1st Birthday Party

We had a WONDERFUL Memorial Day weekend. The girls' first birthday party was a success. Our "red, white, & blue" themed party was complete with an all American decor & menu including flags lining the driveway, red & white star-shaped plates, blue cups, red punch, hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, baked beans, pasta salad, fruit salad, & red velvet cake which perfectly matched the invitations. All of the guests (& the honorees) were decked out in red, white, & blue as well. Patrick said, "If Uncle Sam had a house, this is what it would look like!" Of course, I took it as a compliment that my party planning was adequate. Geneva & Lexa had fun being the center of attention & of course having their first taste of sugar. Here are some pics...

Welcome to our Memorial Day Birthday party...
Yummy cake for the adults
Side view of the cake
Geneva's smash cake
Lexa's patriotic cake
Geneva quickly getting into her smash cake
Lexa starting to get into it
Nothing like a handful of frosting to clean up, guess where that went...the hair
Red, white, & blue beard & mustache
Typical Geneva, wanting what her sister has.
Geneva playing with Noah's Ark, lots of NOISY animals (thanks Mom!)
Our bookworm happy to have a new book
Mommy & Geneva
Lexa modeling her dress & the fact that she is now walking everywhere
Pop & his three grandchildren. He loves them so much.

Feel free to view all 101 photos here: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IYtnDNmybsntw

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GENEVA & LEXA!

Lexa, my long-legged angel from heaven. 4 pounds, 2 ounces.
Geneva, my brown clown. Look at that expression. Some things never change! 4 pounds, 10 ounces.
Lexa in the delivery room
Geneva being born. I'm sure she'll never let Lexa forget she is 1 minute older!

One year after the best day of our lives! I can't believe it has been a year. In some ways it feels like yesterday as I still remember every detail, & in other ways it feels like a lifetime ago. I can't believe I actually lived 28 years without them. I always wanted to be a mother & sure didn't want to wait as long as I did for my dream to come true...but it was all so worth it!

