Twins!!

We welcomed Jaxson Samuel and Zane Micah into the world April 13, 2012!  I wrote before about my pre-term labor issues-well I was able to keep those lil' babies in until 37 weeks, 1 day (barely-I was dilated to a 5 at my last checkup.) Jaxson (Baby A) was breech and Zane (Baby B) was transverse so I had to have a scheduled c-section.  I was so apprehensive about this procedure, and really bummed that I didn't get to have a "normal" labor experience.  I think I was mostly worried about the unknown, and, as usual, women always tell horror stories about the recovery....but obviously I wanted my babies to be safe and healthy, so that's what I had to do!  There were some things that were really nice-I didn't have to go through the whole labor process-no pain before, and the whole process took like 30 minutes!  But it was weird to know ahead of time their birthdays and I had time to worry and stress that things weren't going to go okay!  The babies ended up being born at 8:58 and 8:59 AM-came out screaming like crazy.  It was so weird to not be able to see what was going on (not that I'd want to see my stomach being sliced open) and to just see them for the first time held up over the blue sheet.  But tears streamed down my face when I heard their sweet cries for the first time!!  

The next part was really scary.  Mostly for Ethan: they took me away to the recovery area so thankfully I didn't have to experience the babies not being able to breathe, and the Drs. and nurses putting all kinds of tubes and wires all over my tiny babies!  Both of them had to be placed on oxygen, but only for 24 hours, and then they were able to breathe on their own, praise the Lord. 

The next week or so was spent frustratingly trying to get them to eat on their own.  I was so stubborn at first.  I didn't want them to have bottles under any circumstance because I was just sure that they wouldn't want to breastfeed.  The problem was that they were so tiny they got too tired to breastfeed, so they had to be fed through feeding tubes. Also, they kept losing weight, and since they were only 5 lbs to begin with, there just wasn't much to lose! 

So eventually I gave in, and let them have bottles of pumped milk.  They both finally were able to have their feeding tubes removed, and we were slated to be discharged-yay! 
The night before we were supposed to leave the hospital (finally!) Zane spiked a fever of 102.  The Dr. came in to talk to us, and I was panic-stricken!  She was so concerned because usually teeny babies don't have fevers unless it's something really bad.  The biggest concern was meningitis (a bacterial infection) so they had to do a spinal tap on my tiny baby.  The tears just started coming and coming.  I was so worried about Zane-I couldn't believe the bigger baby, and the one who was a great eater was now the one we were worried about!  So off he went into isolation-back onto an IV, back onto all the monitors....and we had to wear gloves and masks if we wanted to see him.  We were so thankful to God that the fever only happened that night, and after putting tons of antibiotics and running lots of tests (which all came back negative), Zane was able to leave the hospital after an additional 6 days. 

I have to say that this experience of staying at the hospital that long was one of the harder things I've had to do.  I already had missed out on the bigger boys after being on bedrest, and now I had to miss them for two more weeks!  We once again had to rely on others to help us out-what a humbling experience!  And on top of that, since I was breastfeeding and pumping at the hospital, I didn't get any sleep because I was constantly making trips down to the nursery to feed the babies or drop off milk, or just check up on whoever was in there.  Also, we got SO frustrated at all the different opinions we'd get from all the different nurses, Drs., and lactation specialists.  Needless to say, we were SOOO ready to be out of there, and even more thankful that those babies stayed in as long as they did, because I cannot even fathom being in there for weeks or months! 

I'll write more later about adjusting to life with twins, but I wanted to get these up since I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to do that!  I once again want to thank everyone for their continued support and prayers-we couldn't do this without you!

15 days later, on our way home!

Cameron is a proud big brother

 


Cuddling with Zane



Together in a twin bassinet

It was so hard to see them with all the tubes and wires

Holding Jaxson for the first time since the c section

Zane

So happy to meet them!

Jaxson on left and Zane on right-love that pouty lip!

Holding Zane for the first time

Holding Jaxson for the first time

Zane Micah

Jaxson Samuel

Right before I went into surgery

Last belly pic the morning they were born!

Snuggling with Jaxson

We were trying to show how big Ethan's hand was compared to Jaxson

Auntie Megan cuddling with Zane

I think Grandma White is in love!

Such a great big brother

Zane

The big boys were so happy to meet the babies

Tiernan and Cameron couldn't go into the nursery, so until they came out of NICU, they just had to look through the windows

March 2012

Here's some pictures from the month of March....

My sister Tiffany and her kiddos came over for my diaper shower in the middle of the month and we had so much fun together! The boys had fun riding in Ethan's Mustang.

Cameron was being SO cranky one day while he was having a snack. This face is so funny-I had to take a picture...

Originally we had planned to have a bigger party with friends for Tiernan's birthday. BUT the whole bedrest thing kind of changed our plans. So here are a few pictures from his party.

