2012 has brought on a lot of changes for us. For Jason & I. Mainly, of course, the birth of Zach & Lucy. And with their arrival, things have been shaken up. The vast majority have, thankfully, shaken up for the better.
I think some people & couples will disagree with me here, but I’ve always thought of a married couple without children as that. A married couple. Not a family per say. I guess to me, the word ‘family’ means/involves/includes children. So for the first {almost} five years of our marriage, I thought of us as a couple trying to eventually, one day, then hopefully soon, become a family.
The term family for me was my parents, brother, grandparents, aunts etc. It extended to Jason’s family too. But they were more ‘your’ family or ‘his’ family. As for our families now, they are still very if not even more so present. New babies mean that they’re now excited new grandparents, aunts & uncles, & great-grands. They are loving it & we’re redefining relationships there too.
Now that Zach & Lucy are {oh-so-thankfully} here, we are a family. Our own precious, perfect & complete family of four. And we’re in the process of defining what that means to us.
For now, this month, it means getting our first fall/winter family photos for Christmas cards. Negotiating holidays where we decide when it’ll be time for it to be celebrated with just us as a family of four. {I’m not quite ready for that yet.} Creating family traditions for the babies to look back on through pictures. Being together as much as possible. Calling each other “Mommy” & “Daddy”. And being thankful.
My parents were in town visiting this weekend. Friday afternoon a package from Jason’s sister arrived filled with adorable puff painted pumpkin onesies for the babies. Mom & I decided Saturday was the perfect afternoon to take Lucy & Zach to their first pumpkin patch.
Almost 200 photos, two discarded baby coats & a slightly sweaty Mommy later, we had a big pumpkin & two little pumpkins. And just a few photos too cute not to share.
My attempts at DSLR photos on anything but auto were not so great. And it was brighter out than I thought it’d be. Thankfully, they were great, patient babies while I snapped away.
This was my pack list put together after googling {& subsequently freaking out} last week. Thank goodness my parents’ came down Friday night to help us get organized & packed up Saturday morning.
Clothing/Accessories
Dressy Outfits {x3 for Suz, x2 per baby}, Casual Outfits {x6 for babies}, Jackets {didn’t bring}
Underwear, Nursing Bras, Socks {4}, Pajamas {2 Per Baby}
Sunglasses, Suz sandals
Purse + Diaper Bag, Jewelry/Watch Feeding
Breast Pump & Accessories, Suz snacks
Bottles, Nipples {10}
Bottle Brush, Dish soap, Cleaning Tub
Enfacare, Brestfriend Pillow, Boppy
Burp Cloths {4}, Bibs {4} Toiletries/Bath
Shampoo, Conditioner {sample size baby wash}
Make-Up Bag/Shaving Kit, Hair Products
Tooth Brush, Tooth Paste Entertainment
Books, Rocking Chair, Lovey/Blankie/Wubbas Diapering (In Addition to Diaper Bag)
Disposable Changing Pads, Diaper Cream?
Box of Wipes, Diapers {25} Baby Gear
Baby Carrier (Ergos) {we ended up leaving these at home}
Car Seat (& Car Seat Base)
Pacifiers & Pacifier Hooks
Baby Monitor {didn’t bring} Bedding
Travel Crib {didn’t use since hotel had two}, Travel Crib Sheets (2), sleep sheep/giraffe
Swaddle Blankets Medicine
Tummy Medicine, Prescription Medicines, Baby Tylenol {didn’t have to use thank God}
Crazy right? But we pretty much used everything. And were very glad for the extra bibs & clothes as Lucy went through three outfits before 1p Sunday.
Papa visited the babies while they were in the NICU was didn’t hold them until Saturday.
Papa & Zachy poo
He was so great with them!
Papa holding Lucy for the first time
The babies made themselves right at home at his condo. We set up blankets & the rocker & boppy on the floor for playtime & napping.
Nothing like full bellies & comfy spots for napping
They did great at the hotel for Mom & Dad Saturday night. They woke for their dream feed at 4 then slept again until 730/745a. Zach & I rocked side lying feeding for the first time. They had a blast playing on the bed while Mom & I were getting ready.
