Birth and Happily Ever After

Well, the day has arrived.  Friday, May 7, Meg had a scheduled C-Section to deliver our found-to-be adorable twins.  What a ride it's been.  15 weeks ago we were in the hospital worried that we were having babies way ahead of schedule.  Then a month later to again be in the hospital fighting continuing contractions.  And then we were blessed with an incredibly smooth last 2 months that gave us 3d images of our baby girl that I still cannot believe is possible, positive-news doctors visits, and an onslaught of care and prayer that we so desperately needed.  I cannot express to our family or friends the appreciation we have for that prayer and for the care.  The meals that were cooked and brought to us, the house cleaning that was done on precious days off, the quick phone call checkups; these all went far in helping us along and giving us the resources to press on.  And quietly, God, walking along with us.  Carrying us more often than we knew.  Always remaining faithful.  God is good.  These last 9 months have taught me so many lessons.  He has taught us to trust Him and that sometimes half of trust is patience.  He has taught us that He is always faithful.  He has taught us that our strength will not be enough and to rely on His strength to meet our needs.  So firstly, to God be the glory in the birth of our children.  We thank you Lord for the blessing you have given us.

So on friday we went in for our scheduled 9:30 C section.  Meg was pretty nervous as she has never had surgery and she knows too much about all that can go wrong with deliveries.  After some quick baby monitoring and surgery prep she was rolled in and given an Epidural.  The epidural was smooth and so much better than she expected.  Mere minutes later baby Benjamin Thomas was pulled out and presented to now Mom and Dad.  What a joy and relief.  That first cry was the most welcomed sound.  Immediately afte,r we were shown our second joy in Emma Mackenzie.  Both babies were quickly wiped down and checked and showed to be in perfect health.  They rolled me and the babies over to recovery while they finished up with Meg.  My mom got to do the babies first baths and measurements.  Benjamin weighed in at 5 lbs 14 oz and 19.25 inches long.  Emma weighed in at 5 lbs 6 oz and 19.25 inches long.  Meg joined us shortly after this and what a great family time we had enjoying the first minutes of our childrens lives.  Eventually we found our way to our hospital room and got settled into a frantic schedule of feedings.  These babies are great nursers though, so yet another blessing was given to us.  We did not have to fight to wake them to feed, or fight to get them to latch, or wait for Meg to have enough milk to feed them.  At this point, nothing could have gone any smoother than it did.  I think God just wanted to put an exclamation point on His handiwork these 9 months with our delivery experience. 

We spent 4 days in the hospital.  We were able to come home on Monday and immediately entered into another frantic schedule.  And that is basically where life finds us now.  Ben and Emma feed on a 3 hour schedule.  Each feeding takes about 1 hour and 30 mins leaving us the rest to sleep, eat, live.  As such, we are running quite low on sleep, but such is parenthood.  We are fighting to just keep moving forward. 

What a life changing event.  Every level of life is fundamentally changed and a whole new perspective is used to filter life.  I think I'll have more to say on this last part, but for now it's just time to get some sleep. 

Up next Benjamin Thomas

And now for Emma Mackenzie    

Youtube

We have started a Youtube channel in anticipation of the twins arriving.  We intend to upload videos of fun moments similiar to updating the blog here. 


Our youtube videos can be found at this link.

http://www.youtube.com/user/thejiminy

Enjoy

Light at the end of the tunnel

Despite our lowered expectations, Meg has carried these rapidly growing twins to 37 weeks.  Yep, I said 37 weeks.  13 weeks ago we were playing it day by day.  9 weeks ago we had our second hospital visit due to contractions.  Today we have had over 2 months of semi-smooth sailing and thoughts have shifted nearly 180 degrees.  Now we are waiting for contractions, waiting for a spontaneous shower.  Waiting for the imminent arrival of our welcomed babies. 

We have mostly completed the nursery preparations.  We have been stockpiling diapers.  We have a dresser full of clothes and blankets galore.  We have four handcrafted blankets/quilts for each baby waiting to provide comfort and warmth.  So now it is a different waiting game.  Anxiously waiting instead of waiting anxiously. 

