For MOMs by MOMs: Pregnancy

I talked some about my pregnancy last week, so I won't bore you with the same details again.  I will say, that while I loved being pregnant and I loved feeling the babies move and watching my belly move, it was a lot more painful than I expected.  Hannah was high and in my ribs the whole time, and by 18 weeks or so, she had dislocated a rib.  Needless to say, I didn't do a lot of sitting from that point on.  The guys would laugh @ me in Sunday School b/c I would be sitting in the chair as straight as possible, pushing Hannah down out of my ribs the whole time!  I also struggled the whole time I was pregnant with the fear of pre-term labor.  b/c of my job, I have way more than the average exposure to premature infants, and I lived in fear of having preemies every day.  It got really hard the further along I got and when I could go over and look at babies that were the same size as my twins.  I'll never forget going over and seeing a 25 weeker when I was right @ 25 weeks.  It was crazy...in the same way that it created extra fear, it was also really cool to have a visual to see of just where my babies were at.  I went on "bed rest" @ 32 weeks.  Basically, I could do what ever I felt like, but I wasn't allowed to work anymore and I got to the point where I didn't feel like doing a whole lot.  Towards the end, my blood pressure started to get up there and I swelled up HUGE!!!  I went to get a pedicure the week before I had the twins and the little guy doing it was traumatized when he looked down and realized that he had left his finger prints in my foot while rubbing it!!  Definitely one of those funny pregnant moments I won't forget!

I made it to 39 weeks.  My goal from the day I found out I was pregnant was to make it to term, and make it I did.  I tried to convince my Dr. to do my c-section (both babies were breech) earlier, but he wouldn't budge.  Since the babies and I were stable, he said we had to wait...Those last two weeks, I tried SEVERAL times to put myself into labor just so I could be done :) My doctor was great though, and he promised me somewhere around the time I was about 35 weeks that if I made it that far, he would section me as soon as I got to 39 weeks, and he held true to his word.  Part of what made it so hard for me those last 2 weeks was that my best friend was also pregnant and she had her little boy 2 weeks to the day before the twins were born and so since Rylan was here, I felt like he play mates needed to be here to play with him!!!

Like I said before, I enjoyed being pregnant...even if I was stressed out the whole time...and I can't wait to have another one!!  I'll leave you with my last belly picture I took.  This was 5 days before I had the twins and I was DONE being pregnant at this point!!

My Job

I love my job!!  I truly do.  I am not necessarily a fan of working nights b/c of the challenges that presents as far as my family and social life, but I love my job.   A co-worker just text me a video of a patient that we took care of for several weeks walking in rehab.  I'm currently bawling like a baby.  This kid should not have survived, but God obviously has an amazing plan for this boy's life.  Every chip fell exactly as it should the day this kid got hurt and by the grace of God, he is alive and in rehab.  It's so rewarding to see him doing well and to know that I had just a tiny part in helping him get to that point. 

For MOMs by MOMs: My Story

My name is Jennifer and I have b/g twins who just turned 1.  They are precious and the absolute joy of my lives.  My husband coaches football and I am a nurse.  We live in the Texas panhandle and absolutely love it here!! (minus the wind of course)  I am involved in my MOMs group here and it is such a blessing.  I am so excited about what these girls have set up for us online...other MOMs are by and far some of the best resources around.

I sometimes feel weird sharing my story with other twin moms b/c I wasn't taking meds, we hadn't been trying forever, or anything like that.  It's those times that I feel almost guilty, but I have to remind myself that God blessed us with twins and it was his choice for us to be parents to twins.  I have ALWAYS thought it would be cool to have multiples.  When Billy and I got married, we agreed that we were going to wait a little while and get some debt paid off before we started trying for kids.  The summer of 2010 we decided that we were ready to start trying.  I was SUPER anxious about even trying to get pregnant just b/c I had read so many stories of people that it took years to have a baby, and I wanted so badly to be pregnant.  To top it off, we were working on a time crunch...Once we decided we were ready, we sat down and looked at a calendar and decided that we would start trying in August b/c that would give us a May baby.  You're probably thinking we were a little obsessed with timing, but in our defense, you have to be when you are involved in the world of college football.  My husband's busy season is from August 1 to April 30 and I wanted him around as much as possible when our kids were teeny tiny, so a due date in May, June or July was going to be our best choice.  I was nervous waiting until August to start trying b/c what if it didn't happen in that 3 month time window, then what were we going to do.  Little did I know...God had it all figured out.  We tried in August, and August 28th I had a positive pregnancy test.  I was super excited and called the next day to set up my first appointment with my OB...only to be VERY disappointed to find out it wouldn't be until OCTOBER!!!!  Are you kidding me...who makes a pregnant lady wait that long to confirm that a baby is okay...especially a nurse who works in NICU from time to time.  (I primarily work in the Pediatric ICU, but we occasionally float over to the NICU to help out.)  I had a fabulous pregnancy and really felt pretty great, however, I had to buy maternity pants @ 8 weeks and I lost 23 pounds the first trimester...now mind you, I was overweight to begin with and needed to lose weight, and in June of that same year, I had gone to a completely vegan diet and had been losing weight b/c of that.  I did call my doctor once and ask about the weight loss and the nurse told me that as long as I wasn't puking (which I never did...) not to worry about it.  We went in for my first OB appointment and when he put down the ultrasound wand, I immediately saw two little heart beats.  My most vivid memory from that day is sitting in our truck afterwards and just laughing.  I never cried about it, but boy did my husband and I spend lots of hours laughing about the fact that we were having twins.  I loved watching every one's faces when I told them we were having twins.  The looks of shock were the best! 

