These past few days have been extremely trying for me. The boys have definitely flown right into that oh-so-lovely fussy stage without looking back. Life is complicated and wearing me out.
Both boys have taken a liking to screaming, not crying, any time you aren't holding them. Problem: I only have one set of arms. Solution: There isn't one. This leaves me in quite the pickle on a daily basis. Everyone who comes to visit and witnesses this behavior thanks their lucky stars that they aren't living in this house.
Which brings me to another topic. We are having a house guest for the entire month of September. His name is Jared and he is one of my younger brothers. He is currently in his last year of his pharmacy studies and on his way to becoming a doctor. This entire last year is to be spent in residency, and a new company or job every month. He is usually out in Kansas City with his girlfriend, Ronna. However, this month his residency rotation landed him back in the St. Louis area. Our house is closer to work for him than my mom and dad's so he will be spending most of his time here with us.
I could use the help, quite honestly...so I am excited to have someone who knows how to cook and clean and not afraid/very willing to help out when needed. And boy do we need it!
This weekend we spent a lot of time getting the finished part of the basement into a bedroom-ish type of space. We have put a mini fridge with freezer down there, he has a large flat screen tv, couch, very nice desk, and a bed with trundle (in case his girlfriend decides to come into town and stay). We also put together Evan's big boy room. Very cute! I will try to add some pics to this post once I find the time to download them from my camera. It is bear/camp themed.
Kevin is pretty excited because the twin bed headboard and dresser set are his from when he was younger. It actually goes with the motif quite well. He is currently sleeping in the big boy bed and went down without an inkling of a fight! If I weren't too tired to do or feel anything right now, I would probably be overwhelmed with joy. Instead I am just relieved to have a moment to unwind all to myself.
Tomorrow I must catch up on laundry and clean out Evan's bathroom and bathtub of all toys, etc. We are almost out of clean towels. Ha, I don't actually expect anyone to care about that last part, unless you have to smell any of us if we do happen to run out, just kind of thinking in print.
Hallelujah for having all three babies in bed at a decent hour for once! Oh heavenly silence, I welcome you!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
So..yeah...that birth story!
Here ya go!
I had a c-section scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on July 6th. I had a pretty decent holiday weekend before that. Mom and dad came to the house and we grilled some brats, had strawberry shortcake and ice cream, etc. We live in a pretty pyromaniac-ish town, so fortunately every year some neighbors a few streets in front of our house have huge firework display battles. Each house tries to out-do their neighbors and it all ends up just as good as going to a city sponsored fireworks show - all from the comfort of our home and driveway. I was so miserable there was no way I could have gone anywhere, so this worked out great!
Monday morning rolled around and we had to be at the hospital an hour before my surgery time. Kevin had dropped Evan off at Nonna's (grandma) house the night before to make things easier on us. I slept surprisingly well and was actually quite relaxed when it came time to make the trip down the hall and into the operating room.
Kevin waited outside while the anesthesiologist did her thing and then was brought into the room so the surgery could begin. I have to say, in retrospect it was a weird experience. I'm not sure if the power of my mind did this, or if it was an effect of the drugs, but I was super calm and the whole day is quite foggy.
I remember Dr. K asking if I could feel anything and after answering no, she proceeded to make the incision. Fourteen minutes later Brennan Michael was born at 9:44 weighing 6 pounds and 6 ounces and measured 19.7 inches long. A minute later at 9:45 Carter Matthew entered this world and weighed in at 6 pounds and 1 ounce, measuring longer than his (slightly) older brother at an astounding 20.5 inches.
I very distinctly remember hearing their first squeals (no, they were not cries) and I remember saying that I must have given birth to little baby pigs. I peeked over to the nurses and saw that I had adorable baby boys instead, thankfully. I also recall one of them peeing while Dr. K was handing him to a nurse - right over my sterile field and open belly. Thank goodness pee is sterile, although I'm not sure if any of it actually landed inside of me.
They ended up suctioning more than five pounds of fluid from me while on the table. The nurses were quite shocked. I remember asking them if that was a lot and they all replied with a resounding yes.
I couldn't really hear what the staff was saying while I was in surgery, but I could hear them talking. I later found out that my blood pressure was really high. My doctor attributed it to me being nervous about surgery, but also commented on how calm I seemed. Somewhere along the line they also found that my uric acid levels were elevated. If you don't know where this is going, they found out I was pre-eclamptic while on the operating table.
