Bringing Home the Girls

Whew! We made it home safely with both girls in tow! I knew Kendall was a safe, cautious driver, but this might be a record for lowest speed on the ride home =) What a joyous day for Kendall and I-to finally have both babies home and under one roof. We are finally a family of 4 as of April 29th and we will no longer have to feel torn about not spending enough time up at the hospital visiting our little peanut! We thank God for two healthy, beautiful girls that He has entrusted to us for now!

A Day in the NICU World

Well they are here! There is nothing that I have experienced yet in life that makes me marvel more at the work of the Lord's hands than that of a baby. Just beyond words. Just staring at each of their tiny features that are each perfectly formed is just a miracle! Leaving them in the NICU and coming home is one of the strangest feelings as a mom. It just doesn't seem right to carry them in your womb for 9 months, give birth to them, and then come home without them. I did shed some tears but I will say wholeheartedly that the Lord sustained me throughout the few weeks they were in the NICU. Our nurses were incredible and while it made my heart to leave them I knew they were in great hands! I won't miss the driving back and forth multiple times a day to the hospital but I certainly will miss the relationships we have formed with everyone there. And I think the beeping sounds are forever engrained in my mind...
We can't wait to have you home with us girls!!!

Trust in a New Light

The days immediately after giving birth to two babies were some of the hardest days the Lord has brought me through in my life thus far. I have so much to be thankful for and have endured so little heartache, pain, and suffering in my lifetime. So little that Kendall and I have talked many times about when it would be our turn as we knew our time would come as followers of Christ. We weren’t sure what that would look like or what form it would be in, but in a mini way, we experienced a few small trials following the birth of our twin girls. Obviously, the 2 days leading up to their birth we knew that my health was at risk with the high BP, lower kidney functioning, my iron deficiency, and several other things, but ignorance proved bliss for this pregnant girl. Had I known how serious it was and could have been, I worry that fear could have driven me. Instead, I was not made aware of the seriousness of the situation until much later. Within several minutes of birthing these two babies, this mom’s levels were all over the place. The last thing I remember was the doctors and nurses telling me to keep talking to them and me muttering “I can’t.” That was it and I was out. My BP had dropped to 45 over 20 and that was the last I remembered until I came to and they wheeled me to a recovery room. All of this occurred with Kendall out of the OR, as he had gone with the babies to the NICU. This was probably best in hindsight for him to not see me in this light. He had already seen far more than he probably had imagined and this might have just done him in. Needless to say, it was a scary time for me and fear begin to creep in. There were so many sweet moments of having my husband just pray with me and for me that drew us closer not only to each other but to the Lord. I praise God for that. Now I find myself having to trust the Lord more than ever with our two precious girls and it is a daily struggle to have open hands with their lives and pray that God uses them for HIS glory, whatever that looks like. I thought I knew what trust was but new light has been shed on what that really means and days from now new light will shine again in increasing my level of trust.

Double the Pink, Double the Blessing!

I never thought I would make it through this “twin” pregnancy after 17 weeks of being nauseous 24 hours a day and then swelling up like a football player from week 30 on. BUT, by God’s grace He brought us to this day. There are moments in life that don’t get any sweeter and moments where you are fully aware of the greatness of God. This day would be one of those and a time that Kendall and I would look back on with awe, excitement, and wonder. The sun was shining, it was a Thursday afternoon and I was just making my way up to the 4th floor for a routine 34 week appointment. I felt great and didn’t suspect a thing. Not a blip on my radar. Thought I would be in and out in no time. Walked in the office, had our ultrasound, got a great report and that’s when we received the news that my blood pressure had increased dramatically from the prior week. This was the first time in my life I had ever experienced a raise in BP as I usually have very low numbers. Were blaming this on the whole multiples thing. They sure do take a toll on your body! =) One look at those numbers and a few other symptoms and Dr. M says to the nurse, will you get me the admittance paperwork. We knew what that meant after our little stint the week before. Within 10 minutes, I had already been moved to a room in the perinatal unit to be monitored closely. Wow! What a change of plans that was. I had planned on teaching one more day and now here I was wondering if these babies would be delivered! 

