Seriously, Holly and JD are growing so fast!! JD has smiled at me a few times but nothing regular where I can get it on camera. My family comes in this week for the babies’ blessing on July 5th. I can’t wait!! I took a few pictures for Grandma in the mean time!
This past Wednesday we went the the A’s game with Jim’s family and the Florida Hopkins. Lucky for us though we didn’t have to sit out in the cold, instead we enjoyed the game from the Pepsi suite, well stocked with Pepsi drinks and all. It was dollar hot dog night too. It was nice to see the Florida Hopkins, thanks to Megan for the tickets, and they thoroughly enjoyed cuddling and singing with the babies. We couldn’t go to the game without the proper attire either so we got all decked out. I even made a bow for Holly. I think they enjoyed their first A’s game!
So Jim and I are a little sleep deprived but we definitely were not seeing things when we looked out of our kitchen window to see a possum sitting on our patio fence. We have nicknamed him Beetlejuice because #1 it’s nasty and #2 it reminds me of the part in the movie when Alec Baldwin pulls his face to be all pointy. I have tried to take another picture but everytime I open the door it goes of the tree so these are the best I have, which is probably not a bad thing! Mac heard it last night and totally wanted to go out and get it but we heard they were mean rodents so we just let him bark out the screen door. Man they are gross animals! One night I saw two so hopefully they aren’t recruiting others to come congregate on the fence!
Everyone always says that babies grow up so fast and until they are your own you don’t believe it. Well, Holly and JD are a little over a month old and have grown so much. I was looking at pictures when they were first born and tiny and can’t believe how big they are getting. Their personalities are really showing. They love looking around and are amazing at holding their little heads, or in JD’s case big head, up. They smile when they are falling asleep and cry really loud when they are hungry. We are trying to get on a schedule of eating every three hours although sometimes they eat more frequently than that. They are starting to coo and make more noises too. I don’t know how much they weigh but both are now in size one diapers and quickly growing out of their newborn clothes. We love them so much and can’t wait for them to smile and respond to us. We can’t wait for the rest of the family to meet them in a week for their blessing on the 5th of July.
Life with twins is exciting, challenging and can be overwhelming. For the last two weeks my mom has been here from Virginia helping with everything. We were a good team in the middle of the night for their feedings! We couldn’t have done it without her in more ways than one. She was even there to coach in the delivery room when nurses were not available. We were sad to see her go, but the whole family will be back in a month for their blessings.
Holly and JD are showing more personality and love looking around. They don’t have a problem nursing and that was confirmed when we went for their two week check up. Holly weighs 6lbs 13 oz and JD weighs 7lbs 15 oz. They are healthy and growing strong. Life is definitely not the same, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love seeing Jim as a dad and I absolutely love being a mom!
So we made it home, spent the night, and things are starting to calm down. Though the night was a little rough, it was much better than having to do it in a hospital…especially for me. We got the most sleep laying in bed with both twins conked out in between. Liz is pretty tuckered still, but is becoming a pro at nursing, and loves to hold the babies close to her. For those that asked and didn’t hear the details yet, Holly Mae was born Monday, May 18th at 5:17pm and weighed 6lbs, 3oz. She’s 17.5 inches tall (I’ve been reminded to not forget the half inch). JD was guided down right after at 5:19pm and weighed 7lbs, 5oz. He’s a bit taller too at 19 inches. We were pretty surprised at the discrepancy in size, especially since we had been told that JD’s umbilical cord wasn’t inserted directly into the placenta. And, throughout the pregnancy, they were estimated at the same size. Here are some photos we took before and after the trip home yesterday:
As for the whole “story”… They called and asked us to come in Sunday night (which was kind of a surprise since we had been scheduled for Monday morning). They got Liz ready and hooked up to monitors, which they had to adjust quite often in the night to make sure they were getting separate heart beats. She endured some pain that night, but made good progress. They started her on pitocin in the morning, and grandmas came back after getting some rest and the waiting began. Our nurse Martha was great. She had a student with her, and explained a lot and was very attentive. We bonded, and it was a good thing too. At around 3:30pm they prepared Liz to go into the Operating Room to start pushing (standard procedure for twins in case there are any emergencies). It was hectic because a few of the other patients started needing attention at exactly the same time. There was an emergency case that required a lot of the doctor’s and nurses’ attention. So ultimately we were left with Martha, Grandma Raab, and me, with Liz ready to get down to business. Things were hectic and nurses and doctors came in occasionally before leaving us alone again. Meanwhile, Liz was pushing liking a champ and making a lot of progress. She got to the point were Holly was pretty much ready to arrive, but the doctor was still attending to the emergency case. Martha was quite nervous, and so were we. Liz had to end up breathing through several late contractions where she really wanted to push, but there was no one there to deliver the babies. Martha was confident she could handle Holly, but wasn’t so sure about getting JD out the right way. Luckily, after stalling at the most inopportune time, our perinatal doctor happened to stop by and was asked to pitch in. She got Holly out after a little pushing, and we were exstatic, but pretty quick JD was on his way. Liz pushed a couple more time with the doctor guiding, and JD was born big and tall. Liz was relieved, and we were very grateful there were no emergencies, and that everything worked out great. Our doctor came by towards the end and said, “Aww, you guys didn’t even need me…” It makes for a fun memory, and Liz was grateful to have Grandma Raab there on our team. I made it through without passing out, so I was pretty proud of that. Grandma Hopkins, meanwhile was sweating it out in the recovery room, and imagining all kinds of things, while one of the patients delivering in another room at the time let out several blood curdling screams we could hear in the OR (yeah, that didn’t help either). The twins were given a clean bill of health at every step, and are home and getting used to life. We love them a ton and can’t imagine the awesome adventures we’ll have. We appreciate all the loving comments and well-wishes, and are so grateful we have so many people who care about us and want to share in our miracle. We’ll try to keep you as updated as possible. Maybe we’ll get Liz a second to blog in near future too.
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