Sunday, September 27, 2009

A quiet weekend

Princess and Gameboy spent the weekend getting to know their new sisters. Gameboy, who would have rather had a dog or at least a brother, has adjusted well to his new role as big brother. Look how sweet he looks holding Sydney.IMG_1383

Princess is such a big help. She has learned to feed them, change them and wants to hold them all the time.Samantha and Sarah

We changed their clothes a lot and Princess took lots of pictures too. Here’s a few that she took.IMG_1388

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God is good. All the time!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Homecoming

After two short days, both my Doc and the pediatrician said we could come home. Hurray! I was missing Princess and Gameboy and the comforts of home. I remember feelingIMG_1372 terrified to leave the hospital with Princess, but my perspective has definitely changed with these two. I know I am going to be up all night, but I also know that this sweet stage is so short. I also have the best helper and partner, my sweetie, who too remembers how quickly these days pass. I was so excited to change these girls into their going home outfits. It was like dressing up two dolls.IMG_1367 Daddy adjusted their car seats. Look how tiny Sarah looks in her seat. IMG_1373

We drove home carefully and anxiously awaited the arrival of Princess and Gameboy. IMG_1374 I just love this picture. The bears are beanie babies.IMG_1378

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Sarah and Sydney-- Sweet New Additions To Our Family

Friday, September 25, 2009

Spoiled Rotten

These girls are spoiled rotten! We spent our hospital days getting to know all about them and introducing them to friends and family. I think they spent most of their time in someone’s arms and were showered with gifts.

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Sydney, Mimi and SarahIMG_1340

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I spent my first night alone as the babies needed to be monitored by the nurses. I had not slept that good in months. I felt like a new woman! I could breath again. When I had the babies alone, I could not stop watching them interact with each other. When they cried, they often just wanted to be next to each other.IMG_1366

Big Sister and Brother

Princess and Gameboy had a holiday from school as they got to meet their sisters for the first time. I will never forget the look on their faces as they saw them for the first time. DSCF0383They studied all of their features and figured out they look a lot they do. DSCF0379 Princess and Gameboy had lots of opinions about their names and we spent lots of time as a family naming the babies. They showered Mommy with flowers and balloons and brought their sisters some pink teddy bears. They are going to be great helpers.

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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Birth Story

As I write this, I realize it may be TMI, but I want to be sure and remember all the details. You have to have them so that you can call your children (no matter how old they get) and tell them about how they took their first breath. The story really begins on the Sunday before their birthday. I was sitting in church sobbing uncontrollably. I was so embarrassed. My hormones and the medicine I was taking made me crazy. My resting heart rate was at 126 and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I was so huge and really starting to swell. My doctor wanted me to continue the medicine that held off labor until my Tuesday appointment, but I was 36 weeks and decided to stop it that day. The next day I felt a lot better--still huge, but less emotional and jumpy. Little did I know, true relief was only 2 days away.

Monday and Tuesday I was back to having mild contractions. We had dinner Monday night with my sweetie’s family. We were joking about how ready I was to meet my babies and my sweetie ate light so he would not have an upset stomach if I went into labor. After we got home, I thought the contractions were getting stronger, but I was able to sleep through them. Around midnight, my sweetie woke me up so I could move from the couch to bed. I had trouble going back to sleep, so I took a bath, laid in the recliner, and finally around 1:30 I woke him up and said “we are having babies today.” He got up and dressed while I finished packing my bags. When I called my Doc, he asked me if I wanted to try to deliver the babies or do a c-section and I said, “Let’s wait to see how far along I am.” I thought if I was a 6 or more I would go for it, and otherwise I would have a c-section. We called his Dad to come sit with the kids and laughed as he strolled down the street. I told my sweetie we were in a hurry and left with the garage open knowing Princess and Gameboy were taken care of for the night.

I felt fine in the car on the way. I was having strong contractions, but they were not that regular. I even thought I could walk from the car to the emergency room door. It was not until we checked in and turned the corner to labor and delivery, that my contractions stopped me in my tracks. As we got to the examination room, I found out I was already a 9. I was so shocked and scared. I knew I was not going to get an epidural at this point and I was not tolerating the pain well at all. My sweetie was so wonderful to me. He knew how freaked out I was and he prayed the sweetest prayer for me. I instantly felt calmer and as they wheeled me to the labor and delivery room my Doc showed up. He checked me again and said it was time to push. It felt like all of Northwest Houston arrived in the room. I was signing consent forms while they tried to put in a IV that leaked. (yuk) I was in lots of pain as they tried to put monitors on the babies. I could feel the babies moving heard the Doc tell me to push. 2 pushes later we met Sarah Beth. IMG_1322I was ready for a breather about now, but right away I felt my water break again and 4 minutes later we met Sydney Anne. IMG_1324

My sweetie was pulled in lots of different directions taking pictures, comforting me, and checking on the the health of Sarah and Sydney. I asked my Doc why I couldn’t hear any crying and he said, “Just give them a minute.” We are so blessed with beautiful healthy babies and I am overwhelmed with joy. God is so good. I was in pain, but it was so brief. We arrived at the hospital at 2:00 am--Sarah was born at 2:22 and Sydney at 2:26! I had worried about the delivery and God took such good care of us. I felt great the next day and it was so nice not to have a major surgery to recover from. The babies spent 4 hours in the NICU but although we were exhausted, we were too wired to sleep. I had only seen them for a few minutes from a distance and I kept staring at pictures of them on our camera. By the morning, they were wheeled to my room. I fell instantly in love. IMG_1357

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

New Additions!

