They have arrived!!! :)

Saturday, August 24, 2013 -

I woke up knowing that today was going to be THE day.  I was going to meet my daughters.  Jake was going to meet our daughters.  Everyone was going to meet our daughters.  It was going to be a day that I would never forget. 

I woke up on Saturday and they began to monitor me as if it were any other "normal" Saturday.  We had to act like the doctor was calling in my C-Section as an emergency, even though we had "planned" on delivering that day.  (The hospital won't schedule surgeries on the weekends, so that is why we had to pretend it was an emergency.)  Jake was there, as he came to stay on Friday night.

Our last night as just a family of two (or three, if you count Kate!)

We thought that this was my last monitoring session, but it was actually my second to last monitoring session.  By the look on my face, I'm not even excited! ;)

We were informed as to what our day would look like.  I was soon wheeled away by wheelchair into a C-Section Prep room.  Jake and I sat in there for a while, and he soon put his scrubs on that he had to where in order to go into the operating room. It felt like an eternity had gone by before I ever went into the operating room. (Jake met me in there later, once my spinal had kicked in.)  

All prepped and ready to go into the operating room!

Once in the operating room, I sat up on the table and waited to get my spinal.  At the time, I found that to be very painful, but looking back now, it was just mostly uncomfortable.  It is a very strange sensation not being able to feel your legs, let alone try to move them and having nothing happen.  I remember once I was in the recovery room watching a nurse move my leg and getting really creeped out because I could not feel her do ANYTHING to my legs.  It was almost as if I had a phantom leg.  Another side effect I wasn't expecting was how heavy my chest felt.  It was hard for me to talk after the procedure I suppose because it wasn't as easy for me to take a long, deep breath and speak a whole sentence.

Okay. So now it is game time.  Time for us to meet our babies.  Jake finally came in, and I could tell he was extremely nervous. He tried to hide it, but I could tell. He held one of my hands that was outstretched, and lovingly stroked almost the entire time.  I just watched his face expressions, as he was able to see the whole thing.  The anesthesiologist kept me in the loop and updated me as to what I would probably feel and when.  I had been told that I would feel a lot of pressure at the point when they were pushing, tugging, and pulling the babies out.  He warned me so I would be prepared, but it honestly wasn't as uncomfortable as I anticipated.  Jake told me that he was adjusting my medicine with an iPad.  Isn't that crazy?

This is a picture of the cord entanglement.  My doctor actually took this picture on his phone so he would have it to show, and he sent it to me.  He was really glad that he didn't wait any longer to deliver the babies, because it was one of the worst entanglements he had ever seen.  I am very thankful that we all made it to the 32 week goal.

Now let's get to the good part.  It wasn't too long after they began the surgery that Baby A came out.  It was 9:51 a.m. and we heard her let out a tiny little wail.  Jake and I looked at each other and we both got huge grins on our faces.  It was such a relief to hear her cry.  We were now half way there.  One minute later, at 9:52 a.m., Baby B arrived. We didn't hear her cry, but the doctor told us that she looked healthy.  They were both taken across the hall to get checked out.  As they finished my procedure, they brought Baby B in for me to see for the first time.  She was in one of the incubated cribs, so I didn't get a real good look at her but I knew she was beautiful.  They asked if she had a name, and that was the first time Jake and I were able to announce it. Behind a few tears, I was able to tell the nurse that her name was Gracelynn.  A few moments later, some more nurses brought in Baby A, and we also announced her name for the first time.  It was official. Jake and I had two beautiful girls, and we couldn't be a happier little family! :)

Kinley Sue Orton
9:51 A.M.
3 lbs. 2 oz.
15 3/4" long

Miss Kinley soon after she was born

Gracelynn Rae Orton
9:52 A.M.
3 lbs. 3 oz.
16" long

Miss Gracelynn soon after she was born

We had kept their names a secret from everyone because we figured we needed to keep something a surprise.  Kinley was a name that I have liked for a while, and I was a fan of the "KO" initials :)  Sue is my mom's name, and I thought that it would be a cute middle name.  Coming up with the second name was a little more difficult.  I would throw out a lot of names and Jake would be quick to throw them out the window.  It's funny how that worked.... because I would never hear any suggestions come from him! Anyways, we had always talked about the name Grace or Gracie, but we wanted to incorporate his mom's middle name (which is Lynn) so we just combined the two to get Gracelynn.  Rae was my Aunt Cindy's middle name, and she passed away this last January.  She LOVED babies, and I truly think that she had something to do with our whole "situation." I know that she and my grandma were looking down and watching over all three of us during this pregnancy.

