Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Birth Story of Andrew and Juliet

Hello my wonderful readers. So I have finally got a second to sit down and write the twins birth story. It started on December 12, 2016, I was 37 weeks exactly, I had a doctors appointment at 4:30p. Aaron took off work early to come home to watch Penelope while I went to the appointment. Something told me that I should finally put my hospital bag in the car that day so I did and I also got the feeling Aaron should drive me to the appointment instead of driving myself, so him, Penelope and me got all loaded up in the car and went to the appointment. I went into the appointment and I peed in a cup like normal and was weighed and blood pressure checked a couple times. Doc came in finally and did an ultrasound to check the babies' heartbeats and they were perfect. Problems that were pointed out by the doctor was my blood pressure was high a bit and there was protein in my urine, which both suggest preeclampsia. I failed to mention my c-section was scheduled for a week from this day at 38 weeks exactly. She then sent me over to the labor and delivery building to have a fetal monitor put on for a couple hours and blood pressure taken every so often. My mom had just got off work so I called her and said she should maybe pack a bag and start heading our way since it would take her a couple hours to get there. A couple hours go by laying on the uncomfortable hospital bed starving because I wasn't allowed to eat yet, my husband took my daughter to get some food so she wasn't starving and not long after he came back, my mom showed up and then the doctor on call came in and said "How would you like to have some babies tonight?" Right after she said that the blood pressure machine took my blood pressure again and it was pretty high since I felt like I was panicking since this was not the plan! We were not supposed to have babies for another week I had so much to do still I felt like to get ready for them. So my mom took Penelope home to our house and got her bathed and to bed and went to bed herself since there was no need for anyone really to be hanging around the hospital. During this time my dad and mother in law had been called and told and said they would just come the next day to see the babies. We then proceeded to be checked in fully and moved to a labor suite until it was time to prep and go in for the c-section. It was about 8:30p-9p when we got moved to the suite I believe. They came in and gave me antibiotics I think and prepped me and gave Aaron his scrubs to wear in the OR and every doc that was going to do anything to me came in and introduced themselves and said exactly what they would be doing. My nurse then asked me all the usual questions and said she would be back at 11p to take me to the OR. Well 10:45p comes and there is an emergency c-section and we are bumped back a time slot since I was not in distress or anything and the babies were just fine we just had to wait. About midnight they wheeled me into the OR and got my spinal put in and went over everything with themselves, it was kind of an out of body experience because you are numb from the chest down and have a curtain up in front of your face. Aaron was then let in the OR and watched the whole thing, he said it was the craziest thing he has ever seen. 
This is the picture I took right before we left the house for my appointment that day.   
At 12:34a on December 13, 2016 Andrew James was brought into this world. He was 6 lbs 3 oz. He was really shocked about being born. He had a little fluid in his lungs so he was immediately taken over and worked on a little to get it out. In this process they had to put a c-pap machine on him, when they did this they kind of filled his tummy with air. Over the next few days he had to first have a feeding tube in and IVs in to feed him because he wouldn't keep any milk down due to a tummy full of air. After he got over that problem he was border line jaundice. He was in the NICU for a week, which broke my heart. They had put me on something for my blood pressure that they would not allow me to go down to the NICU to see him with, so I did not hold him until he was almost 24 hours old. I did pump and take milk down to him and feed him and Aaron was with him a lot of the time in the NICU. His nurses and doctor were amazing! 
At 12:35a on December 13, 2016 Juliet Rose was brought into the world. She was screaming very well and kicking like crazy with eyes wide open. She was 5 lbs. She was perfectly healthy and was able to be in the recovery with me start breastfeeding right away and she was with me the whole time we were in the hospital. We were able to take her down to the NICU with us to see Andrew also. 
After they were taken out, they had to put me back together, this is the part where I think was the hardest because of all the pressure from them moving things around and putting things back made me throw up and pass out. I came to not too long after passing out and they finished up and I went into the recovery area where I had the shakes so bad Aaron had to feed me ice chips because I couldn't hold the cup still enough, it was the worse feeling I have ever had. It wore off in time to go to the postpartum room. At this point I have no idea what time it was or anything. I was worried about Andrew so much it was so hard to not have him with me. We were in our hospital room for 5 days, then me and Juliet were discharged. Our hospital has a thing called a boarder room that you can use for 48 hours after you are discharged if your NICU baby has not been discharged. We stayed our 48 hours to the minute and then spent about 5-6 hours in the NICU with Juliet in tow waiting for the doctor to discharge Andrew so we could all go home together. She finally came and she was hesitant on discharging him that day but she did and I am so thankful we all got to go home as a family. During the week in the hospital I pumped and we both ran milk down to Andrew and I fed Juliet and tried to go down and feed him. We came home on December 18th. We all got home for Christmas I was so happy! Penelope had come to the hospital the day they were born and saw Juliet but she was too small to go in the NICU so she had not seen Andrew until we brought him home, I think it finally hit her that there were two babies. This was an amazing experience and I know God put it in my life to make me stronger! I feel so much now for the people who have babies in the NICU because even just a week in there was really hard. I hope you all enjoyed hearing how our twins came into the world. Lots of love!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Being a SAHM of 3 - 2 and under

