjoys it and knows how hard it is to cook a meal with two cute ones under your feet. Lately he has taken the big kids under his wings and has been teaching them the ways of the kitchen. So thankful for that since his kitchen is his domain and letting the kids in definitely toke some time for him.
   I cant wait to tell you about each kid. Over the past few months a lot has been happening. Some highlights of our days are the biggest Jacob gave his life to Christ last month!! The big kids are both training for a triathlon, they are swimming once a week and running twice a week to prepare. The little girls are not so little anymore and on their way to being 2!! They are running, playing, love the trampoline, swimming, and eat a lot!!
We are blessed with health and a whole lot of love!

20 Weeks Sadie and Olivia

      

       We are getting lots of smiles these days. I think the best thing about having twins is in fact the double amount of smiles per day. In the last six weeks things have gotten so much easier for everybody we have now learned their likes and dislikes and feeding and sleeping routines and so everyone is so much happier all around. It seemed to take a little longer this time around to establish a routine and figure things out. For the most part personality wise I really have not noticed a big difference between the two.

* They sleep 12 hrs waking once to feed.
*They nurse every two hrs during the day time hours.
*They absolutely love to lay on our bed and smile and coo at the fan.
* The dislike of the car seat is improving a little at a time.
* When we go out hubby bottle feeds one and I nurse the other so no one has to wait.
*They love sitting up right, so Bumbo chairs have been a life saver.
*We have ditched the pacifiers at night.
*We just bought our first box of diapers at 4 months old. ( we had so many as gifts)
*They dislike being held like a baby anymore.


Sadie Faith 25 inches long, 12lbs8oz
*Has just a little less hair
*Is still 6oz lighter
*Holds head up well when on belly
*Has a small scar on her left leg from her first shot (so we now can't get them mixed up)
*Takes everything as it comes
*Rolls over in her crib but no where else.

Olivia Grace 24.5 inches, 12lbs 15oz
*Has a little more hair
*Loves any kind of light, TV or toys
*Loves to explore and have a confused face
*Would rather not take a bottle from mommy
*Loves to blow bubbles
*Has rolled over twice but never again
*She has learned to scoot backwards

Olivia Grace and Sadie Faith's Birthday!

           Today is the day!! I hit my mark 37 weeks pregnant with our twin girls. I still remember the day we learned we were expecting twins what a God thing!

        We had to arrive at the hospital at 5:30am which was fine I could not sleep anyways. Our Dr. likes to have you checked in and paperwork ready to go by 6am when he arrives. The excitement in the room was crazy. Everyone was excited to meet our sweet girls as much as we were. First the paperwork TWO of everything to sign! My Dr. who is Dr. Rebenack arrived right at 6 am. From my previous experience once things get going with me they get going fast!! He checked to make sure girls were still head down and not to my surprise I was not dilated yet ( I had started from zero before no biggie). He gave me a pill to get labor started (it's law you have to wait 4 hrs from the pill to get pitocin started. At 11 am he came and I was 2 cm dilated (I had expected a lot more). He started pitocin and we began the waiting process by 4pm I was 4cm. Oh boy this is not my normal! By 6:30 pm I was still only 5 cm. Dr. decided to ultrasound me and that's when we discovered Olivia who was baby A on the bottom had her head turned. But Dr. Rebenack ( why we love him so much) was not giving up, he is not one to call a c-section the moment he hits a rough patch. By 7pm my angel nurse arrived and  had seen this before and got me in a position where Olivia had no choice but to move her head. I don't remember her name but God Bless her! By 7:45pm I was 10cm and being packed up to head to the OR to meet my girls. The staff quickly moved me on to the OR table my contractions were coming fast now and it was already time to push. With about 4 total pushes Olivia came in to the world at 8:23 pm, weighing 6.9lbs, and 20.1inches long. But my job was not through. We took a very very short break and then it was Sadie's turn. The nurses manipulated my belly to get her in the right path and a few more pushes and Sadie Faith was born at 8:42pm, weighing 6.2lbs, and 19.5 inches. The babies were completely healthy and I had did it!!
Since the babies were healthy they remained in the OR with us. The staff was so excited and the moral was so fun and encouraging. But my job still was not done I needed to deliver the placenta. my contractions had stopped so they started me on another Pitocin drip. Nurses once again pushed and pushed on my stomach (this was way more painful then the delivery). But I was just watching David with our babies oblivious as to what was going on. Then it all started it was not coming! The Dr. requested a D and C tray with suction to try to manually remove it. This was unsuccessful for the most part a little came but not enough. At this point they asked David to accompany the babies back to our room. The Dr. than requested another procedure be set up this time a D and C to scrape. By this time I was bleeding a lot. I could hear all of the monitors going off , all of my stats beeping, someone asking to hang blood, someone asking for my blood pressure. I had been in these situations before but not as the patient. The Dr was so calm going down the list of things to try while everyone else ran about the room gathering supplies and ordering more blood. I heard that my husband was outside inquiring what was going on? why is it taking so long? What felt like in an instant the Dr. called out that she is losing blood we need to do an emergency hysterectomy. Within seconds the Anaesthesiologist gave me 4 shots in my thigh and I was out. The following are posts from my husband aka his version while I was out.

