June 5, 2012 - And then there were 4

On June 4th I had a doctors appointment, just one of my weekly appointments to make sure the babies were still doing good and the pregnancy was going well. Everything looked great, and it looked like I wasn't ever going to go into labor despite the contractions I'd been having for 11 weeks. So afterwards Andrew and I went and ran some errands. I finally picked out a diaper bad and then we went to a friends house for dinner, business as usual. When I got home I played around with my new diaper bag and I packed it all up, but then the zipper broke on it, I was pretty disappointed but Andrew and I decided we would just go trade it in the next day. I went to bed and everything was great. Being pregnant I woke up several times during the night to pee. I woke up at 4:25am and I was having a slow trickle and I thought I was peeing my pants. I was really tired so I tried to get it to stop but my bladder muscles just wouldn't stop it so I got up to go to the bathroom and my water broke. That slow trickle was not me peeing my pants, but somehow in the middle of the night, dead asleep, while laying still my water broke. When I realized what happened I sat in the bathroom for a minute trying to decide what to do. I was so shocked! I sat in the bathroom thinking it was too early. I was only 34 weeks, 6 weeks early and I wasn't scheduled to have my c-section for another 2 1/2 weeks. I told myself this couldn't be happening because I just wasn't ready and my diaper bag was broken so if I went to the hospital and delivered that day then I wouldn't be able to go and exchange my diaper bag like I'd planned. haha crazy right? I was having some really funny irrational thoughts as to why this couldn't be happening, but once I realized it was happening and there was nothing I could do to change it  I went back to the bed and told Andrew my water broke. He jumped right out of bed and got everything and he was ready to walk out the door in about 45 seconds from the time I woke him up. I on the other hand was still shocked and I thought that if I didn't leave my house I wouldn't go into labor and none of this would be happening. I did not want to leave. I got in the shower but Andrew was antsy to leave so I only got to clean up a little and not wash my hair like I wanted to. After trying to procrastinate as long as I could, about 5 minutes, Andrew was pushing me out the door so we went to the hospital. We got there a little after 5am. They confirmed that my water had broken and the nurse said "It looks like your going to be having some babies today". I don't think I have ever been so scared in my entire life. Well soon after that around 6:00am the pain really started to kick in. Labor is some serious pain! HOLY COW!! I thought I was going to pass out. Since baby A (the baby closest to my cervix and the one to be delivered first) was breech and her water had been low for a few weeks she couldn't be delivered normally and I had to have a c-section. Luckily I knew all of this beforehand and I was somewhat prepared for it. The contractions were getting closer together and it was killing me, but they couldn't give me any pain medicine until I went into the O.R. Luckily my labor was considered a high priority (higher risk) so I bumped everyone who was in line for the O.R. and I went to the top of the list and I was scheduled for the first slot of the day at 7:30am. I was super glad about this because I was in some serious pain. At 6:30am the nurse came in and said that another baby was in distress and she was probably going to bump me in line for the O.R. so I probably wouldn't go into the O.R. until 8:30am. At that point I didn't think I could make it that long without some pain medicine because it was getting worse with every contraction. Well I don't know what happened but I didn't ask questions when I got bumped back up to the 7:30am slot! My OBGYN (who is awesome!) had given me his cell number to call when I went into labor so he could come in and deliver my babies even if he wasn't on call. The on call doctor was the doctor who did my cerclage so I knew him, but I was super happy to see my doctor walk into the O.R. By this point I was a mess. I was scared that it was too early, I was nervous for the c-section, I was in a lot of pain, and to top it off my whole body was shaking uncontrollably. My doctor walked over to me and he put his hands on my shoulder and told me to stop worrying about everything. He said it was his job to make sure everything went okay and it was my job to simply focus on the fact the I was about to meet my two daughters. He told me he didn't want me to think about anything other than meeting my babies. I think that is when it all became real, and I realized I was about to meet my babies! The c-section went great. I got to see both girls for a few seconds after they cleaned them up, but then they quickly took them away to the NICU. 

Andrew holding Baby B after she was all cleaned up.

Andrew holding Baby A after she was all cleaned up.