May 25th, 2009... I woke up, Day 6 in pre-term labor. 32 weeks, 5 days pregnant. I was in a lot of pain & just tired of being in the hospital. The doctor had just rounded & was actually going to discharge me that afternoon as they couldn't keep me on the mag sulfate any longer because it is too dangerous for the mother. Nurse Judy brought in my breakfast tray (As Patrick constantly points out, I was never too tired or hurting too bad to eat my breakfast!) I remember the nurse saying, "It's going to be a great day...it's a holiday so don't make me work too hard!' Boy she picked the wrong holiday to work! A few minutes into breakfast, I felt a weird sensation..."Patrick, get Judy, I think my water just broke." Judy came in with the test strip to determine if it was in fact amniotic fluid. As Patrick frequently tells the story, yes while she was getting her supplies together I continued to eat! Hey I was feeding 3 people. Well, the test turned colors, but I didn't need to see that...I could tell by the look on nurse Judy's face, she turned ghostly white, "I'm going to get the doctor. Your sac has broken." Here comes Dr. Birch who is on call (thank God). She checks me, first time in days as they were scared to check me...I am dilated to a 7 cm.!!! Yes, I had been dilating all night. I asked the doctor, "so the babies are coming today" "Yeah, like in a couple of hours!" I asked if I would get my epidural soon. "In 5 minutes or so.", she responded. The doctor went ahead & broke the rest of my water. Patrick likes to recount this gross story in detail as he cannot believe I was carrying around all of that fluid. Even the doctor said it was the largest amount she had ever seen. I cannot describe the instant relief I felt with all of the pressure gone. Things were moving so fast!! I calmly asked Patrick to hand me the phone. I called my mom who was so very graciously housesitting/dog & cat sitting. I told her, "Don't panic, but my water just broke." Then I called my dad to let him know he needed to make the 3 1/2 hour trip to the hospital. Patrick made the rest of the quick calls. The nurse brought Patrick some surgical scrubs to put on. We were about to head to the delivery room as they didn't want to deliver a high-risk pregnancy in the birthing suite. The anesthesiologist headed into the room within a few minutes. I was hoisted onto the side of the bed & the big needle went in to my back. No problems until the doctor said, "Hmmm that's strange... a little blood." Freaked me out!!! Within a few minutes I was becoming numb so it must have worked. I was transferred to a new bed & off to the delivery room. I started feeling a little foggy but remember the very bright lights & all the people...each baby had their own team of nurses ready to go plus my doctor, the anesthesiologist, & neonatologist, all in all 15-20 people in the room. The plan was to try for a vaginal birth. It was about 11:00 a.m. & I was already a 10 cm, time to push. I remember Judy & Patrick holding my legs & everyone screaming at me to push. I was pushing & pushing as hard as I thought I could, but with the epidural it was hard to judge. 1 1/2 hours went by with little progress. I was just too exhausted to keep going. It had been a long few days & I didn't have any energy. Come to find out during the C-section, the girls were both wedged in the birth canal & no matter what, it just wasn't meant to be. So a C-section was inevitable. I was SO disappointed & terrified of having surgery while awake!! One of the nurses ushered Patrick out of the room while they prepped me for surgery. I remember all of the noises of the tools. I remember staring at Patrick through the window. I was so scared. I kept telling the nurses over & over again, "Don't forget my husband". I was so afraid they would start without him. They transferred me to the OR table & I kept saying over & over again, "Don't drop me!" Patrick came back in & Dr. Birch informed me she was about to start cutting. It would be about 10 minutes & they would be here. It was about 12:45 p.m. I recall the tugging & pulling & Dr. Birch commenting on how tight my abs were! Patrick said, "that's Jazzercise for you." Dr. Birch said, "Here comes Baby A." I heard Geneva's cry & looked over where her warmer was & saw her jet black hair. It was 12:59 p.m. 1 minute later, Lexa's piercing cry. I never saw her as her warmer was positioned outside of my line of sight. But Patrick told me she was long-legged & blonde. No one was really talking to me as they were all busy doing their assigned jobs. I kept asking, "are they okay? are they okay?" I was so relieved that they were crying, breathing, & looked big to me for preemies. It seemed like forever as they were closing me up. Patrick was whisked away to the NICU & I was left with the anesthesiologist talking me through things. I would like to point out here that despite Patrick's advice not to eat breakfast, I never got sick!! :) I was then taken to the recovery room for about 2 hours. Patrick came to check on me in brief increments to update me on the babies & all the people in the waiting room. I finally got into a room & was able to see video of the babies from the nursery. It was such a mixed feeling as I hadn't seen or touched my own babies. It just wasn't natural. All I could do was think about the burning sensation in my abdomen & the let down as this was not the birthing process I had dreamed about. It was a long, emotional night until I was finally cleared at 11:00 p.m. to see our babies. The nurse got me in a wheelchair & I wheeled down to the nursery. The beds were fairly far apart & I remember already being torn...which bed do I go to first? Good thing the nurse decided. I touched Lexa's hand & told her I was her mommy. Then Geneva's. I finally got to meet our babies. It was the best moment of my life. I was saying hello but it was as if I already knew them. Happy Birthday to our miracles.

May 24, 2009

May 24, 2009: I don't remember many specifics of the day...just how big & bloated I felt. It was a rough day; I was mentally & physically exhausted from Day 5 of pre-term labor. It was a Sunday & I hadn't seen my regular doctor since Friday. I knew she would be working the next day--Memorial Day. I was anxious to talk with her regarding the long-term plan because I just had a feeling I wouldn't make it much longer. Originally she planned for the mag sulfate to stop Monday. What then? Sunday night, the 24th, I was having terrible pains. The on-call doctors hadn't checked me for dilation because they were afraid the exam would cause my water to break. Little did I know, I was slowing dilating all night. I recall waking Patrick up several times in the night & him helping me through the breathing exercises we learned in our birthing class & begging him to massage my back. The nurse wanted to give me pain meds & a sleeping pill, but I refused. Tomorrow would be a memorable Memorial Day...