9:00pm My girls are born!!!! World meet Olivia Grace and Sadie Faith. Olivia born at 2023 and weighs 6lbs 9 oz. Sadie weighs 6lbs 1 oz and born 19 minutes later at 2042. Both born by vaginal birth (no c-section) — 

9:15pm I need everyone to pray. Even those who don't. They couldn't stop Christina Couch bleeding so they are giving her a blood transfusion and performing an emergency hysterectomy. Please pray for her. She is my life.

2am Doc just came in. He said Christina Couch is out of the woods. He finished her hysterectomy and gave her two units of blood due to the amount of blood loss. She is in recovery now. Pray for a speedy recovery. But it appears that the worse is over. I will update more when I know more. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. She is the light of my life and I don't know what I'd do without her. 

I woke up to violently shaking and so out of it. My husband was there in recovery along with our pastor Bill. After a little while I was transferred back to our room where my mom and sister in law Sheila had stayed with the babies so David could be with me. The Dr had placed a pain pump in my incision so that I could sit up to nurse. Immediately I was brought the girls and they latched on right away this was miraculous seeing that they had been waiting five hrs for me to nurse them. I did not have the strength to hold them both at once so I spent a little time with each. 

8am So just in case you were wondering what happened with Christina Couch she ended up having a great delivery with the twins. Then the problems started when she was trying to deliver her placenta. Apparently she had placenta accreta. Where her placenta attaches abnormally deep to her uterus. So when the placenta came out it caused her to hemorrhage out and to stop the bleeding and save her life. The doc had to remove her uterus. That in a nut shell was my nightmare tonight. But by the grace of God, like all bad dreams I woke up and my wife was still here. 

9am Latest Update: Mommy is doing better. Still itchy all over from anesthesia and a little nauseated but feeling better every minute. She was even able to breast feed the girls twice already. The girls are incredible (just like their mother). They latched on the first time and ate good. I pray for a speedy recovery and I'm grateful for my amazing wife.

10am Latest Update; doc just left and the latest news is that Christina Couch's blood is low...for you medical people her hemoglobin is down to 6.1 for you none medicals that's pretty low. She is getting two more units of blood today to try and help her out. She is weak and gets nauseated when she sits up. We are going to be in the hospital till at least Friday. I know everyone wants to visit, but she needs her rest now. I will let you know when she's up to seeing people. Thank you for the prayers and well wishes. 

Over the next few days I stayed in the hospital receiving a total of seven pints of blood. 

First time holding my sweet girl!

First time meeting Brother and Sister

Sept 11th Update: So the night went okay. Olivia was kind of fussy and apparently doesn't like sleeping in the dark. Between her being fussy and the medical staff doing their job,Christina Couch got about 3 hours of sleep. On a positive note, the doc moved her up to a regular diet, so for breakfast christina got cracker barrel, chick-fil-a and starbucks. On a negative note, christina's lastest hemoglobin dropped back down to a 7.0. For the non medical peeps, regular for woman is 12.1-15. The doc believes that at her lowest Christina was about a 3. So now we do some more blood levels and maybe some more blood. The girls are eating good, sleeping okay, and pooping and peeing like it was their job, but they are soooo crazy cute so it's ok. More updates when we know more. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes.

Sept 13th Latest update: pediatrician just came in and said our girls look great. She gave us the okay to go home. We will have to return on Sunday to get their bili rubin checked.Christina Couch just got her (hopefully last) units of blood and now we wait till 1330 for a blood draw to see what her levels are. Good lord willing we will get to go home this afternoon.

We are finally home! Praise God!

36 Weeks

     I can not believe we have made it this far. I say we because David has been home with us now, he has taken over most of the household and kid duties. As of about 34 weeks I hit a stopping point it began to be too hard to do anything including being on my feet for too long, sitting on the floor with the kids, getting up from the floor, driving, and even sitting through church has become painful.
    At our 36 week apt everything looked great! Besides babies not coming yet. They were estimated over 5lbs each now. And my MFM said they were safe to come anytime now. We also celebrated Labor Day this past Monday. We had a very busy weekend and I was feeling awful Monday morning. David suggested I take a warm bath and relax. I was having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions. They were getting very painful though. I made a decision early on that I would not go to the hospital until I was in active labor meaning 4cm and beyond. But David got worried we called the Dr and went in to get checked. My doctor was out of town and so the on call had me come in and stay the night for observation. By 2am all contractions had stopped and by 7am my Dr was back and discharged us. It was not our time to deliver.
      We headed home and I rested in bed all day and decided that I could have no more busy days I needed to take it easy.  We already had a doctors apt scheduled for that day. So around 2pm we headed in, everything looked great I was having no more contractions and he scheduled to deliver me on September 10th for a vaginal induction.
      Due to the type of twins I was carrying Mono-DI (which share one placenta) the research shows that the chance of still births rise after the 37th week, so I was being induced at exactly 37 weeks. At this point our birth plan was vaginal birth in the OR with an epidural. Hospital policy states that all twins must deliver in OR and my doctor likes to have an epidural already in place in case of emergency. Little did we know that these two things were all going to be apart of my life saving surgery to be done in a timely manner.

