1 Month Old

I still can't believe it- my baby girls are ONE MONTH OLD! Time is already flying by :(

We had our one month check up on Monday. I feel like I live at the pediatrician. We went to the doctor the previous Friday. Both girls had thrush on their first Thanksgiving :( This left us with two VERY fussy babies and very little sleep. For those of you who don't know what thrush is, it is a mouth infection. All babies are actually born with thrush- I was surprised when Dr. Trumbull told us this! I was scared to death that I hadn't cleaned and sterilized their bottles and pacifiers good enough. All babies pick up the infection before they are born. However, most babies have an immune system that can fight off the infection. Since both of my girls were premature, and some of their family have thrush even into their later years, the girls couldn't quite fight off the infection. Hadley Kate had the worst of it. She was VERY fussy and had trouble eating. The infection went all the way down her esophagus. Ava James wasn't quite as bad, but was still very uncomfortable. Dr. Trumbull prescribed them both a very strong antibiotic that they will take for 2 weeks. Fortunately, the antibiotic has already knocked out the infection and both girls are feeling MUCH better :)

Their one month check up went great! Dr. Trumbull is very pleased with their weight gain, growth, and over all health. Hadley weighed 6lbs 12oz (up from 4lbs 9oz at birth) and was 19 inches long. Ava James weighed 5lbs 8oz (up from 3lbs 14oz at birth) and was also 19 inches long. They are both healthy as can be (other than the thrush)!

Both girls seem very strong to be so little! Both girls like to lift their heads and look you in the face if you are trying to burp them. They have become very alert and love to be held and talked to! I am trying to my best not to spoil them too much :) Ava James is very observant and loves to look around. Hadley likes to "talk" to you...whether you are around or not. She grunts and moans all day long. Both girls are very sensitive when it comes to their twin sister. If one girls is crying, you can bet the other girl is going to start. They hate to hear their sister cry.

They are sleeping fairly good at night now, which is SUCH a blessing. We sleep in 2.5-3 hours increments throughout the night. We probably get about 5-6 hours total? I won't know what to do when I can finally get 6 hours of sleep without interruption!

The girls eat about every 3 hours during the day. The longest they have gone in between feeding is 6 hours at night- but that seems to have been a one time thing. At night they can stretch about 4 hours in between feedings fairly regularly. I attribute this to their growing appetite. To be so small, they eat quite a bit! Hadley eats 4oz regularly and has eaten up to 6oz in the past. Ava James eats 3oz regularly and has eaten up to 5oz. We are very fortunate to have both girls on the same schedule. Therefore, if one girl wakes up, the other is normally not far behind. Same goes with feedings. I have learned how to multi-task and feed/burp/play/hold/rock both girls at the same time.

I have had my crying, "I can't do this!" moments, but they seem to be dwindling away. It is getting easier and easier as time passes. Don't get me wrong, it is still VERY difficult, but it is all worth it!!! I am still in awe of these miracle babies and how much God must love me to "loan" me two of His children :)

They're Here!!!

Our little miracles have arrived!!! Hadley Kate Russell and Ava James Russell both arrived at 8:36am on Wednesday, October 24th, 2012. Hadley Kate weighed 4lbs 9oz and was 16 1/2 inches long, and Ava James weighed 3lbs 14oz and was 16 3/4 inches long. Believe it or not, even though they were so tiny, both girls were able to go to the well nursery shortly after being born- NO NICU TIME! Both girls had an APGAR score of 9.9- amazing :)

So since I never even got to give our 36 weeks update, I guess I will start there. The Monday morning before the girls were born, I had a doctors appointment. Everything looked perfect- no Braxton Hicks and both girl's heart rates looked perfect. Dr. Dupre was actually out of town, so I saw Dr. Nedham that day. Dr. Dupre joked the previous week that I better not go into labor since he would be out of town...little did we know...

The next day, Tuesday, everything seemed normal. I actually felt a little bit better than I had in previous days. I seemed to have more energy. That night we went to church for dinner and made it back home by 8 or so. Once we got home I laid on the couch to relax a little bit. Something both Rusty and I found REALLY strange was our fur baby Bailey, our 7 year old Pek-A-Poo, kept sitting next to me only to stare at me. We took her out to potty, made sure she had food and water, etc.- nothing seemed to satisfy her. All she wanted to do was stare at me! I swear that she knew something that we didn't...

