A Year Ago...

. . .

It's amazing how much has changed in the past year. A year ago today when we found out that we had finally gotten pregnant, who would have thought how much life would change in that year. Here are a few of the "highlights"...

• Keyla am 20 lbs lighter than she was a year ago today
• Brent is not currently serving as a pastor
• Brent is looking for a new ministry to serve at
• Our house is for sale
• Keyla is "unemployed"
• We know way too much about pre-term labor and "false alarms"
• WE HAVE TWO BEAUTIFUL BABIES
• We know way too much about the NICU and how it works
• Keyla (and the babies) goes days at a time without leaving the house (and she doesn't care
• It's quite the event to leave the house

.... and the list could go on :)

A Year Ago...

Three little sperm met three little eggs and made three little babies; two of which we know as Kyle and Emily.

I often think of that third baby... I wonder what it would have been like to have triplets. Was the third baby a boy or a girl? Who would he/she look like? What would his/her personality be like? How long I would I have been able to carry triplets? Would I have had even more doctor's appointments when I was pregnant? How many diapers would we use with triplets? (We use between 15 and 20 a day with twins!) How many bottles would we need? (We use 12 with twins!) Would have I been able to supply enough breastmilk for three? Do Kyle and Emily know they are missing a sibling?

I hope that one day I get to meet our other child in heaven. I know God had a reason for only giving him/her to us for a few short weeks in my belly, but he/she was still one of my babies - a life that God had put inside of me for a short while.

The Babies Are Here!

Monday around 7:00pm or so, I started having pretty consistent contractions. Around 8:15, they were about two minutes apart, so we decided it was time to call the doctor. She called back pretty quickly and told us to head to the hospital to get checked out. This is me just before we left for the hospital... my belly wasn't really HUGE like everyone thought it should be...


We got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitors and agreed that I was having contractions every couple minutes. I was only dilated to 2cm. My doctor asked if I would be willing to walk for two hours and then get check again. So Brent and I walked around the hospital from 10:15 to 12:15. The contractions got a little worse, but when I got checked again around 12:30 am I was still only at 2cm. The doctor wanted me to stay on the monitors for a bit, have some fluids, and get checked again in about an hour. The nurse checked me at 1:45am and I was then dilated to 3cm. They decided this was the real thing and got me ready to be admitted. We got upstairs to the labor and delivery room about 3:00am and my doctor broke Emily's water at 3:15am. She said she thought we probably would deliver sometime between noon and 3pm. Around 4:30am I asked for an epidural in hopes of getting some sleep. It was around 5:00 am that I got my epidural - as first it was wonderful and I did manage to sleep for a little while. Around 6:45am or so, the epidural was only working on my right side and I was feeling every contraction again. The nurse said she could give me another dose of the epidural meds, but she wanted to check me first. She checked and said I was already dilated to 9.5 cm, so she called in the doctor and woke Brent up. This also meant no more of the epidural drugs. At 7:15 am my doctor was in and checking me. She had me to a could practice pushes and Emily's head was right there. They took me to the OR quickly (a precaution because of twins) and got everything set up for a vaginal delivery. With a couple good pushed, Emily came out head first at 7:38 am weighing 3 pounds 9 ounces and was 18 inches long. The first sent of NICU doctors and nurses took her right away and got her airways and such cleaned out and started checking her out. My doctor then did an ultrasound to see what Kyle had done with all his extra room - and of course, the little dude decided to go feet down. My doctor stuck her hand in and tried to grab his feet. She broke his water and then started to pull him out. His little head managed to finally make it out at 7:44 am. Kyle weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces and is 18 inches long. He got taken by is own team of NICU doctors and nurses to get checked out.

Emily was doing well. She didn't have any issues other than being so small! I couldn't believe how small she was because at my last growth ultrasound they said she was 4 pounds 7 ounces - they were off a little bit!


Kyle was having some problems breathing on his own right away, so they had him hooked up to oxygen for a couple minutes. But by the time he left the OR, he was breathing fine on his own.