I was wheeled into a recovery room and barely remember any of this part. Grandparents came to visit and later that evening I was sent to a postpartum room. It was HUGE! Much better than my tiny little shoebox of a room that I had when Evan was born. I guess they had sympathy on me for getting two babies at once. We definitely needed the space.
The nursing staff continued to check my blood pressure and it was almost never anywhere near a good level. Later that week after my levels never dropped, I was placed on some medicine to help stabilize it.
We came home that Friday morning and I am happy to report that at 7 or so weeks later, I feel great! The boys are growing and putting on weight, although they had a rocky start due to some breastfeeding/letdown issues. I am now almost exclusively pumping, but am unable to keep up with what they are consuming. They get all mommy's milk during the day and formula for two to three bottles at night.
I am SO glad I didn't have the twins as my first pregnancy, otherwise we probably would have stopped with them. It has been a much easier adjustment since we already knew what to expect (although not multiplied by two!) and we are settling into our new life with our wonderful family.
I had a c-section scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on July 6th. I had a pretty decent holiday weekend before that. Mom and dad came to the house and we grilled some brats, had strawberry shortcake and ice cream, etc. We live in a pretty pyromaniac-ish town, so fortunately every year some neighbors a few streets in front of our house have huge firework display battles. Each house tries to out-do their neighbors and it all ends up just as good as going to a city sponsored fireworks show - all from the comfort of our home and driveway. I was so miserable there was no way I could have gone anywhere, so this worked out great!
Monday morning rolled around and we had to be at the hospital an hour before my surgery time. Kevin had dropped Evan off at Nonna's (grandma) house the night before to make things easier on us. I slept surprisingly well and was actually quite relaxed when it came time to make the trip down the hall and into the operating room.
Kevin waited outside while the anesthesiologist did her thing and then was brought into the room so the surgery could begin. I have to say, in retrospect it was a weird experience. I'm not sure if the power of my mind did this, or if it was an effect of the drugs, but I was super calm and the whole day is quite foggy.
I remember Dr. K asking if I could feel anything and after answering no, she proceeded to make the incision. Fourteen minutes later Brennan Michael was born at 9:44 weighing 6 pounds and 6 ounces and measured 19.7 inches long. A minute later at 9:45 Carter Matthew entered this world and weighed in at 6 pounds and 1 ounce, measuring longer than his (slightly) older brother at an astounding 20.5 inches.
I very distinctly remember hearing their first squeals (no, they were not cries) and I remember saying that I must have given birth to little baby pigs. I peeked over to the nurses and saw that I had adorable baby boys instead, thankfully. I also recall one of them peeing while Dr. K was handing him to a nurse - right over my sterile field and open belly. Thank goodness pee is sterile, although I'm not sure if any of it actually landed inside of me.
They ended up suctioning more than five pounds of fluid from me while on the table. The nurses were quite shocked. I remember asking them if that was a lot and they all replied with a resounding yes.
I couldn't really hear what the staff was saying while I was in surgery, but I could hear them talking. I later found out that my blood pressure was really high. My doctor attributed it to me being nervous about surgery, but also commented on how calm I seemed. Somewhere along the line they also found that my uric acid levels were elevated. If you don't know where this is going, they found out I was pre-eclamptic while on the operating table.
I was wheeled into a recovery room and barely remember any of this part. Grandparents came to visit and later that evening I was sent to a postpartum room. It was HUGE! Much better than my tiny little shoebox of a room that I had when Evan was born. I guess they had sympathy on me for getting two babies at once. We definitely needed the space.
The nursing staff continued to check my blood pressure and it was almost never anywhere near a good level. Later that week after my levels never dropped, I was placed on some medicine to help stabilize it.
We came home that Friday morning and I am happy to report that at 7 or so weeks later, I feel great! The boys are growing and putting on weight, although they had a rocky start due to some breastfeeding/letdown issues. I am now almost exclusively pumping, but am unable to keep up with what they are consuming. They get all mommy's milk during the day and formula for two to three bottles at night.
I am SO glad I didn't have the twins as my first pregnancy, otherwise we probably would have stopped with them. It has been a much easier adjustment since we already knew what to expect (although not multiplied by two!) and we are settling into our new life with our wonderful family.
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