I. Cannot. Wait.
You MUST watch this preview.
As my mom says . . . “The only thing better than Johnny Depp is Johnny Depp as a pirate.” Needless to say, we love Captain Jack Sparrow. Eagerly awaiting Pirates 3!!!
Our Birth Story!!!
I know it has been a long time since I’ve posted. So much has happened, I can’t even go into it all. Long story short about that: I’m feeling better and it’s getting easier to take care of the babies as we get into our groove … needless to say, I’ve been a little bit busy!!! Now that I’m on the road to recovery, I’m sure I’ll have much more to post.
THE QUICK VERSION
Much to my surprise, my twins stayed warm and snug in the “oven” all the way until my scheduled C-section. With all of the contractions I was having, I thought for sure that I’d have preemie babies . . . but on January 26, 2007, at 37 weeks 4 days, Tyler Marie and Jordyn Liane, my fraternal twin girls, made their entrance into the world.
Tyler Marie, Baby A, arrived first at 2:28 pm, weighing 5 lbs. 15.8 ounces, and was 18 inches long.
Jordyn Liane, Baby B, arrived second at 2:30 pm, weighing 6 lbs. 15.8 ounces, and was 20 inches long.
The doctor thought it was funny that they were exactly one pound apart, even down to the .8 ounce!
The girls are both healthy and thriving, despite some scares with jaundice, temperature maintenance, and weight loss. We are all at home now and doing well!
THE BIRTH STORY
Some of you may remember what I looked like when I was 18 weeks pregnant with the twins:
Well, things certainly changed quickly. At 37 weeks, I looked like this in the same outfit:
And this is what I looked like, also at 37 weeks. Since this picture and the one above were taken on the same day, you can see what a difference the outfit makes!!! haha! I was REALLY uncomfortable there at the end.
On the morning of January 26, we loaded my stuff in the car, got Devyn ready for daycare, and headed off to the hospital. Of course, I hadn’t eaten anything since the night before because of the surgery, so I was really hungry. Actually, I wasn’t hungry . . . but I really wanted a Diet Coke!!! Mike could barely make the proper turns to get to the hospital and it dawned on me that he was extremely stressed out. It’s always interesting to see my devoted husband turn into a ball of stress because he’s normally Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected. It was quite funny actually! We were running late (of course), so he dropped me off at the hospital and took Devyn to daycare without me. Of course he came back, but it sure looked like I was checking in to have my babies all alone. I can assure you . . . I was NOT alone! haha!
They were supposed to monitor me and the babies for a couple of hours and then around 12:30 we would head in to the OR for the birth. As it turns out, there was an emergency before my C-section, so I was actually monitored for a little over 3 hours. I was very calm at first, trying to distract myself from the fact that I was about to be cut open, but I got more and more nervous as the time ticked by. Everyone teases me about my having easy deliveries because I was induced with Devyn and had an epidural before my I had contractions . . . so it was totally fitting that I was doing my nails the morning of my C-section!
Despite my last-minute manicure, I started to get REALLY nervous when it was time for Mike to put on his HazMat suit. He looked super silly . . . but I was getting to anxious to laugh. Can you tell that I really don’t do well with medical things?
I didn’t totally understand why Mike couldn’t be there with me when they gave me the spinal. He was there for me when I had my epidural with Devyn . . . but he had to wait outside the OR while I got the spinal (and that’s the most difficult part!). Thankfully, I had the most amazing nurse who helped me through it. I love it when they say stuff like, “It will feel like a bee sting.” Well, I don’t know what kind of bees these people have been stung by . . . but it does NOT feel like a bee sting!!!! I’m such a wimp! On the baby warmer, there was a drawer that was labeled “baby hats,” so I just kept chanting to myself, “baby hats, baby hats, baby hats.” You can’t experience too much pain when you’re concentrating on baby hats!