Gracelynn and Kinley ~ Back together again for the first time.

Back to the point now... After they were born, Jake went up to the NICU with them and took pictures.  I was wheeled to a recovery room, and he came in shortly.  He briefly updated me and told me that they were doing great.  We then decided that we should probably let our family know who was waiting patiently for news in a room. He really did a great job all day keeping people up to date and basically running around the hospital.  

So, now that it's been a whole week (sorry about that! This whole NICU experience has taken a little more time than I expected!) I'll kind of bring you up to date on how the girls are doing.  They are doing great. All week they have both kind of been struggling with their bilirubin levels (a product of broken down red blood cells which, if they are high, can eventually lead to jaundice).  So they have been under a light on and off all week.  Currently, Gracelynn is not under a light, but Kinley is.  They were both on oxygen right after they were born, but Kinley was taken off of it Sunday or Monday.  Gracelynn just got taken off of hers yesterday (Friday) but then gave it right back to her sister.  Currently, neither one of them are on oxygen.  After they were born, they also needed an IV that had Dextrose (or sugar water) running through them to help them with their blood sugar levels.  Today, they both got taken off of that as well. They are feeding really well.  The doctor has increased their feeding amounts almost daily by 3 milliliters.  They started out at just having 4 mLs and today they are up to 16 mLs.  They definitely are making progress everyday!

It's amazing how much my love has grown for them since they were born.  I'm pretty sure Jake could say the same thing. I love watching him grow as a dad and interact with the girls.  I'm really excited to get them home so we can all interact as a family.

I honestly believe that this whole experience has gone as smoothly as it has because of all the thoughts and prayers that have been sent our way.  God has truly given us two beautiful gifts, and he intends to help take care of them.  Thank you to all who have said a prayer, thought about us, and said any kind words of encouragement.  You don't know how much it has meant to Jake and I!  

Our first family photo! :)

My stay here at Mercy is soon coming to an end. This is VERY exciting news. That means I will soon get to meet my daughters, face to face. My daughters. Our daughters. Sounds funny coming from me! I guess I better get used to it, because I'll be able to say that for the rest of my life! :)

We are planning on delivering the babies sometime Saturday morning, as I will be at 32 weeks then. Hopefully everything will go as smoothly as my pregnancy has, and hopefully the babies will hit their 4 pound mark! That means tomorrow is my 59th and last ultrasound.  The full time ultrasound tech (the one who I see most often) told me today how happy she was that she was able to give me such good news almost everyday and that I am a rare Mono/Mono mom.  Most of the Mono/Mono moms don't experience such an easy going pregnancy. She was excited that I was able to make it to 32 weeks.  Also, all of the nurses have already wished me luck and tell me that everything will go just fine on Saturday.  They even told me that I have a designated spot on the bulletin board for a picture of our girls.  I guess being here for almost 8 weeks has an upside to it! ;)

Everything just seems so surreal. I can't believe that Jake and I are officially going to be parents in just under 2 days. I don't know if I can say that we are "ready," but I think we are as ready as we will ever be.  We are so looking forward to seeing what the girls look like and figure out how to team up together to be parents. I couldn't imagine trying to tackle this chapter in my life with anyone else!

I intend to continue to blog about the progress of the girls once they are born, as I'm sure I'll have a little time when they are in the NICU.  

I am excited to let everyone know how everything goes on Saturday, so keep your eyes peeled! :)

I am thankful for...