We have been visiting the hospital each weekend to have the twins monitored.  Each week is a peek at this new life.  A time to hear their steady, strong heartbeats.  It is fascinating and inspiring.  I spend my time thinking about how life will change, the things I will want to do with them, the responsibility that comes with having babies.  Imagining playing catch, making smores camping, reading to them, or just plain watching them be alive.  I am excited! 

And now for some pictures.  I have to say everything I want to say before the pictures because I know you wouldn't read it otherwise.  It's like a picture hungry mob out there.

First we have a selection of pictures from the showers Meg had at Cheryl's and the family shower at Marlene's. 

Next, we have a couple photos of the quilts that Marlene made for each of the kids. 

 

This is one of the blankets that Sherry Myklebust made.  She also made a blue blanket.  Some really talented knitters/quilters we have here.

With genes like the following two pictures we are going to have beautiful, loving, and intensely strong charactered children.  What a blessing to have such family.

 Extended family on the Teague side. 

 And we will finish up today with pictures of the completed nursery. 

3D ultrasound

Meg is now 33 weeks along with our rapidly growing twins.  We had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago to measure growth and check everything out.  This was a good news only appointment which was a nice change from our usual.  Both babies are growing at excellent paces being in the 49th percentile for growth at that age.  Our baby girl can in fact empty her bladder.  The placenta has migrated upward in meg's uterus and is not the concern it once was.  Overall, the news from this appointment was encouraging and comforting.  After the ultrasonographer finished her measurements she switched on the 3D imaging and a whole new realm of unbelief was opened.  The clarity with which you can see facial construction is astounding. 

I know it would appear that our baby girl has a trunk like an elephant in this picture, but I can assure you (with some confidence) that it is not a trunk and is only a stray arm or leg.  There are four of each of these floating around right now.

In the last couple of weeks we have also finished up the baby shower's, built the cribs, cleaned the carpets, and started sorting all of the stuff that needs to go into that room.  We are nearly prepared to be completely unready for what we are getting ourselves into!

Again I would like to say thank you to all our friends and family.  The generosity and love experienced in these showers and outside of them is amazing.  What a blessing it is to be among such company. 

P.S.  We have only been able to get a 3D image of our baby girl at this point.  Benjamin has been uncharacteristically shy at the last two appointments, but tomorrow is another appointment and thus another potential opportunity for a sneak peek. 

Baby Shower

Meg has asked that we post some pictures of her baby shower with her coworkers.  Their generosity was a great blessing and Meg had a great time getting to visit with humans, in real life, and out of the house.  It was a trifecta of entertainment for a bedridden mother-to-be constricted mostly to association with television personalities and boring old me.

An example of Angela's adorable creativity.  Don't be too disturbed by the balloons.  They are only lifelike representations.  Angela did not actually shrink our heads and attach them to balloons.

Megan enjoying a couple of the gifts she received.

And only semi-facetiously the most important part of any day for Meg - CUPCAKE CAKE!

Meg did have a fantastic time with good friends and generous friends.  Thank you so much for being a part of our ability to raise these twins.

We'll finish up this post with a fresh perspective on the growing belly Meg is sporting.  First pictures is at 5 weeks; second picture is at 29 weeks. 

Pressures

Life these days is certainly becoming more interesting.  After the events of week 24 Meg has been placed on bedrest.  The bedrest was in part our decision based on how we felt about Meg's job and just her challenges in carrying our babies.  With each passing week we are more and more sure of that decision.  Contractions have continued to be a frustrating, confusing component of pregnancy.  There are bursts of time where Meg will have an unusually high number of contractions and other times where she won't have any for hours.  But at what point do you get concerned?  How many is too many?  This past Sunday presented exactly this question.  In the evening she was having 6-8 contractions an hour and after a couple hours we decided to call the doctor.  We called at 8:00.  Thanks to the wonderful service we receive on our cell phones with ATT we didn't get to speak to the doctor until 9:30.  And of course by this time the contractions had slowed down.  We got to stay home Sunday night.  Of course Monday is a new day.  Late in the afternoon Meg's contractions pick up again.  We decided to go visit Dr. Cowles thinking she might be bored and need company.  Meg got on the monitor and we got a chance to see two beautiful strong heartbeats.  What a relief it is to see this in a time of stress and concern over the contractions.  The doctor decides to try to slow down the contractions with a different medicine this time.  After about four hours they slow down and Meg got to go back home, only this time with a new set of guidelines. 

