7 weeks

Life continues to be busy.  I am still home but did go to work for 4 hours last Saturday which meant daddy had his first stretch of the girls.  Friday night he had to do two bottle feedings and sleep with the girls as well as get up with them in the morning.  Let me tell you it was a chore for me just to get out of the house.  I didn't want to just bottle feed them for that long so I got up and did the 1 3 and 5 am feeding.  I have this fear that if they get to many bottles they won't want the breast.  Stupid I know but true.  So I went to work had to pump before I left just to make sure I was as emptied as I could be.  I had to pump at 10 o'clock and then came home around 12:30.  It felt good to get back to work and I wasn't worried about them because I knew they were with their dad.  Daddy did fine actually they slept almost the whole time for him.  I suggested we switch roles if that's the kind of touch he has.  Then I tried to feed and Mckenna was a little harder to latch on and didn't do her normal 15 minutes.  You guessed it mommy freaked out.  Everything returned back to normal and we are back on track.  I pump 2 to 3 times a day so I have a stash for when I go back to work which is only 3 weeks away.  Scary.  I have transitioned the girls into their crib at about 6 weeks.  Mckenna is a loud sleeper she squaks all night long.  I don't know how Kailey gets any sleep.  I put them both in the same crib for now.  They have sleep positioners so they can't move around to much.  We are working on getting on a schedule.  I go to bed at 8 o'clock and Travis gives them their one bottle of formula. Sometimes they will sleep for 3 or 4 hours sometimes not.  It's a work in progress.

The girls went for their 1 month visit on November 20th.  Kailey weighed 7lbs ond 14oz and was 21.5 inches.  Mckenna weighed 7lbs and 12.5 ounces and is 21 inches long.  Both girls are in the 90th percentile for length.  They are going to be tall like daddy.  The pediatrician was totally impressed they had gained almost 2 lbs in 2 weeks.  Power of a dedicated breastfeeding mom.  I was proud of us all.  

The Rice family wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year if I don't get write another post. We have the best presents ever!

Calling a Fertility Santa

Calling all amazing people I know!  I have a friend who is going through fertility treatments and just had an unsuccessful round.  This friend has been so supportive to me.  She donated her extra Gonal to me which was used to conceive my two little miracles and I would love to return the favor.  Her and her husband had to take a break last year that's why I received her left over meds.  They are trying again to conceive and just found out they have reached there maximum for medication.  So I am asking anyone who may have extra meds that they would like to donate to contact me.  I would love to be able to help her and return the favor.  If you met this amazing women you would want to help her too.  Hopefully we can bring her a Christmas miracle.

3.5 weeks

Everyone is doing great!  Both girls are nursing well and growing stronger by the day.  I am trying to breast feed solely and supplement with formula only at one feeding during the night. Mommy does need some sleep.  It is rare but I like to try for at least one four hour stretch.  Theories are great reality is another thing.  It is no lie breastfeeding is a commitment and takes A LOT of time and patience.  Especially with twins.  It is super important for me to give them all the goods things breastfeeding provides.  I only hope I can keep it up when I go back to work which will be after the first of the year. I am going to do a few days in December just to let everyone transition most of all me.  I am trying to minimize my withdrawl.   In the meantime I pump and store extra so that we have a back up on hand.  Travis has been back to work since the girls were only 5 days old so for the most part I have been on my own during the week.  My mom comes out for a day or two during the week and Travis's sister Darci and mom have helped out during the weekend. Thank god for people who remember what is was like to be sleep deprived and are willing to give you a few hours during the night to get some rest.  I can't thank you guys enough.

Yesterday was a day of firsts for the girls and daddy.    The girls and I went to church with my mom.  I was really looking forward to being able to give praise for our little miracles and show all the people who had prayed for these blessings their cute little faces.  Our senior pastor was at another church but we introduced them to Jill and Steven.  It was a day full of joyful tears as all of our prayers were right there for everyone's eyes to see how great God can be.  I never thought this day would come.  It causes you to reflect deeply about how awesome the power of prayer and God can be! It also makes you think about all the treatments, failed attempts, heartache, tears and deep despair that was our life for six years.  Not gonna lie when Kailey is on her third hour of crying at 1 in the morning I have to remind myself of this. (She's been a little cranky the past couple nights.)  We got home and I needed a nap so I left daddy on his own for a couple hours.  When I woke up and came down stairs I got the full report.  Kailey spit up on him he had changed 5 poppy diapers and they would only take an ounce of the pumped breast milk.  I didn't mean to laugh but I did.  He looked so exhausted and flustered and I couldn't help but say welcome to my world.  Until yesterday he had always had my or someone else's help.

