First (Real) Bath...

Kynlee's umbilical cord fell off when she was 7 days old. Teagen's fell off when he was 11 days old.  Since it would be twice as hard to give her a real bath and him a sponge bath I held off on the real bath until both of them had lost their umbillical cords.  Today they are 13 days old and they got their first real bath. We do these in the kitchen sink for the first couple months. 

Here is Kynlee. Look how tiny her little body is but how round her head and face is becoming.  She's going to be round like Gage I think.

Mr. Teagen on the other hand has a longer skinny face and skinny body. I think he is going to be built a bit more like Kaysen. 

At first both of them were so mad about being naked. Then their little bodies became submerged in the water and they instantly relaxed and were in heaven...until their bodies came out of the water.  They loved being wrapped up and cuddled by Dad in the towel and were once again mad as mom uncovered them and rubbed lotion all over their tiny bodies.  I love the smell of their little bodies all covered in that sweet lotion scent.  I could hold them and smell it all day.

Week One (at home) with Twins...

We have survived the first week at home of being parents to 4 children...ages 5 and under.

It has been a crazy and tiresome week.

But one I'd never trade for anything.

We went to the doctor on Monday.  Kynlee got back to her birthweight of 4lbs 14oz.  Teagen weighed 4lbs 5.5oz. The doctor wanted him to gain a bit more weight and try to get a bit more meat on his bones. She instructed me to feed him every 2 hours, start of one feeding to start of next feeding.  At first I said "Okay." Then common sense (and stressed out emotions) knocked into me. I realized that because I'm nursing only I'd be getting MAYBE 45minutes of sleep at a time if I did this. I do not function well without sleep.  I get a bit emotional and strung out.  So Tuesday I decided that I'd feed every 2 hours during the day, if they would wake up, but at night I'd let them sleep until they were hungry. This ended up being about every 3 1/2 hours. So I'd get about 2 1/2 hours of sleep. Much, much better than 45 minutes. 

Yesterday we had a follow up for Teagen's weight. The doctor asked how often I fed. I lied. I told her every 2 hours.  We weighed him...he was 4lbs 10.5oz.  The doctor wanted him to gain 1oz a day for a total of 3oz for this check up.  He gained 5.5oz...doing it my way :)

Kaysen is still the best big brother possible.  He asks daily to hold them, burp them, feed them, give them their binki and ANYTHING else that he can think of.  He's been amazing!! He was so excited when I finally pumped so that he could feed them at home for the first time.  If anything...this boy wants to help a bit too much but I won't change it. I love that he loves his brother and sister so much. 

 Gage is...adjusting.  The whole pregnancy we were a bit more worried about how he would react to no longer being the baby.  He is a BIT attached to me you see. Always has been. 

At first when we brought the babies home we'd ask him if he wanted to hold one of them and he'd say, "Not yet. I don't need to."  The past couple days have been much better though and he is now asking to hold them and when he does he tells them he loves them and gives them kisses.  He is very sweet to the babies...he just doesn't want to listen to and obey his parents all that much.  He has also started saying that he doesn't know how to do things...like feed himself, put his shoes on, go to the bathroom. I know he's doing it so that he'll get our attention and help. 

 

I just pray that I'll know how to balance the demands of being a mother to 4 wonderful children that can all be quite demanding. 

Kynlee and Teagen love sleeping next to each other. I just loved this picture and had to throw it in there.  

I also have to give a shout out to my amazing Mom who came and helped us out for a few days while Jerry had to go to work/school.  I couldn't have done it without her. Having a natural birth and a c-section took a lot out of me and I took a bit longer to heal than I did on past deliveries.  She did all of my housework, cooked meals, held babies, paid attention to my older boys and was the biggest help ever. Thanks Mom!

Doubly Blessed...

(36 Weeks Pregnant with Twins)

On Sunday, October 2nd I went to the hospital at 11:00am because I was having hard contractions every 5 minutes. By the time I arrived to the hospital they were every 2 minutes and getting harder. I was a 4 and 90% effaced. My doctor informed me that because I was 36 weeks she would not stop my labor but would also not do anything to speed it along. 


