It's a twin thing...

When Slade was in NICU, the nurses were telling us stories of how when twins are separated, then reunited they start getting frantic and reaching for one another... Like they KNEW they were apart. I laughed and thought "oh how cute", but didn't totally believe it. I mean after all, they are only a few days old! Well sure enough as soon as they brought him back to our room and we put them in their bed together, Slade got all wide eyed and frantic and kept reaching for his sister's hand!!!! It had to be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. It wasn't random movement, he was honestly excited to be back with her! My Dr. has twin grandkids and was telling me all kinds of similar stories!

So the big question: "How are you managing Andrea?". Believe it or not, we are doing quite well. It's of course an adjustment to life before, but we are slowly figuring it out. My mother has been a HUGE source of support. I haven't had to worry about meals... She just whips up incredible meals from literally nothing. (Kings will miss her the most:). She watches all 4 while I nap in the afternoon because the twins seem to have their nights and days mixed up. They still sleep well at night, but are awake for longer periods of time. BOTH of them have to sleep skin to skin on me... so I am not comfortable sleeping, but when you are that sleep deprived, you can fall asleep in any position. I sleep downstairs in the kids playroom. We have a pull out sofa. I have their pack and play set up, but for the most part, we all bunk together. I know I know, not what you are supposed to do with newborns... but hey, Keller and Saylor did the same thing and they survived! Feeding them is interesting. I try to keep them on the same schedule, but they wake up at the exact same time both rooting frantically! I am breastfeeding Ramsey while trying to get Slade off the bottle. He had to take a bottle in NICU, so he's a little lazy with breastfeeding. I am getting used to feeding one while the other one has to cry it out. I'm getting used to using my hands more efficiently... nursing one standing up and holding pacifier in other's mouth... it's a challenge, but a fun one. We then change diapers, and rock and try and sleep again... Mornings are more difficult as I hear the older 2 kids up and moving and my body just wants NOTHING more than to sleep. I know Keller and Saylor need me more than ever to know they aren't neglected and these new babies haven't sucked the life out of me. Both of them have adjusted well to their new brother and sister. Keller loves his brother and kisses him goodnight and will ask questions, while Saylor mimic's EVERY THING I do from changing diapers to pumping! She is a little mommy in training. She never hesitates to get a diaper or binky, blanket etc... to make one of them happy. She absolutely loves having them here. Neither seem jealous or put out in anyway! So things are good. I haven't even started thinking of how to manage laundry and cleaning yet. I'm sure we'll get it down eventually, but for now, we don't have the spotless home that I so desperately want!!!

That's it for now. My mom is at the park with the older 2, and so I'm going to attempt a short nap.

Goodbye for now..

A cousin is soon to arrive....

Keller, Saylor, Slade and Ramsey are looking forward to having a cousin arrive in early October!!!!

long day

I am sorry if this is all jumbled or repetitive, but i am beyond sleep deprived. Last night Kingsley went down to feed Slade (has spent almost ALL of his time with the little guy in NICU) and said everything looked good and the nurse mentioned him coming to room the next day (today). I was able to go see him shortly after and was able to do kangaroo care (where you hold them skin to skin). It was a sweet moment. This morning I woke up to the photographer wanting to take pictures. I told her Slade was still in NICU, so she went to see when he'd be discharged. One of the nurses told her "he's not going home anytime soon, it will be DAYS... " I kind of freaked out not knowing went wrong during the night. I kept calling for my nurse, but no one came. I can't leave Ramsey alone to go to NICU to check up on Slade, and when I do find a nurse, they "can't" stay b/c they have other patients. I'm like 100 yards from the NICU but yet I can't go down there. They came in to do Ramsey's hearing test and I ran down to NICU. I talked with the NICU Dr. and he said the breathing is NO longer a concern, the grunting has stopped, no infection, etc. Everything checked out perfectly except for the fact that is isn't eating well... actually poorly. They called in a specialist and she got him to eat the needed amount within the time limit. Dr. said if we can get him to do that consistently then he'd discharge him tonight. Of course I can't feed him since I can't leave Ramsey, so Kingsley came in and fed him. The specialist showed him some tricks and they got him to take another large amount. I was beyond excited. I didn't expect them to release him, but he was officially discharged to our room around 8pm! Ramsey and I were discharged today. There has been a problem with insurance covering his circumcision if not done in the hospital, etc. I have been on phone most of the night trying to figure out what they cover and don't... NICU time, etc. So the pediatrician decided the best way to work it out was to discharge me and Ramsey so we don't get charged, but keep Slade here until the morning. Since the hospital wants babies with mom's and does NOT have a nursery, they have no choice but to let us stay in Slade's room with him... So that is the plan. I'm so excited that he is well and is back with us. The prognosis after ALL OF THAT is that he is a boy and boys tend to be more immature in development.... took him longer to "transition" to life outside the uterus. I am so thankful to be here in the hospital instead of being home. I feel he is fragile and if something happens I'd rather be here than at home. Kingsley is coming down to spend the night as well. Having just Ramsey here was easy, but trying to feed, console and change 2 babies diapers at the same time is quite a challenge. We are in for a crazy ride when we get home. I pray I can juggle it all and give Keller and Saylor the time and attention they need as well.