I will first let you know that everything is going really well, still. It's hard to believe how easy-going these girls are already (knock on wood, I know...) 

Since I have had so much time to sit and think while I have been here, along with some insights from others, I thought I would share with you some of the things I am thankful for. I know a lot of people saw this experience of me having to go into the hospital as a negative one, but I have always looked at it as my first "mommy duty," and never even thought twice about it.  I tend to be an optimistic person, and I try to surround myself with positive people. 

1. First and foremost, I am thankful that God has chosen Jake and I to tackle this task to parent these little (beautiful, may I add :) girls.  I can't imagine going through this experience with anyone else, and I am very grateful that Jake has had such a positive attitude since day one.  I am very excited to see him as a dad. I know that this wasn't in our "plans," as we were only trying for one, but as you can see, God has quite the sense of humor. He would not give us anything we couldn't handle.

2.  I am also extremely thankful for all of the love and support we have gotten from family and friends alike.  It is hard for me to fathom how many people are even following this blog.  I'm sure that it helps that Jake and I are from small-town Iowa, so it doesn't take long for news to travel, but we are both extremely grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers. I know I say this a lot, but it is true! We are so happy that our family and friends have supported us through and through.

This is a portion of the "Card Garland" that I have strung up in my room. People have sent me cards of encouragement and I have hung them all up to remind me of everyone who is thinking of our little, growing family :)

3.  I am thankful that we found out about our situation as early as we did.  We found out that we were having twins at 10 weeks, and just a few days later we found out we were having Mono/Mono twins.  This gave us PLENTY of time to prepare for what was coming later in the summer.  There are so many pregnant women who end up having to go into the hospital and don't realize that they have to be on bedrest until the time comes.  I had plenty of time to figure out what I was going to do for the eight weeks I was/am in the hospital.  Knowing about our situation so early also gave us time to mentally prepare that we are going to be parents of premature babies.  Again, many parents don't have this privilege and they find out only when something goes wrong that their baby will be premature.  We have studied up on a few books and know that the girls will have to spend some time in the NICU.  I understand that there may still be some surprises, but we are somewhat prepared for what is coming.

4. I am thankful that I am spending my time in the hospital in the summer. As much as I would love to be spending all of my time outside doing fun things, it is nice to see the sun shine for the majority of the day.  If I was here in the winter, I feel as if I would feel gloomy the entire time because of the weather and the sun wouldn't be shining very much.  Also, I don't know what I would do if I had to spend the most wonderful time of the year (No, not back to school time, but the Christmas season) in here.  I know that there would be plenty of family and friends that would come visit me, but that is seriously my favorite time of the year.  I think Jake could agree with that, too. It must be hereditary, because I know my mom is the same way.  I automatically let the Christmas music start playing on Black Friday, because I know it is officially Christmas season.  Along with this, it is nice that I don't have to worry about road conditions.  Both for people coming to visit me and for Jake and I to visit the babies once they are born.  What a relief!

5. As sucky as it is that I am here all day long, I am thankful that I get to see my daughters everyday during an ultrasound and hear their heartbeats several times a day.  I know I am being spoiled with this pregnancy, knowing (or hoping) that this won't be the case with my next one. (I know, I shouldn't even be thinking about that yet!)

I know we get a lot of pictures of Baby B, but I was so excited to see how chubby her cheeks looked yesterday! 

6. I am thankful for how understanding everyone has been. It has been really nice that my employer has been so lenient with my circumstances.  It has been a huge weight off of my shoulders knowing that I will still have a job at the end of all of this!  Jake's employer has been extremely understanding as well. So, thank you! :)

7.  I am thankful that everything has gone as smooth as it has, pregnancy wise.  It is easy to stay positive when everything is going so well.  It also makes it easier with Jake not being here as much as he would like to be due to the long drive. I can't imagine going through this with complications and Jake not being able to be here with me.  Again, I think it is because of all of the prayers being sent! 