The girls personalities and looks have changed a bit.  Mckenna has now become the more patient one while Kailey has found her lungs and knows how to use them!  Mckenna still has a round face and delicate features while Kailey is more like her dad long and lanky.  You should see the legs on this girl. I called her baby long legs while I was carrying her and she was always kicking my ribs now I know why.   She has some long legs just like daddy.  Both girls have daddy's cute dimples.  They are smiling a little bit and trying to hold their heads up.  It's amazing how quickly they change.

We will be hosting Thanskgiving at our house this year and there is plenty to be thankful for.  What a difference a year can make.

Pictures

We have arrived

Sorry for not posting sooner and I apologize in advance for the short post.  I am more busy than ever this first week!  Last Friday October 19th all our dreams came true.  Mckenna and Kailey arrived safe and sound at 2:09 and 2:10. Mckenna was 6lbs 2oz and Kailey was 5lbs 13oz  I had been at the doctor on Wed and no contractions or signs of labor but my feet and legs were so swollen I thought they would pop.  My urine was not showing any protein in it but the doctor drew blood just to see if any of the other factors would show up for preclampsia.  Nothing was sky high a few of the markers were slightly elevated so they wanted me to do a 24 hour urine and come back on Friday for ultrasound and stress test.

When I got to the appointment my morning urine had protein in it.  I have to say I was more than ready to meet my girls I was so uncomfortable and miserable words can't even describe.  I had gained 60 lbs 10 of which was just in the last week of my pregnancy from all the swelling.  Dr. Holden came in and said well you ready to have a birthday today?  She confirmed I still wanted to have a c section since both girls were head down.  No doubt in my mind I wanted the c section.  Dr.  Hubbell was the doctor on call and would be the one doing my section at roughly 1 o'clock.  I have a long history with Dr. Hubbell from miscarriages to him monitoring this pregnancy.  I was so thankful he would be the one bringing our miracles into the world. He is such a patient man and nothing really rattles him.   I was so excited that this day had finally come but I was so scared about the epidural and worried that something still could go wrong at delivery.  I called Travis and my mom and headed over to Lake Forest Women's center.

Normal monitoring and paper work ensued.  I had requested Dr. Dee to be my anesthesiologist he was in a meeting off site but my nurse said she would call him and see if he would be willing to come over and do my section.  He said he would be there after his meeting.  I can't believe how accommodating and wonderful the staff at Lake Forest was.  The head of anesthesia actually would come in and do my case that's amazing.  By this time everyone had arrived.  My mom, dad and niece and Travis's mom.  Travis's sister Darci lives 3 hours away and was at work and was chomping at the bit to be there but she couldn't get out of work but the great aunt that she is she hopped in the car as soon as she got off work and headed down to meet her nieces.

At around 2 o'clock we headed into the operating room.  My mom was able to come in because she works as a scrub tech at the hospital in the maternity ward.  Dr. Dee did my epidural and believe it or not it didn't even hurt my IV in my arm hurt worst than that but what a weird feeling to be numb from the legs down.  After I was all prepped they brought Travis in.  He was right by me the whole time holding my hand and rubbing my head.  I was worried he wouldn't be able to handle it in the OR but he did great.  Dr. Hubbell walked in and before he started working said Oh my God Brooke how are you even walking.   We all laughed.  Everyone in the OR was relaxed and chatting.  It made me feel very much at ease.  At 2:09 I heard the most wonderful sound little Ms. Mckenna graced the world with her first cry.  I couldn't see her right away they did the routine stuff but I heard her and knew she was okay.  1 minute later Kailey came out wailing.  She made her presence known right away.    After everyone was confirmed healthy they brought them over and out them right by my face I kissed there little foreheads and thanked god for the miracles he had given us.  Off to recovery for the girls and Travis while they finished stitching me up.  Everyone in the OR had known our story and prayed for us and the girls.  So it was great that they could see God's work at it's finest.  I joked that it wasn't fair I did all this work and Travis gets to hold the girls first where's the fairness in that!

