6 months.. half a year old!!

My children have been alive for half a year.  CRAZY! Though the month of February was short, it was FULL of milestones, adventures, and laughter!

This month, we started solids.  They were already getting a cereal bottle before bed, so we moved on to fruit babyfood, and then veggie babyfood.  We learned that neither baby is a picky eater.  They have yet to come across a food that they gag on, spit up, or refuse to eat (even pureed pees.. which I even refused to try 😝) Xander's favorite is pears and least favorite is bananas.  Londyn's favorite is bananas (opposites as always!!) and least favorite is green beans (I feel you girl). This month we are going to start on some table food and let them try picking up/eating foods like eggs, bananas, and avocados.  Should be fun, especially for piglet when they drop it on the floor!

Another thing I started this month is adding some learning into our schedule.  Their awake time is up to about an hour and 45/50 minutes now, so we have time for more activities before nap times!  Obviously I know they aren't going to start writing their names or reciting their ABC's yet.. but I think it's important to expose them to a learning environment.  We have started doing a bible study every morning when they wake up.. I downloaded a fun bible app for kids and we do a little story, sing a few songs, and say a prayer for the day.  They love listening to the story and LOVE the songs, especially "Jesus loves me"! After our morning nap, we do sign language.  I purchased a really cool program that does songs/videos for signs.  They are currently learning signs for foods, animals, family members, daily routines (bath, read, brush teeth, bath, bed, etc.) It's important for me to be able to communicate with them before they are able to use words, but it's also important for me to develop them into good humans.  My teacher brain thinks of students who are deaf in elementary school and have trouble communicating with peers.. I would love for my kids to be able to make that student comfortable and communicate with them and teach others to be accepting as well.  That's my main goal for them.  Not to be on the honor roll or be the star quarterback or win the most awards at awards day.... I just want them to be good people.

The cutest thing that happened this month is how much they have started interacting with each other.  Lately, I will lay them down on my bed beside each other and let them do their thing.  Londyn usually starts the conversation by looking at Xander, getting a huge smile, and start making noises/talking to him.  Xander is usually in his own little world for a while and then when he realizes she is talking to him he will start smiling/laughing at her.  He also likes to roll to his side towards her and grab her face, which she finds highly offensive 😒.  It's the funniest/cutest thing to watch and I am so excited to watch their relationship grow as they interact more and more.

A few other things that have happened this month are, Londyn got her ears pierced! She took it like a champ and lets me clean/rotate them every day without crying at all!  She is such a big girl, and looks soo pretty with her new bling! They have also been left with a babysitter for the first time.  Since Xander left the NICU, the only people who have had both babies alone have been me.. and occasionally Will so I could quickly run out and do something alone.  But this month we have had some appointments we had to attend together and without kids, so we left them with family members.  We were nervous (Will more than me) but they did great!! So hopefully we can even (dare I say) go on a date soon?!?

So this month has been soooo busy and fun!! I can't believe we are half way to ONE YEAR OLD!!

Month 5!

Goodness, time is flying by! Not a ton has happened in the twins' 5th month of life.. but there have been several milestones achieved that have been equal parts amazing and hilarious! 

Londyn is now consistenly rolling tummy-to-back, and she loves doing it because we make such a huge deal of cheering and celebrating.  She doesn't get much tummy time anymore because as soon as we put her on her tummy, she's rolling and looking at us expectantly.. ready for us to celebrate!  She has also found her voice, and found it in a BIG way.  She enjoys screaming in a high pitched, ear piercing, glass shattering volume and then laughing hysterically at our faces.  Her new favorite thing is to be thrown in the air, especially by daddy.  She makes the funniest shocked face.  Her favorite family members are daddy (DUH) and her Aunt Crystal. 

Xander isn't rolling yet, but he really enjoys sitting up and can do so independently for about 30 seconds.  We think he is teething because he CONSTANTLY has his hands in his mouth.  He will literally put his entire hand in his mouth and gnaw on it.  He loves to laugh and smiles at pretty much anything anyone does.  He is just an all around, happy go lucky kind of kid.  He loves being thrown in the air like his sister, and he loves snuggling with mommy and having mommy carry him around everywhere (not an easy task when he is almost 20 pounds!).  His favorite family members are mommy and Papa.

