"Learning Express"- A New Adventure

As I mentioned in my last post...Emma & Evan started Learning Express this past Monday. This was a day I had been dreading. I am not a fan of leaving my babies with people I know, much less people I don't know. We went to orientation on the Thursday before and met their teacher, Mrs. Linda. She really did seem like she already loved E&E but I was still a nervous momma. So, Monday came and as you recall Justin is out of town for work and we have been braving it on our own. So Sunday night...I packed their bags and laid our their clothes as well as my clothes so that ordeal of what to wear Monday morning was taken care of. We all got in the bed early. E&E always go to bed early but I have been taking advantage of Justin being gone to go to bed early too. I got up and got myself ready. My mom came by to help me get the babies ready. We fed them and dressed them and it was time to leave. Meg had offered to help me get the babies inside every morning. Since she was waiting on us I didn't want to be late. We left at 7:40 which should have been plenty of time to get to South Main. We got stuck in traffic at the intersection of Marshall Road and New Market street so I decided them...we needed a new route in the mornings. We finally arrived at South Main and Meg was waiting to help get us inside. We went into the baby room and the lady in there took Emma and sat her down on the floor where another child was playing. The teacher pushed the toy that other child was playing with and it made this loud noise which caused Emma to start crying. She doesn't like loud noises. By this time, the other teacher had taken Evan from me. I quickly kissed Evan bye and left. I couldn't stand to stay there and watch my sweet pea cry. I immediately called Justin and told him I wasn' leaving them there again. Right after that Jillian sent me a picture of Emma and she was fine. She continued to update me throughout the morning. That was our only little problem with Day 1. Day 2 went much better. When we got there...they took Evan and sat him on the floor. He started playing away. Then, they took Emma. I had already kissed Evan so I kissed her and she was fine. Again Jillian sent me pictures and text throughout the day letting me know E&E were doing fine! Here are the pictures from our morning photo shoot the first day.

 

 

Emma's ready for her 1st day!

My sweet peas!!

 

Evan is real excited about his first day!

A whole lot of "FIRSTS"

This post is all about our "first" that are taking place this weekend and the week to come!  First and most important Evan got his first tooth today!!  I have known it was coming for a while now...but it finally broke through the skin this morning.  He started drooling like crazy at 3 months and 6 months later...it's finally here!  Our second first of the weekend is that mommy and babies are tackling staying at home by ourselves!  I have NEVER stayed by myself and I am braving it this week with 2 babies!!  I should get a supermom award!  Justin had to go out of town for work yet AGAIN and instead of disrupting mama & papa's whole week..we thought we would try to be brave and stay by ourselves.  I am more than ready for Justin to start his new job (Sept. 17th) so trips will be no more, over time will be no more...and he will FINALLY be able to spend time with us and doing things he wants to do rather than working his life away!  He is a great dad who always does whatever he needs to provide for us!!  The 3rd first is that Emma & Evan start Learning Express tomorrow.  There will be another post on that subject coming soon with our first day pictures!  For now...I am going to bed and try to not think about Justin not being here!  I am a big girl...and we GOT this!! :)

9 months and growing...

Today marks 9 months for Emma & Evan!  These past nine months have flown by!  I am excited to see the new things E&E are doing everyday but it also reminds me that they aren't babies anymore!  They are turning into toddlers.  Emma is pulling up on everything she can gets her hands on.  She actually thinks she can walk...so once she pulls up...she just lets go and of course falls.  It won't be long before she is walking.  Evan is starting to take interest in pulling up on things. He hasn't been successful yet but he's getting close!  Evan has now mastered the army crawl!  He wiggles & pushes himself across the floor and can manage to get what ever he wants!!  We went to Costco today to buy new cars seats!  Yes...it is already that time!  I really wish I had known about these car seats to begin with.  They grow with the baby.  They start as the rear facing seat, then go to the front facing seat, then turn into a booster seat.  What a great deal!!  Well, it would be if you were only buying 1 but since we were buying 4...it was QUITE expensive.  We also played referree all day long.  Evan thought it was a good idea to pull Emma's hairbow out.  Yes, she can FINALLY wear hairbows.  Granted the hairbow is only hanging on by a couple strands of hair but it is in there!  She didn't seem to even realize it was there but Evan could see it and was determined he was going to pull it out.  So, needless to say the hairbow didn't last long!  Then since the hairbow was gone...Evan thought he would take Emma's paci right out of her mouth...as he sucked on his own paci.  Of course he ended up scratching her and she started screaming.  I just hope this isn't the beginning of our fighting days.  They are WAY too young for that already!  On to the 9 month update...Evan is now 22 lbs.  He is 27 inches long, so that puts him in the 80% for weight, 40% height, and 90% for his head.  I knew he was going to be a smart kid!!  He is right on track developmentally.  They are not eating near what they should be in terms of amounts.  They love all kinds of baby food...they just need to be eating LOTS more of it.  We are working on it though.  On to Emma.  She weighs 19 lbs and is 26 inches long.  That put her in the 30% for weight, 40% for height, & 80% for her head.  I always thought she had a small head...but according to the doctor's charts...she up there too!!  She is also doing everything developmentally that she should be!  She too isn't eating near enough!  This coming Monday starts a new adventure for Emma & Evan.  They will be starting Learning Express, the preschool/nursery at South Main.  I have mixed emotions about this.  I am anxious for them to interact with other kids but I am not thrilled about leaving my babies with complete strangers.  We had orientation last night and got to meet Mrs. Linda who will be their teacher.  She does seem like the nicest lady and I am sure she will love E&E as much as we do..but it's not the same as Janice & my mom!!  I will be sure to post pictures of their first day and let you know how that goes!  Until next time...here are our 9 month pictures. 

