I had the babies!

Oh, my! Please don't be mad at me for not updating the blog. I have been a little busy, you know having babies and all. Last time I posted was like two months ago and since then a few things have happened. First of all, I got bigger . . . my belly I mean.

This picture was taken at 32 weeks. As I look at it now, I can't believe that I could be so big. It blows my mind that the female body can stretch this much.

This one was taken at 36 weeks or one week before I went into the hospital. I don't think I look much bigger than the picture before, but my belly sure did drop. The babies are ready to come out, and momma wants them out! I was miserable in my last few weeks. My back hurt the most and it did not matter how I laid, I was in pain. We also had a scare with Baby B (Izzy). She was not gaining weight very well after about 32 weeks. At our 35 week check up the doctor said that if she did not gain anything we were going to have to have them early. Luckily, she did gain some weight (about half a pound) and we were able to wait two more weeks to have them.

Labor was great! (to be read with lots of sarcasm!) My husband, Cory and Mom were with me the whole 30 hours! Yes, I said 30 hours! I was so glad when the doctor came in and said it was time to push. Here I was, the last 8 and half months we had been planing for this moment. I was going to have babies!

It took a while for baby A (Pepper) to come out. She had to be sucked out with the help of a vacuum too. During the time when I was pushing her out I ruptured a cyst and unfortunately was losing a lot of blood. When she came out, she was quiet blue and they took her to the warming bed while the doctor and I got ready for baby B. The plan was to turn Baby B around and push her out like normal, but by then I had lost so much blood that the doctor just stared delivering her right away. Thus, Izzy was born breech. One foot and then the rest of her, followed by her head last. Thank goodness she was the smaller baby! They were born around 10pm on June 16th 2010, only three minutes apart. Because Pepper was having a hard time breathing and Izzy had had a hard time gaining weight and only weighed 4 pounds I only got to kiss them each one time and they were taken away to receive medical attention.

I knew that they were going to be fine but it was still sad that I was not able to hold them. In the recovery room I received two blood transfusions and finally felt well enough to go see my girls in the NICU.

This one is Pepper. She weighted 5.5 pounds.

And here is my little Isabelle. She weighed 4.1 pounds.

Both girls did so well in the hospital. After only a few days they both got their IV's out and were taken off the warming beds. They are so beautiful and I can't believe I now have two babies! It's crazy and surreal. I am now a mom.

Look, I made dinner!!!

Anyone who "knows" me knows that I don't cook. I have maybe tried to cook 5 times in the last 7 years with maybe 3 of those dishes turning out. Cory is the cook in our house and he loves to cook, so I don't fight it. However, with two little girls on the way, I wanted to try cooking so if Cory is having an off day we still can eat at home and save some money instead going out to eat.

And look at what I made for dinner . . . .

Cory was laughing at me because I was taking a picture of it and I am so proud. It tasted so good too! News flash everyone . . . ASHLEY COOKED DINNER!

Bouncies for the bears?

I am so excited for my girls to get here! Can I say that too many times? Well, I am, and it seems like everyday that goes by I just get more and more excited. I have really enjoyed making a nursery and getting cribs together and buying things for the girls, but . . . . it seems like my mom is even more excited than me.

Let me explain. She bought a crib for her house before I had one. She was the first person to buy clothes, shoes, hair things, and those kinds of things and bring them over to my house. She bought her car seats at the same time I bought mine. And . . . . .

Well, I went over to her house the other day and she had these up on the counter. My sister put the bears in them. Oh how cute! I hope you guys get a laugh out of it.

26 week picture

Ok, so this is my 26 week picture. I am not actually 26 weeks, I'm 29 right now, but because I am still working, and my life is still crazy busy, I have fallen behind.

We are doing ok for right now. Just in the last week I have started to get a lot of the 3rd trimester symptoms. Such as: I had to take off my rings because my fingers are starting to swell up. My feet also are feeling quite tight in my shoes and just today I can see the swelling in my toes. I have back pains and have had to go to the pool 4 to 5 times a weeks to take some of the pressure off. I am sleeping in one hour intervals now which would be fine if I didn't have to go to work. It is quite hard to be on my game with such little sleep but one hour is still one hour and at this time I will take it!

The girls are doing great! I am having so much fun feeling them move around in my belly. Cory and I have decided on names too. Pepper and Isabelle! They already have such cute personalities. The baby that we call Pepper is on my right side and sits low in my belly. She kicks me all day long. She likes to kick my ribs, my side, the other baby, my bladder, and anything else she can. She cracks my up because if you poke her she will poke (or kick)you back. She is always so active and when she wants to move or change positions, she moves like a crazy girl! Izzy sits front a center with her head down and her butt in the air. She pushes that cute little butt out as hard as she can and will hold it for hours!!! I picture her arms and legs pushing with all her might against my spine and her back against the front of my belly trying to make my womb stretch to a larger size. She already hates sharing with her sister. When she moves or kicks it is slow and with purpose. She is much more mellow then her sister and puts up with her kicking and active behavior better then I do.

Oh, I love them so much!

The cutting of the hair!

Wow, I never knew how long women's hair can grow when they are pregnant. One big plus for me is that, for quite a few months, I have enjoyed beautiful long thick hair. Most of the time when I want to grow my hair out it never happens so well because I happen to had very thin hair. It always seems to become even thinner the longer it is too. But with a large amount of pregnancy hormones running through my body, my hair has stayed thick and rich. However, I still live in AZ.

And with AZ comes it's summers. And with it's summers comes the heat. I just can't stand it anymore!!! The extra "fluff" that we call "da babies" sitting in my belly is adding even more insulation. This has forced me to cut off the hair that for the first time in my life was growing out so well.

It's all cut off!

I do really like it though. My hair stylist is awesome, so it turned out way cute, I just miss my long hair. Too bad, so sad! Maybe if Cory and I decide to have more kids we can plan it so I can keep my long hair though the whole thing.

(That's a good reason to have more kids right?)

The Nursery is coming together!

Yay! So Cory, my sisters, and myself have spent the last month painting and getting the nursery ready. Today Cory and I put one of the cribs together, and I could not help myself. I ran to Target, printed off my own registry, and bought a set of the bedding that I registered for. It looks so cute!

I really am so excited for my girls to get here. I keep going into the nursery and looking in the empty crib and picturing two little girls sleeping soundly all curled up in blankets. I know that they will be crying a lot too, but I like to picture it with them sleeping. (let me dream, at least for now)

I can't wait to be a mommy!!!

Ok, everyone, I have hit the 23 weeks mark.

As for right now we are doing good. (Both mom and babies) I was able to get my blood pressure to come down and it looks like we are going to be sailing to the 30 week mark with no problems. The doctor said at that when we hit that mark we are going to have to keep a closer watch on me and the babies at that time because if I was having a hard time with my blood pressure before we might have a scare later. We will see when we get there!

I can't believe that I am coming to a close on my second trimester. I keep having these "whoa" moments during the day where it hits me what I have gotten myself into. We are going to have two babies running around our house! After 7 years of just Cory and I, it is hard to envision.
Oh, well! It's coming!