June 18th, 2010- We signed the papers for our house and then Tom and Jagger were off to the cabin at Strawberry Reservoir with his family. I decided to stay home and sleep in my own bed. My good friend, Amy and I decided to go see "Date Night" (which was hilarious by the way) and I invited her in to chat afterwards. We were just sitting on the couch in my empty town home (hence the upcoming move) when my water broke. I sent Amy upstairs for some towels while I called my mom and Tom. Of course, my mom lives over 4 hours away and Tom had no cell phone reception. I tried his brother's phone, only to get choppy reception. I heard a brief moment of Tom's voice on the other line and he said he was on his way. Amy took me to Logan Regional Hospital where they hooked me up on a million monitors, gave me a million shots, (rough estimate) and decided that since the babies were both breech and I was progressing quickly, they would Life Flight me down to McKay Dee in Ogden for a higher level of care.
Performing breathing exercises on my own while my bed was tipped upside down to relieve the pressure... Life Flight could not come quick enough. Some medicine that they had administered was also causing me a serious stuffy nose, hot flashes and a massive headache... all the while... practically upside down. Fun. Even better was the mini ironing board for a bed that they put me on for my $13,000 chariot to McKay Dee. The ride was actually really enjoyable. They dosed me up with some Fentanyl right before they wheeled me out into the crisp night air to enjoy the amazing view of the starry sky. When I said that I felt like I was on drugs, the nurse said, "Well, you are."
Tom had been talking to my friend while he was driving home and she advised him to go straight to McKay Dee in Ogden, which was a fabulous idea. He was able to watch my helicopter come up over the mountain and land right on the helicopter pad at the hospital. I was obviously relieved to see him. From that point until the babies were born is a bit blurry. The helicopter landed around 2:15 am and the babies were born via emergency c-section at 4:10 and 4:11 am. Lucie came first at 2 lbs 13 oz and then Janie at 3 lbs 6 oz. Tom was there watching the whole thing. My only vivid memories of the whole surgery were, an anesthesiologist with a super thick accent yelling at me to lean further forward (maybe he didn't notice that there was something huge in front of me keeping me from leaning forward any further) and an intense pressure that made it nearly impossible to breath. When I asked why it was hard to breath, a nurse replied, "oh, that is because your insides are resting on your chest."
Our NICU journey began that morning. It would become our new home for the next two months. The babies were on ventilators for the first day, they were on bili lights for a couple days, and they had oxygen and feeding tubes up until days before they went home. The whole experience taught me a lot. I learned a lot of medical mumbo jumbo, I met some really nice people and I cried A LOT of tears. But mostly, I learned how fragile life is. I always hoped for the best, but tried to prepare myself for the worst. I saw many many babies go home before mine, I saw some babies being transported to Primary Children's for a higher level of care, and I even saw one baby that didn't make it. I'm so thankful that I have two healthy babies here in my home. It is truly a miracle and our family is so blessed to have them!
The babies are now over 4 months old. They are smiling and starting to make baby noises. Janie is 10 pounds and Lucie is 9 pounds. We are not sure if they are identical or not. Look at the pics below and you decide!!
They keep us busy... and tired, but we LOVE it! If anyone knows me well, they know that I have wanted twin girls my whole life! What are the odds? I often stop throughout the day in awe... we've been so blessed! Check out how much they have grown and changed already!
Little Lucie- 14 hours old. She had a big IV in her head... so sad...
Janie- 1 day old. She is under the
bili lights (for jaundice) and is wearing little "sunglasses" to protect her eyes. The nurse is also feeding her by putting a few
mL of
breastmilk through that feeding tube.
10 days old- Skin to skin (kangaroo care) with mom... The round stickers are to hold their nasal cannulas in place. They were back up to their birthweight by now.
Lucie- 1 and a half months old- in the tub- No oxygen and feeding tube in nose now.
Janie- 1 and a half months old- You can see where the sticker irritated the skin on her face, very common occurance in the NICU. :(
Aug 12th- 6 days before discharge... best friends...
Aug 19th- First day at home.
Aug 20th- 2nd day at home.
Aug 21- 3rd day at home. Haha... yes we take pics nearly every day. :)
3 Month old pics: tandcphotography.blogspot.com
Blessing Day: September 26, 2010
Our little angels...
