For MOMs by MOMs- Pregnancy & Birth Story!

I've joined the link up again this week to share my pregnancy and birth story. If you are a MOM (mom of multiple) or even a singleton and want to join the link up, click here for the hostess blog this week.

We learned we were pregnant on January 12, 2011. (Click here for more details on that day.) At 3w5d, my hCG level was 131.9. At 4w0d, my hCG level was 379.1... hmmm.. so it was more than doubling every few days. I had a feeling, especially since our last pregnancy was twins. 

 At 6w3d, our first ultrasound showed TWO heartbeats :o) We then entered the world of Baby A (Mac-right) and Baby B (Paisley-left). Mac's heartbeat was 119, and Paisley's was 121. The heartbeat determining the sex was a myth for us because sometimes Mac's was faster, sometimes Paisley's was, and sometimes they were the exact same. Read more here.

6w3d

11w0d

 

22w0d

My pregnancy was pretty remarkable! We went to the OB every 2 to 3 weeks. On July 6 when I was 28w5d, an internal ultrasound showed funneling of my cervix. I've learned that 'funneling' is something MOMs know well, but my friends with singletons aren't familiar with the term. Basically 'funneling' is when the cervix begins to open from the inside from weight on it. As soon as I saw the funnel, I started crying. I was scared something was wrong. Mac's measurements guessed he was 3 pounds 1oz, and Paisley was 3 pounds.

I was put on bed rest and Procardia that day. I also got a steroid shot for their lungs to mature faster. Jordan decided to stay home with me that day, and as we laid in bed, my stomach kept tightening. The tightening wasn't any different than what I had before and was told it was Braxton Hicks. They kept coming, and I got really nervous. We called the doctor, and they advised us to go to the hospital. I packed a few things in case, but I wasn't at all prepared for what was happening.

We had visited and chosen our hospital just TWO days before this! Jordan was off July 4, and we toured Erlanger. Little did we know we'd be admitted just 48 hours later. 

After I was on the monitor, our reality presented itself- we were in labor. I had dilated another 2 cm since that morning at the OB, and I was almost fully effaced. I was admitted, put in an L and D room, and put on Magnesium for 48 hours. The magnesium basically poisons your body so the body starts to shut down. This drug was awful. It felt like being run over by a semi truck. Plus I had to have my reflexes checked every hour- not that I was sleeping. The delivery bed isn't called a 'sleeping bed' for a reason.This drug also saved my babies.

I was in the hospital 23 days. We had a few scares where I was put on heavy cocktails of drugs to make my body stop progressing. Each day that passed without a delivery was a blessing. I was on monitors every 12 hours, and that process was difficult because Mac rarely cooperated. He always rolled around so the 30 minute process took well into 2 hours sometimes. 

I am so lucky to have such a supportive family. Between my mom and Jordan, I never spent a night alone. Our families came to visit regularly, and our hospital room was quickly turned into our temporary home. We even brought our own tv and dvd player, ha! (Although that was more for Jordan than me.)

We were discharged on our anniversary- July 28. I was still on strict bed rest so my MIL came to save the day. She made it possible for me to come home, and I will always remember and appreciate the selfless gift of her time so that I could be home. She drove me to the high risk and my OB each week, and we stopped for a treat after each appointment. She made meals, kept up the laundry, and helped finish up loose ends before M and P were born. I am humbled by my gratitude for her in this phase of our lives. 

I went to the hospital 2 more times after my stay to be on monitors. One time was for a preeclampsia  scare when I had to collect urine for 24 hours, keep it on ice, and bring it to the hospital. That was interesting, ha! It's what we do, right mamas?! 

The day after I left the hospital for the preeclampsia triage trip, my water broke. I was 34w6d. I went to the hospital and labored until 5 the next morning when I was wheeled into the OR for delivery. I was able to have a natural delivery, but we had to be in the OR in case of an emergency. I pushed for about 45 minutes total. Mac was born at 5:22 and Paisley was born at 5:41. Delivery was the hardest thing I have ever done! But it couldn't have been that bad because I hope to do it again one day. :o)

Mac and Paisley were welcomed into the world by Jordan and me, their Nana and Paw Paw, Mimi and GeeP, and Uncle Jeff who waited all night for their delivery. 