My doctor delivered both of the placentas and then got me all stitched up. I was amazing right away about how well I felt - I was just tired, not in much pain or anything. I got to hold both Emily and Kyle for a couple minutes before they took them off to the NICU for observation. Emily's little tongue was going nuts while I was holding her, and she was looking around at her strange new world. Kyle was content with his eyes closed and just being held!

They took both my babies to the NICU and then took me back to my labor and delivery room. I got to eat and hang out for a bit before being taken upstairs for the maternity unit. We got situated and met with one of the lactation nurses. After pumping for the first time, we headed down to the NICU to see our babies. Kyle had already been taken upstairs to the Late Pre-Term Nursery to join me in my room after some more observation. We visiting Emily for a little bit and I got to hold my little girl again. The nurse said said was going well. They were helping her regulate her body temp and her blood sugar.

When we got back upstairs we had to wait a bit to see Kyle, but eventually got to have him with us for a little bit, then he was taken back to the nursery for a little more observation.

Kyle joined us around 5:30 in our room and has been with us every since. He's a little trooper - has kept his body temp right where it needs to be and hasn't had anymore problems breathing. He really likes the little bit of breast milk I have been able to give him, and last night started the formula a lot better. Wednesday morning the pedi came and checked Kyle out. All looked good, except she heard a heart murmur. The poor little boy had to have his blood pressure taken (a way big deal when you're only 24 hours old), an EKG and an eco to make check on it. The cardiologist said that he doesn't think it's a big deal and says it should go away in a couple weeks on his own. Kyle also had his circumcision, so it's been a long day for him and he still has his car seat test to go!

Emily is still in the NICU and will be for probably at least a week. She is in a little "box" to help her keep warm enough and on IV fluids to help keep her blood sugar where it needs to be. She really likes breast milk, but doesn't seem to like the formula and has a hard time keeping food down. Wednesday morning, a feeding tube was put in to help her eat and keep food down. She is doing much better with eating now!

I will go home on Thursday (tomorrow) and Kyle will come with me as long as he can pass his car seat test. Hopefully in the next week or two Emily will be able to come home too!

Thank you everyone for all of the prayers. Please keep praying for us as we do still have a long road ahead with preemie babies made all the more difficult because one will be home and one still at the hospital in the NICU.

I will try to post more pictures on Facebook once we get home. For some reason it won't let me with the hospital's Internet.

36 Weeks!

I made it to my goal of 36 weeks! Hopefully the babies will come by them selves before the doctors want to induce me... either way, we'll have babies sometime in the next two weeks!

Still Waiting...

My ultrasound on Wednesday went fine... both babies passed with BPP and I actually got to see Kyle's face! Emily has moved way down and is ready to come out, so Kyle has a little more room to move around - and actually showed us his face!

My OB appt on Friday went well today - I was hoping I would get sent to the hospital to have the babies... but no such luck! My cervix is more dilated and more thinned out... but still only "early labor" - no active labor yet! The doctor said "any day now" so we'll see what happens...

We're also still waiting for our house to sell... Our realtor came over on Wednesday night to talk to us about our house and the response (or lack of) that we are getting. Many of the houses in our neighborhood that are selling, are selling for way less than what we are asking for. She thinks that we need to drop our price about $40,000 to get more interest. Which means it would cost us about $40,000 to sell our house. We are in the process of contacting our mortgage company to see what we need to do for a short sale.... so we'll see...

Still in my Belly!

Kyle and Emily still haven't decided to come join us in the world. They seem to enjoy being crammed in my belly!
I have been having contractions pretty much consistently since Sunday, but not close enough or strong enough to go to the hospital yet. I have been told that I am in the early stages of labor and that this stage can last a day or two, or a week or two. I am hoping that active labor comes soon.... having contractions every five minutes makes it really hard to sleep...
I am going for another ultrasound today... will update later with how the babies are doing!

Getting Close!!

I went to my OB today.... and she told me she would be surprised if she saw me in the office next Friday for my next appointment! She thinks the babies will be here on Monday or Tuesday!

