The Hospital Ordeal

Holy Moly. Prepare yourself for the longest blog post EVAR IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

July 26th--- Reg and I :)

June 27th--- We left Sabetha at 4:45 am (!!!) because we had to be at the hospital at 6 so we could have the c-section at 8. We got to the hospital, put on a fancy gown and got hooked up to a billion machines. Around 7 am my doctor told us that the NICU was full except for ONE bed. And since I was having TWO babies, she wasnt comfortable delivering them that day because what if BOTH babies needed to go to the NICU?! Then one baby would stay at Stormont and the other baby would have to be transported to Children's Mercy (and away from me)... We could have had the babies at St. Francis but even then, we couldve ended up separated and that was the last thing I wanted. So, after we stuffed ourselves with IHOP to ease the pain of being pregnant for another week, we went home. Baby-less. And swollen and upset because the night before I had just said "Thank goodness tomorrow is baby day because I don't think my body can handle another DAY of pregnancy." And lucky me.... I got another SIX days of being swollen and miserable. So I put myself on bed rest (with the exception of going to the country club and legion games in the evenings) and I counted the minutes until I got these two babes OUT.

July 3rd--- BABY DAY AT LAST. We arrived at the hospital swollen-er than EVER. I could barely walk because I couldn't bend my ankles or knees. I was swollen up to my lower back.

Put on a hospital gown, got an IV, sat around for a few hours...

marveled at how large my stomach had grown... 

and ankles/calves/knees/thighs... ugh.

And then Jacob put his scrubs on! hahahahahahaha

And then I was rolled to the operating room. I sat on the edge of the table hugging a sweet little nurse named Beverly while I got my spinal block. And then I layed down, Jacob came in and after what seemed like hours of my doctor pulling and tugging on "Baby A", Jackson Douglas was born at 1:06 pm! He was all snuggled up in my ribs and thought it was pretty comfy in there and he saw no reason to come out. I was picturing him in there holding on to my rib bones and swinging from them like they were monkey bars. I was all hopped up on some major pain killers but I heard the doctor say "And there's his eyes..." and I remember thinking "OHMYGOSHHEHASEYES!!!!" 

Meeting our sweet boy for the first time :)

After Jack was born he was breathing too fast so they whisked him off to the nursery and I told Jacob to go with him because I didn't want him to be by himself :(

One minute later, Eloise Kay was born :) 

Eloise and I were rolled to the recovery room and I kept asking every nurse I saw how Jack was and NO ONE would tell me and I was getting upset/falling asleep because of the drugs. I finally found out that Jack was okay when Jacob came in to see me and Eloise.

 And this is one of the first things I saw when I finally woke up. What a perfect sight :)

Then my parentals came and met Eloise for the first time

We finally got to our room (Jack was still in the nursery) and EVERYONE was there. My whole family, my grandparents (both sets), and Jacob's parents (both sets). WHOA.

And then Jack Jack joined us!

And we were all together for the evening :) :)

July 4th---  Jack and Eloise were sent to the NICU in the morning. I wasn't as upset as I thought I would be. But my babies weren't sick, they just had low blood sugar. They got down there and their blood sugar got fixed and everything was fine. They were hooked up to a billion machines and they were in little incubators and it was scary seeing them like that.. But amazingly, I didnt freak out because I knew they were okay. 

July 5th--- 3 blood transfusions and 1 unit of platelets 

July 5th-7th--- We had MANY visitors... 

And Jacob and I even got to spend some time alone with the babies in their rooms. 

I will never get tired of seeing him be a dad :)

July 7th--- CT scan of my chest = fluid on my lungs = some magical drug that made me lose allll the water weight I had gained/ took care of the fluid on my lungs. I could finally see my knee caps and ankle bones again!!! Also, Jacob went back to Wamego so he could go to work the next day.

July 8th--- Even after the transfusions, my hemoglobin and platelets still werent where they were supposed to be so I was told that I would need plasmapheresis.. uhwhut? I was up in the babies' room getting my daily snuggle in and the doctor came up and told me that I needed this procedure and that I would have to be in the hospital for another whole week. So of course I burst into tears because I WANTED TO GET OUT OF THAT HOSPITAL. I was a blubbering mess and the doctor wasnt sure how to handle that so he patted my shoulder and left. I put the babies back into their cribs and sobbed all the way back to my room. I walked by the nurses' station and my sweet sweet nurse from a few days prior, Barbara, saw me and followed me into my room where I was hysterical. She hugged me and told me that she would stay with me until my family arrived. She sat next to me on my bed while I tried to explain to my parents and Jacob what was going on. FINALLY, my parents and Nana arrived at the hospital. And then to my surprise, Jacob walked in the door. He came to hospital and he hadn't even told me he was leaving work :) What a welcome surprise! Two nurses came in and explained everything to my family and my nurse reminded me that I didnt HAVE to do this. I could wait a day and see where my hemoglobin levels were at... So after much deliberation, we waited a day.