The doctor held Mac up for me after he came out, and I remember asking why his face was bruised. Well it was because he spent 6 weeks in the birth canal! Poor boy! He was 'bagged' to help him breathe and wheeled to the nursery. 

Paisley came out very limp. The image in my mind scares me. She took a bit to get herself together. She wasn't ready to be born. Poor girl. She pulled through, though, and spent only a couple of days in the NICU. 

Two days after their birth, the new family of 4 drove home! 

Pictures! How fun pictures are?! You'll have to excuse me.. I was the queen of taking my own pic in the mirror during pregnancy- even if it wasn't a flattering shot.

16weeks

 

21 weeks

  24 weeks

 27 weeks

 30 weeks and my hospital room

32 weeks

My point of view at 32 weeks

34 weeks

 We made it to 35 weeks!

Mac in my arms, and Jordan with Paisley in the NICU

 

My babies!!

 Let's go home!!

Happy Mother's Day!

For some reason blogger was acting up on Thursday, and it wouldn't let me add the last few pictures I wanted to share... I also said that I was eager to take Mac and Paisley's stool sample to the GI to learn if they had blood from being exposed to dairy. 

Here are the two pictures I wanted to share:

I took the tests to the GI Friday, and oh. my. word... Let me tell you that I was so nervous! I felt like I was taking a pregnancy test, haha! Seriously! So guess what!???! I CAN EAT DAIRY and SOY! Ahhh!! HUGE deal in my life.... except I'm pretty nervous to start eating it. It's weird... after being told for so long that I can't have something, now I have the freedom to eat it... and I'm apprehensive. Look what I enjoyed first... I was quite disappointed by my body's reaction... after a few bites I started feeling sick :o( I guess it'll take a while to freely eat dairy again. Our pediatrician said cooked dairy is easier on the system than "raw" dairy so I'll stick with that for now.

 Funny... I ate several of these without a problem. ;o)

Yesterday we had three cookouts, and they were so much fun! The first was a celebration of all the babies that TRM was a part of, the second was a neighborhood gathering, and the third was with friends at Meghan and Josh's house to celebrate the birth of sweet baby Charlie :o) 

*Please lift baby Charlie up in your prayers. He's a bit early in entering our world, but he's doing great so far! Charlie was one week old yesterday, and he was born in his 27 week of gestation. He's so beautiful, and we are honored to be with Meghan and Josh during this time. Praise Jesus that Charlie is breathing on his own and without any brain bleeds! I'll share Meghan's blog once she gets it all set up. 

 

 It's Mother's Day!!! Pictures are much more fun than our words, so here they are!

 

 If you know me, you know I love coffee- especially coffee with 'fancy creamer' in it. I've been without the creamers since August so now that I can have them, my brother brought me a few, ha!

 Paisley sat up on her own today!! She went from laying down to sitting up, and I found her like this!

Casey sent me this ecard this morning... Too funny.  

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful mothers out there!!!! What a blessing it is to be a mama this year! :o)

Randomness

This post is a bunch of random stories and pictures from this week... It's actually pretty realistic to my mindset these days. :o)

Monday I had to get pictures of these sleepy babies. On Mondays I try to stick around the house to let them get extra good naps to make up for our busy weekends. Look at these sweet sleepy babies.

Paisley woke up with crazy hair on Tuesday. I laughed at her and sent pictures saying "cock a doodle doo!"

Even a bow didn't hide the fun hair :o) Paisley said her prayers at nap.

Paisley's teeth have rubbed a blister on her tongue. It doesn't bother her most of the time, but if the spoon rubs the blister, she cries. :o( This was the worst day of the blister. It's healing now and looks much better.

Wednesday we had a play date with Heidi and Ryley (4 weeks old) and Mary and Emory. I failed at getting pictures (agh!), but I did get a cute video of Em and Mac "talking". Whatever Emory was saying, Mac was cracking up.

Today we had our weekly play date with Casey and Mary, and we walked around the north shore. I love our city.
I had to get a picture of Mac and Paisley in their outfits today because these are the first outfits I bought after we found out we were having a boy and a girl.