The best part of this month is the fact that they are now sleeping a full 12 hours at night!  They go to bed at 7pm and sleep all the way until 7am.  It is so nice to put them to bed, watch some tv, drink some wine, go to bed whenever I'm tired, and wake up refreshed and ready for another great day with my babies!  Their schedule is great.  I love that I can spend all of their awake time fully focused on them.  All of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, bills, dishes, etc. can be done at nap times.  Awake times are for playing, singing, reading, snuggling, going for walks, practicing skills, etc.  Whenever they are awake, they get my full attention, and we are all happy!! I wish people who are so opposed to the "cry it out" method (Yes I see your passive aggressive posts!!) could see the result of the method.  The product of a weeks worth of so much crying. I am proud to say that YES, my babies cried it out.. but I can gaurantee you that they cry WAY less now than babies who never cried it out.  My babies never cry now, unless they are hurt.  I gaurantee you that my babies never see me frustrated with them, or crying from sheer exhaustion.  I'm not saying it's for everyone.  I just really wish people would stop with the videos about how "crying it out changes an infants brain" (UNTRUE and completed unsupported by research.) and how "babies who cry for extended periods of time tend to be more aggressive" (Your baby cries more than mine do...... mine never cry..)  Sorry, going on kind of a rant here, but I'll just stop and say, I'm so glad I made the decision to sleep train my babies and that we are a happy, well rested family!

I can't even fathom that next month my babies will be 1/2 of a year old!

Month 4

Where is the time going?! Xander and Londyn are 4 months old!  This month has been fairly easy, and definitely lots of fun!  Both babies are smiling and laughing now, and they are a lot more independent and can play independently for the most part.  They are also starting to notice each other, which is super fun to watch! They are completely sleep trained now and we have a great schedule in place.  The best thing is that they hardly ever cry, because they are getting enough sleep, and they know when they are going to eat or sleep, so they don't have to cry for it. They take 2 2-hour naps during the day and sleep from 7pm-7am with one night time feeding that we are currently phasing out. They are thriving with the routine and I never find myself frustrated or aggravated with them.  Their awake times are filled with fun, learning, and laughing! A week of listening to them scream and cry was WELL worth the happy babies I now have every single day!!  The only downside is that it makes it hard to break schedule to go out and do things.  These babies know when its nap time or bed time, so if we are out during that time, they are like umm hello mom?! crib.. now please!! which comes across as fussiness and crying!  But luckily as they get older, their awake times will be longer and it will be easier to go out and be home in time for nap. 

The best thing about this month has been seeing their personalities develop.. and WOW are they different!! I always knew they acted like opposites, but they really showed how opposite they are during this month.  Xander is HILARIOUS.  I always say he has a frat boy personality.  He thinks everything is funny and literally cracks up if you do pretty much anything.  He makes silly noises all the time and is just so happy and funny.  He keeps me laughing all the time!! And Londyn is, well, she's just a diva.  She is super inquisitive and will spend several minutes studying something or watching me/her brother/one of her toys.  And if she's not happy, the world knows it!! She has a habit of letting me know she wants to be the boss.  One example: I feed both babies at the same time in feeding chairs, and she was fine with it last month, but this month she has decided that she wants to be held when she eats.. so when I try to give her the bottle in her feeding chair, she will swat it, spit it out, and laugh at me.  She will continue to do this until Xander finishes eating so that I can pick her up, and she proceeds to drink the whole bottle.  She will cry when I hold her and then as soon as I pass her to her daddy she will smile and laugh.  Needless to say, I have my hands full with this little girl!

They had their 4 month appointment with the pediatrician yesterday and he said everything looks perfect for both of them! He told us we can go ahead and start trying solids with them, so I suppose that's our next adventure!! We are also working hard on learning to roll over and sit without support.  Londyn will get her ears pierced at their 6 month appointment in March.

