Wow...where to being...

Well it has clearly been too long since I wrote on this blog.

The twins are almost 2 and a half.  The are talking like crazy and throwing tantrums and just being twin toddlers.  It has been amazing.

As for the rest of the family...well we recently grew by one miraculous little boy.  We were able to conceive naturally after years of infertilty and Benjamin Morse joined us on November 17, 2015.  So life has been a tad crazy but we are so blessed now that our family is complete.

Because of that, we have moved on to looking for a couple to adopt our remaining six embryos.  So for now this blog will turn into that journey.

So far I have posted our profiles or NRFA and Miracles Waiting and have received a few messages from couples looking to start or complete their family.  So it is in the very early stages but hopefully we can find everything we are looking for and help another family realize their dreams.

The Sound of Silence

So on Wednesday I am going under the knife. Or more accurately, the laser. 

I am undergoing a stapedectomy. They will be putting in a prosthetic stapes into my right ear in the hopes to restore my hearing so I will no longer need the hearing aid. I am not sure how the recovery is going to be but I can only hope I see or hear some major improvement. I will have packing in my ear for a week and a half so I won't hear the improvement until the packing is removed but I should still be able to tell with the packing in. 

It's scary with recovering and taking care of the twins but the quality of life and the hearing improvement will be worth it. 

The plan is to get the left ear done also, perhaps by the end of the year. I'm just hoping for an easy recovery. 

Wish me luck!!!

Absolute happiness!!

Tomorrow the twins will be one month old!!  I cannot believe how fast the first month has gone!!

We have an appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow so we will see how much they have grow since they were born.

They are eating like champs and Evelyn has figured out if she eats more she can sleep longer.  Unfortunately, Grayson still wants food every 3 hours.

A couple weeks ago we had some professional photos taken by Taryn Avery Photography and I wanted to share some of those with you.  It was a long 3 hours shoot but we got some wonderful and memorable shots of the two of them that we will cherish forever.

 

Updates and more updates!!

Hi everyone!

The twins are 17 days old right now.  Grayson only spent 8 days in the NICU and Evelyn was there for 13.  She just came home on Monday and it has been a joy having them both together.  It's much easier when you don't have to drive back and forth to the hospital a few times a day to spend time with the baby still in the NICU.  So we are truly blessed to have them both home.

Let's see...they have both lost their umbilical cords leaving nothing but cute belly buttons behind.  Grayson has gained a good amount of weight and finally broke the 5 pound mark.  Evelyn is at 5 pounds 10 ounces and we are going back to see the pediatrician on Tuesday for another weight check.

Todd and I are enjoying the exhaustion that comes with getting up every 3-4 hours to feed the babies.  Mom has also been a huge help during the day.  I am figuring out how to make it out of the house on occasion with both kids and I have been on time for most things.

I'm recovering well from the c-section.  I had a short course of antibiotics for a surface infection but that's all better now.  Otherwise, I am moving around well and happy to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight though my shape is different so clothes are tough on occasion.  I'm still enjoying dresses and skirts for comfort.  Thrilled to be able to shave my legs again though!!  LOL!!!

The kids are great!  Not the best poopers in the world.  Grayson doesn't want to give up a burp without a fight.  Both kids are prone to hiccups - especially Evie.

It really amazes me that I love them SO much.  I'm still dealing with the transition in my life.  I made it through this horrible infertility and pregnancy loss journey and I have two beautiful miracles that are mine and I still have to pinch myself every day that we did it!  We beat it and we are the parents of two beautiful boy/girl twins and also parents to two amazing angels that watched over all of us.

Going to finish off some coffee and close my eyes for a little bit.  Before it's time to feed them again!

I do want to mention too that Todd is an amazing father.  I always knew he would be but he truly is amazing and I am lucky to have him as my husband but they are luckier to have him as a father.

I leave you with some pictures!

Evelyn Paige and Grayson Scott are here!!

Around midnight on Tuesday I got up to pee and when I leaned a little to wipe I felt a small pop and a tiny gush on to the toilet paper.  I couldn't tell 100% if it was pee or something else, but it just didn't feel right.  So I decided to lay back down and get up.  Trying to see if it was my water if I could get anymore to come out. 

By the 3rd time I finally got a huge gush.  I had gone through this before so I knew exactly what was going on. 

I woke up Todd and decided to take a quick shower before heading to the hospital.  We got to triage around 1:15am.  They hooked me up and I was having contractions about 2 minutes apart, was completely effaced and 2cm dilated.  Off to the labor and delivery room we went at that point. 
Shortly after arriving to the L&D room we started talking pain management.  I wasn't sure I would know when enough was enough.  I was breathing through a lot of the contractions and we trying to mentally prepare for a vaginal delivery, which was still the plan at that time.

Grayson started to show some signs od distress, but he bounced back with stronger heart rates after a short while.  I decided it was time for the epi.  My contractions were still about 2 minutes apart and I was starting to break a sweat trying to breathe through them.  I got my epi placed and I was checked again.  I was at 6cm.  I was progressing FAST!