Good morning babies!Zach & his brunch attireLucy spit up on her brunch dress before we left the condo building.
The babies were the hit of Cypress brunch. Mom & Papa carried them everywhere wanting to show them off. It was really cute.
Lucy & her Pops at brunch
Lucy loved the attention & Zach slept through most of it. 🙂
Papa entertaining Lucy & saying bye before we left
We stopped by to see Jenny & the trips & buy 6-12 month clothes on the way home where Zach was the entertainment & Lucy pooped! They did great sleeping most of the car ride home. One successful trip down, lots more to go!
Thank you to P&G and Kroger stores for celebrating “Team Mom’s Everyday Victories”! Please visit the to play games, win money off your next Kroger trip and more fun!
When Clever Girls emailed about Kroger’s Team Mom Everyday Victories campaign, I was on the verge of giving birth to Zach & Lucy. At that time, I could only imagine the Everyday Victories that I would be facing in the coming days & weeks.
Victories like the first time we successfully tandem breastfed, the first time I got dressed in something other than a gown in weeks, & the huge victory of bringing Lucy home from the NICU & soon after, having Zach join us at home. But Sunday night, my husband & I celebrated another victory. Our first overnight with the twins with it being just us {my parents left Sunday & his mom came up Monday afternoon for a visit}. We stayed up together caring, cuddling & feeding for the babes {& watching True Blood!} until 2am. At that point, I pumped & hit the sheets, promising to wake up at 530 to help with feedings & to pump again. Except that I hit snooze/dismiss on my alarm & slept til 745a. The Husband had a victory of handling babies on his own for over five hours while he let me sleep. And goodness knows I needed that stretch of rest. But my Team Mom Victory is this moment.
Zach & Lucy napping!
Two happily sleeping babies at 930a. Because from the time I came in the den at 8a, I’ve been off & running. Rock-hard boobs plus two hungry babies meant feeding Zach while rocking Lucy with my toes then switching & then switching again as they both wanted a little extra. Zach requires mid-feed burping & Lucy is quite the messy eater. Both either peed or pooped during or just after eating, so post-breastfeeding clean up required total outfit, diaper & changing table cover changes thanks to Zach peeing on the table. But then, they were back dressed & swaddled & happily snoring away in their rock-n-play sleepers while I pumped my most ever. And fifteen minutes later, I was able to grab another table cover, throw wet clothes, blankets, & burp clothes in the washer, & make & eat {in one sitting!} a bowl of cereal for myself. That, my friends, is Victory!
Hurry in to Kroger and Kroger Banner Stores for P&G’s big sale event, June 10–23!
At Kroger and its banner stores, more than 30 of your favorite P&G brands are at HOT sale prices through June 23, including Tide, Charmin, Cascade, Pampers, Crest and Olay. Look for tags with special prices throughout the household needs and health and beauty aisles, and be on the lookout for even bigger offers – like getting serious dollars off when you buy a bundle of products.
Before hitting the store, visit P&G’s event page on Kroger.com: http://bit.ly/KG6dw5 You can play games like basketball, track and gymnastics to win money off your next Kroger trip, download digital coupons, print a shopping list, and learn more about P&G products! And as part of this event, consider trying one of these fab products from P&G: Vicks Nature Fusion, Charmin Basic, Downy Unstopables, and Swiffer Duster Extenders!
I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.
Just seconds after Zach was born, the main MFM felt the belly & grabbed the on-hand ultrasound machine. He was expecting to see her feet down since her feet had been closer down on my left while her head was up on my right side. To everyone’s shock & surprise, Lucy, my transverse baby for 34w1d, decided to flip vertex {head down} once Zach was out. There was serious WTF faces on the doctors. They’d all been prepared for the secondary breech extraction {the MFM reaching up inside, grabbing her feet, breaking her water in the process & pulling her out just minutes after her brother}.
Lucy had other ideas though. I was still on pitocin {I think? maybe?} & having some contractions, so while in the OR, they had me push a few times to see if Lucy was really ready. They checked me too & realized she was still pretty high up. I also realized then as they’d cleaned me up from Zach’s birth that my epidural had started to wear off. About an hour went by, the MFM told the NICU team to go back to the NICU. Residents moved on to other patients. One of the MFM residents mentioned how she’d heard of twins born six hours apart. Our MFM said no way that would happen here. That she’d for sure be born before he went off the shift at 7a.