Overall, month 4 has been wonderful!! Babies are happy, healthy, fun, and growing more every day.  I know I will blink and they'll be 5 months and I'll be blogging again!

 Londyn studying the baby Einstein caterpillar

 Their different personalities: inquisitive and goofy

 Silly boy always laughing!!

Happy 4 months!!

Months 2 and 3 *Sleep Training!*

Hi everyone!
So, I am just now getting time to sit down and blog about what's been happening over the last 2 months.  This is because month 2 was HORRIBLE!! Month 1 was pretty easy because the twins basically just slept all the time.. so they spent most of the day/night in rock-n-plays or swings and I had tons of free time!  Well, in the second month they started to be awake more often.. and we quickly discovered Londyn had her days/nights mixed up.  She would sleep all day long, then wake up around 10pm and be wide awake ready to play and explore.  I would rock her for 45+ minutes to get her asleep, then as soon as I would put her in her bassinet she would SCREAM at the top of her lungs until I picked her back up.  So we moved her to her rock-n-play to sleep at night, and that worked for about 4 nights.  Then she would scream as soon as we put her in that until we picked her back up.  As soon as we would finally get her to sleep by about 4 am, Xander was up an hour later ready for the day!! That means I was only getting maybe an hour of sleep a night, with no time during the day to cook, clean, eat, shower, nap.. nothing!! Literally just running around all day every day.  Then we tried to solve the problem again by me going to bed with Xander at 9pm and Will staying in the living room playing with Londy until about 3am when I would go get her and put her to bed, then he would sleep in with Londyn when I got up with Xander at 6.  This was a short term fix though, because Will had to go back to work in a couple of weeks and had to sleep!  I didn't know what I was going to do.
The first week Will went back to work was a hot mess.  It seemed like as soon as Londyn fell asleep, Xander was up.  Then he would fall asleep and Londyn was up.  30 minutes after I fed one, the other was hungry.  They were eating every hour or 2 and were only sleeping in 30-40 minute increments, and never at the same time.  I was so tired and overwhelmed, and I hate to admit this but I started being ugly to the kids and sometimes literally begging them to go to sleep or stay asleep.  It was awful!!
So about a week ago it was 2am and I was in the living room with Xander because he wouldn't go back to sleep, and I didn't want to wake Will since he had to go to work in the morning.  I was scrolling facebook and saw a video about the secrets to getting your baby to sleep.  I was desperate and this point so I clicked the link that took me to a website about a sleep training program to try.  There were so many testimonies about people who started the program and got their babies sleeping through the night within the first or second night (whaaaaat??!) I figured I have NOTHING to lose at this point, so I purchased the program and started binge watching all the videos about how to sleep train.  The basic principle is this:
Babies go through sleep cycles of Deep (REM) sleep and light (Non REM) sleep every 30-45 minutes.  They don't know how to get back to sleep after they wake from the REM sleep, so they start crying.  If they are picked up/rocked/given a pacifier/etc. when they wake, they never learn the skill of putting themselves back to sleep.  This results in the toddlers who are out of bed every 10 minutes wanting water or coming to your bedroom.. they can't go back to sleep without assistance.  So my job was to set a schedule and be consistent with it.  If the twins cried the entire time they were in their cribs for nap, that's ok because they are learning/practicing how to put themselves to sleep.  I found the master schedule for their age group and began on Monday (12/4).  And it was terrible.  They both cried throughout every single nap.  It was loud, heart wrenching, and so so hard to get through.. but I just put my headphones in and binge watched the training videos and reminded myself why I was doing what I was doing.  I was just about ready to give up on it by bedtime.. but amazingly enough, Londyn slept through the night with the exception of night time feedings and she was IN HER CRIB.  That's right!! Not a rock-n-play, not in my arms, not screaming every 30 minutes to be rocked for an hour in the middle of the night.. she just slept right on through! And Xander didn't wake up once!! So the claim about them sleeping through the night on night 1 was real!! Immediately I was back on the sleep training wagon and we continued on to day 2.  Each day they cried a little bit less during nap, and slept through the night except for feedings.  That brings us to today, day 5 of sleep training.  They are to the point now that they start getting tired about 10 minutes before the set nap times, and when I lay them in their cribs for nap, they go right to sleep with no rocking, shushing, singing, yelling, begging, etc.!! They do still wake up and cry in the middle of nap but they are getting so much better at putting themselves back to sleep.  The challenge now is learning how to sleep through each other's crying.  Right now, if one screams loud and long enough, it wakes the other up.. and then they are both crying.  Once they learn this skill and master their daily schedule, my job will be super easy!! Many people don't agree with the "cry it out" method.. and if you think I'm a bad mom for putting my kids through it, I'm ok with that.  This training is maybe a week out of their entire lives, and it teaches them the lifelong skill of how to SLEEP.  And I'm not being ugly to them anymore, nor am I on the verge of tears before lunch time.  This is not a popular method of training for many mothers, but it works for us and that's all that matters!!
So, here we are!! Will is back to work, the twins are operating on a schedule, I'm officially a stay at home mom, and things are trucking right along! Here's to month #4!

