We were in the hospital until Friday morning, and we've been home since then. In some ways, being home is a lot harder than being at the hospital, because there you had a professional staff monitoring everything and you knew you couldn't screw up too badly without someone correcting things and getting you back on track. At home, however, there's this constant underlying fear that I'm doing something wrong and just don't know it! On the other hand, it's nice being home because I get to spend as much time with Alice and Zedekiah as I want to, without nurses coming to whisk them away to the nursery for this test or that test.
One of the biggest struggles has been making sure the babies have enough food. In the hospital, the doctor was concerned about their weight loss; although most babies lose up to 12% of their body weight after they are born, the fact that our babies weren't that big to begin with had the doctor closely monitoring them. He told us if they lost any more weight, they'd likely need to be on IVs and stay in the hospital even after I went home--and that was not something we wanted to happen, of course, so I was determined to get them doing better. As of Friday morning, Alice was 5 pounds, 8 ounces (down from 6 pounds, 4 ounces at birth) and Zed was 5 pounds, 6 ounces (down from 6 pounds, 2 ounces at birth). The doctor told us we needed to go in for a weight check on Saturday, and I was determined that our babies were not going back to the hospital. So, for the rest of Friday and up until our appointment Saturday morning, Adam, my mom and I worked super hard to get the babies eating, including doing regular feedings and spoon feeding them and doing anything we could think of to get them to eat enough. Luckily, at our appointment, both babies weighed in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces, and they got to go home with us.
Much of being at home consists of the babies eating and sleeping, of course. The biggest problem right now is that Zedekiah seems to get hiccups a LOT and then has trouble sleeping, which in turn makes it so he doesn't want to wake up to eat. We've had some very LOOOOOOOOOONG nights as we've been trying to help him. To top off that very hard night, Adam's truck died this morning as he was headed off to work for a couple hours. I'm not particularly happy about that additional challenge, but on the bright side...my babies are still the cutest babies in the world.
Zed and Alice seem to like being twins. Just like at the hospital, we've got them sharing a crib, and quite often we catch them turned toward each other. It's really sweet. Adam and I are absolutely in love with these little ones!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
They're Here!
This is just a quick post to explain how we ended up having the babies when we did; other posts will surely be forthcoming and more eloquent and detailed (and past posts will provide context if you're unfamiliar with other details).
After having our appointment on Thursday cancelled and rescheduled for today, I waited anxiously for our appointment at 10 a.m. today. I told Adam that the best thing that could happen was that we'd get to the appointment and Dr. Anderson would say we could do a vaginal delivery and "oh, by the way, you're very dilated; go to the hospital now." I didn't think that was very likely, but before heading to my appointment, I made sure my hospital bags were in the car and everything was ready to go on the very slim chance that we'd get to deliver the babies today.
Well, it didn't happen quite as I'd hoped--what he said was, "If the placenta hasn't moved, do you want to have a c-section today?" I quickly said, "YES!" and he started to take a look; before he looked at the placenta, though, he looked at positioning. Both babies were breech, and we needed at least Baby A to be head-down in order to do a vaginal delivery. So, Dr. Anderson said, "Well, that answers that question"--we needed to do the c-section. He then called the hospital to get things set up, and we went directly from his office over to the hospital and get checked in and started the process to have a c-section at 1:00. which left us just enough time to text/call a couple of family members and for Adam to call work to tell them he wasn't coming back in after the doctor's appointment. With the paperwork and medications we needed to do,1:00 was the earliest that they could have gotten us in, and it worked out just perfectly.
Zedekiah James was born at 1:26 p.m., weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and he was 19 inches long. He was quickly (at 1:27 p.m.) joined by his sister, Alice Raiella, who was 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 18 inches long.
Adam and I are absolutely thrilled...and perhaps we are slightly biased but we're pretty sure we have the cutest babies in the world. There aren't even words to describe how happy we are to have these little ones :)
After having our appointment on Thursday cancelled and rescheduled for today, I waited anxiously for our appointment at 10 a.m. today. I told Adam that the best thing that could happen was that we'd get to the appointment and Dr. Anderson would say we could do a vaginal delivery and "oh, by the way, you're very dilated; go to the hospital now." I didn't think that was very likely, but before heading to my appointment, I made sure my hospital bags were in the car and everything was ready to go on the very slim chance that we'd get to deliver the babies today.
