We are home and all settled in! The first 3 weeks seem like a blur, it can’t be because of lack of sleep. 😉
Zoey and Asher are doing great! At their 2 week check up they both gained weight and grew.
Zoey weighed 5 lbs 1 oz and was measuring 18 in long
Asher weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was measuring 19 1/4 in long
They both love to eat every 2 hours, sometimes they stretch it out to 3 and they love to pee and poop while Daddy is changing them! Zoey is starting to stay awake more but Asher loves to get his beauty sleep. They both enjoy tummy time and love listening to their music while they swing.
As great as they are doing we have a couple hurdles to get through still.
Zoey has a blocked gland under her tongue and once she gets a little bigger they will cut it open and sew it to the bottom of her mouth. Her next check up for her gland is on the 21st.
Asher has fluid around his kidneys, this is called Hydronephrosis, and he will be having a x-ray next week to see if the urine is flowing as it should or if it is going back to the kidneys. We will then meet with a Pediatric Nephrologist (kidney doctor) at University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City to see what our options are moving forward.
And for Hayley, the most AMAZING person ever, she is also doing great! She is looking fabulous, feeling great and can speed walk without pain! 🙂
As prepared as we were for Asher and Zoey’s arrival they managed to surprise us when we were least expecting it. Saturday, February 11th started off with our dishwasher breaking down on us and leaking water all over the kitchen. We made it as far as cleaning up the water and taking the dishwasher apart to try and fix it before we had to head out for some errands. Amber was heading to a friend’s baby shower and I was going shopping with Hayley for furniture for her new apartment she will be moving into.
Maybe it was all the couch testing that did it but after we made our furniture purchase Hayley said she thought we should call the on call nurse because of some new symptoms. The nurse suggested it wouldn’t hurt to go in to the hospital to get checked out, so we did. While I frantically and repeatedly called Amber, like I was trying to win a radio station contest, to have her leave her friend’s party early I drove us, some might say erratically, to the hospital.
Finally, Amber called me back realizing by the number of missed calls that something was happening. We met each other at the hospital and started getting Hayley checked out. The nurse asked their series of questions checking symptoms and pain level, which Hayley described as a 2 on a scale of 1-10 so we were all under the assumption this would be a quick in and out check to say it isn’t time, go home. When it came time to check if she was dilated the nurse thought Hayley was actually dilated to a 3 or 4 and could feel the bag of water. She was surprised that she could be so far along already with hardly any laboring so she had a second nurse come in for a double check about 5 minutes later and by that time Hayley was dilated to a 4 or 5. With as quickly as things were progressing they called the doctor to come check and 10 minutes later she was dilated to a 7 and it was GO TIME for the cesarean section.
Within the next 15 minutes we were helping the nurses scramble to prep Hayley for the operating room while Amber and I slipped into our costumes for the operating room and I texted mom to say we wouldn’t be making it to dinner with the family or the hockey game we had all planned on attending that night.
At just over 2 hours from the time we had checked in “to be checked out as a precaution” we were holding Zoey and Asher in our arms.
Go time selfie
The whole experience was an adrenaline rush like I have never had before. Excited and terrified at the same time. Zoey was delivered first and I heard her scream while her NICU team cleaned her up and realized she didn’t need any oxygen, heating lamps or really any help. Then Asher was delivered and his NICU team started working with him to get him to breath and get his oxygen level up. It took a couple minutes before he didn’t need a breathing mask and screamed out on his own but those couple minutes seemed to drag forever as my heart sank to my stomach.
Oldest by 1 minute but smallest at 4 lbs 10 ozLittle big brother weighing in at 6 lbs 4oz
After all their vitals were recorded and we realized both were healthy enough to come back to the mother-baby rooms and didn’t have to spend any time in the NICU I breathed a sigh of relief. Amber and I got to carry Zoey and Asher to our room while Hayley got a room next door to us to recover in.
First family picture
The whole experience was made even better by the wonderful team of nurses and doctors at Methodist. Everyone was aware or our unique situation so we didn’t have to explain what everyone’s roles were. They encouraged and played along with our light-hearted humor that helped keep a tense situation enjoyable. They worked with us to make sure Asher and Zoey got the best care while there and now at home.
Here is a link to some of the professional photos from the hospital. We will be working on sharing more on Facebook in between feedings and dirty diaper changes and of course in person if you would like to visit.
Can you believe we only have 4 weeks or less left??? I can’t believe it! Time has been going by so fast!
We had our OB appt today and the twins are doing great! Zoey’s heart rate was 153 and Asher’s was 137. He was chillaxin and she was keeping busy practicing her breathing movements.
We are now onto weekly appointments so we will have another OB appt next Thursday and at that one they will check to see if Hayley has started dilating.
Keep your guesses coming in for when the twins will make their appearance so you can have bragging rights! 🙂
First off Ryan and I want to say thank you again to everyone for all your support! We had our baby shower on Saturday and the turnout was amazing! Zoey and Asher are so loved and spoiled already! We spent most of Sunday and Monday putting everything away! We love every single gift we got especially the 4,000 diapers!
Now onto the update about the babies. We had our appointment with the perinatologist on Monday, this was for our monthly appointment where they measure Zoey and Asher to make sure they are growing like they should be. And it was determined that they both love food just as much as we do! At this point in the pregnancy they should weigh about 3.2 pounds, Zoey is weighing in at 3.13 pounds and Asher at 4.2 pounds. They are growing as they should be and there are no concerns! We will re-measure in 3-4 weeks and that may be our last appointment with that office.