 

 

 

Where has the time gone...

This post comes way too late!! I can't believe it has already been 8 months and I haven't blogged once.  That is because two babies have CONSUMED my life and every bit of spare time that I have.  It perfetly okay though because I wouldn't have it any other way.  So, what have we been up to these past 8 months???   Well, I'll start with Evan.  He now weighs over 20 pounds and we often refer to him as our little chunky monkey.  He has such a fun but lazy personality.  He constantly keeps us lauging with his crazy faces.  He knows how to entertain!!  He still isn't crawling but he has finally started making an attempt to get on his hands and knees.  Why crawl when you can just lay there until someone picks you up??  I think that is lazy Evan's mentality.  He loves to eat and really isn't a picky child.  Now if he isn't hungry...you might as well not try to feed him but otherwise...he is a good eater.  He is drinking 7oz of formula at a time now.  Still no teeth!!  I am really starting to wonder if they are in there.  He started drooling like crazy around 3 months so I just knew they would come in soon.  WRONG!!!  Here it is 5 months later and still nothing.  He was sleeping through the night but for the past month or so...he cries out several times a night which is why his daddy & I are sleeping in the guest bedroom.  I'm not sure if we will ever get back into our own bed or not.  It's okay...at least they aren't in our bedroom anymore!  They slept in a co-sleep until they were almost 7 months old...which isn't a good idea...but this momma didn't want to part with them until then.  And it was still hard then!!  Evan is such a good baby who can sit, play, & entertain himself. He is becoming a momma's boy and nothing makes me happier!!  On to Emma...She now weighs a little over 17 pounds and still a small/petite little things.  She is definitely going to keep us on our toes.  She has a very curious and rather nosey personality that doesn't allow her to ever be still.  She is constantly moving!!  Since she is now CRAWLING...that has only helped her ability to explore!!  She is the reason we now have baby gates and will soon be getting locks on cabinets.  I can see her now pulling everything out of our cabinets...but considering my parents say I was the same way...she gets it honest!  It's hard to be mad at her for something she got from me! :)  She is the sweetest thing ever!  Very rarely does she not have a smile on her face.  It is a smile that will melt your heart too...just ask her daddy and grandpa...who she already has wrapped around her little finger!!  Emma has turned into a good little eater also.  At first she struggled a lot and practically ate every meal twice because it took her a while to realize her tounge was pushing all the food back out!  We overcame that obstacle and she eats better than Evan now.  I shouldn't say better...just quicker!  Again that is because there are lots of other things she could be doing instead of sitting in the high chair eating!  She still has no teeth either.  We're still hoping sometime soon though.  That is a good litle update of the babies.  I could go on and on...but who has the time??  We have truley been blessed with two very good babies.  I knew that having two babies would be difficult and trust me there were times I wasn't sure I could do this...but we really have no room to complain about our babies.  They are two perfect little miracles that we would trade for anything in this world.  So until next time...I will be washing bottles, clothes, keeping up with Emma and trying to encourage Evan to move!!  Hopefully it won't be as long before my next post!!

Babies Are Here!!

