I know a few of you read this and I wanted to give a quick update on me and the boys.
I am tired as can be, but so in love with my little men. I am pumping around the clock and in the last few days as the boys eat more frequently, every 2 hours to 2.5 and they are eating more..about 3 ounces each at a feeding it's been a tad hard to keep up. Since they were 2 days old they have been almost 100% breastmilk babies, which makes me happy and proud, but it is NOT easy. They get one formula bottle in the night of the 22 calorie formula. I have been working with a lactation consultant and the boys are too little/weak to nurse for nutrition right now, although we practice daily and Blake is getting it...he nursed for 10 whole minutes tonight and I know he was getting milk and he was swallowing. It is my goal to have them be breastfed babies, or at least get breastmilk, but we will see. If anyone has any suggestions on how to boost your supply PLEASE let me know. I am doing Mothers Milk Tea and Fenegreek already.
The boys have been gaining weight wonderuflly. We came home on a Thursday and they weighed in at Lucas 4.9 and Blake 4.12...that Friday they were the same weight at the pedi office...then we went Tuesday for a weight check (thank you $40 co-pays this week...20 for each child times like 5 doctors visits) and they weighed Lucas at 4.13 and Blake at 4.15. Then this past Friday the 25th they were Lucas 5.2 and Blake 5.4. They wanted them back up to their birth weight by 2 weeks, which would have been this past Saturday and they did well getting there. The doctor says they are both very healthy, she loves how alert they are and she is pleased with their progress.
Other things going on...babies poop a lot. We go through probably 25 diapers a day between the 2....we do a load of baby laundry a day, my husband gets peed on a lot by them...but not me! Our dog is doing well, but it has been an adjustment, we have had many visitors to see them and I love sharing their wonderfulness,
I update Facebook so much more regularly. So if you are really intersted in pictures and updates...add me there! email me and I will tell you my full name to find me! abbynormal8771@aol.com
And now I am off to try and score an hour of sleep before it's time for the babies to eat again!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Birth Story - part 1
o on Friday morning Tim and I left for Boston. It was our last weekend away before the babies were going to be born and we were excited, We had a nice hotel on the water and we were going to the PAX convention ( a nerd thing!). We had another couple that we are great friends with that was meeting us there and they were bringing a electric scooter for me to use so I didn't do too much walking.
We stopped by my surgeons office on the way so that I could get my lapband unfilled some because it had come to be that time where nothing wanted to go down. So she took out 3.2 cc's of fluid from my band, leaving 2 in. It went fine. I was a tad worried because the pregnancy had made my port move, but she got access to it right away and it was just like every other fill I have ever had.
When we got out to the parking lot I noticed that my car had a flat tire :-(. I have a little pump thing in my car and we pumped it up and found the nearest gas station on the GPS and headed that way. It was less than a mile and there actually happened to be a tire shop right behind the gas station. So we got 2 new tires and were on our way to Boston. We of course got lost, and Boston traffic at 4 pm on a Friday is a JOKE. We found our hotel, checked in and hung out and waited for our friends to arrive in town. They were picking us up and going to their hotel, which was connected to the convention center.
Our friend picked us up without his wife because she was in the hospital with pneumonia...but she insisted that he go and have fun. He had brought along an electric scooter thing for me to use so that I could avoid doing too much walking...it can cause labor and my ankles were really swelling up. It was neat, except that it had a dead battery :-(.
So he checked in and we went and dropped stuff off and then I decided that I could walk around and we went to the convention center. It was a really neat nerdathon place. We walked for HOURS, which may have been a mistake but I felt pretty good. We caught a concert, played some games and just took it all in and planned what we wanted to do the next day. Tim and I headed back to our hotel around 1 am. By 1:30 I had gotten a foot rub from the hubs and rolled and went to bed.
