Maddie Sleeping not so quietly!

This is a clip of Maddie sleeping. She was a little fussy so Michael picked her up and got her to go back to sleep on his chest. It is quite cute!

Trying to catch up

I have been very slack on updating this thing. I can't believe my babies are now over three weeks old. Can you? Last week Mamaw was here (my mom) and my sister and nephew also came up. Zack and Maddie are both now lifting their head on their own (granted not for long, but they are getting strong). According to our family and friends they are getting bigger. It is hard for me to tell since I see them 24/7. The only way I know they are growing is they are now too big for their preemie clothes. Also, we have had several visitors to come and see them: our Associate Preacher and his wife, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jerry, Ed and Sarah, Chris and Erica, Graham and Brandi, Ron and Tracy. I think that is all, but I might have missed one.

This week Michael has paternity leave so he has been here with us. It has been wonderful!! On Tuesday, we took a little trip out and about Roanoke Rapids. We stopped by the bank, then post office, and then we took the twins into the grocery store with us. So, if I needed to (hopefully not) go to the grocery store on my own, it is possible. I have been working on baby announcements, which I will be mailing out tomorrow. So in my "spare time" I have been also working on thank you cards and some other things that I will announce later.

Other news... I have fixed my credit card (or rather BB&T has). I also got my hair cut last week. It was a DISASTER!! I took a photo to a place here in RR (I will leave out their name, b/c my hubby still goes to them). It was a photo of my hair short, just below my chin, with no bangs. The first thing the lady did was chop off my bangs and then started cutting my hair above my ears. I HATED it (still do)! I sat there watching her cut the rest of my hair and I tried not to cry, but since I am hormonal I couldn't stop the waterworks. I told her it was not what I wanted and then she proceeded to look at the picture better and realized it was no where near what I asked for. She felt so bad that she didn't charge me for the cut at all. SO... if you ever want a free haircut, go right after you have a baby and let the tears fall, but it probably has to be as terrible as mine. I probably will not be posting any pics anytime soon!

I'm a victim!

Last night we had our friends in town come over and cook us dinner. It was EXTREMELY wonderful of them. While we were at the table I received a call to let me know that my card appears to have some unusual charges on it. So I called Visa back and went through what they thought was unusual. I found out that there were over $8,600 charges on my card in the last 3 days in New York. I have NO idea how someone got my info. I still have my card in hand and the scariest thing was that these crooks were able to charge over $1,800 at a restaurant and use my card info. How can you pay with a credit card at a restaurant without actually having the card to swipe? I was extremely scared and upset last night, but I was assured over and over again by BB&T that I am not liable for the charges. So all will be well, but it right now it is just frustrating. So for those that read my blog, please take the time to review your credit card statements and make sure that you aren't a victim too!

Update

Monday was our first Doctor's visit with our pediatrician Dr. B. She said they both look great. Zack has gained a few ounces since Saturday and is now 5lbs even. Maddie is now back up to 5lbs 6oz which was 3 1/2 more than Saturday. I told Dr. B about Zack's jaundice scare so she suggested we stop by the hospital on the way home and get his numbers checked just to be on the safe side. Later that afternoon we received a call from the doctor and she informed us that his Bilirubin levels have now gone down 4 numbers since Saturday so we do not have to worry about this any longer. YEAH!! She still suggested to keep getting them a little sun a day and make sure they are eating well. Currently Grammy (Michael's mom) is helping us get through the week. Michael had to go back to work on Monday so he is sleeping upstairs and poor Grammy and I are downstairs on the couch and getting up every 2-3 hours to feed, change them and try to get them back to sleep. You have no idea how much it has helped!! Having two is such a handful and I couldn't imagine doing this on my own. Luckily Michael and I have a HUGE support base! After Grammy leaves, I believe Auntie Crystal is coming up for the weekend and then Mawmaw (my mom) and Auntie Stacy are coming to help for a week. After that Michael is taking his last 5 days of paternity leave and staying for a week. From there we have several others that have offered to come and help. I know Grandma Pam has offered, Crystal has offered and some church members have also offered to come and help. Michael and I are beyond blessed.



As for me, I am slowly learning how to get on a schedule. I am just over the moon and find it hard not to just stand over them all day. I am constantly fighting the urge to hold them both all day.

Family Update

Praise the Lord!! At the hospital yesterday both Z and M gained weight. Their Bilirubin numbers stayed the same. The pediatrician on call said that the numbers looked great. I asked about the Jaundice numbers and he said as long as they didn't go up everything was fine. So he said we did not have to go back today. HOORAY!! Our first doctor's visit will be tomorrow and hopefully they will still gain weight and the rubin numbers start going down.