Well, it didn't happen quite as I'd hoped--what he said was, "If the placenta hasn't moved, do you want to have a c-section today?" I quickly said, "YES!" and he started to take a look; before he looked at the placenta, though, he looked at positioning. Both babies were breech, and we needed at least Baby A to be head-down in order to do a vaginal delivery. So, Dr. Anderson said, "Well, that answers that question"--we needed to do the c-section. He then called the hospital to get things set up, and we went directly from his office over to the hospital and get checked in and started the process to have a c-section at 1:00. which left us just enough time to text/call a couple of family members and for Adam to call work to tell them he wasn't coming back in after the doctor's appointment. With the paperwork and medications we needed to do,1:00 was the earliest that they could have gotten us in, and it worked out just perfectly.
Zedekiah James was born at 1:26 p.m., weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and he was 19 inches long. He was quickly (at 1:27 p.m.) joined by his sister, Alice Raiella, who was 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 18 inches long.
Adam and I are absolutely thrilled...and perhaps we are slightly biased but we're pretty sure we have the cutest babies in the world. There aren't even words to describe how happy we are to have these little ones :)
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Agony...
On Thursday, Adam and I were supposed to go see the doctor and find out for sure whether or not we have to have a c-section--and if we do, to get it scheduled. However, an hour before our appointment, the doctor's office called to say he needed to go deliver a baby so they had to reschedule my appointment...for Monday morning. (He doesn't have office hours on Fridays because that's when he normally schedules his c-sections and inducements.) So, that has made for an agonizing weekend! I need to know if I have to have a c-section or not! (Preferably not.) And I was hoping to get the okay to go off of bed rest, since the babies are full term, and I'm going insane with just laying around all day. I have never been so disappointed to NOT go to the doctor in my life! (Okay, I don't think I've ever had a doctor reschedule on me before, but the point is, this was a pretty important appointment and of all the appointments to have to reschedule, this was not the one I would have chosen!)
Anyway, we'll find out tomorrow about the c-section...I'm hoping we'll get in there and he'll tell us that we don't have to a c-section but I'm also way dilated and should just go to the hospital, but that's probably not very likely.
Anyway, we'll find out tomorrow about the c-section...I'm hoping we'll get in there and he'll tell us that we don't have to a c-section but I'm also way dilated and should just go to the hospital, but that's probably not very likely.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Baby DIY
In preparation for the twins, Adam and I have had to buy a LOT of stuff. I've also spent a lot of time on pinterest looking at project ideas, and we were able to put some of them to good use and save some money on baby expenses. Since I'm on bed rest and can't do the traditional "nesting," instead of been trying to clean up my pinterest boards, deleting duplicates and things like that, and today I thought maybe I'd post some of the projects we've done and then I don't have to save those instructions on pinterest anymore. So, here goes:
Crib Sheets
I was intrigued when I saw instructions for making your own crib sheets, particularly because I had lots of material lying around the house (including old twin bed sheets) and figured this could be a simple way to save some money. One issue, though, is that we bought mini cribs and mattresses, rather than full-sized, so the dimensions in the directions wouldn't work for us. I showed Adam the directions and asked if he could figure out what dimensions we would need to use and he did the math to find the proportions (45 by 31, with 4.5 squares cut out at each corner). He followed that up by doing a trial run and said that he'd made it a little bigger than that, and it was a snug fit--snug enough that we didn't need to put in elastic to get it to stay on the mattress. We considered that a plus; why bother with elastic when you don't have to? We went on to make 7 or so of the sheets, which would cost about $6-8 or more each at the store (unless you find them on sale), so we saved about $42.
Pacifier Clips and Nursing Cover Strap
I found two different sets of directions for these--http://icraftforless.blogspot.com/ and http://thediymommy.com/sew-boutique-soother-clips
Looking at these, I figured it would be a simple enough project, but I also thought it could be even simpler--the pacifier clips you buy in the store often just have a loop of cord at the opposite end of the clip, so I figured we'd go that route. So, I bought some cord (don't remember the price but it was at JoAnn's with a 40% off coupon, so it was less than $2) and ordered a ten pack of clips from Amazon ($6.70 total). For the ribbon part, I pulled out ribbons that had been on baby shower gifts I'd received, so the ribbon was free :) I handed the supplies to Adam and he proceeded to make 4 pacifier clips. Also, since I'd bought a ten-pack of clips, and we only used 4 here, I also had Adam make a nursing cover strap. Having seen this on pinterest as well, I figured it could be useful to have and super easy to make. So, Adam took our free ribbon and 2 of the clips and quickly sewed a nursing cover strap as well. And we still have 4 clips leftover for some other brilliant project. Nice. The pacifier clips are close to $5 each at the store, so saved $11 on the clips, plus have a nursing strap cover and some extra supplies.