Here are the Swan girls… Born on 9/22/09

Sarah Beth Swan

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5 lbs. 8 oz – 18 ½” long

Sydney Anne Swan

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2:28 am

5 lbs. 1 oz – 18” long

Mom and babies are doing great… Please pass along the news…

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Back to school update

Princess and Gameboy are getting into to the swing of things and settling into to there new routines. They are waking up easier in the morning and I am so proud of how much they can do on their own. I think bed rest helped them see that they can take on more and be helpful.

Gameboy had his first kindergarten project yesterday, and he liked having homework like Princess. He loves his teacher and has earned the IMG_0930privilege of taking his shoes off today. This is a big deal to him, and I think his teacher is very smart. Hopefully, he will develop a love of school this year. As soon as he gets off the bus, he is starving and ready to come home and play. Twice a week he goes to Tae Kwon Do. This has really helped him with discipline and coordination. He took a break over the summer and I was amazed by how much he remembered.

Princess is also blessed with a wonderful teacher, and she is adjusting to the homework load of 3rd grade. She also gets off the bus starving and eats while she works on her tasks. She grumbles quite a bit, but once she gets going it does not take her too long. scan0001 After lots of trial, Princess found the sport that she loves. Ballet was not for her and gymnastics was too scary. Soccer made her sweat, and she told her coach she did not want to get dirty. But swim team was just right for her!! She loved swimming so much this summer, she begged us to let her do it year around. She has been practicing just a week and has already moved up to the next level. We are proud of her and happy she found something she loves to do.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Every good and perfect gift is from above

Yesterday my sweet friends hosted a baby shower for me.  It was so nice to get out of the house and see friends.  My doctor gave me the ok to go after my ultrasound on Friday.  Baby A is measuring 5 lbs and Baby B is 4.5 lbs.  I am happy they are getting bigger, and I have one more week until I reach my goal of 36 weeks.                                                                                                                         

P1010154 Against my better judgment,  I will post some pictures from the shower.    I guess it will be good to look back and remember what I looked like so close to delivery.    Look at the cute diaper cake.  It even plays music.  It looks so great in the nursery.  I am going to have to force myself to use it.  My friends did such a nice job on everything.  The decorations were so cute and the food was delicious. 

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We got so many precious things and lots of diapers.P1010144Princess was so funny.  She could not understand why we had so many diapers and I kept telling her the books say you need 400 for the first month.  I guess she will see soon enough that we will use all those diapers.

Nothing is better than hanging out with these ladies.P1010156 I am so thankful for friends and for all they did to shower me with love.P1010160

I hoping to post pictures of the babies room soon and we will update the blog as soon as our little ones arrive. 

Friday, September 4, 2009

A new low

Not much is going on at the Swan house since I have been put home imprisonment strict bed rest. I did reach a new low on the first day of resting in the recliner. I have been following all of the doctors orders. Drinking lots of fluids, eating every few hours, taking my medicine, and staying off my feet. All of those things are great for the babies, but let’s just say my waistline is suffering and I am beginning to look like a beached whale. So imagine my horror, when I try to get up to go to the bathroom and the recliner won’t close. I am so big I am breaking the furniture in our house. All I can do is laugh uncontrollably at myself and hope that I might get some new furniture in the near future. (I have been wanting a new living room set for 5 years now)

It has been over a week, since I was in the hospital and I am so thankful the babies are still cooking inside my belly. God has been so good to us. We have lots of friends and family who have helped us through the week. I have prayed a lot, read a book, and watched all of season 1 of Lost. It is hard for me to sit all day, but it what is best for the babies. The next 48 hours are really important for us. My doctor is on vacation and I don’t want the on call doctor, Dr. Fat Fingers to deliver the twins. Dr. Fat Fingers delivered Princess and let’s just say he doesn’t have the best bedside manner. He is a 6’7” giant who kind of looks like Shrek and he is a practicing attorney and ob/gyn. My sweetie got into an argument with him while I was trying to deliver Princess without an epidural. (Not by choice. Please note when delivering babies I choose drugs) So I am counting on all you prayer warriors to pray that we don’t have babies this weekend. Thanks.