                                    Sleeping in their OWN room through the night!! Sleep Training win!!

                  Our Family 12/01/17

Monthly Pictures 1, 2, and 3!

1 month old

Sheeww!! Who knew our lives could change so drastically in just one short month!  Things have been crazy at the Powell house!  Xander came home from the NICU on 9/20, and we've been getting tag teamed ever since.  I'm only half kidding :-) We try to keep them on the same schedule, so if one baby fusses, we wake the other up to feed and change at the same time.  This works pretty well in allowing us to get a good 3 hours of sleep/housekeeping increments.  I will say this though, there is NO way I could do it alone.  Having Will home for his 11 week paternity leave has been crucial.  We usually each take a baby and feed/change so they start/finish at the same time.  If that's not possible, one of us will feed/change one baby and immediately feed/change the other afterwards.  I've gotten brave a few times and fed at the same time, but that's kind of scary because if one starts choking, it's hard to immediately sit them up when you have another baby laying there eating.  I guess I can mention that they are formula fed babies.  My entire pregnancy, I was convinced I would breastfeed.  I had read the books, I bought the essentials, I went to the classes, I rented the pump.  I was ready!! And then Xander went to the NICU, so I pumped milk for him instead.  Then Londyn wouldn't latch.  She would scream and scream no matter what we did.  The one time we did get her to latch, she fed for 30 minutes.. then the nurse checked her blood sugar and freaked because it was so low.  Apparently she didn't get anything from that feeding and hadn't eaten in like 5 hours.  Then I had the blood pressure issues and had to be put on medication.  Then the Bell's Palsy and the stress.  I wasn't eating, and my milk supply was dwindling.  Every drop I produced went to Xander in the NICU.  The lactation consultant said that Londyn was just too premature to latch and encouraged me to pump and feed until they reached full term, then try breastfeeding again.  So I rented the hospital pump to try that.  Well, after 4 weeks of pumping, I still only produced about 2 ounces every session.  And now the babies are both eating about 4 ounces each feeding,  so I would pump for an entire day and still only make enough for one feeding per day.  It was so painful and it got to the point where I would start crying before I ever even turned on the pump.  I was so unhappy and stressed, and still couldn't provide enough to even make it worth it.  So I made the decision to gain back my sanity, stop pumping, and go strictly formula.  This was definitely NOT an easy decision and not at all what I had planned.  But, as the NICU nurse said, FED is best. 