Respecting my ‘no C-section unless totally necessary’ wishes, the MFM & residents decided to give Lucy time to come down & out vertex on her own time. The words C-section were actually never said to us. I was put back in the hospital bed & wheeled back to my L&D room. One of the residents let Yvonne have a break {she’d been going non-stop with us for 9 hours}. I believe the pitocin levels were started over at this point back down at 2 & raised by 2 every 20 minutes. I was really feeling contractions like painful ones every four minutes. A new-to-me anesthesiologist came in & started going over everything. I clearly remember telling her I’d already had one baby that morning, knew the routine & that she needed to give me good drugs!
Once the epidural medicine kicked in, I {& Jason too} were able to nap from around 530-630a. Our families came in & out of the room, saying hi & tell me how they’d been hanging out with Zach in the NICU. Jason had my mom come hang out with me while he went to see Zach & eat a blueberry muffin. It was kinda weird, but while they were talking about Zach, I was listening but kinda zoned out. Like I was too busy focusing on the upcoming birth to hear too much about Z. I think I was also a little jealous or removed from the situation since I hadn’t really seen him.
A little before 7, the MFM & residents who’d been with us all night, checked me & decided Lucy was down far enough to break her water. This caused her to continue to move down, but my contractions were still fairly far apart. Since this had turned into a low-risk, normal vaginal birth, I was allowed to go through labor & delivery of Lucy in the L&D room instead of going back into the OR. The normal OB on call came in & said she’d be there to deliver her. So instead of teams of people, Lucy’s birth was much more intimate & sorta relaxed. I decided to see if my mom wanted to be in there with us {I’d wished I had someone holding my left hand when Z was born}. Mom came up & was once again my ice chip giver {even though we knew it was going to be a vaginal birth, they still wouldn’t let me eat or drink anything, just in case}.
It was around 10ish when the contractions started giving me the urge to push. I had a new nurse who was a bit more hands off {I honestly don’t even remember her name}. She was there when I’d push~ she’d have one foot, Jason the other & my mom up by my head. My feet were kinda numb so they pulled out stirrups for me to rest them in between pushes. Unlike my contractions with Zach which were not even minutes apart, my contractions with Lucy were a good four minutes apart. This was nice so that I could rest in between, but I also was ready for them to come so I could push her out. I have to say, pushing was easier this time around since I knew more what to do. The OB came in & out of the room a few times checking on my progress in between doing a C-section for someone else. I felt like the time was close maybe around 11 or 11:15a. The OB came in & they called the NICU team in.
One big push had Lucy crowning & we realized she was definitely a bigger baby. I pushed one last time & Lucy Elizabeth was born at 11:27a weighing 6 pounds & 20 inches long. Lucy was close to 2 pounds & 2 inches bigger than her almost 8 1/2 hours older brother.
Lucy Elizabeth
Thanks to Mom grabbing my DSLR, we have photos of the NICU team who cleaned Lucy up in the room, wrapped her up and put her in my arms. Pretty sure I fell in love at that moment & the exhaustion of the past 29 hours disappeared.
Lucy & her proud parents
I pushed out the placentas which had bizarrely fused together. They were individual but had attached so they all came out at the same time. It was rare enough that the OB asked if she could take my placentas around to show the residents {I said sure}. Also wild was that Lucy’s cord was almost twice as thick as Zach’s. That might be the reason for her being so much bigger {him being squashed super low & without his bag of water for two weeks could’ve factored into that too}.
I was stitched up {tiny tear from Z then 2nd degree one thanks to L’s noggin} & then in recovery for about an hour. I ordered & ate lunch {part of a garden burger, baked lays, & a smoothie}, drowned a ton of juice & water, & peed twice so that I could be done with that room. My L&D nurse wheeled me, accompanied by Jason to the NICU where I ‘met’ Zach. I think someone might have photos of this, but I don’t have them yet. I went back to my old 3rd floor room where Jason & I promptly slept for a couple hours as parents!
