Welcome Caroline and Culp!!!

POST UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I think I will finally be caught up after this post. I wanted to include everything from when the twins were born and forward.

Whew... It was a hard road but definitely could have been worse. I had morning sickness pretty badly until about 24 weeks with this pregnancy. Then, it subsided for about 6 weeks and started up again around 30 weeks. I was anemic again like I was with Reed; however, this time, my iron never came up to normal levels. I was taking prescription iron supplements and just couldn't get enough.

I started having contractions at 29 weeks and had two visits to Labor & Delivery. Unfortunately, the medication that they gave me to minimize the contractions combined with the medicine that I already take for Meniere's Disease caused my blood pressure to drop constantly. I was SO dizzy, my heart would race, I couldn't concentrate, etc. I was drinking between 6 and 8 liters of water a day! Any less than that and I was constantly thirsty.

By the time that I hit 35 weeks, I was DONE. I honestly didn't think I could make it any further. My OB and Perinatologist scheduled an amnio for the next week to check fetal lung maturity. If one of the babies' lungs were mature, then we could do the c-section at 36 weeks. If not, we had to wait until 37 weeks. Fortunately, we passed the lung maturity test and were scheduled for the c-section for the next day.

I gained a total of 28 pounds with the pregnancy. I had almost 15 pounds of baby plus my OB said that my placentas were the largest she had ever seen with both of them together weighing more than at least one of the babies. Wow. So, that's around 22 pounds of just babies and placentas. At 35 weeks, I was measuring 50 weeks. I was HUGE.

It took them quite a while to do my epidural. They had to give it to me in three doses because my blood pressure kept dropping so low. At one point, they said "no more visitors" and were scrambling around giving me meds through the IV, an epi shot in the thigh, etc trying to get it back up. I still had a bruise from the epi shot a month later!

As soon as the babies were out, I felt dramatically better. The doctors said that they were putting so much pressure on the Vena Cava that it was cutting off oxygen to my brain. Shame on you Mike for teasing me about being out of it! ;)

NOW FOR THE PART YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...

Caroline Rose was born on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 2:02pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and measured 18 3/4 inches and had a fair amount of light blonde hair. Culp Connelly was born on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 2:03pm. Culp weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and 19 1/4 inches and had a lot of dark hair (kind of brownish).

The babies came out totally healthy and did not spend a single minute in the NICU or even Special Care! No breathing issues whatsoever. They slept like little angels in the hospital and ate well too.

My OB, Dr. Kimberlea Roe, was great. She delivered Reed as well and I trust her completely. This was her first time to ever hold twins like this even though she has delivered many sets and even delivered triplets.

It is pretty stressful with 3 little kids. There are times where 4 of us have been in tears at times during the day and Mike isn't one of those 4! I knew that twins would be hard but nothing can really prepare you for it until it happens to you. It is definitely a challenge and one of the hardest things that I have ever done. I have had to learn to deal with a lot of crying on their part - you can only do so much and someone just has to cry while you are feeding / changing / consoling another one. It feels like someone is always left out, not getting enough love.

Each of our children is a blessing from God. Although, I'm not sure why God felt like I would be a good Mommy to three children. I feel like I am struggling constantly. I pray daily that God will help me to be a better Mommy to each of them!