A few "firsts" to share with everyone!

Here is Aubrey with her Nana after her first bath.

Here is Spencer with his Nana...yes I know he is a boy in a pink towel! Anything to save a little room in the washing machine! :)
Here is Aubrey on the scale at the doctor's office. She was 5lbs 5oz. on Friday, so getting closer to her birth weight!
Spencer is below her with a weight of 5lbs 7oz.

Here is Dean doing "skin on skin" with both babies...too cute to see two little baby heads poking out of the blanket!

Life with twins!

Well, we survived our first night without help and with Dean having to work the next day. It didn't go that bad, actually! I did have to wake him up, but early in the night, around 11 or so, and he was able to go back to sleep. The second feeding I just gave him Spencer to cuddle while he slept and it worked out perfect because Spencer ended up falling back asleep and I got an hour of sleep after finishing up Aubrey's feeding! Today is my first day by myself and so far I am handling things pretty good! Both babies are fed, dry, and sleeping soundly in their cribs and I am able to get some things done. I got to sleep until after 8 this morning and feel pretty rested...although I may sneak a nap with the next one the kids take! We had a busy day yesterday with two appointments. I had my 2 week post-partum checkup, even though it was only a week and a half since delivery, and everything looks good and I feel great. After my appointment the kids and I went back to the hospital for another follow-up with the lactation consultant. Both babies are back to birth weight now and are starting to actually breastfeed instead of just falling asleep! :) Progress is a beautiful thing! We go back to the pediatrician on Friday for Spencer to get another weight check, he has been having some trouble with spit-up and they want to make sure he is still gaining weight. So far he is doing great, even though he has both his parents freaked out by the amount of spit-up that can come out! I don't see how he can possibly have anything left to nourish him, but he looks good! :) Well, that is about it from us!!

We are home!

We came home yesterday and are feeling so much better here! I have gotten the same amount of sleep as in the hospital, but it is a deeper sleep in my bed! We had a good first night at home, we are finally getting the routine down pretty good! Of course, they don't always follow my plan, but we are flexible! :) Love you all!!

This was our last night in the hospital. Looks like they are telling secrets! I love it!

Here they are nose to nose.

This is the first night we gave them pacifiers. They loved them, and it gave us just a bit more sleep time, so we loved them too!!

Here they are in the seats ready to go! They look so tiny in the big seats...too cute!

Here is Aubrey waiting for us to be ready! She looks like she is ready to go play in the snow with her hat and mittens!

Here is Spencer ready in his seat. They both did great in the car on the way home, quiet and content!

Aubrey in her crib at home for the first time! She looked just beautiful surrounded by all the pink!

And of course Spencer with all his blue!

Here they are sleeping in the cradle that Grandpa Krueger made. It is just perfect for both of them. They are definately snuggle bugs!

Here are our two happy burritos all wrapped up on our bed last night after one of the night-time feedings. Dean couldn't resist taking the picture! They are just so beautiful, if I do say so myself, that I can hardly believe that they are mine!

Sorry for the delay...

I am sorry it took so long to get this posted, but things didn't really go as I thought they would and I have been trying to catch up and heal since Friday! We welcomed our new daughter Aubrey Marie into the world at 9:12 am on 1/16/09. She weighed 5 lbs. 7 oz. and was 19 inches long. Our son came next at 9:14 am weighing in at 5 lbs 10 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. They were born by c-section. I won't take too much time right now going over the birth story, but will later. I have a small window for uninterrupted sleep right now as the nurse is going to take them for weights and hearing tests. Here are just some of the pictures of our new little ones! I love you all and can't thank you enough for all your prayers and support!

Here is Aubrey Marie shortly after birth.

Here is Spencer Russell sunning himself under the warmer regulating his temp.

Here is Dean recharging his batteries after a long night of a lot of wake-ups!

Here are them both, Spencer on the left and Aubrey on the right. We have been keeping them in the same bassinet and they do SO much better!And, last but not least, here I am with my two new bundles of joy! Spencer is on the left and Aubrey is on the right. I promise when things get under control a little bit I will post more photos, but I hope that this will hold you over until then! Love you all!!

Possibly the last belly shot!

We did take this picture last night when we still thought it was going to be "soon". This will hopefully be one of the last of my pregnant belly!

Still waiting!

It has been a LONG night of waiting!! What was supposed to happen at 8 last night still hasn't started! The labor and delivery got really busy with people in labor, and we never got called down. It is now 8 am and we are still waiting. The doctor just came in and said I am first to go down, and I can't be bumped, so as soon as there is a bed, I will go down. I just heard a lullaby, which means that a baby was just born, so hopefully they will get her up to the mother baby unit quickly and get me down to labor and delivery right after that! We will see. Poor Dean and Mom stayed with me last night and didn't get too much sleep, but they didn't want to leave because we just didn't know when it was going to all start. I would fall asleep and then wake up thinking it would be soon, but nothing...I will try to let everyone know when it starts! Sorry I don't have more news than that!

Tuesday Morning

I just finished talking with the doctors and the plan is still the same from yesterday. I will be induced and moved back down to labor and delivery tomorrow evening about 8 pm with the hopes of being in active labor by morning and babies by afternoon on Thursday. Other than that, things are going good and I still feel good, aside from being woken up every 4 hours for vitals! The babies are still moving A LOT and look really good on every test we have gone through so far. I will update again if needed...although I think this latest plan is the official plan! :)

Update on the Update!