Andrew went with the babies while I got stitched up. I was worried that Andrew was going to pass out during the surgery because he doesn't do well with blood or anything medical really, but he did great. He was really nervous before the babies were born but once the first one came out crying he walked right past the blood and guts to check out our daughters. 

Baby A: Emmalyn Joeen Stagg
Born June 5, 2012 @ 8:18 am
4.10 lbs 17 in long

Baby B: Adelyn Ann Stagg
Born June 5, 2012 @ 8:19 am
5.10 lbs 17 in long

Since I had a c-section I wasn't allowed to get out of bed until later that afternoon, and since the babies were in the NICU they couldn't come to my room so I had to wait until 4pm to go to the NICU to check out my daughters. It was a very long day, but it was so worth it! Here are some pictures of when I got to meet them.

Andrew holding Emmalyn. Isn't she just perfect!

My hand next to Emmalyn. She's tiny, but she's doing great.

We weren't allowed to hold Adelyn because she was on oxygen. She swollowed some fluid during delivery so she needed some help breathing.

This is kind of a scary pic, but here I am with Emmalyn all bundled up

I am so thankful everyting went so great. The girls are doing great and I am thankful for their health. It has been a long 25 days, but they are getting stronger everyday and we are hopeful to take them home in the next week or two. I can't believe how much I love my little girls, it's crazy. I am so grateful to be so blessed. 


Well this post as gotten lengthy so I'll have to do another one with updates about the NICU so far. I also have some cute pictures I'll post with it.

27 days to go!!!

Today was a very good day at my doctors visit. Since I got my cerclage 9 weeks ago (23 weeks pregnant) my doctor has had the goal of getting me to 32 weeks into my pregnancy before delivering. He told me that he wanted me to get to 36 weeks, but since things weren't going too well he didn't want to be greedy so he would be happy if I got to 32 weeks. Well, as of today I am 32 weeks and 4 days! WAHOO for me!!! I don't want to toot my own horn, but I've survived 9 weeks of bed rest, Contractions for 9 weeks (not braxton hicks, but real contractions), low fluid level for baby A, and cervical shortening, AND I am still pregnant and both babies are doing really well. The up side to all of these problems? I get to go to the doctors office twice a week and see my beautiful little girls with an ultrasound twice a week and I get to hear their heart beats, the best sound in the world. When I visited with my doctor today I told him that I was needing some motivation to keep going since I had reached our goal and I was ready to be done. He told me that we are out of the danger zone for long term health problems, but then he mentioned a bunch of other medical problems that we could run into if I were to deliver this early, nothing life threatening, but it could mean a lot of time in the NICU. If I make it to 36 weeks I have a good chance of the babies going home with me or within a week of delivery. So, our new goal is 36 weeks. My doctor scheduled my C-Section for June 20th, 27 days to go!!! More like 26 since today is almost over :) I am so excited to have a date since my whole pregnancy I have been told that I would deliver early, but it was hard to tell how early so I'd just have to wait and see, but now I have a date to work towards. Andrew says I am so stubborn that I will make it to that date, but there is still a chance that I could deliver sooner than that if something goes wrong with my cerclage, contractions or if baby A's fluid gets too low. I am having a C-Section because baby A (the first baby to be delivered) is breech and she is smaller than her sister, both things are not good for a normal delivery. Also, since baby A's fluid level is low she is too weak to put through the stress of a normal delivery so if I tried I would most likely end up with an emergency C-Section. My doctor explained it to me as putting an already tired baby through stress of delivery making her even more tired which would be bad for her health. Is it weird that I am more afraid of a C-Section than a normal delivery? Because I am very antsy and nervous for the surgery and recovery. Plus, I really dont' want that nasty scar, but I would do anything for my little girls so I am willingly and happily preparing for a C-Section. 

