Photos galore!

First, here are photos I took today... they were 8 weeks old Thursday.

First is Mary





And this is Hannah





Here they are sleeping today...




They are doing fantastic. They see their Dr. again this Thursday for their 2 mo. well baby check. They are in size 1 diapers now (my babies are growing up!) and wearing some 0-3mo clothes in addition to Newborn sizes (but not for much longer). I've had so much fun watching the baby fat develop... at birth they basically had none. I'm anxious to see what they weigh. I stopped pumping breastmilk as it was just too hard on me. Nursing was not going well, as I was not making enough for 2 babies, and they were frusterated and I was frustrated, and pumping after a bottle feeding seemed like so much more work. I feel I made right decision selfishly for me, and I hope I did for them as well. Their Dr. told me to do what would make the the best mom for them. The added time and stress of pumping was just too much. They are on a formula for premiee and low birth weight babies that the NICU recommended for now.

For me, things are going... well going. I'd like to say things are going well, and really they are, but it's hard! I keep thinking having one baby must be a breeze! James starts his Masters' work this week, so my church is sending ladies over twice a day on the days he's not there to help. Being a mommy to twins is not for the weak or faint hearted. It's hard work! It's great when they are both sleeping or both content, but when they both start to fuss at the same time... yikes! Or when it's 2am and I just got one to sleep, but there is another baby to put to sleep before I can sleep! My girlfriends from church have been very encouraging and supportive as well as my friend who has 16mo old twin girls. She's been there, and it's so nice to have someone who's been in my shoes tell me it will get better and its so worth all the hard work.
As one of my wise friends reminded me when I was having doubts about being a mommy to twins, although we "helped" with the biology of conception, nothing we did caused these babies to be. God ordained the whole thing and created them into existance, allowing the fertilization and subsequent growth and development. He ordained the twinning and knew that Hannah and Mary would be born on April 16, 2009. So, I cannot think that I made the wrong decision in wanting to be a mommy when times get hard, as God ordained me to be a mommy. Helps put the perspective a little better, huh? Plus, I'm convinced that God makes babies so darn cute to help when times get hard. It's hard to be frusterated with something so dog gone cute!




Here are some photos since my last post 2 weeks ago...

Hannah is on the left, and Mary is on the right. This works when they both need some Mommy time. And, I'm getting pretty good at manuevering them both at the same time. It's still amazing to me that I have two babies!



Hannah is in the brown onesie and Mary is in the pink one...





Hannah is in the blue, and Mary is in the pink...


Daddy snuggle time



Hannah had to have her hip rechecked by an orthopedic surgeon. All breech babies had to have hip ultrasounds done in the NICU due to a tendency of dislocations. Her left hip showed a mild dislocation or a "hip click" and had to be rechecked in 3 weeks. Her recheck ultrasound was fine, as was her exam by the doctor. He told us that the relaxin hormone I produced while pregnant to help my bones/ligaments move for upcoming delivery leeched into her, causing her hip to appear weak. Now, without the relaxin, it's normal! Yay!


Here is my OB and their delivering Dr. at my 6 wk followup from the C-section. We didn't get the traditional photo at the hospital, so he was more than happy to meet them and pose for the photo. The care I received by this Dr. was wonderful and when I was leaving the office at my followup, he initiated a hug and told me I did a great job while pregnant. Not every Dr. would be so sweet. I checked out fine, the incision healed well and I weighed in at only 2 pounds more than my pre-pregnancy weight. So, I'd lost 43 pounds in 6 weeks. Amazing!

Mary is on the left, and Hannah is on the right. I dressed them in thier going home outfits that they wore from the NICU 3 weeks ago.



Here we are on our due date - May 26. They were almost 6 weeks old! Hannah is on the left and Mary is on the right.





Ok, here are some "old" ones. The OB nurse assigned to James in the OR took some delivery photos. I didn't post the more graphic ones of them being pulled out, but here's our first photo together. Hannah was first born...


And here I am holding her for the first time in the NICU 2 days later...


Here's Mary's birth photo...

And Mommy's first snuggles in the NICU the day I was released from the hospital. I was crying even before I got to them... what an emotional day.

OK... does that satisfy everyone for a while... I think we may be getting internet at home, so I might be able to update more often. Maybe...