How the Boys got here and an Update

The Boys....it is long, you may need to read it in parts! hahah

I was going in for a regular appointment and my bloodpressure was high for the second week in a row. The last time the doc had me get bloodwork and it came back normal, but this time he sent me upstairs for monitoring of my bloodpressure, bloodwork and a non-stress test on the babies. After being in there for a while my doctor came in and said I failed.. he didn't like the results of my bloodpressure and bloodwork so he was sending me to Worcester. He decided to send me there because I was 36 weeks and if the babies came now and needed the NICU, Leominster didn't have one and he wouldn't want one baby or both to have to be sent to Worcester and then I would be in Leominster and yadda yadda.. So I called Joe, my sister and mom and Liz and everyone was getting things together..and oh ya- the kid I tutored on Mondays was excited I wasn't coming! (He doesn't like math!)

The ambulance came and brought me to Worcester-- (just got a HUGE bill, really, I could've driven myself! Hopefully this will be taken care of because it's ridiculous!) They set me up in a room with no window and a clock that doesn't work.. but it was ok because they said I wasn't staying there and I thought the babies were coming that night or the next day... WRONG! My nurses were nice though. Joe came and brought some stuff, but I didn't have my bag packed so I was missing a few things- like my glasses and contact solution and case! :) My nurse made me some nice replacements and got some hospital saline. Anyways, I had contractions that night but they think it was because I was dehydrated- I didn't think I was but once they gave me fluids the contractions stopped. I went on to have them every morning but they would go away. I was really wishing I was at my own hospital, especially since I was seeing doctors I didn't know- and tons of them and interns and students, I just felt weird. They were also seeming to try and convince me not to have a c-section (because at the time one was breech and one was not, but Ryan kept moving around!) So they were making me feel bad that I didn't want to try a vaginal birth but I was worried about having to have both, having cord accidents or anything.. so they weren't making me feel better. They kept saying how a vaginal birth helps the babies get rid of fluid during labor and c-sections don't and since I was early, they were twins, boys and I had diabetes.. there were many factors. It ended up that I didn't have them that night, my monitoring was looking ok and they wanted to keep the babies cooking as long as possible.
Finally by 11 the next day I had a new room. They kept holding off giving birth, more tests, no eating in case I had to have a c-section...day after day, same story, no answers.. docs would visit in the morning and I wouldn't see them til the next day. I had a lot of great nurses that were very helpful for the most part.. but it was boring. I wasn't allowed to walk around, except for in my room.. woo hoo! I did get to watch a lot of TNT and USA.. and the olympics were on. Joe brought me the dvd player and I watched some movies and shows. Conner would come visit almost every day, he was very well behaved and cute.. he couldn't last more than an hour. Poor Joe with all the driving back and forth. Avery made me a picture to hang up, Am brought me some pics of Conner to hang up, so we taped them to my bed table, it was nice. I had a few visitors while I was waiting to have the babies, mom, dad, Am, Kristin, Joe, Patty, Conner and Andrea came but went to the wrong building :) Dr. Wilson called a couple times to see how I was doing and what was going on, that was very nice of him!
I did a lot of laying in bed, sleeping, ordering room service for my meals- even though sometimes I wasn't allowed to eat until we got more tests back in case I was going to deliver- one night I ate dinner at 11 ! My belly was getting bigger and my cold/cough was getting worse. Every morning I had a non-stress test and every 4 hours they checked my bloodpressure..they were also collecting my pee (fun fun!) and testing it for protein and other things that I don't know what they really are! It was nice to hear the heartbeats and kicking of the boys every morning, very reassuring. I would text message people and talk on the phone a little bit but my carpul tunnel in both hands and arms would hurt after a couple minutes so holding the phone would hurt wicked after a little while (thank goodness it is gone now!). That Thursday they finally gave me an ultrasound after telling me they would, then they wouldn't, and they changed their mind again and decided they would- I was getting them every week in Leominster and was scheduled for a weight check on that Saturday (and the biophysical profiles too). They gave me an u/s but no weight check, just BPP and told me they were both "Frank breech" meaning feet first (I think, my memory is bad now!) anyways, both breech so c-section it was. I also had an vascular u/s on my leg to make sure there were no clots because it hurt a little and was getting REALLY swollen so I was a little worried. They checked out fine, phew.
Finally on that Friday they told me it would be between Saturday and Monday, still all depending on tests and bloodpressure. We got excited and of course figured it would be Saturday since we had promised Conner that Joe would bring him to Chuck E. Cheese's! They came to visit that morning and we found out it wouldn't be Saturday... it ended up being Monday morning.