Daddy and MommyAsher’s diaper cakeZoey’s diaper cakeA majority of their giftsLots and lots of diapers
You would have thought when the doctor confirmed it was a positive pregnancy that it would have felt real, however, it has taken me 28 weeks to get that OMG we are bringing home twins feeling! Throughout the pregnancy I have bought an outfit here and there thinking maybe that would help but it would end up in the closet and I wouldn’t think about it again. I would have people ask me how things are going and there were times I had to stop and think what they were asking about. We even painted the nursery but that still didn’t give me this is real and this is happening feeling. The other day something hit me though and I realized in a short 10 weeks (hopefully not sooner) Asher and Zoey will be coming into the world! And now comes panic mode…am I ready for this? Don’t get me wrong I have been super excited the last 7 months but since I don’t have the pregnancy symptoms it has been a struggle for me to realize this is really going to happen!
To prepare for the twins’ arrival we have decorated the nursery and got the cribs and dressers set up. (With help from Suite Dreams) This was one thing that helped me get the OMG feeling.
We also spent time with one of Hayley’s friends, Caitlin Cisar and she captured some amazing maternity pictures for us!
Now enough about how I have been doing and more baby talk. We had our 28 week baby appointment on Thursday and Asher and Zoey look great as usual. They are both weighing 3 lbs and measuring at 28 weeks 6 days. Being a twin pregnancy the appointments will start to be every other week at the OB office and we will continue having monthly appointments with the Perinatal Center so they can continue the ultrasounds to measure the babies.
A little over 26 weeks along and we had the opportunity to see Asher and Zoey in a 3D ultrasound this weekend. Zoey was all comfy and curled up and wasn’t being very cooperative for photos but we got some good photos of Asher.
Asher (Baby A in the photos) is sitting the lowest and is head down and Zoey (Baby B in the photos) is bottom down. So in a lot of the pictures when you would see a head you would see the other twin’s butt.
Asher’s 3D ultrasound photo Zoey’s 3D ultrasound photo
Since Asher and Zoey got their pictures taken this weekend we had maternity pictures with Hayley and us done this weekend too and can’t wait to share those with everyone soon.
Obviously there is a lot different about this pregnancy one of which is all the science behind it. Because we used Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), Asher and Zoey get a little extra scrutiny along the way. Today was our last of the two heart echo appointments for the kids where they checked their hearts for any abnormalities. They split the heart echos into two appointments because they are more lengthy than your normal ultrasound lasting about an hour for each child which would be quite unpleasant for Hayley to lay through both at once.
Two weeks ago they checked out Asher’s heart and today they looked at Zoey’s and both looked great. These appointments took place at the perinatalogists office where we will continue going for check ups every four weeks until delivery day. They will be monitoring the twins’ growth and making sure they are developing on track. Today’s measurements show Zoey is at 1 pound 8 ounces and Asher has her beat by 1 ounce. Today they were both quite active and Zoey had hiccups which added even more of a challenge for the ultrasound tech.
Aside from these appointments we still have our regularly scheduled OB appointments where they can focus on Hayley and the overall pregnancy. This past week at that appointment they measured Hayley’s baby bump and she is measuring six weeks ahead which is right where she should be with twins. Next month she will have her glucose test to check for gestational diabetes where she will get to drink some really yummy juice cocktail.
This Thanksgiving we have something to be especially thankful for, my sister being the most amazing person!
We had our 3rd baby class last night and Ryan and I got to wear the baby belly! We only had it on for about 20 minutes but it helped give us an idea of what Hayley has been feeling. While we had it on Hayley gave us a task, she had us walk up some stairs and back. 🙂
It didn’t take long to name our baby girl because I have had her name picked out for a few years but naming our baby boy has been a different story. I think we went over every name out there and when we thought we found one we liked we would sleep on it and then the next day keep looking for something new. Finally after sleeping on the same name night after night we finally decided on one!
This morning we met with the high risk office to have our anatomy scan (20 week ultrasound) where they measured and looked at both babies in depth. In today’s scan Baby A was our girl (her feet where closer to the cervix) and she was measuring right on track at 19 weeks 6 days, which is what we are today. Baby B our boy was slightly bigger measuring 20 weeks 2 days. The doctor said Baby A looks great and Baby B looked great but…You know us we have to have a but in there or we wouldn’t be on this adventure! Our boy has Hydronephrosis, which is caused by a blockage in the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder (ureter). The doctor said it may go away on it’s own and if not 24 hours after he is born he will have an ultrasound done and we will work with a specialized pediatrician to determine our next steps. This is a treatable issue but of course i’ll worry till we know it’s fixed. Other than keeping an eye on his right kidney we are right on track where we should be!
Our next appointment with the high risk office will be on November 11th and at that time they will look at 1 baby to do a fetal echo. This is where they will zoom in on the heart to assess the heart’s structures and function. This test is being done since we did IVF which puts them at a slightly higher risk for heart defects. It is about a hour long scan so they split the appointments up into 2 so Hayley wont be uncomfortable laying there for 2 hours. The second fetal echo will be done on November 23rd.
After that we will meet with the high risk office every 4 weeks for them to do in depth scans to make sure both babies are growing as they should be. This will help determine if they will need to be born earlier than our planned 38 weeks. In between the appointments with the high risk office we will also still have appointments at our regular OB office.
Tonight was night 1 of 4 for our Understanding Birth – Twins or More class! We started to learn what Hayley will be experiencing mid pregnancy and at birth. Ryan and I know what to do and not to do while she is in labor and we learned 4 different breathing techniques to be used during labor. Next week we will be doing another tour of the labor and delivery unit and this one will include touring the NICU.
Top is Baby A (our girl) – she was being shy and kept her hands up at her face. Bottom is Baby B (our boy) – he was not shy at all!
The Making Of A New Baby Nemmers (or 2) 