Hello my wonderful readers. So I didn't know how or what I would write on this post but I wanted to do a post about my postpartum journey since I had the twins. My birth story will post next week so keep a look out for that but just to get you up to speed I had a c-section. I thought I recovered quite well from the actual c-section itself with getting up and getting moving as soon as I was able to and in the hospital for a week getting up frequently from the bed to the chair helped a lot. I did bleed however from the time they were born to about the 2 month mark because I went through the postpartum bleeding then stopped breastfeeding so my cycle came back as well right after the postpartum started to let up. Emotionally I have had an ok time. I am really tired with two newborns and a toddler so that makes you irritable and also makes your partner irritable because they aren't sleeping either. I wasn't as hard on myself this time around with not getting to breastfeed that long because I knew for a fact it was better for the twins to have formula because they weren't getting enough with breast milk. They actually went right up to a healthy weight about a week after being on formula when before they weren't gaining much weight at all. I was being drained of energy and as soon as they were done eating I would pump and clean everything up and it would be time to feed again, I was getting zero rest in between which wore me down big time physically and emotionally. I am still a little emotional with some things when it hits me the wrong way or something because of the hormones which is normal but annoying. Weight wise (which doesn't matter as much) I got down to the weight I was before I had my toddler which was awesome and I felt good about my body but slowly am starting to pick at it again and I think that is just insecurity in general. My goal this postpartum compared to my last is to feel good with my body inside and out, emotionally, physically and spiritually and also be good with Aaron. When we had Penelope our marriage changed big time and we fought a lot at first because as new parents a baby is very strenuous on your marriage, this time around I feel like we have been more of a team which is wonderful. We are coming out of that newborn stage so things are getting a little easier thank the Lord! I think just getting on a routine is helping things out a lot. Hope this postpartum honestly is what you wanted to hear this week! Love to all! 

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Month 3 with Twins

Hello my wonderful readers. I cannot believe I am writing already about month 3 with our twins. They are just growing so very fast and time is flying by. I have even started pinning ideas on Pinterest for their first birthday. We are now in that baby phase and less of a newborn phase, we can see through the haze now haha.
Clothing Size: Juliet is just now going out of her newborn size to 3 months and Andrew has been in 3 months clothes for almost a month.
Sleeping: They are sleeping very well at this point in bed around 7pm and up at 5am all night in their own beds in our room.
Feeding: They are switching from the newborn formula to one for babies with gas issues since they have been having that a lot. They are eating 4oz every 2.5-3 hours.
Routine: We are getting into routine of feed, active, sleep in their own beds. I have been trying to let them nap in their real cribs to start getting them used to them for the future. We do however put jammies on and start feeding bottles no matter what by 6:30pm and then put them down in their beds for the night around 7pm and that is really helping we haven't had much of a fight from them.
Firsts: They really only had two small firsts this month, first Valentine's day and first walk at the park in their double stroller together, they fell asleep.
Picture: Valentine's Day was fun! Anyone else in love with LuLaRoe Leggings??
 Couldn't help but share this cute picture of them with their lovie blankets.
Keep your eyes out for the 4 month update in April and also Penelope's 2.5 year update. Lots of Love. 

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

What was in my Hospital Bag - That I Used!

Hello my wonderful readers. So I know this is a post that should have been done awhile ago but I have 3 kids 2 and under so I hope you can give me some grace :-). I wanted to tell you what I packed in my hospital bag. This time around, as opposed to my first pregnancy, I brought only what I thought I would truly need and I ended up using pretty much everything since we were at the hospital for a week. 