At around 2:30 am I felt this warm, gushing of fluid and I thought I was peeing the bed. With more than 10 pounds of baby in there, it would have surprised me to make it the whole way without one peeing accident. So I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and sat and the water kept coming....I looked down on the bathroom floor and all I saw was blood. I was really freaked out and scared and yelled to my husband that something was wrong. Not to go into too much detail but our hotel room looked like a crime scene....the bed, and the trail to the bathroom and it just kept coming. I was freaking out and told him to start packing while I called the doctor but that we had to drive home to CT, which was a 3 hour drive.
I got the doctors answering service and a nurse called back because the doctor was in a c-section...she asked if it was water with a tint of pink and I had to inform her it was water, but with a whole lotta blood. The doctor then called back and said it was not safe for me to drive home, that I had to go to the local hospital because my placenta could be rupturing and be checked and that then if it was okay I could drive back home and come to the hospital here.
So we went to the hospital we were told. We checked in and all I Kept saying was we want to go back home. All I could think about was if the boys needed the NICU and had to stay for a while, I would be 3 hours away and that freaked me out. They checked me in and took me back to the triage area I guess it is called. They put me on the monitor and I was having contractions, although I couldn't really feel them. They checked me and I was 2 cm dialated...I saw a few doctors and I told every single one of them that I just wanted to go home. By now it had been a few hours and all I could think was that we could have been back home by now. THe doctors there spoke to my OB and the decision was made that it was not safe for me to get in the car and make the trip home. I was stuck there.
So instead of being happy I was going to meet my babies I was scared and upset and couldn't believe that this was really happening, 3 hours away from home, when I had such a clean bill of health from my OB. But it was happening.
They brought me upstairs to the labor and delivery room....the doctor who we had initially was going home at 8 so a different doctor would be performing my c-section. They gave me an ultrasound to see the babies positions for pulling them out and for some movement as baby B would NOT register on the monitor.
I had a great nurse who came on at 7 am and she was with me for the whole day - c-section included. She saved my day!
More another day!
We stopped by my surgeons office on the way so that I could get my lapband unfilled some because it had come to be that time where nothing wanted to go down. So she took out 3.2 cc's of fluid from my band, leaving 2 in. It went fine. I was a tad worried because the pregnancy had made my port move, but she got access to it right away and it was just like every other fill I have ever had.
When we got out to the parking lot I noticed that my car had a flat tire :-(. I have a little pump thing in my car and we pumped it up and found the nearest gas station on the GPS and headed that way. It was less than a mile and there actually happened to be a tire shop right behind the gas station. So we got 2 new tires and were on our way to Boston. We of course got lost, and Boston traffic at 4 pm on a Friday is a JOKE. We found our hotel, checked in and hung out and waited for our friends to arrive in town. They were picking us up and going to their hotel, which was connected to the convention center.
Our friend picked us up without his wife because she was in the hospital with pneumonia...but she insisted that he go and have fun. He had brought along an electric scooter thing for me to use so that I could avoid doing too much walking...it can cause labor and my ankles were really swelling up. It was neat, except that it had a dead battery :-(.
So he checked in and we went and dropped stuff off and then I decided that I could walk around and we went to the convention center. It was a really neat nerdathon place. We walked for HOURS, which may have been a mistake but I felt pretty good. We caught a concert, played some games and just took it all in and planned what we wanted to do the next day. Tim and I headed back to our hotel around 1 am. By 1:30 I had gotten a foot rub from the hubs and rolled and went to bed.
At around 2:30 am I felt this warm, gushing of fluid and I thought I was peeing the bed. With more than 10 pounds of baby in there, it would have surprised me to make it the whole way without one peeing accident. So I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and sat and the water kept coming....I looked down on the bathroom floor and all I saw was blood. I was really freaked out and scared and yelled to my husband that something was wrong. Not to go into too much detail but our hotel room looked like a crime scene....the bed, and the trail to the bathroom and it just kept coming. I was freaking out and told him to start packing while I called the doctor but that we had to drive home to CT, which was a 3 hour drive.