8. I am thankful for Pinterest, Netflix, Skype and the art of crocheting. Holy moly, I'd be extremely bored without these. :)

9. As much fun as it would have been to have two boys, I am thankful that we are having two girls. They say that girls develop much quicker (especially premature girls) so hopefully that will give us an advantage when they are up in the NICU.

10. I am thankful that these are our first children.  I couldn't imagine leaving a child at home and not being there for him/her.  It is hard enough leaving our dog at home and not being able to see her everyday, I can't imagine not being able to see a child.  Let alone the extra stress that would put on Jake. Again, God had all of this planned out for us! :)

I know there are a lot of things that we are all thankful for, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am not looking at this experience as a negative one.  This is definitely not a cumulative list of things that I am thankful for, but I just wanted to give you all an idea of my thought processes (hopefully I'm not completely losing my mind, yet!)

Since Baby A won't give us a good picture of her face, we figured we would snap a shot of her cute little butt! :)

Thanks again for all of the love and support! 

Man of many words. (Ha!)

We are officially on the countdown... 2 weeks left until we get to meet our little girls! They have been behaving really well, so that is why I haven't been blogging too much. There isn't a whole lot to say, which is a great problem to have.  We had our growth ultrasound today, and they didn't measure as big as I would have liked them to be. I was shooting for them to be at least 3 pounds, but they weren't quite that big. Baby A's belly wasn't as big as her sister's and she is only estimated at 2 lbs 10 oz. Baby B weighed in at 2 lbs 15 oz, which is only one ounce shy of 3 lbs, so that makes me feel better.  They haven't ever been this far off of each other (usually only an ounce difference) but there doesn't seem to be any concern.

So, because of not having too much to say, I decided that I would "interview" my husband, Jake, so we could hear his side of the story. Just keep in mind that he doesn't talk a whole lot (unless he has a few beers.) This IS the man who told me I looked "nice" on our wedding day (and it was a great compliment!), so I was lucky to get any answers out of him. Gotta love him, though! :)

What was going through your head when you found out I was pregnant?

·               I don’t know. A lot of things. Excitement, scary thoughts and lots of questions.

At the first ultrasound when we found out we were having twins we were both pretty quiet.  What did you REALLY want to say?

·              “Are you sure??” and “This can’t be happening.”

I’m sure you were looking forward to having two boys. How have your feelings changed since you found out you were having two girls?

·              I wasn’t ever really disappointed.   And on the bright side of things, girls can do all the      same things boys can, except pee standing up. They can grow up to be the outdoorsy        girls and still play in dresses if they want to.

Do you think there is too much pink already?

·               It’s not overwhelming…yet. 

Do you know how to braid?

·             No, not really. But I’m sure I’ll have to learn.

What has been the hardest thing about me being in the hospital?

·              Just not being able seeing each other every day and not being able to reflect our days        together. I kind of feel like I’m missing out by not being able to feel the babies all of        the time and not being able to go to every ultrasound.

What are you most scared of when the babies are born and they are up in the NICU?

·             Any complications that we wouldn’t normally expect. Everything might not go as smooth    as we hope for.

What are you most looking forward to doing with your twin girls?

·              Teaching them about the outdoors and hunting. There are a lot of other things that I am    looking forward to, but that is the main one.

   I want to thank everyone for all of the support and prayers. I really would like to thank those     of you who have taken time to visit Mady, because it really helps me out knowing that I can’t     always be there.


On a different note, here is my next "bump" picture. I think it has probably graduated to a "hill," or possibly a "mountain,"  but I'm still feeling pretty good! :)

30 Weeks!

S.O.S. (Same Old Shi...I mean stuff :)

I haven't posted in a while, but I haven't known what to post about! Everything is still going great and the girls continue to behave everyday. The nurses joke with me because I answer their questions before they even ask me, because I know they are coming. I just tell them, "Yup, I'm good. Same as yesterday!"

I've still been keeping pretty busy with crocheting. I just sent my mother-in-law home with some new hats so be sure to check them out sometime! If there is something you specifically want, I would be more than happy to make that as well :)

This is the display at Heart N Home in Webster City. I just sent her some new stuff, too!