Another interesting thing that happened in the twins' first month is this weird rash they passed to each other.  About 2 days after X came home from the NICU, we noticed a bump on Londyn's eyebrow.  We thought she had been bit by a mosquito. Well then Will gave her a bath and we noticed many more bumps all over her body.  I thought it was baby acne, but it kept getting worse, so we took her to the doctor.  The doctor kept using words like "strange" and "interesting".  He said it looked like a normal newborn rash... but the weird thing was she wasn't a newborn.  She was almost 3 weeks old when it appeared.  He said "Frankly, I don't know what it could be."  ...... wait what?! So he popped one of the pustules and sent it to be cultured.  Turns out, it was an extremely rare bacteria called Acentobacter Lwoffi.  It's so rare, the nurse had to google it.  Apparently it's common in intensive care facilities and occurs in immunocompromised patients.  We are thinking she got it because A) she's a preemie and B) she's not breastfed.  So she probably picked it up from the hospital, it stayed in her system for a while, and her little immune system couldn't solve it on its own.  So she had to take oral antibiotics and an antibiotic  topical cream 3X/day for 7 days.  She finished the treatment and now just has little scabs on her that we are waiting for to heal.  But in true twin fashion, a day or so after Londyn finished treatment, guess what we noticed on Xander.  That's right: the same weird bump that was on his sister.  The next day he had more.  So here we go back to the doctor!!! They didn't biopsy any on him, they just assumed it was the same infection.  He doesn't have to take oral antibiotics but he is currently 2 days into the topical cream treatment.  His bumps look pretty gnarly right now but we are hoping they run the same course as sister and are gone in about a week. 

Thankfully, most of my health issues have resolved.  My blood pressure is back to normal and I am off medication.  My swelling is gone and I am only 3 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.  The Bell's Palsy is about 95% healed.  The only lingering effects are my smile is still slightly lopsided and my eye is still a little slow to blink.. but you would never notice it unless I told you.  I am still hopeful that it will heal 100% but I am extremely thankful that I healed as fully and as quickly as I did.

Well, that's our first month in a nutshell!  It's been stressful, exciting, scary, interesting, and so so so full of love!!  Here's to month #2!

 Tummy Time!! Daddy participated :-)

 Our one month picture... not exactly how it looked on Pinterest!!

 Xander Man hangin out

Londy-Lou making her famous duck face

Xander and Londyn's Birth Story

Hey there friends!
Well, the twins are officially a week old!  It's been a crazy week, but I am finally finding the time to sit down and blog about the wild story that was the birth of  Xander and Londyn.

Let me preface this by reminding you, I am not one to sugar coat anything.  I'm going to go ahead and tell you that this story is not warm and fuzzy and sundrops and butterflies.  I don't want to come off as ungrateful or negative.. especially to friends in my infertility circle that would kill to bring babies into this world.  I love my kids more than anything and I would go through this all again if it meant having them here and healthy.  That's the most important thing.  So please remember as you read this that I am eternally grateful and blessed for the opportunity to bring these babies into the world, no matter how it happened!!