I got the doctors answering service and a nurse called back because the doctor was in a c-section...she asked if it was water with a tint of pink and I had to inform her it was water, but with a whole lotta blood. The doctor then called back and said it was not safe for me to drive home, that I had to go to the local hospital because my placenta could be rupturing and be checked and that then if it was okay I could drive back home and come to the hospital here.
So we went to the hospital we were told. We checked in and all I Kept saying was we want to go back home. All I could think about was if the boys needed the NICU and had to stay for a while, I would be 3 hours away and that freaked me out. They checked me in and took me back to the triage area I guess it is called. They put me on the monitor and I was having contractions, although I couldn't really feel them. They checked me and I was 2 cm dialated...I saw a few doctors and I told every single one of them that I just wanted to go home. By now it had been a few hours and all I could think was that we could have been back home by now. THe doctors there spoke to my OB and the decision was made that it was not safe for me to get in the car and make the trip home. I was stuck there.
So instead of being happy I was going to meet my babies I was scared and upset and couldn't believe that this was really happening, 3 hours away from home, when I had such a clean bill of health from my OB. But it was happening.
They brought me upstairs to the labor and delivery room....the doctor who we had initially was going home at 8 so a different doctor would be performing my c-section. They gave me an ultrasound to see the babies positions for pulling them out and for some movement as baby B would NOT register on the monitor.
I had a great nurse who came on at 7 am and she was with me for the whole day - c-section included. She saved my day!
More another day!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Quick update
All is going pretty well. My babies are just so amazing to me. They had to spend 24 hours in the NICU but have been out since Sunday afternoon. They are doing well....Lucas is having some issues with feeding and getting in a decent amount and he has lost weight....we were supposed to go home tomorrow but they think they are keeping us an extra day/night to watch him. I will be discharged, but get to remain in my room as a non-patient. Fine by me, as long as I can stay close to my baby. I had this horrible fear that if they had to keep him we would have to go home and be 3 hours away.
My husband went back home Sunday night to work Monday and Tuesday so that he would have more days at home with us when we get home. The babies make me tired! I can not sleep. no matter what. They have given me 2 differnt types of sleeping pills and I would say that I have gotten no more than 3 hours of sleep each day/night. I am so tired that I see the world cross eyed, but my body will not let me sleep. Boy do I need some. Since I am here with the babies alone, meaning no husband, lf course I could leave them in the nursery all day but I don't want to...by the time I feed, burp, change, swaddle and snuggle one baby, do the same for the next baby, pump..it gives me about 20 minutes before I have to start all over again!
Speaking of pumping, it is going amazingly well. I get a large quantity and the babies have been exclusivly on breast milk for the last 30 or so hours. It feels good to know that I can provide that for my little guys.
This post is sort of all of the place. This hospital is really nice, all of the nurses are amazing! The food is out of this world really! lol.
My c-section was absolutly horrible. Sorry for all of you who are having one soon. They couldn't get my epidural and it took many times and it was just very unpleasant. My incision is doing well, I had my tubes tied,
Here are a few pictures!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The babies are here!
More details to come but the babies arrived very unexpectedly on Saturday morning.
Blake Andrew was first at 10:54 am and weighed 5 pounds even
Lucas Daniel was second at 10:56 and weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces.
Blake Andrew was first at 10:54 am and weighed 5 pounds even
Lucas Daniel was second at 10:56 and weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
We made it!
Today we are 35 weeks along with our fantastic little boys.
It was my personal goal to get here problem free and the goal has been reached, Boy does it feel good. Sure, I have my fair share, heck, probably even more than my fair share, of pregnancy aches and pains and complaints, but knock on wood this pregnancy has gone very, very smoothly, with no bedrest, no hospital visits or stays and no pre-term labor or anything.
Any baby born under 35 weeks at our hospital automatically goes to the NICU. We are hoping to avoid NICU time so getting to 35 weeks is a good place to start with that. I know everyday these little guys stay in is better for them...but we made it this far!