Yesterday we had a house full of guests. Michael's dad, step mom, sister, brother-in-law, niece, and dog-nephew (Trapper's cousin) came up to see the babies. Also my dad and mom were here. We were all able to have a great visit with everyone.

Also last night was our FIRST bath. Not just for Z and M, but it was my first time giving an infant a bath as well. Then our friends from church, Ed and Sara came to visit as well. We had another successful night with the babies.

My babies made it home...

Today, (well technically yesterday now) Zack and Maddie came home. I was SO glad to leave the hospital, not because of bad treatment or anything (I LOVED our nurses), just to be home with my new family was wonderful! This morning they had their Bilirubin test, which I knew was a little worrisome because they took a REALLY long time. The pediatrician on call came in and told us he was really worried about letting them come home today. Zack's numbers jumped up pretty high and both of them have lost weight (Zack lost 13% of his body weight). He said he would let us bring them home today, but we will need to be back tomorrow morning for weight and rubin testing. So after everything we left at 12:30 pm. Once we arrived we did feedings and we went for our first stroll (we were told to get them in the sun a little to help with the jaundice). Please keep us in your prayers that both will start gaining some weight and the Bilirubin results will start going back down. We were told there is a possibility if things keep going the same way, they will be back in the hospital tomorrow night, so again please keep us in your prayers.

I never knew I could function so well with so little sleep. I can't believe how complete my life now feels.

Zack and Maddie have arrived!!

So today has been a VERY interesting day. Zack and Maddie have entered into the world. They are absolutely wonderful! Michael and I feel so bless to have two beautiful healthy babies. Madelin Marie came at 2:04 am this morning weighing 5 lbs. 11 oz. and 18 inch long. Just 17 minutes later at 2:21 am Zachary Ryan made into the world weighing 5 lbs. 6 oz. and 18 1/2 inch. long.

Here is my birth story... WARNING, if you have a weak stomach you probably don't want to read this part...

At 11:45pm on Monday night I went to use the restroom. I had just got done wiping when I had a gush of water come out of me. At first I wasn't sure if this was my water breaking or if I just had to pee more. So I decided to wake up Michael and tell him that I thought my water had broke. Just a few seconds later...water started dripping down my leg. So that is when we knew this was it. Michael got up and got dressed while I got dressed real fast. He then packed the bags in the car and we headed out around 12:15 am. I started getting contractions right away and they grew more intense. Our drive was a little over an hour, but Michael made it to Tarboro in 45minutes. We arrived at the hospital at 1:05 am. We first had to check in at the ER, then we headed up to Labor and Delivery. They immediately asked me to put on a robe and give them a urine sample. I was in so much pain that I couldn't do all of this. I eventually got the robe on and headed straight for the bed so they could hook me up to the monitors and get everything started. Next came trying to get my IV in. After the 3rd try they finally got it in. Not long after that I was trying to sit up due to the pain of one of my contractions and I ended up pulling the IV out. My contractions were now 2 minutes apart and they finally checked me, to my surprise I was already dilated to a 10. It was too late for the drugs and WAY too late for my section. I then had to wait for the doctor to get there. They didn't think I was going to go that fast or they would have called him earlier. So 20 minutes later he was finally there. It wasn't a few seconds later and Maddie arrived. Zack was in transverse position (sideways) so they had an ultrasound machine to track him. They ended up breaking my water and guiding him down, but first I had to push him out breech. So I had both my babies all natural. Unfortunately this is not where the story ends. Maddie's placenta came right out, but Zack's was still stuck. They gave me Pitocin to try and see if they could get it to come out on it's own. These contractions were worse than the real birth. Finally 3 1/2 hours later the doctor came back to check on me. There were still no changes, so for my safety they decided to take me to the OR and conducting a manual afterbirth pull. So they wheeled me down to the OR and gave me some drugs to put me under and proceeded to try and remove Zack's placenta manually. After that things were great. I was able to spend time with family that came up in the middle of the night. I turned out okay and the babies are in great health. Thank you everyone who sent prayers our way.

Two weeks from TODAY!!

14 days from now (two weeks) my babies will be here. That is just so exciting to think about. I'm still hoping they will come earlier, but to know that it won't be longer than 14 days is just so wonderful!!!

Tomorrow I go in for my 37 week appointment for a normal check up. Michael gets to go to this one and it will be with my normal doctor. I'm looking forward to it. I am also glad I finally go every week, because some how it makes the weeks go by a little faster.