A Long Overdue Update....

I have all of my lil munchkins content watching yo gabba gabba right now so I figure I will try to write a long overdue update!

The past five months have been amazing, crazy busy, a bit overwhelming and very tiring but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We’ve had some tough times and some amazing times! The girls are doing awesome and getting so big and Aiden is an awesome big brother. I have so much to say I seriously don’t know where to start.

Aiden is doing awesome and getting so big. He’s like a little man. He has full fledged conversations with you and they actually make sense. He loves to talk and laugh and is really into giving us all hugs and kisses right now. Of course he has his moments when he feels that he isn’t getting enough attention and will throw temper tantrums that probably make the devil look like an angel. Haha, but we love him just the same. We try to do the best we can with splitting up our time with the kids so everyone gets attention but sometimes it is hard. We are learning. It had to be hard for Aiden to go from being all by himself and getting ALL of our attention to having to share me and John with 2 little baby sisters. He is doing an awesome job though and totally surprised us. I was really worried about him having to adjust to the girls and I honestly think that he adjusted quicker and better than we did! He had his first accident a couple of months ago and ended up having to have 2 stitches in his left ear. I couldn’t even tell you how he did it. He was running around the house playing with his ball and I think he may have run into the back of the sofa and hit his ear. He loves to read his books, talk, watch his movies and play with his toys. He counts from 1-10 and knows his alphabet by looking at it. He can tell you what every letter is and loves to spell things out. I’m hoping that this summer we can get him into some sort of swimming lessons. I would love for him to learn how to swim. He wants to go to Disney World so bad but I think it may have to wait for a year or two. He is just such an amazing lil boy and he owns my heart. I have so much I could say about him, I think I could talk forever.

Raelene is doing awesome too. I guess she was about a month and a half old when she was diagnosed with Torticollis. It is basically that her neck muscles didn’t develop right, probably due to the lack of room in my belly when I was pregnant so her head tilts to one side. We caught it early on so we ended up at CHOP and they put her into physical therapy right away and we’re keeping a close watch on it. She now goes to physical therapy once a week and is doing awesome. We also have exercises that we do with her at home. You can totally tell the difference it is making. She is like my lil angel and such a sweet soul. Yet when she is mad she lets you know it for sure! She loves to laugh and will light up the room with her smile. She smiles with her whole face and it’s just amazing! She is doing awesome at tummy time and rolling over from her front to her back. She tries so hard to roll from back to front but she gets caught up on her shoulder and just hasn’t figured out how to get it out of the way. Rae still gets up for a feeding in the middle of the nights most of the time although every once in a while she gives mommy & daddy a break and will sleep right through. She also already has her first 2 bottom teeth. I guess they cut through about 2 or 3 weeks ago. She loves to laugh and smile and talks up a storm! It is so awesome and I could seriously sit there and listen to her for hours. She ended up in the emergency room the week before Easter. Everyone in the house was sick with a terrible cold except for John. I came home from running errands one day and Rae was burning up and having terrible coughing fits. So I took her to the ER and it turned out she had a really high fever and tested positive for RSV-or respiratory syncytial virus. She was so sick I felt so bad for her and she was teething on top of it all. We spent a few long hours in the hospital and they sent us home and just told us to keep careful watch of her breathing. Of course I was a nut and sneaking into her bedroom constantly throughout the night to make sure she was ok. After about a week she was getting better and now is all better. I hate when the little ones get sick and there is nothing you can do for them. We took the girls to the pediatrician last week for their check-up and Rae is doing great. She is gaining weight like she should be and packing on the pounds. She’s my little quarter back! So yeah, Rae is amazing and my lil angel. She is so awesome and definitely a new soul. She is so sweet and innocent.