  • Toiletries: hair brush, comb, hair ties, hair spray, toothbrush and paste, contacts and solution, glasses, shampoo and body wash, deodorant, tissues, q-tips, lotion, band-aids (Aaron used), Tylenol (Aaron used), prenatal vitamins
  • 2 drawstring sweats (I had a c-section so with drawstring pants you can make the waist pretty big to pull up farther past the incision)
  • 2 pairs socks with the rubber dots on the bottom (I hate the hospital socks)
  • slippers with rubber souls (I wore these all over the hospital)
  • 3 nursing tanks (I was able to wear the same one really until my milk came in around day 3 or 4 then I was leaking so much I went through a couple)\
  • 1 button up flannel shirt (wore over nursing tank as going home outfit)
  • ROBE (same robe I took with my first pregnancy and I can't stress enough this is the #1 item to have)
  • sweater- cardigan for easy nursing that could just go over a tank
  • nursing pads - my hospital didn't provide these and I was there so long my milk did come in and I really needed them, Aaron had to go home and get more because I didn't bring enough
  • nursing pillow - I have a my breast friend and it was wonderful to have in the hospital when my incision was still fresh 
  • pillow- nothing like your own pillow from home to sleep on, make sure you put a dark or patterned pillow case on it so it doesn't get mixed up with the white hospital ones
  • manila envelope - having this envelope was a must this time because with my first I remember having so much paperwork given to us that it all got messed up from just being shoved in my bag, this time we had a lot more paperwork since there was 3 of us admitted technically so it stayed all nice and in one place
  • Babies
  • Going home outfits - I decided not to do a full outfit this time around so we picked out some really cute sleepers for them to wear home so it was just eaiser overall, plus a hat of course 
  • burp cloths- the hospital just gives you paper towels so I wanted something softer to wipe Juliet's mouth on 
  • baby wipes- our hospital does not provide baby wipes they provide paper towels that you wet to wipe the baby's bottom, I think that is too rough so I brought a lot of baby wipes
  • blankets- they each had a blanket I made for them to put over them in the car seat on the ride home
  • extra outfits for Juliet- because we were in the hospital so long (see my birth story when it gets put up) Aaron had to go home and bring back a couple sleepers for Juliet to wear since they only give you one blanket and one little shirt for your baby

Hope this helps someone pack only what they need for the hospital. Lots of love your way!

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

What is in my Diaper Bag? Twins plus Toddler

Hello my wonderful readers. It has been awhile since I did a what's in my diaper bag, so here it is for 2 newborns and a 2 year old that is not potty trained. My diaper bag is a Mint Chip Ju-Ju-Be Be Prepared, I love this bag and all Ju-Ju-Be bags. It is a big bag and can be carried cross body which is how I carry it.

 Wallet
sunglasses
notebook
foam changing pad (comes with bag super comfy for baby)
Fuel cell by Ju-Ju-Be in Frosted Blossoms usually has the bottles in it with measured out water already
snacks for P (apple sauce pouches, goldfish)
notebook and crayons with coloring pages
books 
dvd player and extra movie 
pacifiers with clips
mommy hook
hats for all 3
toy
2 burp cloths
2 small wet bags and 1 target bag (the twins will eventually be in cloth when they get big enough)
reusable bag (we live in California and they charge for bags everywhere now)
set of nursing pads (even though I'm no longer nursing I still leak every so often)
sample sizes of diaper cream and nipple cream
sunscreen stick for P
comb
chap stick for me 
3 handkerchiefs in case I run out of tissues and boogie wipes 
small Ju-Ju-Be set piece in Blooming Romance with sippy cup leashes and stroller clips in it 
Diapers: 6 newborn size / 3 size 5
Wipes
2 disposable changing pads
Change of clothes for each kid
2 receiving blankets
bibs for all
baby powder
socks for all
pen
tissues

Right before we go somewhere I will throw in how many ever bottles we need while gone with the right amount of water in them and a water cup for P. 
It is safe to say this bag holds a lot and I need a lot for 3 kids 2 and under with all in diapers still. I hope to soon potty train Penelope so we will also have a portable potty seat also with some panties for her. Also a baby blanket can also fit in the top of the bag if needed. Hope this helps someone if your wondering what to pack for your littles. Lots of Love.