Anna & Brynn are here!

Anna Rose & Brynn Elizabeth made their arrival into the world on Wednesday, Sept 10th! 

We are so over the moon in love with our two little girls and are amazed at how they arrived right on time, were a good size, and have had no problems so far. They were able to go right to the regular nursery after getting checked out and they spent their entire hospital stay in the room with us. 

They arrived on their scheduled c-section date at 3:12 & 3:13 p.m. Brynn was pulled out first and Anna was second, born just 30 seconds apart. The doctor was joking that he wanted them to be born the same minute but started with not enough time on the clock! At least this way we have a definite older sister. Another funny thing is that Brynn was baby B throughout all my ultrasounds but was born first so she was technically baby A while in the hospital. This was a little confusing as their names didn't match their hospital initials but we wanted to stick with their ultrasound initials since that is how I had been thinking of them for a long time. 

Although older, Brynn weighed in at 5 lbs, 8 oz and Anna weighed in at 6 lbs, 6 oz. I was shocked at how far apart their weights were, especially at our last growth ultrasound they said they were about the same, just under 5 lbs. They both cried right away and were whisked away to another room to be checked over before coming to say hi to me. They both scored 8 & 9 on their apgars test. 

In terms of the surgery, everything went really smoothly. My doctor told me I had a "great uterus" so I am holding that very special compliment near and dear to my heart. :o) I was very, very, very anxious leading up to the surgery in the week that followed. I was nervous about my blood pressure being up and monitored it several times a day at home. I was also nervous because at my last NST two days before the surgery the tech noted that my placenta seemed to be aging and Anna was not being cooperative on the monitor. Both these things are not causes for alarm, but they were of course for me. I appreciate so much everyone's nice text and facebook messages and prayers leading into the surgery- I definitely felt lifted up!  

The surgery was scheduled for 2:30 pm so we had a whole morning to mill around at home with nothing to do but be worried. It actually helped that my cleaning ladies had to come over on Wednesday instead of Tuesday so I could it made for some activity in the house. We left the house a little before noon to report to the hospital at 12:30 to check in. They told me the best chance of not getting bumped back later (another worrisome thought!) was to be right on time and ready to check in so you better believe I was there on time! I got checked in and then we got changed and hooked up to the monitors and blood drawn for labs while we waited for our surgery time. If you ever have had surgery, you know the waiting game- waiting for the doctor to be ready, then waiting for anesthesia, then the room...it always seems like something to wait for.  I had great nurses, except I didn't discover that my nurse's husband was a retired band director until five minutes before she wheeled me to the OR! She said we could have been talking shop that whole time! :o) 

Once in the OR, everything was calm and routine. I was really surprised as I had made this up to be such a big deal in my head- why wasn't anyone else making a huge deal out it?? As soon as I got my spinal, it was go time! I was a little worried as it seemed like they were getting pretty busy behind the curtain and they hadn't brought Scott in yet. What if they forgot about him? But sure enough they brought him in at the last minute right before the babies were out. It was such a funny thing to feel them pull one out after the other while not feeling anything at the same time. 

We had to stay in recovery for a while because it took twice as long to check out twice as many babies. They finally wheeled them in to me hours later (I think it was 7pm!) and I got to hold them for a little bit. 

Mom, Aunt Denise and Michael had been anxiously waiting all afternoon (even leaving daycare early to wait for the phone call that they were safely here!) to come and visit to they came down while I was in recovery to catch their first glimpse at the girls. Michael had the biggest smile on his face! 

We finally got transferred to our room on the mother and baby floor and were ready to settle in for the night (haha). It was weird delivering so late in the day because there was still a lot of hustle and bustle late at night. The girls both nursed well and then got a bottle from dad afterwards, every three hours through the night. We were so happy that they were doing well and got to spend their hospital stay in our room with us! They were mostly worried about their temperature staying up and feeding well since they were smaller. Technically they were born at 36 weeks, 6 days (even though I usually say 37 weeks) so they were still considered "late pre-term babies" which meant they had to do some special tests like their carseat test, had their care clustered around feedings, and I also had a lactation consultant who visited every day. I also felt like we had a nurse in our room most of the time, helping out so I'm not sure if that is normal or if just because they were twins. I tried to be the best patient I could be and not be a pain! 

Recovery went well for me in the hospital. There was a lot of things I didn't remember (or didn't choose to remember!) about the pain from the c section but we got it managed well. I think I had a harder time getting out of bed and walking the halls this time just because my activity level had been so low the whole time I was pregnant. It probably took until five days after delivery until I felt steady on my feet and not like my lungs were bursting after a few minutes. I also think I am becoming more paranoid to the way my body responds to things in my old age because I stopped taking the prescription pain pills about a week after surgery- they made me feel lightheaded and gave me a headache. I also had a ton of swelling from surgery and thankfully that has gone down now as well as I've been more active and trying to walk outside a bit every day. My feet had not been swollen this whole pregnancy and suddenly they were so swollen it hurt to walk! It is still hard for me to remember to not overdo things even though I feel pretty good because I will pay for it the next day in terms of pain, bleeding, and energy level.  

Our hospital stay was filled with visitors, managing feedings (I would nurse, Scott would bottle feed, then I would pump...and then start over again!), and trying to rest. The days flew by and we left the hospital on Saturday morning after staying just three nights. I did not feel ready to go home yet but I was happy to not have so many people always bothering me at all hours of the day. We managed to get packed up and discharged at noon but it still took us almost an hour to get home after stopping at the pharmacy and for take out lunch. Luckily we made it home in time for the big Iowa-Iowa State game but I was zonked out for a nap the whole game until the last few minutes. It was good timing because that is when we won the game! I would say that is a great coming home present! 

We are doing really well at home and yes, we are getting plenty of sleep and Michael is adjusting well. I will have to update you again soon with our routine at home- it is laid back but also busy. We are just so happy the girls are here safe and sound and I just feel like the luckiest mom in the whole world, every minute of the day.