I had a great pregnancy and made it to 39 weeks when I had a planned c-section.  My doctor is almost certain I would have made it to 40 weeks, but he told me since I had been such a good patient that he would let me have them @ 39 weeks...for that I was very thankful. 

I have loved most every minute of being a mom of twins.  There are times where I could pull my hair out, but then there are times that they are being so cute that make me forget about the crazy times.  I can't believe that my babies are a year old, but I so look forward to what the next year brings. 

Denial

My kids turned one yesterday and I'm totally in denial!!  I can't believe it.  Can't even blog about their first year or their birthday b/c it makes me so sad @ how fast it all went!!!

The Pushing Game

A friend I met on twitter posted a video the other day of her twins and in it, her little girl was pushing her little boy up the driveway.  I immediately died laughing b/c that is EXACTLY what happens at our house.  If Hannah can push it she will, and it doesn't matter whether her Bubba is on/in it or not.  Here's a video of them at my mom's house.  This is where it first started and has since become a constant favorite of theirs no matter where we are.

Baby Dedication

 
This past Sunday was Baby Dedication @ our church.  Last year it was Mother's Day weekend and the twins weren't even a week old yet, so needless to say, we didn't participate last year.  The kids did okay, but in hind sight, we should have done it during the 8:30 service where there weren't near as many babies.  I think there were 12 babies in all and by the time each family was announced and all of the life verses read, it took awhile, and our two were more than over having to be still for that long.  The kids life verses that we chose were Philippians 4:6-7 for Hannah and Isaiah 40:30-31 for Brady.  I pray that they will hide those words in their hearts as they grow up and hold fast to the promises they hold. 

 Our friends, the Bell family (the twins' friend Rylan)

\

Note the looks of pure exhaustion on their faces...they hadn't had a nap ALL morning...

 

 

Note the sweat pouring down the side of Billy's head...normally we FREEZE to death in big church, but Sunday it was SOOOOOO hot in the sanctuary.  Not sure if it's b/c we were wrestling our two rugrats, or if it truly was just that hot.  It took the whole service to cool down, so I think it was really just that hot in there. 

Sunshine Loving Babies!!!

My kids love to be outside....without a doubt, that is their favorite place to be playing.  They are not afraid to get dirty one bit.  Most nights we bring them in to put them in the bathtub, and they are almost black they are so dirty.  I'm so glad it's been so nice lately and that we have been able to spend so much time outside.  Here's a few pictures I've taken the last couple of weeks.

 

 These first two pictures are from their first ever time to swing @ the park and as you can tell, they both LOVED it from the get go.  

 We are going to be spending LOTS of hours in this little pool I can already tell!!

Pure joy on her face!! I love it :)

 Sporting mama's shades after a dip in the pool

The twins friend Rylan...

 

Hannah and Lauren are big buds!!  It really bothered Lauren that Hannah's arm was through the hole on the swing like that, but when she tried to move it, H came unglued!!  Silly girl :)

 

 They all 3 love the tunnel on the play set!  We had lots of fun talking to them through the holes on the tunnel this day.  They thought it was just hilarious and as you can see, made some of the funniest little faces at us.  Amy and I were cracking up.  

I took these last two today b/c as I was e-mailing the girl all of the information to make their birthday invite, I realized the pictures that I had planned on using were actually a read only file, and so I had to go to plan B.  I actually like these pictures better b/c these smiles are a true depiction of their little personalities these days.  Hannah is constantly giving us the scrunchy nose smile, and Brady is constantly growling @ us.  

Amy and I were laughing yesterday reminiscing about how miserable we were this time last year.  Rylan's birthday is the 18th and then the twins are 2 weeks to the day younger than him.  We were both done being pregnant and ready to hold our sweet babies and here we are a year later with babies who are babies no more!  We are having a blast with them though, and they have become great little play mates.  If you ever need your furniture rearranged, just let us know and we'll send the 3 of them over.  They LOVE to rearrange furniture and have even been known to team up to move the heavier pieces!!! :)