It was my personal goal to get here problem free and the goal has been reached, Boy does it feel good. Sure, I have my fair share, heck, probably even more than my fair share, of pregnancy aches and pains and complaints, but knock on wood this pregnancy has gone very, very smoothly, with no bedrest, no hospital visits or stays and no pre-term labor or anything.
Any baby born under 35 weeks at our hospital automatically goes to the NICU. We are hoping to avoid NICU time so getting to 35 weeks is a good place to start with that. I know everyday these little guys stay in is better for them...but we made it this far!
Boy do I need a vacation!
And this weekend, I will get it!
The hubs and I are heading to Boston this weekend. It is about a 3 hour drive for us and we are staying at a swanky hotel on the harbor. He is taking Friday off and we should arrive around 3 or so. Now, yes, there is a bit more to this. It is also the PAX east convention, and unless your hubby or yourself are gaming geeks, you will have no clue what this is. It is 3 days of geekiness....but I am so okay with that. Nice hotel, no cooking, no cleaning, swimming and one of our good couple friends is going as well, and the boys will pal around and she and I will shop and do girl stuff. So I am super excited. Sort of a last weekend getaway before the babies come.
On the baby front..I got a call on Thursday from a nurse at the doctor's office saying that the doctor wanted me to have an amnio the day before our section. I had a lot of questions, as this had never been discussed with a doctor before. I was anxious all weekend and had a lot of questions. I went to the doctor and saw y favorite one yesterday and discussed it and feel better about it.
Basically they want to check for lung maturity since I won't be in active labor on my own and because of my past diabetes and stuff. I guess I will have it, but I am scared it will hurt. The doctor says there is no risk at all with the amnio and they will only do one baby, so not 2 sticks. It wasn't in my plan, but I guess with babies, you have to go with the flow.
I had no contractions yesterday on the monitor, all was well. My blood pressure is fine, but I do have some swelling in my feet/ankles so I need to elevate them. She said wait until 36 weeks and then if I want to try to bring on labor myself, I can..she said do spicy food and have sex..so we will start at 36 weeks with doing some of the old wives tails and see what it gets us. Other wise in 23, yes 23 days we will have 2 new little boys.
The hubs and I are heading to Boston this weekend. It is about a 3 hour drive for us and we are staying at a swanky hotel on the harbor. He is taking Friday off and we should arrive around 3 or so. Now, yes, there is a bit more to this. It is also the PAX east convention, and unless your hubby or yourself are gaming geeks, you will have no clue what this is. It is 3 days of geekiness....but I am so okay with that. Nice hotel, no cooking, no cleaning, swimming and one of our good couple friends is going as well, and the boys will pal around and she and I will shop and do girl stuff. So I am super excited. Sort of a last weekend getaway before the babies come.
On the baby front..I got a call on Thursday from a nurse at the doctor's office saying that the doctor wanted me to have an amnio the day before our section. I had a lot of questions, as this had never been discussed with a doctor before. I was anxious all weekend and had a lot of questions. I went to the doctor and saw y favorite one yesterday and discussed it and feel better about it.
Basically they want to check for lung maturity since I won't be in active labor on my own and because of my past diabetes and stuff. I guess I will have it, but I am scared it will hurt. The doctor says there is no risk at all with the amnio and they will only do one baby, so not 2 sticks. It wasn't in my plan, but I guess with babies, you have to go with the flow.
I had no contractions yesterday on the monitor, all was well. My blood pressure is fine, but I do have some swelling in my feet/ankles so I need to elevate them. She said wait until 36 weeks and then if I want to try to bring on labor myself, I can..she said do spicy food and have sex..so we will start at 36 weeks with doing some of the old wives tails and see what it gets us. Other wise in 23, yes 23 days we will have 2 new little boys.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A few random pictures...
Because I don't know how to write under the pictures,,,,here are a few....in no particular order.
The diaper delivery that came and cost me $60.
A few of my maternity teasers...still waiting on the rest.
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