I finally went to recovery and held and breastfeed my girls as soon as we could.  They were doing great but my blood pressure was very high.  So they were doing everything they could to get it down.  It did finally come down and they moved us to our room room 1211.  Everyone came in to meet the girls but only for a brief moment because my blood pressure was going up again and I was experiencing some swelling at the incision site so they wanted me to rest.  The girls were doing a great job breastfeeding and I was supplementing with formula after every feeding to make sure they didn't lose to much weight.  That night I sent them to the nursery so Travis and I could get some sleep and rest up for the big days ahead I needed my  strength and some sleep I was exhausted.

Saturday morning the pediatrician came to check the girls out.  Both girls were a little jaundice very normal they would monitor that but Kailey had a little heart murmer also very common.  They wanted to watch that and would check it the next day.  On Monday she got an EKG and we were told that it should close by the time she is one but it will require monitoring.

Travis is a great dad!  He did not have much experience with infants so he was a little worried about how he would do.  It came very natural to him.  He jumped right in changing diapers and cuddling and consouling all his girls including mommy.  He went home on Sunday and got the house in order while my family visited.

I am doing amazingly well for having major surgery.  I stopped taking pain meds on Tuesday but the best thing I did for the first few days was to take them every 4 hours so my pain never became crippling and I was able to care for the girls.  Breastfeeding is going great as well.  Both girls latch very well but they do eat every two hours they are hungry little girls.  Mckenna makes sure she gets more than her fair share!  She is a little piggy and much more vocal than her sister.  Kailey is my patient girl.  It's only been a week but their personalities are very distinct.  I love being a mom and Travis keeps telling the girls how much he loves them.

Thank you to my support team during this past week My mom, Darci and Grandma Reuss and of course my loving husband Travis.  I love you all so much and am so thankful to have you all in our lives.

I

Energizer Buny

Were like the energizer bunny without the energy still going!  I am going to be 37 weeks tomorrow and still pregnant.  I can't believe it.  I lost my mucous plug last Tuesday so I called the doctor nothing to be alarmed about it could be one day or it could be 2 weeks they said plus I had an appointment the next day anyways.  They hooked me up to the fetal heart monitor everything looked good still not a lot of contractions.  When Dr. did my internal though she said I was 1 cm dialated and 80-90% effaced.  I thought for sure we were going to meet our little angels last weekend.  No such luck.  I even did acupuncture twice to get things moving no luck.  My girls seem to be very content in their little oven.  I on the other hand now not only have swollen ankles but have grown tree stumps for legs from the knee down.  My skin is so tight it is actually splitting and getting sores.  I am off to the doctor tomorrow for another check I will keep you posted!  Hopefully we can meet our girls soon!

35 weeks and still going

I am HUGE!!!  Last week I went for ultrasound both girls weigh 4.7 lbs and mom weighs 172.  They are doing great.  I am on weekly monitoring with my doctor at this point.  The doctor says twins usually come between 34 and 36 weeks.  I don't think our girls have any plans of coming anytime soon.  My cervix has started to soften and I am still experiencing some contractions.  Other than that we are doing great.  I am still working I have cut back my work week by just 4 hours so I am still going strong.  Although walking and normal activity is getting harder and harder everyday.  My right ankle is really swollen now almost to the point that I can't get  a shoe on.  I go back to the doctor tommorow so we will see if there is any progress. I have opted to have a c section no matter what.  There are just to many things that can go wrong during a natural birth with twins.  I don't need any emergency situations arising.  If I don't go into labor by Oct 25th we have a c section scheduled.  At that point I would be 38.5 weeks.  21 days and yes I am counting.  I am ready to meet our girls!

It still doesn't seem real that we are going to be parents let alone parents of twins.  Fun Fun.  We did get to have a first hand view of how things go this past weekend. Birdies for Babies golf outing was this weekend and I sat with Katie and her girls for a couple hours while we waited for the golfers to come in.  Her girls are beautiful but oh man can you see what we are in for.  It's going to be a lot of work but we are ready!  Come out and play Kailey and Mckenna!