Gotta love the weirdos of Vegas

Can I say how huge I am? Every time I go out people stare and there is always once person who asks how far along I am and when I answer 8 months it never fails the next thing out of their mouth is 'wow really? You look like your about to pop any day'. I can't keep track of how many people in the past week who have told me that I look like I am about to pop. My only solace is telling them I am having twins and they all get this look on their face of 'oh thats why your so big'. haha Today I had the most interesting conversation with a person in line at Walgreens. I was waiting in line to check out and this person said to me "you must be having a boy" this person kinda gave me the creeps so I politely answered nope, girl. Then he asked how far along I was and I told him 8 months and he told me I looked like I was about to pop any day so I told him I was having twins and he then told me I looked good for having twins (nice compliment I thought so it made up for the whole popping comment). Side note. Let me describe this person to you. I thought it was a he because he had beard scruff, wide shoulders, body type of a petite man, low voice, basketball shorts and a t shirt. (You'd assume it was a boy too, right?) Well after he told me I looked good for 8 months with twins 'he' went on to tell me how big he got when he was pregnant. (SERIOUSLY!? This dude was dead serious, no joking) he told me he had 3 boys and it took him forever to get back into shape after his pregnancies. (YES, HIS pregnancies! Still dead serious) Well, the lady in fron of me overheard I was having twin girls so she piped in to tell me she had 2 year old twin girls. The 'guy' behind me said he was nervous to be around us because he didn't want to have twins. You gotta love Vegas. When I told Andrew this story he told me he thought the guy was just messing with me. I realize sometimes I am gullible, but this dude was serious. Either he was a he/she or he wasn't all there in the head, but either way he was dead serious about his pregnancies. haha it gave me a good laugh.  

Month by Month 5-7

Here are the pictures of the past few months of my growing belly. I am starting to look like I am pregnant with twins :)

5 Months

6 Months

Month 7

My belly is starting to take over my body! I reach 8 months on Monday so I will post another picture then. I can't believe I have made it this far into my pregnancy. I feel very blessed to still be pregnant and for the health of the twins. I've been on bed rest for 8 weeks now and my doctors weren't sure I would make it this far, but I have! I am still having contractions pretty frequently and the fluid is getting low around baby A, but other than that things are going well and it looks like I might actually make it to 36 weeks (which is mine and my doctors goal). Andrew and I are getting antsy for the arrival of the girls. We are all ready for them to come. Today we got the last thing we needed for the nursery. We got the most comfortable recliner. It is the most comfortable piece of furniture in out apartment and the 2 am feedings wont be so bad with such a comfy recliner. Now it is just waiting time until the girls come, can't wait!