Jake and I (and the girls) got another pass this last Sunday. I just wanted to walk around Court Avenue (no, nothing was going on but I had heard there are things to see). We ended up eating lunch at Johnny's Hall of Fame outside on their patio.  It was beautiful out :)

Yup, he's excited :)
I thought this would be a neat picture with the courthouse in the background, but it didn't show up very well.

I just want everyone who has made time to visit me know how much I truly appreciate it.  As boring as it probably is sitting here with me, it really does break up my day and make it go a little bit faster. Thank you SSOOO much! :)

Today the doctor did discuss a delivery date. I find it odd that I can plan my girls' birthday, but whatever! I will be 32 weeks in 2 weeks and 2 days (but who's counting?) on the 24th of August. My doctor is on call then, so he said we could do it that day, or we could wait until Monday the 26th.  I think I'll ask him if there are any benefits with keeping them an extra 2 days or if not, I'm sure I'll be happy to meet my daughters sooner rather than later :)

Please keep these babies in your thoughts and prayers :) They are doing great!

Has it already been a whole month??

August 1st. Today's date marks one entire month that I have been here at Mercy.  Honestly, it's gone by pretty darn fast. And to think that we could meet our beautiful daughters in just a mere 3 1/2 weeks seems unreal.  I can't believe how fast this whole pregnancy has gone, but when I sit and think about it, Jake and I have only known that we were pregnant for 5 1/2 months, and here we are talking about having 2 babies in just a few weeks. That is NUTS.

I had told Jake the other night that it really sucks for him that I'm stuck here. You know, he can't enjoy my company constantly like normal. Just kidding ;) But, it really does stink because he's not experiencing this pregnancy with me as he would if I were just having a singleton and were at home.  When I lie down at night to go to bed, the girls are CRAZY and move around a lot.  Jake doesn't get to see or feel that.  Sometimes it's just those little things that make me very homesick.  And let's not mention my dog.  Jake and I FaceTimed the other night so I got to see Kate (our furry dog-ter... you know, like daughter, but she's a dog??). I was able to see her react to my voice, which about made me cry because I miss her bunches and bunches!

I can't just talk about her and not add a picture :) 

So you are probably now wondering about the status of the babies.  They are (surprisingly) behaving extremely well.  The last few days the ultrasounds have gone (almost) perfectly.  The girls' dopplers and umbilical cords look great and the monitoring has been going really well, too.  Apparently I'm doing something right! :)

We did have our growth ultrasound on Monday (we have one of these every 2 weeks to see how much the girls have grown). Baby A's head is really low, so they had a hard time getting an accurate head circumference measurement, so her weight is really more of an estimation. But she came in at 2 lbs. 2 oz, where her sister weighed in at 2 lbs. 1 oz.  I was relieved to find out that they had both hit the 2 lb mark.  I would like them to both weigh at least 4 lbs. when they are born, so I am downing protein shakes like its my job (which I guess it kind of is right now!)  The doctor said that a half a pound a week weight gain for the babies is a realistic goal, which made me feel good. I'm already anxious for their next growth ultrasound! :)

I know this one is kind of hard to see, but I feel like I have to be fair :) That black spot in the upper left corner is Baby A's eye. Hopefully that helps??

I can't believe how clear this one turned out and I am just in LOVE with that hand in front :) This is Baby B (again with her face pressed up against Baby A's chest).

Since the babies have behaved so well, I was able to get another free pass this past weekend.  I suppose Jake and I should be using all of our "free time" as wisely as possible before our lives change completely! We went mini-golfing (he beat me, but was nice about it :). We then ate lunch at Fuddruckers (interesting restaurant, but I think I would recommend it and go there again), and then we bought a new camera.  I imagine we will need one soon :)

Just in case you were wondering, yes, I was able to see the ball.  Mom was quick to ask that question :)

Until next time! Please continue to pray for these girls. I know it's working! :) Jake and I really appreciate it!!