Ok, so when I last blogged, I had been placed in the hospital for pre eclampsia.  I was there for about a week, staring at the walls, trying to get comfortable, stressing about everything that still needed to be done at home.  Pretty boring stuff.  Until September 7th.  That Thursday, I woke up in so much pain.  The worst period cramps you could ever imagine.  I couldn't sit for more than 5 minutes, I couldn't talk, couldn't eat.. all I could think about was how much pain I was in.   I couldn't wait for the doctor to come so I could ask him about it.  So per usual they hooked me to the contraction monitor, and I happened to doze off for like, 30 minutes.  Which is of course when the doctor came in.  He didn't even wake me up.. he just walked out and told the nurse to monitor me as usual.  I didn't even know he had come, so I was waiting and waiting until finally I asked the nurse at 2pm when he was coming and she told me he had come and gone at 9am.  I was pissed and started crying and told her how I was feeling, and she called him and told him I needed to see him.  While we were waiting, my parents and Will came to visit and they were all super concerned about me being in labor.  Remember, I can NOT labor with a TAC.  Well, the doctor finally comes at 6:45pm and basically says oh this is normal for your gestation with twins, your not dilated, basically suck it up until the 13th.  My mom took him in the hallway and was telling him how serious this was and that I needed to have the c section immediately, and he refused.  So needless to say we were all furious, I was so upset, and still in horrendous pain.  Around 8pm everyone leaves because it's obvious he's going to make me suffer for another 4 days until my scheduled c section date.  The nurse put me on the contraction monitor and said it would stay on for me to be monitored throughout the night.  Around 11pm I hit my breaking point.  I was literally writhing in the bed in pain at this point.  So I call in the nurse and she looks at the monitor and says I am contracting every 3 minutes.  She goes out and calls the doctor, then comes back and says we are doing the c section tonight.  I panic and call Will and my parents, who have to rush back to the hospital.  They start filling my IV with fluids (I've had the IV in for over a week for no reason) and it immediately starts leaking all over the place.  So this 7 day IV that they've kept in for this exact reason has to be taken out and I have to get a new one in the other arm.  Before I know it  I am being wheeled to the OR for the epidural.  We get to the room and I assume the position, and the girl can't find the correct place for the medicine.  Everytime she injects the medicine, I feel it to the right side of my body.  She keeps asking if I feel it "in the center" and I keep telling her no.  So she tries 3 times and I start hyperventilating.  I feel like I haven't drank anything in a year, I feel like its 200 degrees, I feel like I can't stay hunched over for 1 more second, I feel like it's been an hour.  So I start crying and begging for ice chips and asking over and over how much longer it's going to be.  Finally a different person tries my spinal.  I remember biting down on my hand as hard as I possibly could to make myself calm down and be still.  He got it on the first try and my lower body immediately goes numb.  It's at this point that I start asking for Will.  Everyone keeps telling me they haven't seen him and that they are looking but he's not here yet.  I ask for my phone but they say I can't have it but check it for me and say there is no missed calls.  Then the doctor says that this is an emergency and we can't wait.  So he does the c section and I'm alone and scared.  At 12:57am.. I heard the most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life.. my baby's cry.  All 6lb3oz and 18in of her.  I immediately started bawling.  Then a minute later my baby boy came, weighing in at 6lb5oz and 20in long.  They started working on them both and the nurse took pictures as I got closed up.  I started shaking uncontrollably and the nurse said it was from the spinal.  It felt like an eternity before they were finished closing because I was by myself.  I just kept thinking it wasn't supposed to be like this, why didn't the doctor listen, Will just missed the birth of his twins.  I was sad and happy and scared and hot and thirsty and wanted my husband more than anything.  Finally, Xander and Londyn were taken to the nicu and I was wheeled back to the room, where my parents and Will's mom were waiting for me.  Once again I asked for Will and was told he had rushed down to the nicu, and he was furious.  Will got there 15 minutes after I called him.  During our hospital tour, they told us that the husbands wait in the room and someone comes to get them after they are finished with the spinal.  So that is where he was waiting the entire time.. and no one came to get him.  Apparently the doctor saw him on the way to the nicu and tried to congratulate him.  When he put his hand on Will's shoulder, Will yanked in away and said he was doing everything in his power not to punch him in his throat.  Will filed a complaint with the hospital about the doctor and the nurses and the whole situation.  The nurse told me I could go see the babies as soon as the spinal wore off, so until then Will was sending me pictures and I was eating my long awaited ice chips.  After about 2 hours we went down to see the babies.  I was able to hold, feed, and burp Londyn and was told she would be released to me the next day.  Xander had more fluid on his lungs and was having breathing/blood sugar/body temp issues, so he was placed in an incubater and given oxygen and an IV.  I was so overwhelmed, shocked, and exhausted after seeing the babies and Will.  We went back to the room and I passed out.

The next day I woke up and was still in shock.  I had 2 babies!! And they are alive and well!! They brought Londyn to the room and Will and I started our journey as parents.  We visited Xander in the nicu and were basically just figuring things out and staring at our precious baby on this day.