July 9th--- My levels had gone up! No scary procedure thing for now! Jacob decided to stay the night in the hospital with me and THANK GOODNESS. That night I developed a fever and it got up to 103....which meant I couldn't go see my babies for 24 hours. I had my blood drawn, the doctor on call came and took a look at me, someone listened to my lungs, they moved my iv, and then some other doctor came in and had to draw blood out of the artery in my wrist? I dont know. It hurt and I had a big ole purple bruise on my wrist for a few days. They gave me antibiotics and since I was all hormonal and stuff, I cried. Because I WANTED TO GO HOME and because I was sad that I couldnt see my babies :(

July 10th--- Levels continued to go up, I kept my fever down, Jacob returned to work, Eloise got to go home!! 

I read once "The bigger the bow, the better the mama." 

Truth.

Eloise left with my mom, nana, and Reggie. I was so sad that she was leaving without me but I was so happy she was healthy enough to go home and that Jack and I were hopefully right behind her! That night,  I was scared I would get another fever so I called my favorite dad and asked him to come stay the night with me so I didnt have to be alone in case something happened. Nothing happened and everything was fine. YAY.

July 11th---Jack and I get discharged!! AT LAST. 

Some miscellaneous pictures that were taken during our hospital stay..

HOME!

And my favorite picture, us as a family of four :)

Happy Birthday, Papa Doug!!

Happy birthday to the best dad (and new grandpa) ever! ...a few days late.

Thanks for taking such good care of me, dad. From making me guacamole to staying the night in the hospital with me just because I was emotional, you always makes me feel supa loved. 

Happy 50th, Daddy! I can't wait to enjoy the next fifty with you :)

Week 37

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyggY_R3jU8

Last weekly (or monthly) picture of the bump. THANK GOODNESS. Taking a picture of myself in this state takes alot of work!! Not much to say in this post.. and I kinda want to go lay down and enjoy my last night as a not parent.,. We're as ready as we can be.. Jacob installed the carseats, we packed our hospital bag(s), I'm doing my FINAL blog about being fat and sassy, we've (I've) read four billion books in preparation for these little critters, and we're ready to get this thing started!! Again, as ready as we can be.. How prepared can new parents really be, anyway? I've been working on converting my nervous-ness into excitement so tomorrow when I'm getting IV's and the spinal and they're cutting my guts open I can be all "OH MY GOODNESS IM SO EXCITED!!" instead of "ohmygoodnessimsonerv-" *faint*. Because I would like to be conscious when my babies are born. SO. EXCITED.

(Sidenote: My face is swollen in the bump picture because 1. My sweet puppy, Snowball had to be put to sleep yesterday so I've spent a good week and a half crying about that and 2. EVERYTHING ON MY BODY IS SWOLLEN)

Anywho-- here are some pictures of our cozy little room!!

I'm wishing I would have taken these pictures when it was light outside and my room was all light and pretty and not dark... but I am a little to lazy to re-do them now.



The plan is to hang some cute stuff over the crib and we have the babies' initials but we just need some more stuff and I havent found the perfect thing(s) to hang over there yet. And I think these pictures make my room look a little dark and gloomy but during the day time, i promise it is so lovely.

And since I'm all about lists these days...

Things I won't miss about being pregnant:

1. Opening doors into my belly

2. Being swollen and having dinosaur ankles

3. Not being able to perform to my full potential at 

Hu Hot because of limited stomach space

4. Not being able to see my belly button

Things I will miss about being pregnant:

1. Watching my belly move and act crazy at 11 pm every evening

2. Getting to go first in food lines

 because I'm eating for three

3. Getting discounts because I'm pregnant

(Thank you, Eagle Auto Wash!)
4. Being able to blame things on being pregnant
("I can't go downstairs...I'm pregnant."
"I forgot ___ and ____ and _____ because I'm pregnant!")

5. Getting to wear my daddy's shirts because NOTHING else fits.
This may seem like it should be on the other list but really, I like

wearing my dad's big t-shirts because 1. they're big and comfy and

2. they smell like my dad. Which might be weird? but whatever. I like

man smells. Not the gross ones though. I wear men's deodorant because

I like man smells THAT MUCH.

One last thing, when I called my Dad to tell him that we had set a date for the c-section his response wasnt "OH EM GEE YAYYYYYYY" it was "Olivia..... we have a double header that night." Silly dad. So we've got a double header in the morning (get it?! Because there are TWO babies!! hahahahah) and then another double header tomorrow night at the ball field. (PS- Uncle Brendon is pitching!!)

Have a good week! Next blog post will have pictures of babies!! :)

Love, Olivia, Baby Boy and Baby Girl

PS-- Here is a picture I REALLY dont want to put on here but I think with as much as I talk about my legs being swollen, it needs to happen. WARNING: It is horrifying and upsetting and I am SO GLAD that maxi skirts are "in" this summer so people dont have to see my scary scary feet/ankles/shins/knees/thighs ETC.

Horrifying. I know. And for those of you who dont have babies yet, let it be some form of birth control. :)

(This is WATER, not fat. Which means it will go away in two weeks max. Yay for getting my leggys back!)