Nursing Covers
Now, having a nursing cover strap, I could use any old blanket as a cover, but I had also seen a few sets of directions for making a nursing cover, so I thought, why not? I showed Adam the directions I'd found-- http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-make-nursing-cover.html and http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/01/diy-nursing-cover.html
We had a bunch of old sheets lying around the house, so I decided to use those and just had to buy boning from JoAnn's (again, not exactly sure on the price, but I only need 24 inches and I used a coupon, so probably no more than $2.50). Adam and I made two covers (one white, one navy blue). Since sheets are kind of thin, we put the right sides together and sewed around, leaving a hole at the middle of the top for the boning, turned them right side out, got the boning put in, and stitched them shut. Overall, I think they'll work all right; I think they might have worked better with a stiffer fabric, but I do really like the fact that I could make them as big as I wanted, since I'm going to be trying to feed two babies at once and need all the coverage I can get. Nursing covers aren't cheap--the cheapest ones I've seen are $10 but got really poor reviews about being see-through, so we saved at least $10 (I might not have bought 2 of them, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a back up since we were making them for practically nothing)
Nursing Pillows and Covers
This idea actually came from a book, not pinterest. I checked out a book from the library that had a bunch of baby projects a while ago, and a nursing pillow was one of the projects. I used some fabric I had lying around the house, made a nursing pillow, and then had no use for it. However, once we found out we were having twins, I pulled it out, as well as the pattern I'd copied from the book (which was kind of a lumpy pattern--I'd recommend just borrowing someone's nursing pillow and tracing it--although make sure you then enlarge it to leave room for seam allowances and stuff) and made a second one--the reasoning being that I can use that to cushion them even when they're not eating (not sure how well trying to use them both while nursing would actually work--one on each side instead of one in the front?). Then I decided maybe I'd make a cover for each of them; although they're washable, since I used a polycotton filling, I thought it wouldn't hurt to have covers in case the babies spit up on them. So I used the same pattern, although I made it slightly larger, and sewed the inner curve and a little ways on each side of it. For the remaining side (the larger, outer curve), I decided to just sew some snaps on, to make it easier to get the pillows in and out of the covers. They're not the prettiest things in the world, but given that I used material from around the house and probably paid $6 or less for the filling (coupons, JoAnns, need I say more?), and nursing pillows cost about $40, I'll take my not-so-cute, sorta-lumpy pillows and see how they do and save my $34 for something else...like diapers.
Changing Pad Cover
I saw a couple different things on pinterest about making your own changing pad covers; I had purchased one but thought it probably wouldn't be too hard to make another. I handed this task off to Adam, who quickly whipped up a cover, using an old sheet and thread we had on handed, meaning we paid no money for it at all. Nice! (Covers are about $8 or more a piece, so decent savings there.) He followed the same basic principle as when he made the sheets, but this time he did use elastic, and he also had to make a hole in each side in order for the changing pad's safety buckle to have a spot to fit through.
So, those our baby projects. I suppose it's a bit of misnomer to call this post DIY, since I didn't do it myself--I had a lot of help from Adam--but together, we made some pretty cool things and saved a decent bit of money. Not too shabby. And I might post pictures at some point, but right now, the camera and cord are packed in the hospital bag, and I'm not digging those out.
Crib Sheets
I was intrigued when I saw instructions for making your own crib sheets, particularly because I had lots of material lying around the house (including old twin bed sheets) and figured this could be a simple way to save some money. One issue, though, is that we bought mini cribs and mattresses, rather than full-sized, so the dimensions in the directions wouldn't work for us. I showed Adam the directions and asked if he could figure out what dimensions we would need to use and he did the math to find the proportions (45 by 31, with 4.5 squares cut out at each corner). He followed that up by doing a trial run and said that he'd made it a little bigger than that, and it was a snug fit--snug enough that we didn't need to put in elastic to get it to stay on the mattress. We considered that a plus; why bother with elastic when you don't have to? We went on to make 7 or so of the sheets, which would cost about $6-8 or more each at the store (unless you find them on sale), so we saved about $42.