I'm tired and off to bed. Thank you for your prayers, you have NO idea how much they mean to us.

Please PLEASE pray for our little Slade

Please pray for our little Slade. Last night he was having trouble breathing... he was grunting (which I thought was a cute cry until I was informed it's a dangerous cry). They thought he just had some amniotic fluid in his lungs, but his lungs seemed clear after they checked them. The grunting and respitory distress got worse and around 5am it was apparent he was in a lot of pain. The nurses called in his pediatrician who then ordered his stomach to be pumped, a chest xray and 2 blood work tests. The stomach pump went great... a little flecks of blood from probably taking in maternal blood during delivery, the xrays came back clean and wonderful, so now we are waiting on the results from his blood. 2 tests came back normal and they ordered another one this afternoon. We'll know tomorrow if it's a possible infection of some sort. They had to take him to NICU around 10 this morning. I'm glad they did b/c his status was starting to freak me out. Kingsley came in and has been with him for hours in the NICU. He stopped breastfeeding (which we'll resume once he's out:), so Kingsley sits and gives him a bottle. His oxygen saturation and heartrate have been stable, so there is no telling what is causing all of this. The NICU Dr. came in to explain it all and he's just as baffled. He said if I had a c-section it would explain a lot, but a natural delivery of a baby his size and full term shouldn't be grunting and retracting (struggling to breathe) at this point. SO.... we don't really know what is going on. I feel helpless and want to do something for him, but he has to battle this out. I look into my little baby warmer and see Ramsey and think "look how lonely she looks". Even for it only being a day, it just seems normal to have 2 babies in the bassinett, and to see one is sad for us. We know he's in good hands as the NICU is 1:1 ratio for babies/nurse. He's getting around the clock care and he's been bonding with his daddy.

He may not be able to come home with us tomorrow, but there is a small chance he may. I can't imagine leaving him behind. He's been such a trooper. I've started pumping breastmilk for him, and am really sore. I also didn't realize how sore I'd be after labor (2nd degree tear). Just moving is very difficult, let alone trying to take care of 2 babies. I know it's all temporary and is so small in comparison of the amazing blessings God has just given me. Thank you in advance for lifting him up in your prayers.

RAMSEY LEIGH AND SLADE KAVENAUGH make their entrance.

(Slade has all the dark hair and is smaller than his sister, Ramsey). Kingsley went right to work bundling them up and keeping them warm. The last picture is of Ramsey and the 1st, 4th and 5th pictures are of Slade)

What a day! Words can never describe what today was like. I will try and express it with details, but truly it was a day like NO OTHER! There are few times in your life when time just seems to stand still.. and today was one of them!!!

At 9:45 I was checked and we realized that Slade's water had ruptured. I was also 5-6 CM dialated. This was so hopeful as we really thought labor would go fast! So it was around 11:00am when our nurse came in and we were dying to know if I had dialated past the previous 5-6 CM. She informed us that she had just checked an hour or so prior and that she didn't want to check that often b/c of the risk of infection. My Dr. happened to walk in at that moment and said, "let's see if there has been any progress"... as soon as he checked me, he said "WHOA, it's time". He said I was fully dialtated and that we needed to prepare the OR right away. The shock just hit me... it was BABY TIME. I panicked a little, but then managed to get some chapstick on and pray for what was about to come. The nurse quickly brought in scrubs and booties and hats for my mom and Kingsley to wear. They wheeled me down to the OR and put me on the table. I was shaking like there was no tomorrow. I was so excited to FINALLY meet my babies, but it just seemed so unreal to me at the moment. We had so many people in the room. Once my Dr. arrived around 11:25 he just said, "don't push yet". He pushed on my stomach (REAL HARD) and manipulated it around. Then he said push on the next contraction... I pushed for 10 seconds, the another 10 seconds and on the 3rd 10 second push little Slade came screaming into the world weighing 6.2! He was born at 11:36am! Then the Dr. proceeded to do the same thing to little Ramsey. He pushed and pushed on my stomach getting her into the birth canal. I actually had to push through 3 contractions... but she was born 5 min. after her big brother and weighed 6.14! Both of them came out crying which was music to my ears. I couldn't stop crying! Meanwhile I had to deliver the placenta's and THAT was WORSE than delivering my precious babies! I pushed through that and I realized that Slade had caused a 2nd degree tear! The Dr. was busy sewing me up but was concerned with the amount of blood I had lost. He gave me a shot of something that was to clot my blood, but that didn't work. He mentioned doing a blood transfusion.. but they gave me 2 shots of hemabate and that seemed to have worked. They wheeled my back to my room at 12:20! The entire pushing, and clean up totaled less than an HOUR! It was amazing and fast! They took the twins to the recovery room since Slade had some fluid in his lungs that he needed to expel. I ended up joining them and just couldn't take my eyes off of them. I was extremely nauseated and light headed. I really was struggling to even make sense of it all, but I'm pretty sure it was due to lack of blood combined with all the meds! After an hour we went into our room and my dad brought Keller and Saylor in to meet their new brother and sister! Saylor was quite interested, but Keller was more interested in the "toys" that his new brother and sister had gotten him!