Today was a busy day for me! Mom got here and spent most of the day keeping me company, which was nice! And the doctors kept coming back after rounds with more information every time. The last time one of the residents came in and said that they spoke with Dr. P, my doctor, and he said that he wanted to be a part of the delivery but wasn't available on Friday. So, the new plan is to induce on Wednesday for a Thursday delivery. So, the new plan gets them here one day sooner, and I get the comfort of having my doctor there that I have a lot of trust in and that helps with any anxiety I may have had! So...that is the latest as of now...if it changes again tomorrow, I will post yet again! :)

Monday update

Well, the doctors just left and gave me the update for today...things look good with the babies, and I am still stable, so they are planning on starting the induction on Thursday so I will deliver on Friday. As long as things stay the same I will make it to 37 weeks. They did say that Dr. P won't be at the delivery, but I do like the "team" that will be there, so I am ok with that. Two of the doctors that I dealt with mostly on Thursday when this all started are there, and a couple others. (Part of the joys of being at a teaching hospital.) I am pretty used to the audience after going through all the infertility treatments and just my ob appointments here. So, unless things change, we will meet Aubrey and Spencer soon!!

Sunday Morning VIsit from Doctor

Things looked good today, according to Dr. P. He said that he doesn't want to shut the door completely on me getting to go home for a few days before delivery, but to psychologically prepare myself for being here all week. They did draw more blood this morning, so provided those labs don't come back really off, things appear stable enough that maybe Friday won't be too hard to get to. I still feel good, had a headache this morning, but it went away pretty quickly after the Tylenol, so that is a good sign. Other than that, I will be going down to labor and delivery again this morning for another nst to check on the babies, but so far they are just doing great. Dr. P. said they don't have any idea that things are anything less than normal! I guess I can't ask for more than that!! So, it may be a long week of waiting for these little ones, but the longer we wait the better the chance we have of limited or no NICU time. So, I will take all the precautions necessary!! That is about all I have to report for now, but will keep posting as new information presents itself.

Update from my doctor

Well, I finally got to meet with my doctor! He is on rounds this weekend!! Lucky me! He finally answered a lot of questions I have had and helped me feel better about everything that is going on. He said that right now with my pressures and labs I do officially have mild pre-eclampsia and even though I feel good now, it can change pretty fast, so I won't be going home. The fact that I am having twins with both the pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes makes things a bit more complicated. So, he said to prepare myself for an early delivery. He said that he would be surprised to see me go to Friday, which is when we would be 37 weeks. We talked about the risks of them being born early, and he said at this point things should be fine, but of course he can't say for sure exactly how they will do when they get out. He did agree with my decision to deliver vaginally and we talked about the chance of having her vaginally and him by C-section...which is my fear. He said that while it can happen, I am not at any bigger risk even with him being breech, so we will just hope for the best. The nurse is here to check on the babies...I will finish later!

We are in the hospital!

Well, my doctor appointment on Thursday produced some unexpected results. It wasn't really a doctor appointment, but I saw the nurse for another nst. My blood pressure was 142/82 and the doctor at the office said you are going over to labor and delivery for more monitoring...so once again over I went! I got there expecting things to work like last time and I would be going home in a few hours...not so. My blood pressure just kept climbing and the doctor at the hospital said that I may be staying depending on what the lab work says. She came back in about an hour later after many more high bp's and said, well, you just won yourself a stay overnight and possibly until the babies are born. She then started asking me about my mode of delivery choice...ok, now my bp had a reason to go up!! Dean and I both got worked up by it all...but came back down to reality pretty quick! My blood pressure stayed high, but started to level out and through out the night went back to a normal range. So, I was ready to go home today, but it started climbing again the longer I was awake. The hospital moved me out of labor and delivery and into the mother/baby unit, but I am still unsure for how long. All the doctor said that saw me today, (for all of 5 minutes), was it depended on what the labs and the 24 hour urine I collected yesterday into today showed. Well, it is now 10 pm and I haven't heard what the results were. So, for now I am just taking things one day at a time and we will go from there. The doctor from yesterday did say that she wants to keep me pregnant for as long as she possibly can. I am just hoping for at least one more week. Both babies are doing well and show no signs of distress so that is good. The resident that checked me said I was effaced but my cervix was still closed. We are going to go with a vaginal delivery at this point, but I have an open mind to whatever has to happen to get both babies out safely. That is about all I know for now, but with wireless Internet access I will be able to keep you all updated on my status and hopefully tomorrow will know if this is going to be a long stay or just a quick one with bed rest at home. Well, believe it or not, a day of laying around has got me tired so I am going to try to get some rest before the nurse comes in to take my next blood pressure. Stay tuned!!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone! I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and thought I was going to see my "normal" doctor, but apparently he thought he was still on vacation and didn't come in so I had to see someone else...after being hooked up to the nst for an hour and a half! It wasn't a fun visit for me! But, aside from my frustration over the circumstances, things look good, which is all that is important in the big picture! Both babies had good tracings on the nst, which with that much time they should have! My blood pressure was back down closer to my normal, so that was good. I didn't get all my questions answered as far as a tentative plan for delivery, but am going to keep my fingers crossed that when I go back on Monday my doctor will be there and we can talk about it all! We did finally finish up the childbirth class and I took a breastfeeding class last night, so I guess we are ready now! :) We got the diaper bag packed and I will get my stuff together this week I hope so all we can do is wait it out! This last month is hard...I am uncomfortable, anxious, and nervous all at the same time! It feels like it is going to take forever!! But, I know that they aren't done growing just yet and need a little extra time to cook...so I will be happy to wait until they are ready to enter the world! Well, that is about it from us...hope you all had a happy and safe start to 2009!