My boys are home!!

They are both on monitors, which is scary and comforting all at the same time. And now, a different type of sleepless nights begins.

Beating up on the less fortunate

[cue background music: Dada ... Da ..ta .. Da .. I'm just a milk machine]

[irrelevant to this post but worth noting that I could really use a third boob over here]

Yesterday, on top of all the other madness, I had this bizarre swelling that looked like a baseball was stuck on the inside arch of my right foot, so I called the doctor just to see. Ya know, because maybe someone did lose their baseball.

Normally, this would still be something I'd ignore, but sometime at the end of last fall, I was diagnosed with some kind of clotting disorder that was never really explained to me and I was too distracted with iVF to ask so I was like ... Oh, ok .... Yeah ... So just take this shot every day and that should do it???? Cool. Peace out.

The clotting turned out to be quite the issue and the cause of the emergency c-section. Blah blah, so I called the doc and he had me get a thing done on my leg at the hospital ( they didn't find anything and it turned out not to be a baseball, go figure!). Anyway, so I'm trying to rest, trying to take care of the boys, then also the leg thingy. When I go to the appointment, they ask me if I want a wheelchair since it's a long walk to cardio. Dr j gives me this stern look so I obligingly agree to chair it.

Then they proceed to send in this 95year old candy striper to wheel me down the hallway. Awesome. The eldest golden girl is using me to work out her morning arthritis kinks.

Right after that, I went to the bathroom and felt justified to use the handicapped stall because of all my many ailments .... And when I came out there was a wheelchair sitting outside of one of the regular stalls. And as I washed my hands I hung my head in shame and horror as a woman with one leg came out and hopped over to her chair.

I can't show my face there ever again.

Finally ... photos!!

Quick update and then back to blog stories because you know the ridiculous-ness that surrounds me isn't going to slow down just because there are babies here, right??

Update: Benjamin and Lucas were both re-admitted into special care on Sunday, which was very nerve-wracking for a million reasons ... many of them rhyming with shormonal. I was discharged from the hospital on Monday but with the boys here, it's not like I'm gonna sit around the house watching Days of our Lives (I'm sure it's really awesome though, Ashley) so we spend our days at the hospital and go in for all their feedings, do diaper changes ... stay involved as much as we can. Benjamin is being treated for jaundice and Lucas for respiratory (sp?) and dehydration. Both of them just weren't getting enough nutrition too. Basically, we had two days of honeymoon and then the boys just remembered how small (and cute!) they are and were just exhausted. So they're on lots of monitors which were scary at first, but after you sit there a few days, you don't notice them anymore ... and you hear the doctors talk to the parents with the REALLY sick kids and you thank God for all your blessings. Plus, our friends are amazing and we get so much support. Someday when I am hydrated and well rested, I'll try and remember to thank them all.

Dr. J has been taking a storm of photos and videos. Yesterday we were watching a few videos only to realize that we had about a dozen of Lucas and 1 of Benjamin ... and so it begins. Lucas just has the craziest expressions and so many of them (see, I'm already trying to defend bad parenting from the get-go). Oh, and our kids already have a reputation in this hospital for their poop. I've had no less than 8 different nurses come to me with poop stories (mind you, they are 6 days old) ... most are about Benjamin, but Lucas is catching up.Enjoy some early looks!!Above: Lucas close up, about an hour old.
Below: Benjamin, just after his first bath

I ended up with a true emergency c-section under full anesthesia ... here I am meeting my little darlings for the first time, barely alert ... I definitely couldn't have quoted my full SSN at this moment, but they let me hold them nonetheless. I guess when mom still hasn't met her babies 12 hours later, people start to have a little guilt.



All cleaned up, and ripe for snuggling. Two little burritos.




Tada!! Posed for the hospital official photo. In case you are wondering, they are (of course) the cutest babies at the hospital. Benjamin is in blue, Lucas is in green.

Introducing ...

Benjamin weighing in at 5 lbs and 18 1/2 in, and Lucas weighing in at 4 lbs 4 oz, 17 in.

They were supposed to arrive via scheduled cesarian next Wednesday but baby boy Lucas had other plans and he broke my water on Thursday just as my mom and I were about to have dinner. I definitely want to tell the rest of this story but I know I wont have much uninterrupted time here in the hospital.

For now, I'm completely in love with these babies. They are healthy and doing exceptionally well, especially for premees. They only spent about 5 hours in special care before being released to the regular nursery. Lucas, like his Daddy, has two clubbed feet. While dr. J's feet may be hideous, they work perfectly fine and that was 35 years ago. We will see a pediatric orthopedic next week sometime.

We have taken a million photos, but haven't yet had the strength to boot up the computer.

One week more

If I can handle all this great "rest" for another week, then wormy and squirmy will reach their goal date in utero. That will put them at 36 weeks and 4 days. So we are officially scheduled for next Wednesday. There is still plenty to do to get ready but I'm almost too overwhelmed to do any of it.

The hardest thing about bedrest

I think I can confidently say of myself that I fall into the category of people who are self sufficient. (stop snickering) Even getting married was a mental leap for me at the age of 27 as though I was saying to the world that I was willing to be a dependent or even that I was willing to share a spot on my couch.

Who am I kidding ... I still don't share the couch. See how patient Dr. J is?

Bed rest (is that one word or two?) requires that I ask people to do everything for me. It's not that I can't do things ... it's that I'm not supposed to do it. That's the tough part, I CAN do it. (also writing on a computer while you are sideways pretty much gives me seizures so that's one activity that is quickly going by the way side)

However, the absolute WORST thing about bed rest is that yesterday, my mom made brownies ... with raspberry chocolate chips in them ... and they are sitting in the kitchen. It pretty much sucks all the fun out of sneaking extra brownies when you have to ask someone to bring you one ... and then when you finally can stand it no more and you break down and ask for a brownie, they respond with "are you sure?" In my mind, I punched him with a giant boxing glove that shot out from the end of a massive spring, causing him to spin around like a Looney Toons Character until he saw a rotating halo of stars and little chirping chicks. OF COURSE I'M SURE! HELLOOOOOOOOO! Pregnant, twins, bedrest, severe back pain, birthday, brownies with raspberry chips???? Any of this ringing a bell??

To husbands everywhere I beseech you - if your wife finds herself in this situation, bring her a PAN of brownies and a FORK. Then turn your back, and walk away.