May 21-23, 2009

First a few new pictures...
This is what I see every time I am in the kitchen, just like 2 dogs begging for food
Our new bedtime routine...Geneva crawls into her bouncy by herself, feeds herself her bottle, crawls out of the bouncy, & I put her in the crib
Lexa finally showing off her front teeth
Geneva got her hands in her yogurt & then straight to her hair. Lexa could not stop laughing at her hair!

So back to Part II of the labor/delivery story leading up to Geneva & Lexa's birthday.

May 21st, 2009. I had been officially admitted into the hospital. I was in pre-term labor as I was having regular contractions & now was dilating. My regular doctor made her way in to give me the details. As the on-call doctor had told me, delivery was imminent. The goal was to have the girls stay in as long as they were not in distress & as long as my water did not break, hopefully 1 more week so that I made it to Week 33 as now I was Week 32, Day 1. Every day they were inside was equivalent to 3 days they would have to spend in the NICU. The doctor ordered 24 hour rest, not even a shower & magnesium sulfate to begin, a very powerful IV drug that can slow labor but cannot be used very long as it has life-threatening side effects for the mother. When she said the name of the drug, I remembered hearing Hilary talk about it as she had to have it, too. I remember her telling me "It's like the devil jumped inside me!" & my own doctor told me it made her "want to jump out of the window" when she was on it. Well now it was my turn to experience it! Things were moving quickly. I got a urinary catheter, another IV, more fetal monitors, pulse ox monitor, automatic blood pressure cuff, & automatic inflatable leg cuffs to prevent blood clots. So now it was time to start the mag sulfate. Extra nurses came into the room to help & they literally poured ice all over me. I felt like a fish being iced down. They turned the thermostat to 60 & warned me I would feel very hot & sick to my stomach. It was the beginning of a long, exhausting, & nerve racking 4 days. I was so uncomfortable as I was having contractions every 5-10 minutes for those days, had to have blood drawn every 6 hours day & night to ensure my magnesium levels were not too high, not to mention I was huge & trying to sleep in a lumpy bed that detaches for delivery--come to find out high-risk pregnancies never deliver in the birthing suites. Patrick was so good to keep my mind off things & we had great friends & family to visit & offer prayers. We were thankful for every hour that passed & relieved to hear the girls' heartbeats constantly beating away on the monitors.

May 20, 2009

I am recounting this day last year before it completely leaves my memory (as I was a little too busy to blog)...