10 Pounds of Babies!

I had a growth ultrasound and BPP this morning. Both Kyle and Emily passed the BPP again with flying colors - neither one of the knows how to stay still!

The growth ultrasound brought a little bit of concern. Emily was measuring at 4 lbs 7 oz and Kyle was measuring at 5 lbs 10 oz. The "goal" is for the babies to have less than a 20% difference in their weight, but Kyle and Emily have a 22% difference. After the tech gave me the measurements, she went out to review the images with the doctor. I then had another tech come in to redo some of the measurements. Then my original tech came back to take some different measurements and after her, yet another tech came in to take some more! It was crazy. Finally, the doctor came in to talk to me. (It was a different doctor at MFM that I hadn't seen before and he looked and talked exactly like my cousin Jack - it was kinda weird.) The doctor explained that all of the measurements for both Kyle and Emily were within the normal range - Kyle just happens to be at the higher end of the normal range for weight and Emily is at the lower end for the weight. He explained that because everything else was normal and that their weights were still within the normal range, that he wasn't too concerned at this point. They will just keep a closer eye on both of their weights. Hopefully Emily will have a growth spurt like Kyle did!

Other than that, things are going okay pregnancy wise. I am getting big and even more uncomfortable. My maternity clothes are starting to get tight. My back hurts pretty much constantly. But Emily and Kyle need to stay in my belly for a little bit long, so I am more than happy to endure the pains so that my babies can keep growing and come out healthy!

Please pray for me and the babies as we are in this final stretch!

In other than baby news, Brent started a second part time job this week! This is driving for a dry cleaning company in the afternoons when he is done with Primos. We also have been in "communication" with a church in southern Indiana about a possible ministry - so please pray with us about the opportunity.

I'm Dialated!

I'm dialated to a 1/2 cm! We're getting close!

The doctor reduced my hours again at work... I'm done to 4 hours a day.

Another BPP Passed!

I had another BPP ultrasound this morning and both of the babies did well! Emily was a little sleepy at first, but she started moved around by the end. Both Kyle and Emily are practice breathing and moving all their little parts! We didn't really see their faces again - Emily is so far down and facing my back and Kyle's face is behind Emily's butt still! They tech said they both have hair - Kyle more than Emily! And once again - Kyle was more than willing to show us his little boy parts!
Both of their hearts look and sound good! The PAC in Emily's seems to have resolved itself!!!!
Next week we will have another BPP, as well as growth scan. And this Friday I go back to my OB.

Finally an Update!

Sorry for the slowness in updating... It's been a long week and most of my "free" time as been spent sleepy or trying to sleep.

Sunday I started having contractions at church... at first they were about 10 minutes apart, but once we got home and I laid down and rested they slowed to 20-30 minutes apart. Monday I was still having contractions 20-30 minutes apart and in the afternoon they were starting to be a little more uncomfortable, so I gave the doctor a call and they sent me to the hospital. I was hooked up to the monitors and watched for a bit. They did a test called an fFN test, which came back negative - that told the doctors I had at least another two weeks before I go into labor. My cervix was still closed, but it was soft. They told me to go home and take it easy.

Wednesday we went to Maternal Fetal for the BPP ultrasound. They basically are watching for the babies' movement and "practice breathing." They get points for moving their body, for the practice breathing, for moving their arms and legs, and other such things. Kyle and Emily both got perfect scores! Emily's heart was a lot better, but still not completely normal. Before she was having the extra beat in every pattern, but on Wednesday it was only once every 5 or 6 patterns! The tech was trying to get pictures of the babies for me, but they weren't cooperating very well. In the 3D we could kind of see Emily's face, but she wasn't staying very still and kept putting her arms in from of her face, along with her umbilical cord. We did get a 3D picture of Kyle's ear... but couldn't see his face because it was hiding behind Emily's butt! We did however see his little boy parts in 3D a couple times - he kept showing those off! Silly boy!