Pacifier Clips and Nursing Cover Strap
I found two different sets of directions for these--http://icraftforless.blogspot.com/ and http://thediymommy.com/sew-boutique-soother-clips
Looking at these, I figured it would be a simple enough project, but I also thought it could be even simpler--the pacifier clips you buy in the store often just have a loop of cord at the opposite end of the clip, so I figured we'd go that route. So, I bought some cord (don't remember the price but it was at JoAnn's with a 40% off coupon, so it was less than $2) and ordered a ten pack of clips from Amazon ($6.70 total). For the ribbon part, I pulled out ribbons that had been on baby shower gifts I'd received, so the ribbon was free :) I handed the supplies to Adam and he proceeded to make 4 pacifier clips. Also, since I'd bought a ten-pack of clips, and we only used 4 here, I also had Adam make a nursing cover strap. Having seen this on pinterest as well, I figured it could be useful to have and super easy to make. So, Adam took our free ribbon and 2 of the clips and quickly sewed a nursing cover strap as well. And we still have 4 clips leftover for some other brilliant project. Nice. The pacifier clips are close to $5 each at the store, so saved $11 on the clips, plus have a nursing strap cover and some extra supplies.
Nursing Covers
Now, having a nursing cover strap, I could use any old blanket as a cover, but I had also seen a few sets of directions for making a nursing cover, so I thought, why not? I showed Adam the directions I'd found-- http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-make-nursing-cover.html and http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/01/diy-nursing-cover.html
We had a bunch of old sheets lying around the house, so I decided to use those and just had to buy boning from JoAnn's (again, not exactly sure on the price, but I only need 24 inches and I used a coupon, so probably no more than $2.50). Adam and I made two covers (one white, one navy blue). Since sheets are kind of thin, we put the right sides together and sewed around, leaving a hole at the middle of the top for the boning, turned them right side out, got the boning put in, and stitched them shut. Overall, I think they'll work all right; I think they might have worked better with a stiffer fabric, but I do really like the fact that I could make them as big as I wanted, since I'm going to be trying to feed two babies at once and need all the coverage I can get. Nursing covers aren't cheap--the cheapest ones I've seen are $10 but got really poor reviews about being see-through, so we saved at least $10 (I might not have bought 2 of them, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a back up since we were making them for practically nothing)
Nursing Pillows and Covers
This idea actually came from a book, not pinterest. I checked out a book from the library that had a bunch of baby projects a while ago, and a nursing pillow was one of the projects. I used some fabric I had lying around the house, made a nursing pillow, and then had no use for it. However, once we found out we were having twins, I pulled it out, as well as the pattern I'd copied from the book (which was kind of a lumpy pattern--I'd recommend just borrowing someone's nursing pillow and tracing it--although make sure you then enlarge it to leave room for seam allowances and stuff) and made a second one--the reasoning being that I can use that to cushion them even when they're not eating (not sure how well trying to use them both while nursing would actually work--one on each side instead of one in the front?). Then I decided maybe I'd make a cover for each of them; although they're washable, since I used a polycotton filling, I thought it wouldn't hurt to have covers in case the babies spit up on them. So I used the same pattern, although I made it slightly larger, and sewed the inner curve and a little ways on each side of it. For the remaining side (the larger, outer curve), I decided to just sew some snaps on, to make it easier to get the pillows in and out of the covers. They're not the prettiest things in the world, but given that I used material from around the house and probably paid $6 or less for the filling (coupons, JoAnns, need I say more?), and nursing pillows cost about $40, I'll take my not-so-cute, sorta-lumpy pillows and see how they do and save my $34 for something else...like diapers.
Changing Pad Cover
I saw a couple different things on pinterest about making your own changing pad covers; I had purchased one but thought it probably wouldn't be too hard to make another. I handed this task off to Adam, who quickly whipped up a cover, using an old sheet and thread we had on handed, meaning we paid no money for it at all. Nice! (Covers are about $8 or more a piece, so decent savings there.) He followed the same basic principle as when he made the sheets, but this time he did use elastic, and he also had to make a hole in each side in order for the changing pad's safety buckle to have a spot to fit through.
So, those our baby projects. I suppose it's a bit of misnomer to call this post DIY, since I didn't do it myself--I had a lot of help from Adam--but together, we made some pretty cool things and saved a decent bit of money. Not too shabby. And I might post pictures at some point, but right now, the camera and cord are packed in the hospital bag, and I'm not digging those out.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Pregnancy Update
We hit the 36 week mark yesterday, which is great. One more week and the babies will be considered full-term--and since 50% of twins are born by 36 weeks, we're doing pretty darn good.