2 days after the twins' birth is when things started going wonky.  I woke up that morning and my legs were swollen beyond belief.  My feet were so swollen that I couldn't walk.  The nurse took my blood pressure and it was 151/98.  It continued to be that high throughout the day.  The doctor said I was having the aftereffects of pre eclampsia.  It was scary, but not as scary as the other thing that happened that day.  I was brushing my teeth that morning and noticed it felt really weird when I spit.  Like I just had a cavity filled.  I looked up in the mirror and noticed when I tried to smile or blink, the right side of my face didn't quite respond correctly.  I have heard of a few people I know getting Bell's Palsy, so I knew immediately what it was.  I called the nurse, who called the doctor, who confirmed the diagnosis.  Bell's Palsy.  On that day, it wasn't terribly noticable.  Maybe a little lopsided smile and an eye that was a tiny bit slower to blink, but not bad.  However, it continued to worsen over the next 48 hours, to the point that I'm at now: the right side of my face is completely paralyzed.  Do you know how difficult it is to finally have the babies we have waited 7 years for.. who everyone wants to visit and snuggle and who you want to show off more than anything in the world.. but can't now because you are so self conscious about your face.. which stresses you out.. which sends your blood pressure through the roof again?! It's awful.  I'm beginning to accept it now, but I'm still not comfortable being around people.  I honestly want to lock my doors and hide out in my house until it goes away.  All I can do is pray that happens soon.

So that is pretty much where we are now.  Will and I are over the moon ecstatic to be parents and so in love with our kids.  Having Londyn at home is the greatest blessing from God.  She is a complete daddy's girl already.  Xander is still in the nicu and we wish he was home more than anything.. but he is improving every day and we are so grateful for that.  He should be home very soon!  I am on blood pressure medicine now and it has helped my pressures significantly.  My swelling is gone and my body is starting to feel normal again.  I am still dealing with the Bell's Palsy, but I hear it takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months to recover from.  For me its been 6 days.  I'm hoping I heal closer to 2 weeks than 6 months.. but it's completely out of my control so I'm trying not to stress about it.

So there it is folks!  The birth story of my long awaited, prayed for, cried over, paid thousands of dollars for, wasn't sure I would ever get, extremely loved twin babies.  Is it a perfect story? no.  Is it how I envisioned the joyous experience of giving birth? hell no.  Am I struggling right now? absolutely.  But coming from someone who has given birth before with a much different, way more horrific outcome...the most important thing remains the same.   Xander and Londyn are here.  They are perfect.  We are parents.  And I am in love!

   Last Pregnant Picture!  35w1d.  Babies born 35w2d

 Baby B: Xander James Powell 6lb5oz 20in

 Baby A: Londyn Mae Powell 6lb3oz 18in

 Because Will missed the birth, nicu allowed us to take Londyn to visit her brother so we could see them side by side.  Such a blessing!

 Londyn Mae 2 days old

 Xander James in Nicu 7 days old

 Londyn Mae 7 days old

 Londyn after her first bath! That hair..

 Xander is oxygen free at 8 days old.  So ready to have him home!

I'll continue to update this blog as we continue this journey as parents.  I feel like I've taken it this far and people are still reading.. so why stop now?!  Hopefully the next time I blog, Xander will be home, I'll be recovered from Bell's Palsy, and life will take on some sort of normalcy.  Thank you all so much for following me and supporting me on this road we have been on since 2011.  I'm so excited to share this new chapter with you!!

Home Stretch

Hi friends!

Well, I thought I wouldn't be blogging until the twins were born.  I didn't think there would be much to talk about until then.. just riding out those last 4 weeks until our c-section date.  Well, I was wrong!! Here's what has happened since I last blogged..