Both Ramsey and Slade are nursing beautifully! They are naturals! We just moved up to the post labor department. They got their baths and are doing perfect! I am doing pretty good as well. My uterus is struggling to adjust to life w/o babies.

It was amazing to see Kingsley in his scrubs holding his two new newborns. I just sat in awe of the picture of him and these TWO little ones. I don't think I've ever been MORE attracted to Kingsley! It was a beautiful moment. What made the day even MORE special was the fact that my mom came to the hospital at 1am on Sunday and sacrificed sleep to be with me during this incredible time. She kept me laughing and entertained. She was a huge source of encouragment and support. In the OR she held my hand and just kept encouraging me over and over again. She was amazing and it meant the world to me to have that moment to bond with her.

Again there are NO words to describe giving birth, holding, kissing, nursing TWO little precious babies! I thank God for these little blessings that are now in our life!

7:00 update

got epidural at 4 cm and feel loopy! Hard to get oxygen in lungs but no vomitting or shakes! Time to sleep now

4:00am update on 2-22-09!

No turning back now! They started me on pitocin at 2:15. I was actually already having contractions 2-8 minutes prior to that! I dialated 2-3 now and am 85% effaced! The dr doesnt want me to go past 3-4 without epidural... So I'll be getting that in about 30 minutes.. (4:30am). This is the part I hate most about labor!!! I react in shakes first... Then the vomitting of bile finished off with incredible skin itching! Once that passes it's downhill..... My mom is here in the room with me as is Kingsley! Kingsley has been asleep all night long while mom is sacrificing entire night sleep to keep me company! My dad is holding down the fort at home with the kids! I am beyond excited to have my mom here and share this experience with us! What a blessing she is!

Ok and someone asked why I was updating blog amidst labor... And the answer is simple... It's keeping my mind off of the pain!!!!!

9:15pm update

well labor virtually stopped! My dr agreed to start pitocin at 2:00am! They'll start me on low dosage. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll be reaching 10 cm! I am going to "try" and sleep a little since I know I'll be awake from 2am on!

update

well good thing is I have my own room now!!!!! It's right across from the OR! Bad news is my contractions are going away!!! Looks like they'll be here tomorrow and not tonight! The dr saw contractions were 2-3 min apart and said he didn't want to use oxytocin or pitocin! He may put me on really low dose at midnight... But no way of knowing what he'll do! I am now 80% effaced but only 1-2 dialated:(. That is all for now!!

Happy Birthday mini!

well I think I am doubting my wonderful plan! My parents arrived with the kids last night and I planned on waking up early and taking a long walk to bring on labor! It sure worked! Kingsley and I hopped in car and arrived at triage around 10:00 and my contractions were 6-7 min apart and getting painful by the minute! The nurse called my dr who said to admit me! It's now 1:15 and they are 2-3 min apart and dr is on his way in to check me! I just got my IV in! So this is it! I am hoping they come before midnight since I haven't gotten my mom a bday gift and shed be thrilled to have 2 babies born on her special day! I am in a lot of pain and am posting to try and keep my mind off of it! Please pray for a smooth and healthy delivery! I will post more as things progress!

And it was like a dream seeing the kids again! I couldn't let go of them! Saylor wouldn't leave my side so she bunked on couch next to me! Keller just kept hugging and kissing us! He and Kingsley were up until 1:00am playing wii! I'm glad we had one night with them before their world got turned upside down with new siblings!