You've Had a Birth Day Shout Hurray!

'Twas the night before babies, and this slacker of a mom,

was in breastfeeding class, so glad they hadn't yet come.

Then off to the Keg for a delicious last meal

Just me and my love, hardly believing it was real.

The towels were hung in the bathroom with care,

changing table ready, and clothes washed to wear

With cradles up and two names all set

We were so excited for these little boys to be met

March 28th changed our lives forever. We arrived at Labor and Delivery at 10am and I changed into a gown, they started an iv, pumped me full of fluids, and prepped me for surgery. I was rolled back to the OR hallway on a stretcher and then I walked into the OR. For whatever reason that surprised me, but I could walk just fine (or so I thought prior to last week!) so it made sense. The anesthesiologist gave me the epidural and my legs quickly felt warm and numb. That is the most surreal feeling. I could feel them moving my belly but could feel no pain.

{36 weeks 1 day}

Delivery Day

The OR was filled with two doctors, the pre-op nurse, and about 6 nurses to catch the babies and check them out. The doctors were having one conversation and Jesse and I were carrying on our own conversation. After a few minutes they told Jesse to stand up and get the camera ready. It wasn't long after that we heard a cry from our first baby and we both lost it and started crying ourselves. It was an amazing sound that cannot compare to anything else and immediately Jesse commented on how cute he was. Jesse was able to stand by the nurses and watch as they cleaned up our sweet little boy but soon after I told him to come over and get the camera ready. Baby B made a much quieter entrance and Jesse said "he's got some lips."

{the lips}

The boys were weighed, measured, cleaned up a little bit, and we assigned names.

Baby A

Ian Jesse

4lbs 15oz

17in long

born at 12:49pm

Baby B

Brigham Allan

4lbs 2oz

17.5in long

born at 12:51pm

Jesse was given a chance to hold Ian and we got a family picture of the 3 of us. They then held Ian up to me and let me kiss him before they took him to the NICU. Jesse followed him and I was able to kiss Brigham real quick before they whisked him off to the NICU as well. They finished stitching me up and wheeled me over to the recovery room while Jesse stayed with the boys for a little while.

{All pictures of Ian. Since Jesse followed him, we don't have any of Briggs like this}

After an hour in recovery, I was taken to my room. It took quite awhile for my legs to come back, my face itched like crazy, and I felt tired and out of it. I was told I could see my boys as soon as I could get into a wheelchair but I was out of it enough that we thought it best if I waited until morning.

{Apparently.}

Ian and Briggs were both having some difficulty breathing because they had some fluid in their lungs so they were both on CPAP machines, got IVs with fluids, and weren't given anything to eat for the rest of the day to let their little bodies rest. Luckily Jesse went and saw them a couple of times that night and would update me.

Fortunately by the next morning I was feeling a whole lot better so first thing I did was jump into the wheelchair and off we went to the NICU. We scrubbed in for 3 minutes and then we saw our babies. They were adorable, despite being covered in oxygen tubes (yay no more CPAP), feeding tubes, and their IVs. They were also both in little isolete beds that would regulate their temperature so they wouldn't have to waste energy keeping themselves warm. Both boys wrapped their hands around Jesse's finger and the tears started flowing again. We could hardly believe these beautiful little boys were ours.

{Briggs}

{Briggs}

{Ian}

{Ian}

That weekend my parents and little brother and sister arrived to meet our little ones. Unfortunately due to RSV season they only allowed parents and grandparents into the NICU but we made the best of it. Towards the end of the weekend Ian was off his IV, oxygen, etc and was only having his vital signs monitored, so they were able to hold him up through the nursery window which was awesome!

{3 min scrub in}

 {Meeting Grandpa & Grandma!}

 {Grandma and Ian}

 {Ian}

 {Grandma and Briggs}

And a whole lot of pictures of these sweet babies. We are seriously so lucky.

 {Our cute little Ian}
He did not like his oxygen and would push it out. He also ended up pulling out his own feeding tube eventually and then ate well enough to keep it out. He was not a fan of being connected to everything.