My blood pressure was really low throughout the whole experience, so I felt pretty lightheaded and dizzy. I just kept talking about my travels through Europe to keep myself from passing out. The anesthesiologist was from Russia, so I think I kept him entertained for awhile talking about Prague! haha!
Before I knew it, Mike entered the room and within minutes my doctor delivered Tyler!
Two minutes later, he delivered Jordyn:
Here, the nurses are checking out Jordyn:
And here they are checking out Tyler:
And here I am trying to keep it together:
The nurses brought the babies over to me so I could see them — and at that moment in time they looked positively identical to me (aside from their obvious size difference). It’s funny, because when I would see them for a second time in the recovery room (when I got to nurse them for the first time), I could see that they look NOTHING alike. Too funny! So, while I was getting put back together, Mike went with the babies up to the nursery and I went to Recovery. And there I sat completely bored for almost 3 hours, while the babies were getting sponge baths and their first visitors! I couldn’t stand it!
While I was in Recovery, Daddy and the babies were in the NICU. Here is Jordyn getting checked out by the nurse. Jordyn had a little problem breathing at first (she was struggling), but she was soon breathing like a champ!
Here is Tyler screaming her head off with her little blood pressure cuff. Daddy reported that the girls screamed the whole time until they were put next to each other and then they calmed down. Isn’t that sweet?
Here’s Miss Jordyn trying to find something to suck on.
Here is Tyler getting her shirt on after her first bath.
Daddy holding Tyler:
Daddy holding Jordyn:
Grandpa (my dad) holding Tyler. Penny was there, too, but I think she was the one taking the pictures for us, because I don’t have one of her! Maybe she has one she could send me? hint. hint.
The WonderTwins together before they were brought to my room:
When I finally got released from the recovery room (a time which seemed like an eternity), they took me to my room and forgot to tell my family . . . so I had about 45 minutes all alone and it was dreadful! I was just dying to see my babies and my family and I couldn’t reach the phone. The only thing that kept me from bursting into tears was how darling my room looked. Mike’s mom and dad (Nana and Papa) couldn’t be here for the birth because Mike’s mom just had surgery … but they sent the most beautiful plant with twin butterflies on it and twin balloons. And my sister, my dad, and Penny had brought me a big bouquet of roses and lilies with twin stuffed puppy dogs. The room looked so cute that I just sat there smiling like a dingaling (there were lots of painkillers involved) and trying to grab the phone!
I actually had this plan of how Mike, Devyn, and I would greet our babies together and we’d have a moment as a little family before everyone else got to hold the babies. Well, with the delivery running as late as it did and everyone clamouring to see the babies and Devyn needing much more supervision than we could provide at the time, it worked out that everyone got to meet the babies at once. I think it worked out better than I hoped because everyone got to see Devyn kissing her babies for the first time. And I got to relax a bit because I still couldn’t move very well after surgery and I wasn’t feeling well at all.
Devyn was soooooooooo excited to see her babies, too. It was amazing. You could just see the love pouring out of her. She is going to be such a good big sister!
Here is my Aunt Terri holding Devyn up to meet Jordyn:
Here is Riley, Terri, Jordyn, Devyn, and my Grandma:
Comparing faces and seeing who looks like who. EVERYONE agrees that Jordyn looks just like Devyn and NO ONE agrees on who Tyler looks like . . . though a lot of people see my cousin Riley and my sister Marisa in her:
Here is my mom (Grammy) with Devyn and the twins. Grammy has been staying with us a lot ever since I came home from the hospital to help us out:
Grammy and little Tyler:
My sister Marisa (AKA Auntie ‘Risa) and Jordyn:
Wow . . . that first night seems like such a whirlwind! We had tons of visitors. Here is Mike’s Grandma with Tyler:
Here is Aunt Darlene with Jordyn:
My grandma with Jordyn:
Aunt Terri with Tyler (I think):
Riley with Jordyn:
Devyn and Tyler:
After 37 weeks and 4 days of waiting, Devyn finally got to meet her babies. She had been dying for them to come out of my tummy! Whenever she sat on my lap, she wanted to sit by Tyler one day . . . and then Jordyn the next. She always asked about their position in my tummy. When she saw that the babies weren’t in my tummy anymore, she said, “Mommy! You can run now!” I think it was really bugging her that I couldn’t run with her . . . but I don’t really recall doing too much running before I got pregnant - haha - so I don’t really know where this was coming from! But, yes, getting back to being able to play with my daughter after so many months of discomfort is definitely high on my priority list!
