After you were born....
I saw a post similar to this on a blog and I thought it was a great idea. I know there will be many things that I will forget as the weeks, months, and years pass by. Therefore, this post will be a great way to document the facts, funnies, and let's forget!
How Far Along? We made it to 36 weeks! Wahoo- praise the Lord! I was admitted into the hospital for a week of bed rest due to high blood pressure. The 5 nights in the hospital was one of my "let's forgets." There was one good thing that came with my stay... heartbeats! We were able to see our little girls heart rates multiple several times a day! You may think I got bored.. not really! Thankfully, I had many family members, friends, and nurses to help pass the time! TV's shows, magazines, Pinterest tagging, and Facebook browsing were among the things that kept me busy. We were fortunate that my blood pressure didn't cause any worry to our little girls. They were trucking along just great. I think if it wasn't for my blood pressure, we could have gone to our 37 week goal. (Dr. Ann Marie has a theory about the high blood pressure.. but, Michael says that I am not a Dr. so, I won't bore you with that story. Ask me in person! Let's just say, my blood pressure was back to normal once I got to the hospital.)
Size of of babies? On October 11th, Layton weighed 4 lbs 12 oz and Hadley weighed 4 pounds 15 oz. One of our worries was that they would lose weight once we were home. At their two week appointment both were over their birth weight and our pediatrician was pleased. Both of the girls have continued to gain in weight and length.
Maternity Clothes? By week, 3 post babies... I was done with maternity clothes! Well, almost. My non-maternity shirts and pants fit, but some just didn't fit the best! For now during the day I wear comfy clothes! Workout pants and tank tops are what I live in most of the time.
Weight Loss? I gained 30 pounds while I was pregnant. At my post 2-week appointment I'd lost 20 pounds. By my 6th week check-up, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight! I now understand the whole "your body will never look the same." This is true!! The second I look at Hadley and Layton.... they are absolutely worth it. I was very fortunate to not get any stretch marks during my pregnancy and feel very thankful! I just have to remind myself that this belly carried two babies for 8 months. It will take a few months to get back to normal. Normal....yeah, probably never going to happen but for now, bring on the running!! Our running stroller is set up and ready for the girls! (I can't wait for Spring time!)
Milk does the body good! (GIRLS read only...a little T.M.I for boys) My breast milk slowly came in while we were in the hospital, a few days after we left hospital it arrived! While in the hospital Michael and I had a fabulous feeding system. The girls nursed, I pumped and gave them my milk by a syringe, and then we did a little bit of formula (due to not having enough milk from me for twins) Repeat, repeat, repeat! We continued this while in the hospital and once we arrived home we continued! MAN... talk about exhaustion! We continued with "snack time" (nursing), pump, Michael bottle feed, repeat, for the first week. Then around week two- IT happened.. sweet Layton was a hard sucker... which caused some bleeding on my end. OUCH!! OUCH!! As this was very painful and brought tears to my eyes... I began to pump breast milk and to begin complete bottle feeding. This in a way was a God send, as now Michael can help with each feeding. I knew that I wanted them to have my milk and was bound and determined NOT to give up. I took it week by week. It was hard at first, and still is, but I CAN and WILL do this!
Sleep? Let's just say it was (very) rough at first. We felt like walking zombies. We have since then adjusted. We knew we wanted to start out doing the night feedings on our own. Even though my Mom was with us for the first week, we wanted to try the night feedings just the two of us. It wasn't that bad... since the girls are such great sleepers. Mommy brag moment- The girls have done fabulous since night one home with us! (it was Michael and I that had to get used to the lack of sleep!) The girls have done great with getting their nights and days correct. This was something I worried about at first, but our strict routine of having a dark room with a sound machine/lullabies at night seemed to work wonders! The wonderful part is how fast they fall back asleep once we have changed their diapers and have laid them back in their cribs. They will lay there wide eyed... yet, fall asleep after a few minutes.
THANK YOU, LORD!
Post Pregnancy: What I Miss? Feeling Hadley and Layton move while in my belly was wonderful! I do miss that, yet seeing them kick and move here at home makes everything better! I have to say that I miss being pregnant as I truly loved each week! God blessed us with a wonderful experience.
Pregnancy was a blast and post pregnancy can be difficult at times but mostly wonderful. I can't help but remind myself that these two girls are gifts that we were given and intrusted to raise!
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
{As a family we can do it}
Michael and Me
Layton and Hadley