I think more cupcake got on his face than in his mouth

Yummy!

My belly at 32 weeks (at my diaper shower)

My belly at 35 weeks

February 2012

Just some random pictures from February....

My belly at 28 weeks

We just did a small family party for Cameron at our house. Here are some pictures in random order.....

Getting ready to open gifts

Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Cozzens

Yay! A new loader!

Another picture of Ethan and his knife

Lighting the cupcake

Yummy cupcakes

My little 2 year old

The boys have been loving watercolor painting lately. I love their focused faces.

35 weeks and BORED (It's a long one!)

Well it's been a month and a half since I last posted. So much has happened in such a short span of time! Let's see....both of the boys have had birthdays. Cameron turned two in February, and Tiernan just turned 4 yesterday. I'll try to post pics sometime of their birthday parties.
The biggest upheaval in our lives happened after I went in for my 32 week OB appt. They did the ultrasound on the twins and everything looked great...but when the OB checked my cervix I was dilated to a 3 and was 50% effaced. Yikes! She was so surprised because at every other appt. I was not dilated or effaced at all. So she immediately put me on bed rest to try to stop me from dilating any more and going into labor.
Unfortuantely early that next morning I woke up to really strong contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart. I began panicking! It was way too early for these babies to arrive! Ethan and I rushed to the hospital and they immediately gave me medication to stop the contractions. Fortunately I hadn't dilated any more, but the regular contractions continued until about noon, and then thankfully eased up. They sent me home that evening and ever since then I've had to remain on bed rest and continue taking medicine to stop the contractions/labor. That was almost three weeks ago.
It has been such a difficult situation-it's frustrating for me since I am basically restricted to getting up to go the bathroom and to take a shower. And I have to be laying down, not even sitting. I am the mayor of Boredom City! There is only so much tv and books you can read for almost three weeks straight! Another challenge has been that we have to find people to watch the boys since I'm obviously not able to take care of them. We have been so blessed by amazing people willing to help out in so many ways-Ethan's family and a friend of mine have been graciously taking the boys during the day, and we've had several people bring us meals. I am one thankful mama! I can tell that it's taken it's toll on the boys and Ethan, and I think everyone is ready to have things back to "normal"-even though it will be a new normal after the twins arrive!
In any case I am sooooo thankful that so far the bed rest and medication seem to be doing the trick, because at the Dr. appts. I've had since then, I haven't dilated or effaced any more-praise the Lord! So, it sounds like at this point if they were to deliver, the only possible problem would be to be on oxygen-but of course we're just hoping they'll just wait another couple of weeks until considered full term at 37 weeks. Our (or, mostly my) other prayer is that they'll both flip to be head down so that I can have a normal delivery, or as normal as a twin birth could be! Otherwise I will have to have a C-section which absolutely terrifies me-mostly the recovery part. Obviously I will be so thankful just to have healthy babies and if a C-section is what it takes that is fine, but not preferable. My Dr. said they'll decide at 36 weeks whether or not I'll have to have a C-section or not-so those babies just have about a week and a half to flip around! Right now Baby A is breech (the one closest to my cervix) and Baby B is head down (vertex.) BUT they have been in different positions every time I've gone in, so I'm holding out a TEENY bit of hope that they might cooperate. :)
Here's a few profile pictures of the twins....

Baby A's face was smushed by the membrane of the amniotic sac. You can kind of see the thin white line on the top of his forehead and nose...

January 2012

Just a couple of pictures from this month....

Tiernan has really been into puzzles lately. His latest favorite is the Hickory Dickory Dock puzzle from his cousin Lauren. He love putting the puzzle together and then reading the book.

You notice Cameron in the background being a ham...

He never misses a moment to pose for the camera

Safety goggles are on and I'm ready for work!

We've been training Cameron to sleep in his toddler bed. One day he snuck out of his room but apparently was so sleepy that he fell asleep in the hall. So cute

Just a month or two late...

Well I am finally getting around to posting Christmas pictures. I was not so great about taking pictures this year for some reason, so all you get are the ones of us in our pjs at our house.

A Benny the Bull from Auntie Tiff (and fam)

Cameron thought it was fun until he bounced too hard and fell over and bonked his head-I don't think he's got on it since...

Opening up our stockings-they loved all the construction equipment from Daddy

A flatbed truck and skid steer (look at my ever expanding vocabulary of vehicles! Four years ago I didn't know any of this!)

Unwrapping is the best part!

We put this rug in the boys' room-they love driving their thousands and thousands of trucks all over it

This picture makes me laugh because it looks like Ethan is about to stab Tiernan-why is it that I have TWO pictures where Ethan is trying to stab someone?? Hmmmm

The boys had fun putting ornaments on the tree. By the time Christmas came I think only the top half still had ornaments on it because some little fingers couldn't resist!