For those of you who have yet to meet them or hear much about them, let me fill you in a bit. The morning of my induction I woke up about 4 am. I had to do the last chore on my "to do list". I scrubbed my hardwood floors on my hands and knees. HE HE....
Off to the hospital. Darren and I spent the last few moments on the way to the hospital talking about what this experience was going to be like. We discussed our fears, our excitements, and EVERYTHING in between. We stopped off at Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and then off to the hospital. We arrived about 7:20 am. They took me immediately up to the 13th floor. I was able to labor in a normal room, but being I was having twins, I had to deliver in an operating room.
After I got checked in, I was told that I was already contracting, 3 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. WHOA!
Dr. Swisher came in around 9:30 am. I was placed on pitocin around then. I had my epidural about 11:30 am. OUCH! The last time I got it, I didn't even know that the doctor had numbed me or inserted the epidural. Oh well, that pain is NOTHING compared to what I would have felt with labor pains.
At around 1:55 pm, I said to a nurse, "Ah something feels unusually weird down there. Sorta like pressure!" I was certain it was Lilah's head. My doctor hadn't checked me in quite a while so he came in immediately. He checked me and it was Lilah's head. They got me to the operating room, "set up", and ready to push within 2 minutes. Lilah came out within 3 minutes. I only pushed twice and my little peanut arrived. She weighed in at 4 pounds 7 ounces and 17.5 inches long. I am not an emotional person, but when I looked over at Darren and he was witnessing the birth, bouncing up and down and crying, I cried too. I thought that was insanely sweet.
Jaxon arrived 17 minutes later. Unfortunately, his heart rate was dipping every time I pushed, so Dr. Swisher had to use the "vacuum" to get him out. He weighed in at 5 pounds 7 ounces and 19.5 inches long.
As of now, things could not be MORE perfect. Daddy returns to work tomorrow, so let's see if reality sets in a little more tomorrow. The twins have a pretty tight schedule. They eat every three hours. SO... first feeding is 1 am, 4 am, 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, and 7 pm. I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night.
Jax's personality:
Jaxon is so sweet. He sleeps all day until we wake him to feed him and change him. He has really big eyes and is very alert when he is awake. I have only heard him cry 3 times since he's been alive. We took him to the doctor today for his first check up. He was discharged at the hospital weighing in at 5 pounds 3 ounces. He has gained back all of his birth weight. He is slightly jaundice. He got pricked today and if his bilirubin comes back lower than desired, he will have to sleep with a bilirubin blanket for 48 hours. Just heard back from the nurse.... he's in the clear.
Lilah's personality:
Lilah is a little midget. She reminds me of a little old woman. She is quite the drama queen although I have to say I have only heard her cry maybe 5 times since she's been alive. She is on soy formula, but Dr. Delaney has requested that we take her off of that and put her on the same formula as Jax. He didn't think placing her on soy formula at such an early stage was necessary. She spits up quite a bit, but hey "Spit Happens".
Mommy is doing great. I feel like I could run a marathon. I didn't tear at all. As a matter of fact, I don't even feel like two babies came out of me. My right foot is pretty swollen, but Dr. Swisher said it may take 3 weeks for that to go away. My belly is odd looking. I look like I have a large cone shaped tumor inside of it. I pray this goes away quickly. Supposedly my uterus is just still very large. The only complaint I have is the pain I felt last night after my milk arrived. OUCH! I would rather have 50 kids than be engorged. I am using all of the methods to dry up my milk, EVEN CABBAGE LEAFS. It was funny, I was reading books to Ty and he said, "Who farted?" No one did, it was the cabbage leafs.
Daddy is an incredible help. I really have to pat him on the back. He has gotten up for every single feeding. He has been very helpful around the house and keeping up with entertaining Ty. I am so sad to see him return to work.
Tyson has been phenomenal with "[his] babies". He wakes up every single morning and runs to the crib they are sleeping in. He checks firs to insure they are in there. Once he realizes that they are, he runs back to his room, removes two stuffed animals from his bed, and puts one next to Lilah and one next to Jax. He is very germ focused. He knows to use the germ-ex constantly and than tries his best to refrain from kissing their lips. It's so tempting though.
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I plan to send out an ofoto album today or tomrrow of a few cute pictures we took on the first day they returned home. For now, enjoy one of each of them below. We would like to express a sincere thank you for all of you who have visited us in the hospital, those of you who have showered us with love, gifts, and YUMMY meals. Not having to cook is the biggest stress reliever EVER!
Love to ALL......