Well...it has been almost 4 weeks since I updated last and there is a good reason for it.  The babies made their appearance on November 19th!!  In my last post, I had gone to the doctor for my week 36 check-up on Wednesday and there were no changes.  I still wasn't dilated any.  On Thursday night, I started having lots of contractions and went into be checked on Friday.  I saw Dr. Beaudrot and he said there were still no changes.  Saturday, I was at my mom's just standing in the kitchen around lunch time and it was like I peed on myself.  This had never happened before so I wasn't sure if I had peed on myself or if my water had broke.  I texted Justin because he was in the woods hunting and told him that he might need to come home.  I called the nurse on call and she told me that it could just be that one of the babies had pushed on my bladder.  She told me to change my pad, be sure my bladder was empty, and that if it were to happen again, that I needed to call her back.  It happened 2 more times, so I called the nurse back and she wanted me to go to the hospital and be checked.  We got there a little after 4:00.  They did a test to check and see if the fluid I was leaking was amiotic fluid and it was.  This test isn't the best one so then they did another test.  The first test doesn't cost me anything but the second did...that is why they start with the first test.  Dr. Carter was on call and he ordered the second test.  It came back positive too so that meant babies would be born that night.  So, we called our parents and told them that this was it!!  Justin's family was having their family gathering with the Leopard's...so Mike & Dottie had to try and get everyone gone so they could be there when the babies were born.  The anithesioligist came in and told me everything he would be doing and that we would go into surgery within the next 45 minutes.  This would have been about 6:00.  Our families all got to the hospital as we were sitting in the room just waiting.  There was an emergency in the ER, so they pushed my section back until 8:00.  BUT...about 7:15 the nurses came in and told Justin to get dressed we would be heading back within 15 minutes.  It seemed like a million people were in and out of the room doing things and boy did I start getting nervous!!  We headed back at 7:30.  Justin wasn't allowed in the room while they did the spinal.  As soon as that was over and Dr. Carter had started cutting on me, Justin was allowed in the room.  At 7:54, Evan Curtis Turner was born and weighed 6lb 3oz.  At 7:56 Emma Caroline Turner was born and weighed 5lb 8oz.  Both babies were doing good and didn't have to go to the NICU!!  They took the babies to recovery and Justin went with them while Dr. Carter finished up with me.  It took me about 30 more minutes and they wheeled me into recovery with the babies.  Evan's sugar was low so we had to immediately try breastfeeding him.  He sucked a little bit but not enough so they had to feed him some from the syringe.  Emma's breathing was too fast, so they made me hold her skin to skin to see if that would slow her breathing down.  It worked and feeding Evan brought his sugar up...so we just had to wait and be watched for the next 2 hours.  Both babies got their first bath and finally it was time to go back into my room and let our families see the babies.  They wheeled me in first and then the babies behind me.  Justin thought it would be a fun idea to let everyone guess who was who.  They were all able to guess who was who!!  That was Saturday night.  Sunday, was a bad day!!  We were VERY sleep deprived.  Not because the babies didn't sleep Saturday night...we just didn't sleep for worrying and watching them all night.  Then, with all the visitors we had Sunday there was no time for sleeping.  Both babies were not nursing like they should and that of course was also stressful.  We sent the babies to the nursery for about an hour so we could get some sleep and while they were in there...Emma sit up a lot and turned gray so they had to run something down in her stomach to try and get out as much mucus as they could.  C-section babies have a lot more mucus than vaginal deliveries because this mucus is squeezed out when they go through the birth canal.  Emma's weight was down to 5lb 4oz.  Of course this worried me because 1) she wasn't keeping her food down and 2) if they go less than 5lb...they have to go to NICU.  Plus, on top of that I wasn't going to the bathroom like I should have been.  If I didn't go, they were going to put the caithiter back in.  All this happened Sunday afternoon so I had a little meltdown.  There were people in the hall waiting to see us and I was in the bathroom crying my eyes out to my mom for like 30 minutes.  We ended up sending the babies back to the nursery again Sunday night so we could get some rest.  That was the best decision we could have made.  Monday was much better...baby wise. Evan had his circumcison and did great!!  The doctor said he didn't even cry until it was over.   They had told us that he probably wouldn't eat much that day but he ate like normal. Both babies had their hearing test and passed as well as other test they run on newborns.  Me on the other hand... I didn't do so good.  After the section Saturday...my stomach was almost gone.  By Monday...it had swollen so much from gas that it was almost unbearable!!  They were giving me everything possible to help me pass the gas and nothing was really working.  I even had to walk laps around the hospital trying to help.  That plus being so sore was horrible!!  We were dismissed on Tuesday and got to go home.  Emma's dismissal weight was 5lb 2 oz and Evan's was 6lb 1oz.  Their jaundice levels were 10 on Tuesday.  The doctors don't normally do anything unless the levels were 14.  So, we had to go in for a check on Wednesday and their levels were up to 12...so they had to wear these billy blankets to help.  With the next day being Thursday and Thanksgiving...Dr. Felder didn't want their levels to go to 14 and no one be open to get the blankets to the babies.  So, we spent Thanksgiving wearing these blankets and had to go back on Friday for more bloodwork to see where their levels were.  They were back down to 9 so they were able to come off the blankets.  Since then...we have been adjusting to life with twins!!  My mom has been a lifesaver!!  She has practically lived with me for the past 3 almost 4 weeks and I know we couldn't have made it without her.  She is the best mom ever and I hope to be as good as her one day!!  We went for our two week check-up last Friday, Dec. 9th.  Evan was up to 7lb 7oz and Emma was up to 6lb 5oz.  Both babies are growing.  Evan can no longer wear preemie outfits!!  Both babies still have heads full of hair and it seems to be growing like crazy too.  Before long...Emma will be able to wear her hairbows!!  I can't wait.  I think we have finally figured out a good formula for both babies and they seem to be getting into a sleeping pattern at night.  I think me & Justin are just finally figuring them out.  We are a little sleep deprived but nothing like it could be.  With Christmas just around the corner we have lots going on.  I will try to update again soon!!