Week 34/Baby Showers Galore!

Week 35 starts tomorrow!! Lots of exciting things since last post-- baby showers, my last ultra sound before the babes are born, nonstress test, bedroom put together, AND to top everything off, I only have 4 or 5 maternity shirts that still fit. Yikes.

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday and we spent TWO HOURS at the clinic. Gross. But the sonogram was fun, even though it only accounted for 30-ish minutes out of the two hours. Baby Boy weighed in at 5 pounds 11 ounces and Baby Girl was a little smaller at 4 pounds 15 ounces..THAT IS TEN AND A HALF POUNDS OF BABY, PEOPLE. No wonder pregnant women waddle!! I think I've done pretty good with the whole not waddling thing but unfortunately, my toes/feet/ankles/shins/knees (and one time my FACE was even puffy) have swollen to the point of me not being able to bend them so now, I have no choice but to walk like a duck. You try walking with out bending your ankles and toes and let me know how it works out for you. But at the sonogram, the lady saw Baby Girl's hair (which was not very much and very very fine) and then she went to Baby Boy's side and saw his hair and it looked like it was everywhere!! So the heartburn pregnancy "myth" is true!! Also, Baby Girl had the hiccups through the whole appointment and it was adorable to watch on the screen. It seems like she always has the hiccups and to finally get to WATCH her little body jumping around was just so exciting (AND CUTE). Since Baby Boy weighed so much more than Baby Girl, my doctor wanted me to get a non-stress test done at the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 830 pm for what was supposed to be a 20 minute thing and we were there until 1030! All they had to do was listen to both heartbeats at the same time for twenty minutes straight. Sounds easy? It apparently wasn't easy because my sweet little babies were having rowdy time and moving around too much for them to find both heartbeats at the same time... after an hour and a half of battling with the babies, a nurse FINALLY found and kept both heartbeats on the monitor for twenty minutes and we got to go home. After a quick stop at McDonald's for shakes, we made it home around midnight. Such a long day!! But luckily, everything was fine and my babes are as healthy and cute as ever!

I've had three baby showers in the last three weeks. Its been fun getting to see old friends and some family that I don't get to see very often. The first baby shower took place in Mimi's loft and consisted of mainly my dad's side of the family plus a few people from my mom's side. The second shower was held at Nana Kay's house with the church ladies and several other women. The third was at my house, thrown by my beautiful friend, Hannah, with all my friends from high school and college. It was so great to have most of my friends all in one place at one time. I am so so happy I got to see them! :)

**Prepare for five million pictures**

(Looking back at pictures, I guess I had four baby showers... but the first one was just my immediate family and my grandma and her sisters)

My grandma, Nana (left) and her twin, Mae..still matching :)

My brother and Sarah :):) Cute business.

Shower at Mimi's--

The lovely lovely diaper bag I got from my mama...I have a matching wallet and coffee cup :)

Baby Boy blanket crocheted by my cousin, Tara

Baby Girl blanket, also crocheted by Tara

**My cousin, Nikki, ALSO made two beautiful blankets but I can't find the pictures of them :(

Thank goodness for helpful, crafty, creative, talented cousins! I am so lucky!

My awesome mom and I :)

And these next couple of pictures have nothing to do with babies but they are darn cute and I found them on my mom's camera and thought they needed to be shared.

Is he going to be the sweetest uncle ever or what?! :)

And if these two get any cuter, I'll be sick. I can't explain how many pictures my mom took of them just being cute. I controlled myself and didn't post all 500 of them.

Shower at Nana's--

My aunt Toni and Nana (and all of our yummy snacks!)

My sissies

My mom and her girls

Friend Shower--

Hannah and I frosting our mini fruit pizzas and quite obviously enjoying it.

My mom and Jen

Morgan (roommate from freshman year) and Jaycee

My sweet girls, Tristen, Reg, and Meg :) 

Amanda and Lauren getting PSYCHED about decorating onesies!

Lauren and I  

Leigha and I 

Amanda and I

Jaycee and I 

...Anna biting or kissing my belly. Who really knows.

Anna and I

My sisters

Sarah (roommate from sophomore year) and I 

KT and I

Mr. Matthew showed up just in time to take a picture with Haylie and I!

Courtney and I

Morgan and I

Pretty table :):) 

Food table :D

Our patio.. Hannah decorated it and it was beautiful.

Makin onesies :)

I've always wondered why my "ohmygoshsocute" face is also a pouty face... but I'm apparently not the only one :)

The onesies my sweet Jenna and Leigha made :)

Hannah and I :):)

Roommates!!

Roommates minus Whitney :( We were upset.

My mama and I

Meagan missed out on this picture because she went to go take a nap. Lame.

Onesies!! Or "singlets" as Baylen called them.

Whew! What a busy couple of weeks. If I updated this blog more often, I wouldnt have blogposts with 500 bazillion million pictures. I have pictures of my new room but I think I'll just make that a blog post in itself in a few days. Blogging takes alot out of this lil mama!!

Have a happy week!!

Love, Olivia, Baby Boy, and Baby Girl