So fast forward to early Wednesday morning. As usual, I was up about every 45 minutes or so to go to the bathroom. About 5:15am I got up to go to the bathroom and started to make my way back to the bed. Next thing I know...my water breaks! Since I have never been pregnant before, I wasn't quite sure that my water had really broken. Therefore, I laid back down in bed and googled "Did my water break?" Yes, I am that big of a dork! After reading several posts online, I decided that we might want to head into the hospital just to be sure. About 30 minutes later, I got up and woke Rusty up to tell him we had to go to the hospital.

To my surprise, both of us were very calm. I always assumed that both of us would be in a panic- especially since I was only 36 weeks! But we got up, I put on make up, Rusty packed the car, and by 6:30am we were on our way to the hospital.

I was immediately admitted to the hospital and taken up stairs to the labor and delivery rooms. I was SO HAPPY to see a sorority sisters face as soon as the elevators doors opened! :) I might have freaked out a little more, but knowing that Ashton was there made it all a little better! Plus I knew that another sorority sister and long time friend, Kirby, was in the NICU in case the girls weren't perfectly healthy when ever they were delivered.

I was checked to see if my water had broken, and sure enough, it had! Since Dr. Dupre was out of town, and both babies were still breech, that meant that whatever doctor was on call would perform the c-section. This happened to be Dr. Desautels. Even though I LOVED Dr. Dupre and wished he was there, I'm glad that Dr. Desautel was on call that night in comparison to some of the doctors that could have been there.

After speaking with the doctor, it was determined that they would start to prep me for the c-section. We originally planned on having a spinal block, but since I had a slight case of spina bifita as a child, the anesthesiologist decided that it would be best to completely knock me out. There was a possibility that I might bleed out with a spinal block- the general anesthesia avoided any possibility of this happening. Not being awake while the girls were being born came as a shock at first, and it honestly upset me quite a bit, but I understood why that just wasn't possible. Having general anesthesia also meant that Rusty couldn't be in the OR while the girls were being born. I know that he was pretty upset about this, but I know he would rather have me come out of surgery safely than the alternative.

About 3 hours after my water broke, the girls were born. Rusty was able to come in the OR as soon as the girls were delivered. He was actually standing outside when they were delivered and heard the girls cry for the first time. I was still knocked out! Rusty said that they were still stitching me up (creepy/gross/scary) when he came in the OR.

It is beyond amazing to me that both girls were so healthy. Nothing but a miracle! Ava James was 50 grams away from going to the NICU simply based on weight. They are both so tiny, but so perfect.

 

Hadley Kate

Ava James

 

After staying in the hospital for 3 days, all three of us were discharged on Saturday to go home. I was still sore from the c-section, but nothing like I thought it would be! The girls have adjusted well to being home. We are still working on getting them on a schedule, and it seems to be going pretty good! They had their days and nights mixed up at first, but thankfully they are starting to get everything straightened out. They eat like CRAZY! At their doctors appointments this past Friday, Hadley Kate weighed 4lbs 11oz, and Ava James weighed 3lbs 13oz. Dr. Trumbull, their pediatrician, was VERY happy with their weights. Most babies can take up to 2 weeks to get back to their birth weight...it didn't take our little girls that long! Not with how they eat :)

 

 

I still can't believe that God has blessed us to much. It has been such a journey to get these precious miracles here- it still doesn't seem real. I don't feel deserving for any of His blessings, but I am forever thankful. Becoming a parent has been the most rewarding experience/job of my life. It's definitely hard, especially with two, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I never knew that you could love someone so much. I knew I loved these little girls before they were born, but nothing compares to my love for them now. I am forever thankful for my husband as well. Rusty is an AMAZING Daddy. He is a pro at changing diapers, feeding them, and loving them the way every father should love his children. Seeing him be such a wonderful father has only made my love for him grow stronger.

 

 

More updates to come later!!!