Whew what a 10 days!

Our last post was quickly thrown up on "baby eve".  I would now like to recap the last ten days to the best of my memory.  First of all here is how things looked when we went to bed on May 11:

The next morning we headed out at 5:30 in the morning for the hospital.  Even though our birth plan had changed, we were still able to have our 2 labor support friends able to join us - which was a huge blessing.  By 8:00 am I was being wheeled into the operating room.  The scariest time of the entire event was getting the spinal.  No other support person is allowed in the operating room for this time - and there is a needle going into my back!!  I made it through and was soon joined by Jeff and Holly (who was also support person for baby "B" should she need to leave the room).   Because it was a twins delivery and having students present for the surgery - there was about 20 medical folk in the room.  The entire procedure was done in about 45 minutes and was an emotional roller coaster of hearing babies first cries, smelling some odd burning smell that we were told was normal, nausea, and having both babies leave to room (unexpected, especially for baby "A", but we had Kelly right out side the door to follow him).  It was a very overwhelming and fast experience; and truthfully I didn't feel as if I had time to transition from "pregnant" to "mom of twins".  It was a very different experience from the births we had with our older girls - not bad just different and it took longer to wrap my brain around.

Amos was able to leave the nursery within the first hour- after his temperature stabilized- and didn't need any further monitoring.  Irene kept us on our toes a little more.  She got to stay with the friendly ladies in the nursery for a week!  While the babies had been born at 36 weeks gestation, Irene was more like a 33 or 34 week baby (which was the whole reason we ended up having to deliver early via c-section).  She had some trouble stabilizing her breathing and heart rate for a few days.  Because of these issues, eating was also a problem.  The first night was the scariest as we were pretty sure she would be fine, but were unsure if our hospital would be able to take care of her needs or if she would have to be transported to another facility that was better prepared to care for preemie babies.  Our hospital team was fabulous and pulled everything they knew, and were in contact with several other hospitals, to keep our family together while providing the best care for Irene.  Below is how she looked for a bit.

Once she stabilized, they still had to monitor her for several days.  This was a very hard time for me.  Recovering from surgery, while balancing post delivery emotions, while teaching one baby to nurse, while having another baby in NICU, while not being able to be with older 2 daughters (there was a possible chicken pox exposure so they had to stay away) - was enough to drive this Mama a little emotionally overwhelmed.  I don't think I could have done it with out the support of Jeff,  he has been a rock through this really hard time.  

Irene has now been in our room with us for 4 days.  Her moving over meant she was stable, but didn't mean she was ready to go home.  The medical team here wanted her to gain some weight and be able to independently eat with out using the tube (the one in her nose).  That is what we have been focused on since Wednesday.  In the last 24 hours everything has clicked!  She is nursing like a champ and able to take a little fortified supplementation from a bottle afterwards to help her gain weight a little faster.  This morning her NG tube (the one in her nose) was removed!!

Together again!!!

Blessings during this time:

• We were able to attend our girls dance recital (babies had to stay at hospital though)
• My wedding ring fits again
• Odessa's mother has been amazingly flexible and had older daughters through this entire ordeal
• Having a calm time to heal after surgery
• Our great labor and delivery team helped us keep calm during the time of chaos 
• Having a preemie car seat gifted to us so we could take Irene home when the time came (she isn't big enough yet for the one we bought)
• Visitors!!
• Celebrating our 12 anniversary together with our babies
• Having an amazing nursing staff care for our family
• A garden to take a walk in
• Amazing healing for my body
• Being able to keep up with feeding 2 babies and bank milk in the freezer for later

Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers for this amazing and difficult time.  We truly do treasure and appreciate your support.  Many of you have followed our embryo adoption journey from the beginning and we hope you continue to watch how our family adventure continues to go.  While this step is complete - we have the rest of these kiddos lives to watch unfold!

And just because, one more tummy photo 10 days postpartum - 

last minute update

We have been slow to update this blog because we were hoping to put down some real information and not guesses and conjecture.  Well it took several weeks to learn some facts.  We have had days with multiple doctor visits, all sorts of different medical professionals conferencing with each other and us, and lots of changes in plans.
So here is what we know now.  Irene has stopped growing at around 3 lbs 10 oz.  When a baby stops growing there is a limited amount of time in which they can live before the placenta totally dies and they starve or suffocate.  Obviously this is not the ideal situation.  Amos is doing great.  He weighs around 5 lbs 7 oz.  He is head down and engaged for birth.  Irene is laying breach sometimes, or sometimes transverse, or sometimes head down, or sometimes dancing like Michael Jackson in Smooth Criminal.  Both babies are very strong, have a good heart beats, and have been practicing breathing and dancing.

The doctors at several hospitals have told us that we can do an induction to have the babies, but would run the risk of having the second baby get stuck and have to do a cesarean section.  While Odessa's street cred may go up for doing both popular birthing styles in one pregnancy we have decided that doesn't sound fun.

Thus, tomorrow morning at six AM we are rolling into the hospital and having a c. section for both babies.

Please keep Odessa in your prayers.  She has never had anything like this done and is fairly nervous.  Please keep Jeff in your prayers, he's a wimp when incomes to medical things and will probably pass out.  Please keep the kids in your prayers.  They have a rough time ahead of them.

And final note.  We know some of you will want to visit.  Corvallis Hospital has some very strict rules for visiting, so call first.  Once home we will need plenty of rest, so call first.  In case you missed it, call first.  Even if you are Mr.Rogers and Warren Buffett all rolled in together, call first.  Thanks.