Friday I had an appt with my OB. She told me my cervix is all thinned out, but not dilated yet. I have been having more frequent headaches and seeing flashing lights when I have headache - apparently this is related to my blood pressure, which is a little high. She reduced my work hours to only 6 hours a day - hoping to give me time to get more rest and such. More rest should help slow down my contractions (still having pretty consistently 30-45 minutes apart) and should help my blood pressure stay down.

We got back to Maternal Fetal next Wednesday for another BPP and then Friday to the OB - pray for no trips to the hospital this week!

Just a Quick Update...

I had an appointment this morning. Emily's heart sounded good! Let's hope it does again next week when I have the Biophysical Profile (a fancy ultrasound) done.

Friday's OB Appointment

My appointment went well. The doctor said that most likely Emily's heart will correct itself and it won't be anything to worry about. Their heart rates were both a little higher than Wednesday, but still within the normal range. She said my belly looks good, along with my weight gain (I now weigh 9lbs more than I did when I got pregnant).

My belly button has been going back and forth from being flat to popping out the last couple weeks... I think it has finally decided to stay out. It's weird looking :)

30 Week Ultrasound

We had an ultrasound yesterday with the high risk specialists (where most of my ultrasounds are) and the babies are growing! Emily is 2 lbs 14 oz and Kyle is 3 lbs 6 oz. My baby boy has a little chubby belly :) The doctor wasn't concerned about the difference in their size. When I asked the ultrasound tech about it, she said that normally with boy/girl twins the boys tend to be a little bit bigger and that with fraternal twins it's like having to separate pregnancies going on in my belly at the same time, so it's really nothing to worry about. So we'll keep watching and hopefully Emily will take after Kyle and start putting on weight more quickly so we can have two healthy sized babies when they come out!

We didn't get any pictures to share - Emily had her arms in front of her face the whole time and Kyle had his arms up and Emily's butt in his face the whole time. Emily had the hiccups, so it was kind of cool watching and feeling her little body bounce around. She is still head down and just waiting to be big enough to come out. Kyle was practicing breathing. He is still transverse, but has moved down out of my rib cage a little bit.

We did get a bit of potentially bad news though... Emily is having atrial contractions. This means that she has an extra beat in the rhythm of her heart. The doctor said there are lots of things that can cause this and most of the time it goes away by birth. For now they are just going to watch it closely. I will now have weekly doctors appointments and in two weeks will start weekly ultrasounds - which is a little earlier than planned, but not much. I also was told to be completely caffeine free - no pop, no chocolate, no tea, no anything with caffeine in it - to help Emily's little heart.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow with my OB and plan on asking some more questions about Emily's heart now that it has had time to set in. Will try to post an update again tomorrow or Saturday about what my doctor says.

Finally Feeling Better

On Thursday, Kyle decided that he would give me some breathing room! I still have problems breathing when I am up moving around a lot, bend over, or squish my belly in any way... but I can carry on a conversation without gasping for air!

In other news - our realtor is having an open house for our house tomorrow afternoon. Please pray that it will go well and will spark some interest in our house. She has suggested that we reduce our asking price, we are aren't ready to do that yet. The lower we go, the more we are going to have to pay to sell our house... and we are trying to prevent having to go into more debt to sell our house.

My Baby Boy Loves My Lungs

The past couple days I have been very uncomfortable and have been having lots of problems breathing. I have felt like I have constantly been having the wind knocked out of me... a couple times I have been so short of breath my lips have turned blue! I called my OB this morning and they had me come in to see the doctor. Apparently this is fairly normal for having twins... specially because Kyle is all the way on the top of my uterus in a transverse position and a lot of the time that means he is inside my rib cage. She gave me an inhaler and it provides amazing relief for a while. Hopefully Kyle will get the hint soon and move down a little more to give me some more room to breath!
The other not so good news is that I have lost weight again... the doctor didn't seem real concerned about it because the babies and my belly are getting bigger. It's just kinda weird... I am 28 weeks pregnant with twins and only weight 4 pounds more than I did when I got pregnant.
The good news: my contractions have slowed down and I only have 10 more weeks at most before we get to meet Kyle and Emily. In 6 weeks it will be considered safe to deliver them, 8 weeks is my goal, and 10 weeks is when they will be evicted (I'll be induced). We are getting so close!