Violet is also doing awesome. She’s been going back and forth having problems with her belly. She spits up a lot and always has. She was tested for reflux and has it so they put her medicine for that. It seemed like her spitting up had stopped for a little while but now it has started up again. We switched her formula around like 3 or 4 times until we got to this one that seems to be ok. She is so little and seems so frail. I guess because of her spitting up and the reflux she isn’t gaining weight like she should be. I’ve been concerned about it for a while but the doctor kind of just kept dismissing it. At her check-up last week when they weighed her she hasn’t even gained a pound in over two months. So now the doctor is getting a little concerned. We’re in the process of changing pediatricians now anyway. She is doing awesome with tummy time, rolling from front to back and also trying to sit up. Violet pretty much sleeps through the night. Once in a while she’ll get up for a feeding but not often. She loves playing with her hands and feet! She also loves to laugh and smile and talks up a storm. It’s amazing because Raelene and Violet will sit there and seriously have a full fledge conversations with one another just talking back and forth. It’s awesome! One will speak and then the other one answers. I wonder if they know what the other one is saying. Violet has a gorgeous smile with the brightest eyes. She is definitely an old soul. She’s almost like a lil old lady in a baby’s body and I don’t mean that in a negative way at all. It’s hard to explain. We say that Raelene is brand new to the universe. There is just this innocence about her. Violet on the other hand is an old soul and has been around a few times. She is so curious about everything yet acts as if she knows everything. She also has a bit of an attitude and is going to be a handful for sure.

Vi also ended up in the emergency room the week before Easter. She had a horrible cold and was so stuffy that she could hardly breathe. I called the doctor and made an appointment to see him. We took her and Aiden. He gave Aiden a cough medicine but said there was nothing we could do for Violet she would just have to wait it out. She was too young & too small. He took a boogie test and said that they would call with the results. I asked him again if there was really nothing we could do to help her and his reply was “you can do whatever you want but I’m not giving her any medicine.” It took everything I had in me not to punch him in the face! There’s a lot more to that story but I’m not going to get into it. So we left and later that night she was burning up and seemed really lethargic and stuff so we ended up taking her to the ER. After about 5-6 hours of all sorts of tests it came back that she tested positive for RSV and had pneumonia! So they gave her antibiotics and told us to keep a close watch on her and her breathing. I felt so bad for her that she was so sick. Of course I called the jackoff (that’s putting it nicely!) of a doctor the next morning to tell him about what happened and they had nothing to say!

Violet is deep, she looks right into your eyes to your soul, Raelene is simple she gives you her heart with a breaking smile the moment she sees you. The differences in these 2 baby girls are just amazing. Just when you think you have them figured out they switch. If 1 is cranky the other is pleasant, if 1 will sleep straight through the night, the other one wakes up. One day they’ll each love one toy and the next day not like it at all. Then the next day it could be all different. They both love and adore Aiden like there’s no tomorrow. They love to just watch him run around like a crazy person and they laugh hysterically! It’s so awesome!

Between Aiden and the girls, they definitely keep us on our toes 24/7. Here we thought we were going to teach them about the world around them and they are teaching us so many things. Every day is just like a new adventure and an amazing day.

Being a mommy is the most amazing feeling in the world. I love Aiden and the girls more than I could have ever imagined loving anyone. They are my heart and soul and my everything.

The girls birth story...

So, I went for my weekly check-up on November 19, 2008 just to check on the girls and see how they were doing. I was 38 weeks and 1 day pregnant. John had come with me because I knew that the doctor was going to talk to me about doing and induction or a c-section soon. I thought that he should be there with me for this conversation because obviously it is an important one. I haven’t been having any kind of contractions or anything. I had just been having minor cramping and stuff so I felt like these girls were going to go the full 40 weeks if they were given the chance. I honestly didn’t mind but I was worried about the girls being so cramped up in there and of course there was still the issue with Baby B and my last two ultrasounds that I had.