 {Our sweet little Briggs}
Briggs needed his oxygen a few more days than Ian. It was as low as it could go but he had a harder time without it. That's how it goes when you're a peanut.

 {baby toes}
And unfortunately the boys got my toes. I've already apologized several times.

{Our little glow worms}

 {One of the sweet NICU nurses made the boys little Easter Eggs. All their nurses were amazing!}

{Their little Easter baskets waiting at home}

 {Ian pulling funny faces}

 {Daddy feeding Ian}
It really puts into perspective how tiny they are.

{Briggs}

 {This may be one of the first pictures of the two of them together}
Briggs on the left and Ian on the right

 {First family picture}

{ Daddy making Ian's hat look "cool"}

 
 {Briggs}

 {Ian on left, Briggs on right}

 {Cute blankets that Grandma Dorius made}

 {Briggs}

 {Ian}

 {My life these days. Can you say Milk Cow?}

And Now For Something Completely Different.

I was up late tonight feeding babies and then waiting to feed babies some more. I stumbled across an article on io9.com here. It had this picture (click for full size):



(Painted by Geoffrey Earnault)

It also had the following prompt: "Write a story based on this picture of an alien apparently breaking bread with a human couple at the dinner table."

So I did.

---

By the third week we were used to him. We say “him” because it sounds better than “it,” though that’s probably closer to the truth. His tall, lithe body had stretched proportions that would turn heads and a green color that would turn stomachs.

After my wife’s screams died down that first day we ventured back into the kitchen. Slowly. As I rounded the corner his slender neck twisted, and two enormous, black eyes blinked at me lazily. I had the unnerving feeling that I wasn't being seen so much as sensed, but for some reason the blinking helped calmed my nerves. It seemed the most normal thing about him.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

Blink.

“Where do you come from?”

Blink.

“How did you get into our kitchen?”

Pause. Blink.

“This is getting us nowhere,” my wife hissed, frustrated. “Call the police.”

Blink.

Ignoring her, I pressed on. “Are you lost? Alone? Hungry?”

Pause. Pause. Blink, blink.

“Did you see that?” I whispered. “What do you think it means?”

“It means there’s a monster in our kitchen, and I’m calling the police!”

“Now hang on,” I said. “Let’s see if he is hungry.”

Corn. No.
Chicken. No.
Lasagna. No.
Waffles.

Blink.

Over my wife’s protests I threw some waffles into the toaster, and our guest watched in rapture as the coils heated. When it finished, the toaster’s pop was met with a slow blink. I added some syrup and laid the plate in front of him on the table with a knife and fork.

Blink.

His long neck bowed, bringing his head to hover a couple of feet above the offering. After a few slow, deliberate blinks he straightened, the waffles gone.

“How on Earth did he…?” I trailed off. His neck twisted again, pointing those eyes at me. We regarded each other in silence. He had a mouth, but somehow it was the eyes that seemed to smile.

We eventually maneuvered him into a chair with his long limbs sprawling in every direction. Now after three weeks we’re used to him. He sits in that chair day in and day out staring at nothing until mealtime. We give him waffles and he devours them in the same curious way, then resumes his staring. In fact the only things we've ever seen him do are stare and eat. And blink.

Pregnancy: Week 35

1. I had a couple of chiropractic appointments this week which was awesome. My back has just felt so great since I started seeing this guy. I am pretty sure it's just as good as a massage.

2. Jesse and I really enjoyed this week (after the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day) of course. I really took it easy and spent most of my time on the couch with my legs up, but Jesse and I knew this would be our last week of just the two of us and we savored each moment. We watched my belly dance and just enjoyed being together.

3. We also tried to get their room all set up. We still failed at just a couple of things but it's close. I still need to take pictures of it though since currently it's being inhabited by my mom.

4. People are still shocked that I'm having twins, especially in a week, and I have been told several times that I don't even look pregnant from behind, and I still have no stretch marks. These little boys have been very kind to their mom.

5. And honestly I can't remember anything else specific from this week! Just count down to babies!!!