Not my plan

This pregnancy has been a crazy ride from the very first ultrasound. Finding out I am having twins was the biggest surprise of my life so far. When Andrew and I had decided to start a family I had a nice little plan and I expected everything to go according to plan. I am kind of a planner it's just what I do. When I found out I was having twins I read a lot about twin pregnancies and what to expect. I was surprised at how much I read talked about denial. Denial of several things and I remember thinking to myself 'well thats silly, I'm not in denial about anything with this pregnancy'. I thought to myself 'I'm not in denial about early labor. Most pregnancies go to 40 weeks and I'll probably only go to 37. Most twins spend time in the NICU, but not mine because I am going to go to 37 weeks and they are going to be healthy with no problems'. Thats what I thought to myself, and I didn't think I was in denial... silly me. Last week I was slapped in the face with reality that my pregnancy is high risk and I was forced to face the things I was in denial about. 
Three weeks ago I went in for a check up and everything was going so great and better than expected. I switched from my OB to a Perinatologist (doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancy) and he is amazing. I can't say enough good things about him and his practice. After my check up the nurses joked that if I wasn't having twins they would have to kick me out because I wasn't having any of the common problems of high risk pregnancy. I went in two weeks later (last Thursday) for another check up and my world got turned upside down. Everything changed with one ultrasound. The babies are doing fine, but I was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix. Basically my cervix was starting to shorten and it had shortened significantly in two weeks. The doctor was worried this could lead to preterm labor so Friday morning I went in for surgery to sew my cervix shut. I was so nervous for the surgery but I'd prayed a lot about it and I knew it was the best option. The surgery went really well. Afterwards they monitored me for contractions. Contractions are not normal or a common side effect of this surgery, but they are a possible side effect. As soon as they started monitoring contractions started showing up on the monitor. I couldn't feel them because I was numb from the epidural I had gotten from the surgery. They gave me some pills to stop the contractions, but after a few hours I was still having contractions and the pill wasn't working. So they gave me a shot that gave me the gitters like crazy.  The shot worked and I got to go home Friday afternoon. But Saturday Morning I started having contractions again so I went back to labor and delivery. After giving me more medication to stop the contractions they sent me home with a prescription and put me on strict bedrest. (Strict bedrest = only getting up to pee. No showers. No getting up to get a drink. No nothing other than laying down and getting up to pee). I followed doctors orders, but Sunday morning I started having contractions again. So we went back to labor and delivery and they gave me even more medication and upped the dosage of my prescription. Once the contractions stopped they sent me home again. After a long weekend in the hospital for the most part I was happy to be home even if I was on bedrest. The medicine is working pretty good. I am still having contractions every once in a while, but they are getting better. I am so grateful to the doctors I am working with. They are all so great and caring. It is nice to be able to really trust them.
So what's the plan now? I am on strict bedrest for the next week and a half until my next check up. I have come to accept that I am not going to make it to 37 weeks. I am praying to make it 29 weeks where twins have a 90% chance of survival. This week I reach 25 weeks which is a big milestone because the survival rate of twins goes from really slim to 40% chance of survival. I am trying to be strong and have faith that it will all work out. I just keep praying for 29 weeks and every week after that I will count as a blessing. 
I appreciate all the love and support I have gotten! I know there have been many prayers in my behalf, more than I am aware of I am sure, and I have felt the support and love and peace from all of those prayers. I appreciate it more than I can express. I am so grateful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. The holy ghost has been such a comfort and I can see now why he is called the comforter. I am grateful for the peace of a loving Heavenly Father. 
I have to end by telling how amazing my husband is. I have the most amazing husband in the entire world. I know most women reading will think they have the best, but I know the truth, I have THE BEST HUSBAND EVER!!! Since I am on strict bedrest I can't do anything. Andrew does the grocery shopping, stops at the library to pick me up books, does the dishes, cleans the house, does the laundry, makes me dinner every night and gets me a bowl of cereal every morning before he goes to school. And then he does law school all day. And then comes home as soon as class is over to wait on me hand and foot. Also, he got our ice chest out and put it next to the couch so I can have cold drinks and snacks and some things for lunch while he is at school since I am not allowed to get up to get food or drinks. He is amazing! I don't know how he does it all. To top it all off he is a rock. He has been such a good support through all of this. I am so lucky to have him and I love him so much!!! He is such a good daddy already.
I apologize for the lengthiness of this post  with no pictures and if you have made it this far I congratulate you.

2 Girls!!!

Cuddling babies!

I have to start by saying how ExCiTEd I am about this week! Why you ask? This week I am half way done with my pregnancy!!! I am 18 weeks this week and since I am having twins full term is 36 weeks so I am half way there! WAHOO! I love being pregnant (most of the time) but I can't wait to cuddle my babies!
Andrew and I got to get an ultrasound on Saturday to find out the gender of the babies. Andrew and I were talking on the way over how funny it would be if they were both girls. 1:we already painted 3 walls of the nursery blue. 2:Parenting teenage twin girls... need I say more? 3:We thought they were both boys so if they turned out to be both girls it would be a huge shock. Well we got a good laugh about it on the drive to the ultrasound, but when we got there and found out they ARE both girls I was so shocked! The ultrasound tech was awesome and she had a fun time with us. When she started she told us that we got to have 5 pic's printed, but once we told her we were having twins she said she would print a few extra so we could have pictures of both babies. A few pictures extra turned into 21 pictures printed in 2D and 3D. (She had a ton of fun with us I think). The babies were so active and it was so much fun to see them moving around. Baby A kept punching and kicking the ultrasound probe so it took a while to get a steady sound of her heart. She was very active and we got some great pictures of her. Baby B was also very active. She made us laugh as she sat there and repeatedly kicked her sister (baby A) in the head. They were in the perfect position and both girls were more than happy to show us they were both girls. The ultrasound tech told us she was 100% sure both babies were girls. It was so amazing to see those beautiful babies growing inside me. They seem like best friends already. The position they were in was one on top of the other cuddling. It was so cute!! The picture at the beginning of the post shows them cuddling one on top of the other. The tech also gave us some GREAT news. According to the babies size I am a week ahead of what I thought and what the doctors had said. So now my due date is moving from July 17th to July 10th! I am all for moving up the due date! Since this wasn't a medical ultrasound and just a fun one the tech couldn't officially change my due date, but hopefully the next medical ultrasound will say the same thing and I can officially get my due date bumped up a week. Here are some more fun pictures from the ultrasound.