I worked until 1:00 p.m. as I was still working 5 hour days. I came home, laid down, & remember calling Patrick at 1:30 telling him I just "didn't feel right." I was having a little back pain & just a weird sensation. I was sure I would feel better after a nap. By the late afternoon I was better, ate dinner, & settled in for a night of TV, little did I know it was my last night at home. During the 10:00 news I started to feel twinges which I now know were contractions. I located the handout the doctor had just given me a few days prior regarding the symptoms of pre-term labor. I realized I had almost every symptom. We starting timing these weird twinges. They were about 10 minutes apart, then 9, then 8 & in a distinct pattern. I didn't want to go to the hospital as I didn't want to be one of those over-reacting 1st time moms who always thinks she is in labor. After a few minutes of back & forth debate, a little voice just told me, something is wrong. I just remember sitting on the side of the bed saying, "Patrick we need to go now..." David Letterman was on & we bolted out of the house, no suitcase, no purse. I remembered in our labor/delivery class that if you went into labor after 10:00 p.m., you had to enter through the ER as the women's entrance was closed. I remember being adament that I was NOT using the ER entrance as there was no telling how long I would be in the waiting room & what I would be exposed to. So we were sneaky. Patrick dropped me off in the circle drive, I waited for him to park. We entered the front door of the main hospital & walked through the hospital to the women's wing. We buzzed the doorbell where the triage is located & I told the nurse who answered I was high-risk pregnancy & thought I was in labor. I was in! When they know you are high-risk, things move quickly. By this time it is close to midnight. I am hooked up to fetal monitors, 2 of course, an IV, & the doctor paged. The on-call OB/GYN was there within minutes & checked me. I was dilated to 1 cm. As long as I did not continue to dilate even though I was having regular contractions, it was not considered pre-term labor. She would start IV drugs to stop the contractions & come back & check me in a few hours. I remember the drugs making me very foggy, drifting in & out but still knowing this was going to turn out fine. I had had a perfect pregnancy until now. Patrick tried to sleep in the chair next to my bed. We decided to wait until morning before we called anyone to worry them. If no dilation, I could go home with 24 hour bedrest. By 3 a.m. or so, the doctor was back. No more dilation, still a 1 cm. Things looked positive. Stay a few more hours & home I was to go. By 7:00 a.m., Patrick called in to both his work & mine saying we wouldn't be in. The new doctor was on call by 7:00 a.m. & took over my case (she has twins as well). Bad news, dilated to a 2 cm.... Labor had not been stopped & she said, "You are here to stay. Delivery is imminent." Then all of this info was just thrown at us... bottom line it was May 21st by now...my due date was July 14th. WOW! I remember being whisked away to a birthing suite down the hall. We decided it was time to make the phone calls. More tomorrow on what happened May 21st...

Pretty Dresses

All dressed up for church. So sweet! We are getting ready for the girls' big birthday!! Their party will be held on Saturday the 29th. Since they were born on Memorial Day last year, we are doing a red, white, & blue birthday themed party. The cakes are ordered & I have bought lots of patriotic decorations! We are so excited to celebrate this huge milestone in our daughters' lives. I am going to post a lot this week on what was happening this time last year... As for the here & now--Lexa now has four teeth (two on top, two on bottom) & Geneva has finally cut her first tooth. Lexa took 3 steps completely unsupported this weekend & was so proud of herself. They are all over the place & full of tons of energy. I can't wait to see them rip into their presents (& cake)!

What Happens?

What happens when you leave two almost 1-year olds alone for 5 seconds?A Pampers explosion!

And a camera case wrapped around Geneva's waist.
Looks like a mule!

Mother's Day

June 2009
Mother's Day 2010

I finally got to celebrate my first Mother's Day, missed it by 2 weeks last year. Despite the cool weather & having to work Saturday, we had a great weekend. I love my girls so much & am honored to be their mommy. My heart melts when they say "mama" & come crawling as fast as they can when my car pulls up. They are my world! Here is the sweet poem my husband wrote for me in honor of Mother's Day...

Patience and love; Unlimited hugs; Cries in the night; No end to spit up in sight; Diapers that need to change; And oh, the hunger pangs!; Tears and laughs; And splashing baths; Crawling then walking; Soon to be followed by talking; Oh the joy!; Oh the tactics that will have to be deployed!; Food being tasted; Bibs being wasted; Bouncing up and down; Geneva being a clown.; Bottles that need cleaning (that formula needs weaning!); Gates always come crashing and don't forget the plastic rings teeth are gnashing.; Books, books everywhere and pink bouncy chairs; Pink pink as far as the eye can see!; Little red circles on the crawlers knee.; Lexa growling like some wild beast; All the while your patience has increased; How do you do it?; Lesser beings would break!; Going nonstop from dusk to dawn without quit.; Always loving, always soothing, so easy for you... a piece of cake.; You are a natural in your role as mother; Mothering comes so easy for you; I could never find another As good, and as kind, and nurturing... I always knew That you had it in you.; Being a good mother is what a wife needs to be. Which makes you oh so very special to me. Happy Mother's Day to my wife My partner for life.