First Trip to the Hospital of the New Year

I have had a pretty rough week. It started over the weekend when it felt like Kyle and Emily were doing flips in my belly. Then Monday night I started to get lower back pain and it kind of went down hill from there. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the day I was having sporadic cramping that I was pretty sure were contractions. They got worse at night and were accompanied by lower back pain. This morning I called and spoke with a nurse at my doctor's office and she was pretty sure they were contractions too. I got sent to the hospital to get checked out. When I got to the hospital, they hooked up me to the monitors and watched my babies and my contractions. The doctor checked me all out and I am not dilated at all, which is a good thing. She said that at this stage in my pregnancy there is a fine line between what is normal and what is pre-term labor because of the fact that I am having twins. She said right now it doesn't seem to be much to worry about, but if I get to the point where I am having more than six contractions in an hour that I need to call my doctor and head to the hospital. She also said that I probably would keep having these contractions until I go into labor and have the babies... so I guess I better get used to it! We'll see what my doctor has to say at my appt next Friday.
The good news is that Kyle and Emily appear to be perfectly fine! I love my little babies and am very excited to meet them.... but I really would like them to stay in my belly for at least another 6 weeks... hopefully they will stay in there though for another 8!

Quick Ultrasound Update

I don't have the pictures scanned... maybe sometime this weekend. But they said everything looked good. Kyle is 1lb14oz and Emily is 1lb13oz... so they both gain 13oz since my last ultrasound. Their growth is still about 4% of each other (the goal is under 20%). Emily is still head down and Kyle is now in a transverse position (he was breached).
My mom and Michael got to go to my ultrasound with me and see the babies. I think it was different than they thought it would be... but it was fun to have them there!

Nursery Pictures!

We started with a mess.....
A now it's a little better... but still a work in progress....

My Great Grandma made this :)

A Trip to Michigan and a Trip to the Hospital

Last week we were able to go home to Michigan for a whole week! It's the longest we have been home since moving to Delaware. We left on Friday around 5 pm and got to my mom's house around 3:30 am on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we had a baby shower with my family and friends in the area. It was a lot of fun and we got lots of things for Kyle and Emily. Saturday night we headed to Battle Creek to the Christmas musical at Calvary and then spent the night at Brent's parents' house. Sunday we went to Calvary for church, had lunch with Mom and Dad, Aunt Judy, Uncle Randy, and Aunt Debbie - and then headed back to Williamston on the snowy roads! Monday night we did Christmas with my family and then just kinda hung out until Wednesday. On Tuesday we were able to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson for a little bit. Wednesday night we headed back to Battle Creek. On Thursday we went to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Cary and celebrated Christmas with them. Brent then headed to Indiana with Jason (his brother in law) to help move stuff, and I went to another baby shower with Brent's family and friends in Battle Creek. This shower was also fun and we got more things for Kyle and Emily! Friday we celebrated Christmas with Brent's family. Saturday we celebrated Grandma's 75th birthday, hung out with some friends, and playing games with Mom, Alyssa, and Shane. Sunday we went to Northeastern and Calvary for church. After church, my mom and Mike and Kara came down to meet us and we had lunch with them, Brent's parents and Alyssa and Shane. And then... we made the long trip back to Delaware. We had a great time in Michigan with all of our family and friends! Thank you to everyone who made our trip enjoyable and who took part in the Christmas celebrations and Baby Showers.

On Monday afternoon I started having really bad pain in my belly and it kept getting really hard. I called my doctor and they told me to head over to the hospital. Apparently I was really dehydrated and that's what was causing the problems. After checking to make sure everything was okay with the babies and getting my re-hydrated, I was sent home with instructions to drink LOTS of water. I have felt much better since - just have been exhausted.