On Monday morning I met my delivery nurse, Annie.... strange thing is, she was my nurse long ago when I started trying to get pregnant with Conner! She worked with my doctor at his old office! How funny it was to run in to her there, where it wasn't even my original hospital! It made me feel better that there was a familiar face, she was GREAT. Everyone took great care of me.
Joe had to get dressed in a big suit that seemed to be made out of a paper towel and put a funny cap on his head! They got me ready to go into the operating room.. I was getting scared because I have never had a c-section or surgery while I was awake! They gave me a spinal- lasts longer and is stronger than an epidural- I think! It wasn't bad. I was a little freaked when I found out they had to put a cathedar in but it actually ended up being very convinient not having to get out of bed a million times to go to the bathroom! Since my bloodpressure was really high- reason of delivering- when they gave me the spinal and started getting ready my pressure kept dropping.. my ears start to block, I get light headed and feel dizzy like I am going to pass out.. and I get hot.. not fun, very scary! That happened a few times but the nice anesthesiologist was very good and fixed it right away! It was also a little scary because I couldn't feel from right below my neck and down... VERY STRANGE! I had a terrible cough and I had the feeling I needed to cough but I couldn't get the cough out because I couldn't feel my stomach/chest.. so it was weird but after a while my cough feeling went away.
Ryan came out first at 10:49am and weighed 6lbs 2oz and then Gavin came out at 10:50am and weighed 7lbs and 1/2 oz.. I couldn't believe it when I heard them say 7, I was very surprised! Ryan had always been the bigger one in all my ultrasounds, my last one though Gavin was catching up, but it had been over 2 - 2 1/2 weeks since I had a weight check u/s. They were perfect and healthy and did not need the NICU. Then they sewed and stapled me up and wheeled me to a new room. I was VERY out of it the rest of the day, in and out of sleep, numb and drugged! They had to give me a special drug because of the high bloodpressure, an anti-seizure medicine and it makes you all out of it- they gave me that for a day.
I couldn't believe I had two new baby boys... it still seems unreal to me at times.
While in the hospital, Ryan was the one always awake and Gavin was always asleep. Gavin ate fast and burped fast but spit up a bit they said and Ryan spit up a little. Gavin is awake more now that he is home, Ryan is the fussy one and they both were not spitting up really at all until we changed formula, now they spit up a little. Ryan burps really well now and Gavin sometimes is a slacker with his burps- other times he burps just when I pick him up to put him over my shoulder!!
They have changed so much in the 7 weeks we have had them, it is amazing. Ryan is catching up in weight and is only a few ounces smaller than Gavin.. his height needs to catch up but it doesn't seem like a big difference. They both look like Conner in different ways.. it is funny. Ryan's coloring is a little darker and his hair is dark. Gavin has lighter coloring and light hair- and has since gone bald in the middle of his head... like an old man!
Conner is a good big brother and sings twinkle twinkle to them, helps feed them when he feels like it and gives them their pacifiers- again, when he feels like it. He is going to keep on being a great big brother. I can't wait to see how they change and how they grow and look more and more like Conner and see the funny things they do. They are starting to make sounds other than crying now.. Gavin has been smiling for a little while and Ryan has just started to.. I think he is feeling better now, I think the formula bothered him more than Gavin and we also think Ryan has some colic so he is more cranky (but lately Gavin hasn't been so quiet, maybe jealous of the attention Ryan gets when he screams!) We are getting the hang of it. Sometimes I feed them both at once, plop them in the boppy pillows and sit on the couch- it saves a LOT of time... they don't always want to eat at the same time and sometimes Gavin would sleep through the night when Ryan was up every 2-3 hours. It always seems that once you get one settled the other starts to fuss! Or when you change one poopy diaper, then the other goes and poops! One time I had one crying, one spitting up, Conner yelling to me from the bathroom and the phone ringing- all at once!
We are starting to get the hang of getting out of the house with everything.. I had to make two quick trips to the doctors to get a last minute appointment because they both had diarhrea (sp) and the docs were like- can you be here for 2:30? When it was 1:50 and I would have to change their diapers, get myself dressed (no, I am not always in REAL clothes!) and then pack them into the car and drive 20 minutes! We also went to one of my mother of twins New Moms group for moms who have twins 18months and younger... I was an hour late by the time I got there because they decided they HAD to eat before we left.. Gavin would've been ok, but once Ryan wakes up and decides he wants to eat- there is no time.. he will cry until you give him the bottle! But luckily they slept the whole ride to Shirley and almost the whole time during the playgroup and I just fed them before I left.
So for the most part things are going great and the boys are very good.. they have their moments (and so do I) like all new babies and moms of twins do. Sometimes I doze off and the bottle is not actually in their mouth for a minute until I realize I am not awake! I am a little sleep deprived and I can't always "sleep when they sleep" but it is all worth it. Plus- I have a nice lineup of daytime television when I am not doing laundry, washing bottles, cleaning or sleeping! :)
If you haven't been to see us, what are you waiting for!? :)