So I was to stay in bed, hooked to an I.V. If I would progress to a 5 then she would break my water but not until then.  So they checked me again at 5:00pm and I was still a 4 and 90% effaced.  I checked myself out of the hospital, knowing they weren't going to do anything to move it along and that I would be much more comfortable at home.  My doctor was oh so nice enough to give me an induction date of October 16th though...


All week long I had contractions.  Sometimes as close as 5 minutes apart again but I still put off going to the doctor until I was in "good" labor.


On Wednesday I had a BPP done. The ultrasound tech noticed that something looked different in Baby A's upper right chamber on her heart.  It was decided that I'd go to the valley to get a stage 2 ultrasound done to see just what was going on. If something was wrong then I'd stay in the valley to deliver. If not, I could come home.   Turns out it was the moderator band that we saw. It is supposed to be there, sometimes it just looks odd. 


My doctor informed me that because my blood pressure was steadily rising she would be willing to induce me on Sunday, October 9th instead of the 16th.  I was thrilled. I knew I only had 2 days to go!!


On Saturday morning I woke up and felt a little wet. I really thought that my water had broke.  I gave it a few hours and waited to see if anything else happened.  Nothing happened but I called my water to give her a heads up. She didn't think that it was my water that broke. So I resumed my normal plans and we had a grandparent birthday party dinner for Kaysen.  All the while I was having some good contractions but put them out of my mind knowing that I was being induced the next morning and my doctor would probably just tell me to wait it out unless they got "really good."


At 8:30 I decided to call it a night.  I wanted to be rested up for my induction the next morning that was to happen at 8:00am.  I quickly fell asleep as Jerry browsed away on our laptop. 


At 9:05pm I woke up with an excruciating pain in my stomach.  Jerry helped me get out of bed and I barely made it into the bathroom before my water broke. This time there was no doubt that it had broken.


Jerry immediately called his mom to come and stay with the boys and at 9:15pm we headed to Show Low. I called my doctor to give her a heads up. Then I asked Jerry to say a prayer that we would make it to the hospital in time, as he drove. At that time my contractions were about 10 minutes apart and not very intense. Boy was I in for the most interesting and intense drive to Show Low in my entire life.  Jerry was driving 85-50 mph most of the time and would speed up during my contractions. By the time we got to Taylor my contractions were coming every 5 minutes and getting pretty hard.  Then by the time we got on the Deuce of Clubs my contractions were every 2 minutes and VERY intense. 

Did I mention that I had epidurals with my previous two children so by the time REALLY intense contractions came I was so oblivious to the pain I was smiling and sleeping throughout them???  I am no longer niave to REAL contraction pain and I must say that although it hurt like crazy, it is somewhat nice to know that I could handle it. (although screaming came along with them)


My Mom was waiting at the ER entrance of the hospital for us.  They had been notified in advance that we were coming and were supposed to have a wheelchair ready for me.  However, it wasn't ready. I stood in the entrance of the ER and had two horrible contractions and could literally feel the baby. Finally they got me in a wheelchair and up to a room in Labor and Delivery. 


I really think that the hospital staff didn't think that I was in REAL labor. The nurse told me to get in a gown and that I could go to the bathroom.  I went in the bathroom to change but knew there was no way I could go to the bathroom. I had a contraction as soon as the door closed and once again I could feel the baby.  Jerry managed to get me back to the bed and helped the nurses strip my clothes off and put a gown on during a contraction.  The nurse went to check me but only had to lift up my gown to see that the baby was coming. She yelled at me not to push and ran out the door to notify the nurses that I was complete and ready. 


They wheeled me into the Operating Room.  Simply because I was expecting twins and it is high risk and many times an emergency c-section is needed.  I was having contractions like crazy at this point and really needed/wanted to push but was constantly being told not to. 

They got me on the Operating Room bed and 30 second later my doctor arrived.  Finally the nurse said, "Okay Charlsye. With this next contraction you CAN push."  I was so relieved. Contractions are bad enough...but having to keep a baby inside while having these contractions was pure torture.  So as soon as the nurse said those words a contraction came and at 10:26pm Kynlee Claire Miller was born. She weighed 4lbs 12oz and was 18 1/2" long. From the time I arrived to the hospital to the time our sweet girl arrived was 11 minutes. The prayer we said on the way was definitely answered and we couldn't be more grateful.