Apparently Meg had not become closely enough acquainted with her bed or the couch during the past month.  So they decided she needed to spend more quality time with them.  In an effort to give her body the best possible conditions they have restricted her bedrest.  No more going out, no more cooking, no more cleaning.  And they are having her stay on the meds to stop contractions.

We also got the opportunity to experience Walgreen's 24 hour pharmacy at midnight!  I would recommend calling in your emergent prescriptions even at such wee hours as we got to wait over an hour to fill a seemingly simple prescription. 

Patience.  Lesson of the month?  Treating contractions with patience vs anxiousness.  Not complaining when we have to wait an hour for a prescription.  Playing the waiting game in the hospital trying to get contractions to slow.  Hard lessons to learn.  Lessons with somewhat minimal consequence right now.  Having patience with a crying baby or even TWO BABIES carries a lot more consequence.  (we're having twins if you haven't heard)  Testing always has a purpose.  Finding the purpose in the midst of the challenge...

Prayer request for this post:  Even today we are faced with new challenges.  Please pray that the contractions are controlled by the medication and Meg's uterus somehow finds a way to expand even more to provide time for growth.  Please pray that we find peace in a stressful time and that we practice patience to grow the character God is refining. 

25 weeks

Meg had her monthly ultrasound/checkup on wednesday.  I almost made a joke to her before we went about what new concern would present itself today.  It seems that today's technology is a mixed blessing.  On the one hand we have access to amazing information.  Information that can be life saving or life altering in positive ways and information that is hugely inspirational to curious parents/loved ones.  At the same time this information is more than we may ever need to know.  Example of the week.  Our girl apparently has a bladder with walls like Fort Knox.  As they are scanning around they find she has a very full bladder.  They wonder if she just has not relieved herself or if maybe she cannot relieve herself.  So they check her kidneys and fluids and everything there looks fine.  Basically, they think she just needs to empty her bladder, but they will make a note of the finding and check in the future to see if it remains an issue.  If we had been scheduled for a 9:00 ultrasound instead of 7:00 would we even have something to be concerned with? 

Second example:  while Meg was in the hospital they were using your standard baby monitor to make sure the babies were doing well.  These monitors are little saucer shaped sensors they lock in place on your belly.  They don't move; babies do.  Obviously, as a baby moves or mom moves or the air conditioning blows the babies are not evenly monitored.  The little machine that displays the reading thus bounces all over the place.  Our little ones normal heart rates are at about 140-150 beats per minute.  This machine erratically bounces up into the 200's, down into the 70's, 50's, 90's, and occasionally just shows lines as though there is no heartbeat.  Next to this displayed number is a flashing heartbeat.  The heartbeat only flashes if the machine is picking up the actual heartbeat at a measureable pace.  They decide its good if dad can see this machine.  Maybe they have found it is a great distraction for dads so they don't bother the nurses or doctors, because if that machine is visible I just sit fixated on those bouncing numbers.  Everytime it moves from 150 I start getting my own irregular heartbeat.  I have decided this machine needs a daddy mode where it just displays a constant beating heartbeat even if the machine is not registering that.  If there is a problem the machine can just tell the nurses at the desk.

So...technology is great.  I don't want to sound sour, because I think ultrasounds are amazing.  I think they are a glimpse into the miracle of creation that previous generations were not afforded.  I think they are a great tool in the fight against abortion, and may cause the eventual equivalent of the emancipation proclamation.  Each time I get to see the rapidly beating hearts growing inside I am excited, assured, and inspired.  And thus, we march on.  We continue to pray for the Lord to protect the babies inside Meg's womb and to allow them to continue to grow staying inside.  We pray for His blessings on their new lives, that they may be ready to follow and serve Him upon their arrival. 

On a different note, Meg and I have completed one of the baby name books that we have.  We did not add but a couple names out of that whole book to our list for the baby girl.  As such, suggestions and bribes are still readily welcomed.  We have a second book claiming it has 25,000 names.  Bribes sound much better.