ONE week left!!

33 Weeks

    Can't believe I have come so far!! This has been the hardest thing I have ever done physically. So what has helped me get this far? Well hands down my husband David, he has taken on so much. He has been doing the cooking, cleaning, entertaining the kids when he is not working, grocery shopping and just keeping the house running. I could not have asked for a more awesome man who was willing to step up and take on so much. Secondly, my mother. She has taken the kids so much not just for hours of doctors appointments sometimes three or four hours in a day but just so I can have days of rest for no other reason. I know that when I leave the kids with her they are going to be taken well care of , their needs will be met and they will have fun but also that she will keep their behavior well in check and the house running as if I were around. I am amazed at all she does for us and I hope she knows I am thankful because I need the help now more than ever.
  So as for the babies

Olivia
Head down
Stretched out on my left side
Heart beat in the 150's
Weight as of 32 weeks 4.4lbs

Sadie
Head down
Balled up on my right side (trying to keep from getting hit by her sister)
Heart beat in the 150's
Weight as of 32 weeks 3.14lbs

As for me
Weight is 170lbs
Belly measuring 41 weeks
Minimal swelling
Great blood Pressure

We got to discuss the birth plan this week!!
Both babies are head down so we are a go for a vaginal birth as long as the health of the babies continues. If we have not delivered by 37 weeks which is full term for Mono Di twins (sharing one placenta) we will be induced on September 10th. We are being monitored a lot for twin to twin syndrome. We go on Tuesdays for a non-stress test, an ultrasound for fluid check and movement check, and meet with the maternal fetal medicine doctor, and our OB. On Fridays we are seen again for the non-stress test and movement ultrasound and we meet with the Maternal fetal doctor again.
With mono-di twins things could change in hours so that is why they monitor us very closely and if at any test the babies show stress we will be sent over to the hospital for an emergency c-section.

I am hanging on the best I can as of now my back, feet, and ribs hurt the most. My appetite is pretty much non- existent so I am trying to do more shakes with protein to pack on some weight to these girls.
As of now I could pretty much go any day anytime. The average for a twin pregnancy is 33-36 weeks for natural labor. So I am ready to go!!

Week 28

Feeling more pregnant than ever before! My belly measured at 33 weeks today. Having lots of erratic contractions now, back pain, rib pain, swelling feet, and just tired.  Today's appointment went great.
Today's stats were

Olivia was
2lbs14 ozs
Same position for the last few weeks head up.
She has become the more calmer mover of the two.
Finally had her hands down away from her face.
Heart beat in the 150's.

Sadie was
2lbs 13 ozs
She is in a more of an I am taking over the womb position completely squashing Olivia to the side and laying a little horizontal with her bottom squashed against Olivia's face:)
She has become the more active mover.
Heartbeat in the 150's.

All of that very good news the fact that their weight's are steadily maintaining consistency is the greatest news of all! My cervix is what they are calling a 42 week cervix:)) Which they are very happy about but the doctor promises that I will not be a loud to carry them that long. All that to say I should be having no preterm labor. At thirty weeks I begin seeing the specialist twice a week, Tuesdays for an ultrasound and stress test and Fridays for another stress test. We scheduled nine of my appointments today. We have never been to the doctor so much!
It's getting so real seeing as at my appointments we are discussing the last few weeks more often now. methods of delivery for twins and such. Our baby shower is this Saturday and Lu and I are super excited for that. The nursery is put together for the most part ( I will have a post to show that later).
I am back to the doctor again tomorrow to take my glucose test. Praying for good results I hear a lot of twin pregnancies fail the first part.

Our trip to Ginnie Springs

David has picked up a new hobby of Scuba Diving. Well actually it's his only hobby. David is so devoted to family time and getting as much in as possible with us that sometimes he neglects things for himself.
So his partner at work decided to become certified in scuba diving although David is already certified he took a refresher course. They did there first dive in the aquarium at Epcot and had a blast. They brought home a video of them diving and the kids love watching daddy on DVD diving.
So, for the boys next dive they planned to dive at Ginnie Springs about 2 hours away and at the last minute I decided to tag along with the kids. Now that the kids are both great swimmers it is much easier for me to handle them alone around water.
We did not tell the kids where we were going just woke them in the morning packed them up and headed out. This has become one of our favorite things to do with the kids just wake them and put them in the car and go!
We had so much fun! The water is a year round 72 degrees and the spot where we went swimming is very shady! But we had floats, food and fun so there was no problems. Once you got in the water it was fabulous!
With me pretty pregnant the water was fabulous. We plan to go back next month to take the kids on a canoe trip.