What an adrenaline rush the next 36 hours were waiting for the verdict from the doctor. It felt like an eternity waiting for blood work and other labs to come back with the results of what our options would be. There was such a wide spectrum-from emergency c-section Friday night to going home for a few weeks and holding these babies off a little longer. No big deal, right? We just had no idea what direction we were headed. The dr. came in Friday night and said we would wait until morning and let my dr. make the call. Morning came and Kendall and I were on pins and needles. Finally around 8am Dr. A made his rounds and wound up in our room. He said I think we’re gonna have babies today! We were so thankful for a Godly doctor. He prayed for us right and then and there for our precious girls’ arrival and that the Lord would direct his hands and his mind throughout the delivery. We were so thankful but that didn’t erase the pounding heart I now possessed. There was no good option in my mind in getting these babies out. I opted not to go the C-section route if at all possible so within 10 minutes of making that decision, they had wheeled me down to labor and delivery and Kendall began making phone calls. Around 8:15ish, they began the induction by breaking my water and starting me on Pitocin. I had already been having major contractions since Thursday but wasn’t in any real pain yet. From that point on, labor progressed as best we could have hoped and prayed for. Around 4cm, the nurse convinced me to go ahead and get the epidural, that there was no prize for enduring pain=) It did its job well and in no time I felt like a new person, able to talk freely again and enjoy the company of family that had now arrived. This was the day!!! Everything went great all day, minus getting from 9cm to 10cm-it was at that point we weren’t sure if we would need to go ahead and have an emergency c-section because Baby A’s heart rate was jumping around and it appeared she could be in distress, but the Lord was so gracious and merciful in allowing me to progress to 10cm and the words, “GO TIME” were then definitely heard by all. Now I was REALLY anxious. Could I do this?? Did I even have a choice? I felt like my heart was about to burst out of my body I was so nervous. I had been fine until this point. It’s hard for me to remember much about this situation as they rolled me down the hallway and through the double doors to the OR. (twins are delivered in the OR). I was greeted by what looked like an entire football team. We had been warned about the masses, but until you are there, it’s hard to grasp. I tried to view it as my cheerleading team!=) And that they were. Right at 12 hours had passed since they had broken my water and now was the time to PUSH. I had no clue what I was doing, but you grow up when you have to I suppose. Kendall says that the look on my face is one he will never forget-he says he has never ever seen me that focused=) I beg to differ! Everyone was in place. We had a team for each baby and a team for me. There were about 25 people in there in all. They got me in position and I remember giving Kendall an I’m SO scared look! He was so, so encouraging and gave me just the right words to press on. I am so grateful for the way he rose to every occasion during this process and provided me with love, affirmation, and the ability to deliver these girls. Talk about the biggest adrenaline rush I had ever experienced. Within about 20 minutes, Baby A (Maddie Grace) made her grand entrance into the world at 8:45pm and hearing that first cry was too much to take in. I was in awe and that gave me the drive to get Baby B (Makenzie) out quickly. She followed her sister by arriving just 2 minutes later at 8:47pm. Dr. A pulled her out feet first!! Then he held her up for me to see as Kendall was rushing back over to see her as well! He had been over by the incubator with Maddie Grace, obviously not expecting the 2nd one to come so quickly. Maddie Grace weighed 4 lbs 7 oz. and was 17 ½ in. long while Makenzie weighed 3 lbs 5 oz. and was 15 ½ in. long, a lot smaller than we were expecting. Our girls were here. They were breathing on their own. We could hear their cries. They placed them both in my arms for me to hold. That was the most life altering moment for me. I was now a mom. Then they quickly took them off to the NICU to get them warmed up and to make sure everything else was ok with their fragile little bodies. We were and still are SO thankful for their health and that the Lord protected them and helped every part of their bodies to be functioning as they should. The only thing they needed was to eat and grow and then they could join us at home! Thus began their stay in the NICU, a place we will forever be grateful for-the entire staff was fabulous and took excellent care of our sweet girls! We learned so much from them and knew they were in great hands when we couldn’t be there to watch over them. On April 2, 2011, we added a double pink addition to our household and what a double miracle the Lord had just given us!

Busy.At.Home

Busy.at.Home.
That doesn't even begin to describe the last 12 weeks of our lives, BUT wow have we been truly blessed beyond measure! These two precious girls have captured our hearts and we will never be the same. Backing up 9+ months, we had prayed that the Lord would grant us the desire of our hearts to have children, but our prayers were answered in a much different way than we had planned. Obviously it is the Lord's purpose and plan for our lives that prevailed and thus we are now the proud parents of not one little girl, but TWO!

My one desire is that these two girls would love the Lord with all their hearts. Yes, it is true that I spend most of my days just meeting their physical needs right now and running around cleaning bottles, wiping bottoms, soothing fussy babies, and loving on our girls, but more than anything I want to grow them up spiritually. I marvel at their perfectly formed bodies and stand in awe of our Creator who has carefully knit them together in His image. All I want is for them to praise the Lord with their lives and that task of raising them up to praise Him is a task I don't take lightly. I am so thankful I have the privilege to stay home and teach them the truth and read to them, sing songs with them, and pray with them. I believe it's never too early to start instilling Godliness in them and pray that one day their eyes will be opened to their need for a Savior.

So...with that being said, the journey of parenthood has begun. I'm now a mother to these precious babies and although "busy" may be an understatement of life with twins, my prayer is that I will be "busy" taking advantage of every moment to teach them and train them up in the Lord. May the Lord receive all glory from their lives and ours!