3D picture of A and B cuddling & sucking their thumbs

This is one of my favorites. Baby A looks like she is smiling :)

Baby B 

Baby A

After we found out they were both girls Andrew and I went to town and had a ton of fun shopping and making things for the girls. We got some lavender paint to paint the last wall of the nursery. 3 of the walls were already painted baby blue/turquoise so we thought some lavender might make it a bit more girly. I really thought one baby was a boy so I didn't even hesitate to start painting the nursery blue, but I guess I jumped the gun a little on that one. Here are some pictures of painting.

Andrew marking his territory :)

I had to join in the fun

Painting!

The blue walls

Lavender Wall

After the painting was done we made some onesies for the girls. Andrew made them while I sewed some blankets and some cute skirts. 

I made these ones!

Andrew Made these. He is such a great Daddy!

One of the blankets I made

The other blanket I made

More onesies Andrew made

Levi Skirts I made form an old pair of jeans

Don't look too close at the sewing, but I had a ton of fun making these!

So that is basically what we have been up to the past week. We are both anxious for the babies to come and we wish it was already June. I am trying to enjoy pregnancy but my out of control emotions, body aches, and fatigue are starting to get old. However, I do feel the babies move now and that is a way cool feeling. I first felt it about a week and a half ago and at first I was thrown off by the feeling. I had felt a lot of new weird things with my changing pregnant body, but this was different and when I realized the fluttering feeling was the feeling I had been waiting for it was amazing! They are getting more and more active, or at least I am feeling it more and more. Today has been their most active day so far and I love feeling them inside me and knowing that they are growing healthy and strong. 
Life outside of baby land? Andrew is in the middle of his second semester of law school. He is doing really well and I am very proud of him! Our schedules are completely opposite right now. Andrew gets out of school around 3 weekdays and I start work around 3. I usually leave for work right before he gets home. We do have nights to spend together and Saturdays after I get off work and all day Sunday so I can't complain. Overall life is good and we are having a lot of fun preparing for the arrival of the two sweet girls.

Month by Month 1-4

I have been taking pictures every 4 weeks on my month marks to record my pregnancy. I didn't put the first few up because we hadn't told everyone until now, but now that we have I want to share these! I can't believe all the changes that are going on with my body, it's crazy! 
When I hit 3 months before I found out I was prego with twins all the book and articles I had read told me that I shouldn't be showing at all and if I had gotten bigger I couldn't blame it on the babies yet. Well I had gotten bigger, and quite a bit so as you can tell from the pictures below so I was a little perplexed as to how all this belly was just me and no babies showing yet. People, complete strangers who had no idea I was pregnant, had even started commenting on my baby bump. In fact right before the ultra sound there was a man on the elevator in the hospital who made a comment about how he knew which floor we were going to, it was obvious I had an appointment on the OBGYN floor. Being only 3 months I was starting to get a little self conscious about my baby bump that shouldn't be showing already. When we got to the doctors office I leaned over to Andrew and asked him if the man on the elevator knew we had an appointment on the OBGYN floor because I had a baby bump. My wonderful husband, knowing my concerns, looked at me and said "no babe, he just assumed because we are a young couple, why else would we be happily going into the hospital together". Well when we got the ultra sound and I found out it was twins many things went through my head, but one funny thought was 'ah ha! no wonder I have a baby bump already! The man on the elevator was right, I do look pregnant and it's not all just fat!' After doing more reading I have found out that when prego with twins you tend to show a baby bump a lot earlier than normal because there is more in there and they run out of room quicker so they have to bump out sooner. So don't be surprised as I was when you see how quickly my belly starts to grow.

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months