We sat in the waiting room waiting our turn and then they finally called us back. I had to pee so I was about to sneak out to use the bathroom as Dr. D was about to come in. I told her I’d be right back and ran to the bathroom. When I got back to the room she was out getting a Doppler so that she could hear the girls heartbeats. John and I were just sitting there talking and when she came in she was like, “Your NST last week was good. When is your next one, tomorrow?” I replied yes. Her reply was, “Well, how would you like to have some babies instead?” John and I were just like huh… what???? She then continued to go on about how I was over 38 weeks and considered full term for twins. Dr. D also said that the girls were really getting cramped up in my belly and were measuring big on the ultrasounds. She said that with twins at this point and to keep going to the full 40 weeks there is a higher mortality rate than with a singleton. Plus, with everyone being unsure of the shadow that was seen in Baby B’s head in my last two ultrasounds that it would probably just be better to have them sooner rather than later. John and I had asked her about the induction. I’ve heard some horror stories about girls being induced and being in labor for like 40 hours and then ending up having to have a c-section anyway. I did not want that to happen. She said that she would never allow it to happen and she would check me and see if I was dilated and effaced. I was two centimeters dilated and fifty percent effaced. She said that was enough to do the induction tomorrow. So she went out and checked the hospitals schedule to see if they would be able to induce me the next day! John and I were talking while she was out of the room and all I kept saying was that I wasn’t ready yet. I would also have to see if my mom could get off of work to watch Aiden. Also my sister Sandy and my best friend Dawn would need to be able to get off work because they were going in the delivery room with me and John. It was just crazy because I wasn’t expecting her to say do you want to have your girls tomorrow! She came back and said that we could do it tomorrow or we could wait until next Wednesday (which was the day before Thanksgiving) but she didn’t recommend me going past that.

John and I had talked about it all day and we talked about the pro’s and con’s and decided to go ahead with the induction. So we ran around all afternoon and all night trying to get things ready at home, finish the nursery, pack my hospital bag, and spend time with Aiden.

I woke up on November 20, 2008 exhausted because I had a terrible night sleep. I was stressing and worrying about everything under the sun! I just kept hoping that everything would go well and I could deliver my baby girls without having to have a c-section. It was crazy to think that by the end of the day my baby girls would be here and this pregnancy would be over. I felt like even though this pregnancy was hard on me physically and emotionally, I think I actually like being pregnant and would miss it.

We were up at 5 am and getting ready to go to the hospital. My mom came over to sit with Aiden and watch him while we were gone. I went in gave him a big kiss while he was sleeping and told him how much I love him. I had John take a couple of belly shots before we left the house, just so that I could see how big my belly was. Of course we were running a little late but that was no surprise, I’m always late for everything. My best friend Dawn sent me a text message as we were driving saying “let’s go have some babies!” for some reason it made me smile. I was so happy that she would be there with me when the girls were born.

We got to the hospital at about 6:30 am and I got all registered and everything. They sent me to labor and delivery and I was a nervous wreck! It was crazy because I already had a baby two years ago and I was ok so it wasn’t like this was my first time. This time I was so nervous and anxious. I guess maybe it was the fact that in a few hours I would not only be responsible for my 2 year old son but also two newborn baby girls. I guess I was completely overwhelmed to say the least.

At around 7 am they hooked me up to the IV and started me on the Pitocin drip. Dr. D came in at about 7:30 am to talk to us and check my cervix. I was still 2 cm dilated like the day before. She broke my water at 7:34 am and told me to just hang out and wait. I just laughed. John and I sat around talking and then my best friend Dawn showed up. I was so happy to have her there with me. My contractions started coming really hard and really fast once Dr. D broke my water. We all just sat around laughing and joking with each other and the doctors and nurses. Everyone that came in was like “this isn’t like walking into a delivery room, you guys are all laughing and enjoying this too much!” At about 10:15 am Dr. D came back in to see how I was progressing and I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. My sister Sandy had stopped by on her way into work to see how things were going. She was going to leave for an appointment and then come back after lunch and Dr. D told her she might miss the delivery with the way I was progressing. So needless to say she ended up staying and she had someone else go to her appointment in her place. Dr. D had called for the anesthesiologist to come and give me my epidural. She explained that we had a “window” and because I was progressing so quickly she didn’t want to miss it and we couldn’t miss it for incase I needed to deliver baby b via c-section. I kept saying I wouldn’t need a c-section that these girls were coming out the good old fashioned way! The doctor was with someone else so they said it would be a few minutes and by this time I was in an overwhelming amount of pain. My nurse suggested giving me something in my IV to help me out until I got my epidural. She came in and put something in my IV that made me feel terrible! I felt so out of it and doped up that I could hardly keep my eyes open or carry on a conversation. I just kept saying to take it out because I hated the way it made me feel. I guess it eventually started to wear off because I felt a little better. They came in at 11:05 am to give me my epidural. It took forever for the doctor to get it in place. I know I kept moving but it hurt really bad! He was teaching a student how to give someone an epidural so he was sitting there going really slow and explaining every step. He kept telling me to lean forward and I was leaning as far up as I could. I finally said, hello you do realize that I am pregnant with twins and there is no room in there for me to bend anymore… right! Finally he got it in place and I was so much happier that he was done!