2 weeks ago, we had our regularly scheduled weekly appointment.  They took my blood pressure, took a urine sample, got my weight, and did the ultrasound.  The usuals.  Well, at the end of the appointment, they had me go back again to recheck my blood pressure.  Which was weird because they had never done that before.  They said it was a little high the first time they took it, but the second time it was fine.  I didn't think anything of it.  Well then we went back on Thursday for our next appointment.  They took my blood pressure, and then retook it immediately after.  I was like oh crap.  So then we did all the usuals again, and at the end, the actual doctor took my blood pressure.  He said it was high.  Then he looked at my urine sample and said it was +1 protein.. pre eclampsia.  Basically, pre  eclampsia is when you have high blood pressure during pregnancy that can become dangerously high very quickly, putting you and your babies' life in danger.  Mine wasn't nearly high enough to be a major concern, but because I'm high risk already and because of my past, doc was concerned.  He started talking about collecting urine for 24 hours at home (pee in a jug and then bring it to the office the next day).. but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he wasn't comfortable doing that either.  So finally he says "you're going to hate me... but I want to put you in the hospital overnight for monitoring."  He talked like it would be a 24 hour thing.  He even joked that Will and I could turn it into a fun movie night.  So we go home and pack me an overnight bag and head to the hospital.  They put this hat type thing in the toilet for me to pee in and then dump it in this jug for 24 hours.  They also checked my blood pressure every 4 hours and put the babies on the heart monitor/me on a contraction monitor every 10 or so hours.  They asked me if  I was contracting and I told them no.. but apparently the monitor was picking up contractions every 20 minutes or so.  I got freaked out when she said that, but she assured me it's normal for a twin pregnancy at this gestation, and since I wasn't in any pain (didn't feel them at all) she wasn't concerned.  So there I was, peeing in a jug, getting my blood pressure checked, and hearing my babies heartbeats for 24 hours. The babies were doing awesome (as usual!!) contractions were fine, blood pressures looked good (enough), and all my bloodwork came back normal.  All the nurses and doctors thought I would be going home the next day.  Well, then the results of my 24 hour urine collection came back.  The protein in my urine needed to be under 300 to be discharged... and it came back as 385.  Ahhhhhh!!!! So my doctor said I'm stuck here under observation until delivery.  I have to continue with the blood pressure, heart beat, and contraction monitoring every day.  I don't have to pee in a jug anymore, so that's a positive... Will said "you already failed that test, there's no make up tests, so of course you don't have to do that anymore!!" lol.. he has a way with words!

So here I am!  Stuck in the hospital cooking these little boogers.  The good news is, my doctor thinks we still have a really good chance of making it to our scheduled c-section date of 36 weeks.  And honestly, I'm glad to be here.  I really was getting stressed at home, worrying about if I was having contractions or going into labor and not knowing it.. then waiting too long to go to the hospital and getting myself in an emergency situation because of the cerclage.  So being constantly monitored puts my little Type A mind at ease.  Speaking of being type A.. I'm so glad I had already packed my hospital bag and the diaper bag!! It made it really easy for Will to grab and come, without me trying to remember 100 things for him to bring me.  I'm definitely missing my bed and seriously having withdrawals from my dog.. but ya'll.. we are having babies in 10 days!!!!

Today I got the first round of steroid shots for the babies' lungs.  Since they will be 4 or possibly 5 weeks premature, their lungs might not be 100% developed at delivery.  The steroid shots give their little lungs a jump start in the womb and helps them develop quicker, in the hopes that they will be fully developed at delivery and not need help breathing (aka NICU time).  My doctor actually said most babies don't really need it after 34 weeks, but it can't hurt.  So I got round 1 today and will get round 2 tomorrow.  The shot didn't hurt at all (said the IVF patient who has stuck herself with thousands of needles over the past 5 years).. but the side effects.. OMG! A few hours after the shot I was laying in the bed watching TV when all of a sudden, my legs went numb.  Like the feeling you get when a body part falls asleep.  I was like ... umm.... ?!?!? I also started feeling contractions for the first time.  So when my nurse came in she asked if everything was going good and I was like UM NO MY LEGS ARE NUMB. I thought it was a symptom of my pre eclamsia escalating.. but she said it was probably the babies laying on my sciatic nerve.  But then she looked at my chart and was like "OH, you had the steroid shot today! That's what it's from.  It can also cause you to contract more."  I felt better knowing the shot was the cause, and not something going wrong that would cause me to deliver early.  But then she said "It's also going to make it pretty impossible to sleep tonight, and also tomorrow night since you are getting another round tomorrow."  Well she definitely wasn't kidding.. I'm blogging this at 12:19am and it might as well be 11am because I am wiiideee awake.  Like I feel like I could run a marathon right now... oh wait my legs are numb.

:::sigh::: 10 days yall.