The babies are healthy and active. I have to do a non-stress test at the hospital every week, and they have had good heart rates at each of those. Funnily enough, it's always easier to get the boy hooked up to the monitor; the girl squirms and moves and kicks the monitor. One of the nurses told me that she's going to be pretty feisty. And then, we found out this week that although the boy is bigger in most measurements, the girl weighs more. So, it sounds like we've got a skinny, calm boy and a round, feisty girl...or in other words, pretty much a mini-Adam and a mini-Adrienne. Both babies weigh over 5.5 pounds, so they're doing good.
Adam and I have actually put together a list of baby names! Granted the lists are like 30 names long, but we're working on narrowing them down, and by the time the babies come, we should hopefully have a better idea of what these kids are going to be named.
I am still on bed rest, although I'm hoping next week when I hit 37 weeks, they'll take me off bed rest and let me try to have the babies, instead of telling me to try not to have the babies.
We're kind of up in the air as to whether we will have to have a c-section or not. In order to do a vaginal delivery, we need the placenta to be at least 2 centimeters away from the cervix and we need at least Baby A to be head down. At our appointment this week, the placenta was 1.6 cm away from the cervix and both babies were breech. So, if we go into labor or have bleeding or anything before our next appointment (on May 9), we definitely have to have a c-section. If we make it to our next appointment and the placenta hasn't moved, we will have to do a c-section, which will likely be scheduled for May 17...or will happen earlier if I go into labor on my own before then. If we make it to our next appointment and the placenta has moved at least .4 cm and Baby A is head down, then we can try for a vaginal delivery...which would happen whenever I went into labor, or, if I have to be induced, somewhere around May 22-May 24.
With all of that, this would be my ideal situation: we make it to the next appointment, the placenta has moved and Baby A is head down so we get to try to for a vaginal delivery...and then I go into labor anytime between May 9 and May 14, we deliver, and we're home just in time for my mom to get here to help. I can't imagine having to go until May 24; I'm already huge and sore and I don't want to get much bigger or hurt more! I also don't want to have to have a c-section because then I have to wait until after I'm all stitched up to hold the babies and that takes an HOUR or more! I want to be able to hold them right away!
Who knows what will actually happen, and what I want the most is for the babies to have whatever they need, but if it's all the same to them, I'm hoping for a vaginal delivery between the 9th and the 14th. It'll be interesting to see how it really plays out...so stay tuned!
The babies are healthy and active. I have to do a non-stress test at the hospital every week, and they have had good heart rates at each of those. Funnily enough, it's always easier to get the boy hooked up to the monitor; the girl squirms and moves and kicks the monitor. One of the nurses told me that she's going to be pretty feisty. And then, we found out this week that although the boy is bigger in most measurements, the girl weighs more. So, it sounds like we've got a skinny, calm boy and a round, feisty girl...or in other words, pretty much a mini-Adam and a mini-Adrienne. Both babies weigh over 5.5 pounds, so they're doing good.
Adam and I have actually put together a list of baby names! Granted the lists are like 30 names long, but we're working on narrowing them down, and by the time the babies come, we should hopefully have a better idea of what these kids are going to be named.
I am still on bed rest, although I'm hoping next week when I hit 37 weeks, they'll take me off bed rest and let me try to have the babies, instead of telling me to try not to have the babies.
We're kind of up in the air as to whether we will have to have a c-section or not. In order to do a vaginal delivery, we need the placenta to be at least 2 centimeters away from the cervix and we need at least Baby A to be head down. At our appointment this week, the placenta was 1.6 cm away from the cervix and both babies were breech. So, if we go into labor or have bleeding or anything before our next appointment (on May 9), we definitely have to have a c-section. If we make it to our next appointment and the placenta hasn't moved, we will have to do a c-section, which will likely be scheduled for May 17...or will happen earlier if I go into labor on my own before then. If we make it to our next appointment and the placenta has moved at least .4 cm and Baby A is head down, then we can try for a vaginal delivery...which would happen whenever I went into labor, or, if I have to be induced, somewhere around May 22-May 24.
With all of that, this would be my ideal situation: we make it to the next appointment, the placenta has moved and Baby A is head down so we get to try to for a vaginal delivery...and then I go into labor anytime between May 9 and May 14, we deliver, and we're home just in time for my mom to get here to help. I can't imagine having to go until May 24; I'm already huge and sore and I don't want to get much bigger or hurt more! I also don't want to have to have a c-section because then I have to wait until after I'm all stitched up to hold the babies and that takes an HOUR or more! I want to be able to hold them right away!
Who knows what will actually happen, and what I want the most is for the babies to have whatever they need, but if it's all the same to them, I'm hoping for a vaginal delivery between the 9th and the 14th. It'll be interesting to see how it really plays out...so stay tuned!