The ultrasound tech had just arrived and was ready to figure out where Baby B was at so we could try and deliver. At the same time, my doctor was checking me and felt his feet.  Yep. He changed position again and was trying to come out feet first.   She tried to manipulate him but as soon as she tried that his heart rate dropped to 56 and mine dropped to 59.  An emergency c-section became necessary.  I was put under general anesthesia and at 10:44pm Teagen Blake Miller was born.  He weighed 4lbs 10z and was 18 1/2" long.

 

Teagen (left) Kynlee (right)

I came out of anesthesia around midnight and the nurses informed me that my babies were good and healthy. I was so out of it at first that I couldn't really remember that I had just given birth.  At 1:30 am Jerry and my mom and sister were finally able to come back and see me. Then the babies were brought into my room and I was able to hold them both for the first time. 

They let us enjoy our babie for a few minutes before having to take them back for a bit more evaluation.  Since they were twins born at 37 weeks the hospital likes to keep them back in the nursery for 6 hours of evaluation.  At 4:30 they put me in a new room in postpartum and Jerry and I slept until 6:00 am expecting our babies to come any minute. Finally around 8:00am we were able to be with our babies again. 

Kaysen has been the best big brother.  He LOVES to hold the babies and feed them when given the chance. 

Gage loves them too but he doesn't want to hold them or help them as much. He's to busy. He likes to say hi to them, tell people their names and give them a quick kiss, then he's ready to move onto something more fun. 

We ended up having to stay in the hospital until Wednesday morning because it has been hard for Teagen to keep his blood sugar up.  He doesn't have enough body fat stored for his body to regulate the sugars enough.  His weight dropped to 4lbs 6oz and Kynlee dropped to 4lbs 8oz, which isn't a lot at all but when you are as small as they are, you don't have much you can lose. The doctors wanted us to supplement Teagen with formula so we did that for a bit but it didn't really seem to help so I am just nursing both of them for now. They both seem to be doing great.  

 Our family

 All dressed up and ready to go home.

 I love their naked little bodies. Look how small they are!

They already have little secrets....

We love these two little babies and are so excited to have them in our family. We know the next little bit is going to be rough but we are ready for the challenge and the memories we are about to make.

Did I mention how awesome of a family we have? We came home to find some homemade cards from our awesome nieces and nephews. And more offers for help than we know what to do with.  We really are blessed to have such an amazing family! 

{FIVE}...

Our oldest son turned 5 yesterday...

he chose to have a Toy Story Birthday. 

On Monday I whipped up some cupcakes to take to his class...his birthday wasn't for 3 more days but I was worried that I'd go into labor and then he wouldn't get to take cupcakes to school like I promised him he could.  So we did it a couple days early....did he mind???

Absolutely NOT!

 As I walked into his classroom he said, "My Mom's the best...she made me TOY...STORY.... CUPCAKES!!!" Man did that put a smile on my face...as it did for the rest of the class. They were excited to get a new snack. They sang Happy Birthday to him, then dove right on in to the delicious treat.

The morning of his birthday, Jerry and I woke Kaysen up by singing Happy Birthday to him.  He wanted to open his presents and have French Toast before Dad left for work. So that's what we did.

He tore into that present so fast...and that smile is still on his face when he sees or thinks about his new "Nerf Shotgun!"

 The past two mornings it is the first thing he does when he wakes up.  He loves shooting it at the big window in our living room and having the bullets stick to it.  He's pretending he is shooting birds and coyotes.  He really is in love with that toy. I think Dad and I scored big on choosing this as his present this year. 

That night we let him pick what he wanted for dinner. What did he pick?? The same as his brother...McDonalds.

After dinner we headed home to eat another cupcake, sing Happy Birthday and blow out some candles.  He blew all 5 out in one big puff and thought he was hot stuff. 



After that was done he asked when the twins were coming because, "Mom, you told me they would be born before my birthday and my birthday is almost over and they aren't here yet."

I wish that I had an answer for him...but mostly I'm just glad that they didn't come on his birthday. He gets to keep it for himself.

We love this big boy that is often to "old" for his own good. He is our biggest helper and always reminds us of what we need to do and how to act.