They called in my OB who had to run and do an emergency C-section on a woman that was induced on Monday wohse baby was showing signs of distress.  Before doing that he talked to us.  I expressed my fear of doing a vaginal delivery causing Grayson too much stress. 

Todd and I discussed things with my OB and decided it was best to just get the babies out and healthy and I would take the brunt of the recovery.  So around 6:20am they rolled me down to the ER and Evelyn Paige was born first at 6:49AM weighing 5 pounds 6 ounces and Grayson Scott was born at 6:50am weighing 4 pounds 7 ounces.

I saw them briefly before they were whisked to the NICU.  I sent Todd to be with the babies while they closed me back up and sent me back to my room for recovery.

Todd came back with pictures.  Evelyn has a TON of dark hair.  She has a misshapen head due to be lodged up against my pelvis for several months but that should correct itself in 3-4 weeks.  Grayson actually has strawberry blonde hair which I guess Todd also had when he was little.  They look absolutely NOTHING alike!!

They were both on room air immediately.  Grayson started off eating well but now he has gotten lazy and has a feeding tube in to supplement.  He also is dealing with low blood sugars and they hope to have that corrected in a few days.  Evelyn is a very lazy eater and is also on feeding tube.  That is her only issue so hope to get her on the bottle or maybe the boob soon.  I have been pumping and just started to get some colostrum in.  Hoping to get more in with each pump.

I think the plan is still for us to go home tomorrow.  We have to go down this morning and check on Grayson and see how his sugars are doing.  He's pretty borderline low blood sugar so it shouldn't take long to fix everything up.  Hoping to get them home over the weekend or Monday.

My heart breaks for my little kiddos - it's so hard to hold them with all the tubes, but it's amazing how much you can love someone SO much!! 

As for me, I'm recovering from my C-section pretty well.  It wasn't my plan to have one but I think it was best for them.  I'm taking a shower today and I CAN'T WAIT!!!  Then pump then down to see the babies!!

Grayson Scott


Evelyn Paige

35 WEEKS!!

How Far Along: 35 Weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up about 25 pounds, but 10+ of that is baby so still doing well.

Maternity Clothes: Of course, though some days I don’t get out of my nightgown.  LOL!

Movement: Yes – and now that they have rearranged their position I can tell who is who better and movement has been good.

Sleep: Definitely getting worse.  Taking my Tylenol PM and it seems to be helping a bit.  Still up between 6 and 15 times a night to pee though…

Gender: A boy and a girl!!!

Symptoms: Fatigue, round ligament pain/cramping, stuffiness, hip pain.  Now some cramping and aches and pains.  It’s just uncomfortable.  I will admit that it's truly uncomfortable 24/7.  The round ligament pain is the worst right now.  The weight of the babies makes it feel like I got kicked in the crotch!  Walking hurts, lifting my leg or turning one way or another – it all hurts!!!  I do get some cramps and Braxton Hicks on occasion and those suck as well!!  And the swelling has started…

Cravings: Sweets, just because I can’t have them.

Freak-out of the Week: Yesterday I was ready to head to L&D again, but I just relaxed and kept my feet up and I was fine!

Looking Forward To: Meeting our babies.  At 35 weeks I would welcome them anytime now.  Ideally two more weeks would be great, but right now they would be in really good shape and likely come home with us.

Next Appointment: Tuesday I have the OB and an NST.  Wednesday MFM.  Thursday off and another NST on Friday!

Miscellaneous: All of our appointments have gone fine so far.  J  No real signs of imminent labor.  Trying to search my mother’s instinct and see if I can tell when these babies are going to arrive…don’t forget to join the baby pool!!!

http://karensinfertilityjourney.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-official-baby-pool.html

35 Weeks - Growing, growing, growing. Yup, baby and you. You’ve reached 35 weeks, and your uterus has grown about 1,000 times its original size, a number that might sound exaggerated to everyone else -- but to you it probably feels more like a million. You can expect to gain about a half-pound a week before birth, and baby’s beefing up, too. At 35 weeks, some moms-to-be feel like they have a ton of stuff left to do before baby’s arrival. Others can barely wait for baby to make his debut. Either way, try not to stress. Baby will show up when he’s ready, and he won’t care if you haven’t checked every little detail off your list.

COCONUTS!!

And a shot of me from this morning.  :)

Just a quick update!

Finally finished with all the appointments for this week.
The twins are doing great!  Passing everything so it looks like we should be good to move into July!
I am learning that things can change so quickly though.  I hope they stay in as long as possible though so they can get big and strong and come home with us with no time in the NICU.  I think if we can make it to the 10th of July then we stand a good chance of that as long as Grayson is gaining weight well.  We won't know until the 10th how his weight gain is going, so I would like to make it to that appointment.  If we make it then we will have a discussion on 37 versus 38 weeks for delivery.

2-3 weeks until delivery MAX!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!