Dr. D came in at 11:35 am to check me out and I was now at 6 cm so I was moving right along. We continued to sit around talking and joking. By now my epidural had kicked in and I wasn’t feeling anything. I actually thought they had given me too much because my legs were totally numb! She told me that only John could come into the OR with me for in case they had to do a c-section. I got all disappointed because I wanted my sister and best friend there with me too. She told us to wait and she would see what she could do. She came back a few minutes later and said that if John wanted to catch Baby A that I could take one other person in with me to support me up top. John was like, “yeah ok” but I don’t think he actually knew what she meant by “catch” Baby A. So she went and got John and Dawn their scrubs. Dawn was going to go in with me because my sister is really squeamish and she was there when I delivered Aiden and it was pretty rough, like horror film blood all over rough. Aiden got stuck and I had a post partum hemorrhage. Sandy said she didn’t need to see that again and I totally understood. She would be with me until they wheeled me away to the OR. Dawn said Sandy could go in but Sandy insisted that Dawn go in because she was handling the whole thing a lot better. We sat around talking and joking more and just having a blast. All of the doctors and nurses were still laughing at us because they said we were just having too much fun. At 1:03 pm Dr. D came in to check me yet again and this time I was 9 cm dilated. She said it was time to get ready to go to the OR. Needless to say now I started getting all freaked out. It’s time, my girls will be here really soon and all I wanted was to deliver them both vaginally and avoid a c-section.

At 1:18 pm they wheeled me away to the OR and started getting me set up. It was insane there were so many people in there. I swear there must have been more than 20 people in there to help and watch. The doors were open and there were doctors and nurses watching from the hallway and also from an observation window. Then there were all of the people in the room with us. Dr. D grabbed John from next to me (he was telling me that I can do this not to worry about it and just being supportive) and she said you have to come down here. John got this puzzled look on his face and was like ok. She said “you wanted to catch the baby, right?” and John was like “oh yeah, ok”. You should have seen the look on his face, it was priceless! I started pushing around 1:45 pm and Baby A was born at 1:50 pm. John got a little nervous about catching her and having to suction out her nose and throat so I think Dr. D had to help him out a little bit but he did an amazing job I’m sure. She was gorgeous and had the chubbiest cheeks and peach fuzz blonde hair with a dimple in her chin. Dr. D pushed Baby B from the outside of my belly and started to guide her down towards my pelvis. One of the nurses asked when Baby B would get here and Dr. D just replied… “When she’s ready. It could be 5 minutes or it can be an hour. We’ll have to wait and see.” Dr. D checked me again and said we were ready to go again. I started pushing again at about 2 pm and Baby B was born at 2:02 pm. She was gorgeous too but looked totally different. She had a slim face and lots of long dark crazy hair. Dr. D was joking around and said, “Well I guess we know they aren’t identical.” And we all started laughing. Both babies were perfect in every way. They both had 10 tiny little fingers and 10 tiny little toes. They were beautiful and healthy.

Baby A came out weighing in at 7lbs. 1 oz. and 2o inches long. We named her Raelene Skye. Baby B came out weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 ½ inches long. We named her Violet Starr. We named Raelene that because when she came out she was really feisty and making lots of noise. Violet was so quiet and had a little mousey squeak. It’s so funny because within 3 days they totally switched and Raelene became the angelic one and Violet was the feisty one.

It was insane because my delivery this time was so much easier than the birth of my son but I got so sick afterwards. I was vomiting and shaking terribly for a couple of hours. Both girls were born vaginally and no c-section required so I was ecstatic about that. I proved all of those people wrong that kept insisting that I was going to have a c-section. I knew I could do it!

So we were truly blessed with two beautiful healthy baby girls. As stressful and exhausting as it gets sometimes, I love every minute of being their mommy! Every day is a new adventure.

Happy Easter...

Too cute...

For some reason this picture makes me laugh histerically so I have to post it. Rae hates having anything on her head! She is so mad at me, look at that face!!! haha.