Our first family portrait with the new additions!
Devyn got to count to make sure that they had all of their fingers and toes. It’s a good thing that Devyn knows how to count so high (she can make it to 100!), because there were 20 toes and 20 fingers to be counted!!!
Throughout my 5 day hospital stay, I did have lots of visitors and Mike, my mom, my sister, and my Aunt Terri stayed with me frequently. My mom even stayed the night so I could have help. But every once in a while I was by myself. Here was my point of view from my hospital bed (complete with the cute ladybug blankets my sister made for the babies):
I couldn’t lift my camera in the beginning (it was tough enough to muster the energy to lift my arms and my babies!), but I did take pictures of them with my camera phone to post on my forum hangout.
Here is Tyler:
And here is Jordyn:
We had sooooooo many visitors that I couldn’t even begin to post everyone’s pictures here . . . but if I remember correctly, the following people came to see us: my mom, my dad, Penny, Marisa, my grandma, both of Mike’s grandmas, Aunt Terri, Riley, Aunt Darlene, Uncle Ken, Aunt Patty, Tom, Mendy, Josh, Meghan, Corinne, Brandon, Uncle Corky, Aunt Evelyn, Kimra, Lisa, Frank and Pat, my Uncle Bill and Allison, Moira and Connie, Aunt Pat and Uncle Gary, and Wade and Caryn. Even my most amazing photographer friend John Riedy (http://www.johnriedy.com) came by to take pictures (more on that later). I think that was everyone!
Here is Grandma Krystek with Tyler:
And Grandma and Aunt Patty:
Bill and Allison holding the babies. I think Allison said that this was her first time EVER holding a newborn baby.
Over the next several days, it was lots and lots of nursing the babies and supplementing to help them get rid of their jaundice. It was lots of holding the babies and changing diapers. And it was lots on not pretty recovery stuff for me that I would just as soon forget! C-sections are DREADFUL!!!!!!!!! In any case, after 5 days in the hospital, we were finally sent home. On the last day, the girls got their picture taken by the hospital in their little going home outfits. Here they are in their outfits as we wheeled them to the camera. The teeny tiny preemie outfits were big on them — kind of poofy and the hats were way too big — except for Jordyn’s LONG arms and legs that jutted out:
FINALLY we got to go home! And I just remember being wheeled out in that wheelchair and wondering how on earth these two darling litle babies were EVER in my stomach together! It was soooo weird!
In the car:
Their “Welcome Home” bassinet. Nana & Papa bought the bassinet for Devyn when she was born, and my mom decorated it for her, and Devyn spent about 5 minutes in it because she would only sleep while she was being held. Well, my mom redecorated it for the twins and they sleep in it ALL of the time! I’m so glad!
Devyn & Jordyn at home:
Miss Jordyn:
Poor sweet Jordyn’s jaundice (and she ALWAYS wrinkles her forehead):
All snuggly with her sissy:
The wrinkled forehead bit. EVERY time she does it, though, she looks so surprised and so interested in life and what’s going on around her . . . it totally reminds me of my very dear friend Kelly Kievit, who is an EXTRAORDINARY artist. Kelly does the same thing with her forehead!!!
Miss Tyler:
Tyler’s Smile:
And Sir Ethan (my handsome nephew) finally got to meet Tyler:
And Jordyn:
Well . . . that’s sort of our birth story! Long, I know! And to think that the girls have grown so much since then . . . It’s been about 3 hours since I got on the computer, so I’m off to go feed my babies again. They are so much fun!