Week 36

Today starts weeks 36!!  I can't believe we still don't have any babies!!  Since week 25, I have worried and worried that they would come too early and have to go to the NICU and here we are 11 weeks later and the babies don't have any desire to come out!!  I had my weekly appointment with Dr. Forrest yesterday.  She also couldn't believe I was still pregnant.  She actually said "We have done a good job keeping you pregnant this long!"  If we make it to 37 weeks...they will be considered full-term.  I think for the most part all their organs should be developed by now.  The last thing to develop is their lungs and with all the steroid shots I have gotten...their lungs should be good to go!!  Plus...if they are gaining weight like they should, they should weigh about 6 lbs now.  That is 12 pounds of baby and since I have now gained 20 lbs...they are still the majority of that weight gain!!  Dr. Forrest checked me today to see if I had dilated any.  She said I hadn't and that the only thing keeping me from dilating is the fact that I had the LEEP back in 2007 and it created scar tissue that is keeping my cervix closed.  I think she could tell I was a little disappointed that even with getting up last week that nothing had changed.  She changed her mind and said I might be dilated 1 cm or a fingertip!!  I think she was just trying to make me feel better!! I am no longer taking my Procartia for contractions.  I guess they don't need to control them anymore.  I feel like I am having them all the time but they still aren't very strong.  Dr. Forrest wants me to have another ultrasound next Tuesday to check their growth one more time before the section...if I am still pregnant next Tuesday.  I can pretty much guarantee I will still be pregnant.  Then I will get to see Dr. Forrest afterwards.  This will be my last regular appointment before the babies are born.  IF I am still pregnant the following week...I will have my c-section on the 29th of November.  I will have to go to the Diagnostic Center on the 28th, which is Monday, for my pre-op and they will tell me what time to be at the hospital on Tuesday.  On the other hand...I had the strangest thing happen to me last night.  I was laying in the bed and praying for the babies because they hadn't really be moving that much.  I have been really worried about that because it their movement decreases it could be that something is wrong.  So, as I laid there praying that my sweet babies were okay, I distinctly heard a voice say "tonight at 8:00".  I am not really sure what this means...but all I can think is that these babies are going to be born tonight at 8:00.  That thought really SCARES me.  It may have nothing to do with the babies but it was really weird.  I immediately woke Justin up and told him what had happened just in case they do come tonight...I wanted him to know what happened!!  So, we are just patiently waiting to see what happens and on the arrival of out little miracles.  We are so ready to meet them.  I am ready for the whole labor part to be over with and to be able to hold our babies and not have to worry about them as much anymore.  I know my worrying is just beginning but it will be a different kind of worrying!!  I will be able to hold them and know they are alive and well!!  While they are still inside me, I can't tell what is going on with them!!  So, unless something changes between now and next Tuesday...I will be updating next week.  If Emma & Evan decided to make their appearance sooner...I will be sure to post sooner!!  Until next time...

Week 35

Well, we made it to 35 weeks!!  I had my weekly appointment this afternoon with Dr. Carter.  He was very impressed that I was still pregnant!!  He said I have done really good and that if he were me he would be getting up now.  So, I don't have to lay down all the time anymore.  If the babies were to come now...the should be just fine.  I still haven't dilated any but my cervix is very thin.  I feel like as soon as I do start getting up some it won't be long before they come.  He also stopped the home monitor for contractions.  The purpose of this was to keep me from going into labor early but if I were to go into labor now...they wouldn't stop it so the monitoring was really pointless.  We are scheduling my section for either Nov. 29th or Dec. 1st because those are the two days in week 38 that Dr. Forrest is working.  They don't really think I will go that far, but it will definitely give me an end date to look forward too.  We will definitley know which day tomorrow.  Dec. 1st would be cool since that was Grammy's birthday but I am hoping we don't go that far.  I am really hoping they come next Friday so they will be home for Thanksgiving. Whenever they want to come will be fine..but if I could choose next Friday will be great!!  My next appointment is on Tuesday of next week with Dr. Forrest at 3:40.  They wanted me to schedule my appointment with her since she will be the one doing my section if we make it to the scheduled date.  Unless something happens before then, I will post more next week after our appointment.  We have all our bags packed and ready to go.  We are just waiting for Emma & Evan to make their appearance!!