The girls are here!

I know...I'm a little late - but the girls are here!

Here is a brief run down of what/how things happened. Actually...it's pretty long!

I hit 34 weeks on September 24th, while I was still on hospital bed rest, which I was totally frustrated with. Not that I was trying to be selfish or anything, but I was ready to be done being pregnant and most of all, I was done being in the hospital. Everyone kept telling me "you want to keep the babies in there as long as possible, that is what's best for them." I prayed many many times that these babies would come soon and that they would be healthy. I was prepared that they would, more than likely, have to be in the NICU.

My days were pretty routine while I was there. Let's start at 5:00am: the lab nurse would come in, flick on ALL the lights (until the last few times when I said "Do you HAVE to flick all the lights on?"), and draw blood. That was pretty much Brandon's alarm clock. He would then get up and get ready for work. He would kiss me good bye and leave for work at about 5:30. I would doze back off and get into a good sleep, then the food service people would come with breakfast at about 7:00am - really...who eats that early? My dad would be there at that time and stay with me for a couple of hours until my mom got there. (can you tell I didn't want to be alone?!) The new nurse would come in between 8 and 9:00am. We would do all the vitals, take meds, ask questions, etc. Dr. Westerholm would make her rounds between 9-9:30am. She would tell me I was doing good and that we wanted to hold out as long as we could, which I didn't want to hear. Housekeeping would come by next to empty trash, sweep floor, etc. Let me say...they need to pop those trash bags BEFORE they come in the room! By this time, mom was there. Noon - here comes lunch. I would eat and then usually shower. Before I could shower, I would have to call the nurse to come cover my arm that had the IV in it. I would get pretty worn out after the shower and have to lay down and rest for a bit. Mom and I would watch Family Feud and nap off and on all afternoon. When Brandon got off work, he would come up to the hospital and mom would go get Kendall from school. Dad would usually come back up there on his way home from work with mom and Kendall. After visiting for a bit, everyone would go home and it was just Brandon and I again. Nurses were in and out all day and all night long.

Two days later, Wednesday, September 26th, things were a little different. I woke up to a little bit of cramping, which I was use to, but it seemed to be getting more frequent. About 9am I told the nurse (my favorite one, Deborah) and she checked me. She said I was dialated to a 1 and 90% effaced. She then passed that info on to Dr. Westerholm. They talked and decided to let me be for a little bit and to check me again in an hour. 10:15am rolls around and Deborah comes back and checks me again. At this point, I was dialated to a 3 and 100% effaced. She said "we are having these babies today!" I immediately sent my mom, dad and Brandon a text that read exactly "oh sh!t, we are having these babies today!" Thank goodness mom had just pulled in the parking lot when she got it. I was excited, scared and nervous all in one. After that, things started going really fast! There were three nurses in my room trying to get another IV going. After two tries, the third one finally took. Since I had eaten breakfast, they were really wanting me to hold off as long as I could for the c section so that there wouldn't be anything in my stomach. God had a different plan, He was ready! Deborah made the call down to the blood bank saying that we were ready for my platelets to be brought up to me so we could get them going. (I didn't know until after the fact, but they had messed up and didn't have the right ones ready to go.) Brandon go there about 12:30pm and they wheeled me back to the operating room not long after. Since I was going to be completely put under, no one got to go back with me. This is where it is different than last time - with Kendall, I was already asleep before they wheeled me out of the room. This time, I was awake! Talk about being a nervous wreck! I remember mom and Brandon kissing me and telling me they loved me as I was headed out of the room. As I am rolling down the hall, the ONLY thing I remember is seeing Shane, yes Shane (***I will get back to that in a second***) and him having his hand out to give me five as I rolled past the waiting room. (oh no...getting a little teary eyed as I type all this) I get to the OR and everyone is in there...doctors, nurses and two NICU teams. I heard the anesthesiologist talking to me and I could hear everyone else talking around me. I remember saying to him - several time - "I'm going to be asleep, right?!" I think I asked him that about 4 times. From then on...it was a blur.

At 1:52pm - "Baby A" (Landry Renee) was born. She was 5 lbs and 3 oz and 17 3/4 inches long.

At 1:53pm - "Baby B" (Brynlee Lane) was born. She was 4 lbs and 4 oz and 16 1/2 inches long.

My precious girls had arrived!! They both had to go to the NICU, but were doing really well! Neither one had to be on the breathing machine, just the nasal C-Pap. The first time I saw them, I remember thinking how tiny they were!! Landry stayed in the NICU for about a week and then got to come home. Brynlee wasn't eating as well and had to stay a little longer (complete opposite now!) About a week later, she got to come home too.

Now that we are all home and settled in, things are going great! My family is complete and I couldn't ask for anything more. Kendall is doing good with the adjustment and LOVES her little sisters!!

How the girls got their names: The whole time I was pregnant, we never put a name with either one of the babies. I didn't want to give them their name until they got here and we could see them. After seeing them for the first time in the NICU, we took Kendall in there with us. As I was looking at one baby, Brandon was holding Kendall and asked her "Who is this?" She replied "Brynlee!" He went to the next bed and said "Who is this?" She replied "Landry!" We really wanted her to be a part of everything before, during and after - so we went with that. Big sister picked their names! Baby A is now known as Landry and Baby B is Brynlee!

***Back to Shane...first of all, I consider us to be really close. He is a great example of what a big brother should be! Don't get me wrong, we had our fights growing up - but then we stood up for each other when one was getting in trouble. He is a crazy, silly, fun loving guy. We don't get to see each other that often, but when we do, we always have such a good time and make great memories. Shane travels A LOT, but it is not very often that he gets to come to Texas for work. On September 25th, he had a meeting here in the area and stayed with mom and dad. He was only suppose to be here for a day and a half or so. I think his flight back home was sometime the next morning (September 26th). Once things started going and progressing with my labor, he ended up changing his flight home to the next morning. What are the odds of him being in Texas..much less for when I give birth?! It's not "luck" or "good timing"...it was Gods plan! He knew how much it would mean to me for Shane to be here. It was part of His whole plan and I can't thank Him enough!***

Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers, texts and phone calls. Those are the things that really helped me make it through this whole pregnancy! I love each and every one of you! (Don't worry...we won't be doing this again...these tubes are T~I~E~D!!)

 Here are a few picture of the Brynlee and Landry by Melanie @ Dimples and Dumplins Photography

Brynlee ~ Sleeping beauty

Brynlee

Landry ~ sweet smiles and dimples!

Landry ~ Squinted eye kissy face

Landry