Newborn Pictures

One of my favorite photographers took Brecken and Joelle's newborn pictures.  She had us over for a modeling session so she could work on some new poses.  Check her out. 

Cutest little owls ever!

Adorable little feet..if you look closely you can see their heel pricks :(

Perfect wintery shot!

Cuddling in bed.

The next shot is a picture of Adelyn facing the same way as Joelle:

Sleepy Jo

Adelyn facing the same way as Brecken:

Mommy's littlest man

As effortless as this looks..it wasn't.

Love.

The more I look at the comparison shots of Adelyn, Brecken and Joelle, I think Adelyn is a mix of the two of them.  Which makes sense because Adelyn has traits from both Eric and I, Brecken looks like me and Joelle looks like Eric..

Follow-up

We went to the doctor for the weight check.  I was pretty not-excited for it.  Dr. Lund was out of town for the week so we had to see the doctor I don't like.  I was also a little concerned about Joelle's belly button.  It was looking quite a bit like Adelyn's and I was concerned it would need to be cauterized.  The babies were weighed and they were both .  She was pleased with their weight gain.  The doctor looked at Joelle's belly button and agreed it would need to be cleaned and cauterized.  (cauterized=using silver nitrate to stop the oozing)  Eric went with me to the appointment and was thoroughly horrified about the whole process.  I, unfortunately, had remembered from Adelyn so I was immune to it all.

Doctors Visit

We went to the doctor today so the babies could get a once over before Christmas break.  Brecken weighed in at 6lbs 3 ozs and Joelle was 6lbs 5ozs.  Since Jo has lost weight we have to go back on Tuesday for a weight check.  Dr. Lund said they are both a little jaundiced so we also had to do a heel prick to get a baseline level in case it continued.

Home. Sweet. Home.

We arrived home today at 11 with our new family of 5.  I HATE being in the hospital.  I hate everything about it.  Sitting in that bed.  The food.  People poking you at all hours of the night.  The smell.  The gown.  Just being there.  Right after delivery I asked when I could go home.  They told me I had to leave in 24 hours and it would depend on how the babies do as to when they would get to leave.  I wasn't leaving without my babies so I nursed them lots :) When we left the hospital Brecken weighed 6lbs and Joelle weighed 6lbs 7ozs.  We didn't have tons of visitors which is kind of how we planned it.  Our parents came Saturday night and then we had people trickle in all through Sunday.  When we had Adelyn we had TONS of visitors and we both hated it.  We had no sleep and tons of people to entertain.  We made sure this time that there weren't many overlaps and we had some breaks in-between.  We have to go to the doctor on Wednesday to make sure the babies are doing well before everybody leaves for Christmas break.

A post in which I brag about myself a little.

December 18, 2010.

A day I will never forget.  A day that I became a mom to not 1 child but 3.  My day started at 6:30.  I packed up last minute things.  Ate breakfast.  Prepared to leave Adelyn for the first time EVER.  That part was very hard for me.  My mom and sister stayed at our house with her, so that was nice, but I have never left her over night anywhere or even for a whole day...and now I was supposed to leave her for a couple days.  So it goes when you have to give birth right?!  We ended up making it to the hospital a little before 8:30.  When we walked into our room it was a little unnerving seeing the 2 bassinets waiting for us.  Reality hit then, we were really going to leave with two more babies :)  She checked me before starting my IV and I was still a 4.  Sigh.  After 3 attempts at my IV she finally succeeded.  Not her fault, just my stupid rolling, small veins.  Dr. Taylor came in about an hour after that and said that my contractions looked good.  I said well it's no different than at home.  At this point I wasn't holding my breath for a change.  I asked if I could walk around and what a production that is..I had to have all the monitors hooked up.  You could only put one baby on a battery powered monitor so I had to be back in the room every half hour to monitor Joelle and get my Pitocin bumped up.  At lunch time she checked me again and I was a 6.  Definitely moving up but not where I had wanted to be.  I was pleasantly surprised that Pitocin didn't make my contractions horrible like I have heard from more than one person.  After lunch my nurse wanted to monitor both babies for a while since we hadn't had a good reading from either one of them while I was walking.  She asked me a couple times if I wanted an epidural and I kept saying no because I wasn't in much pain at all.  She checked me again at 3:00 and I was STILL a 6.  I asked if I could get my water broken and she said she would call Dr. Taylor and ask.  She called him and he said that he was on his way in and if I had progressed he would break my water and if I wasn't progressing any more he was going to send me home.  I told Eric I am NOT going home so we better get in the hallway and run so I would dilate some more.  Apparently it worked because in the 15 minutes it took for him to come to the hospital I dilated to a 7  :)  He broke my water and I asked again to walk but they told me I had to wait for a little while so they could make sure breaking my water didn't put either of the babies in distress.  I called my mom at 5 and told her what was going on and told her I probably wouldn't call again until after the babies came.  At this point my contractions started becoming painful but not nearly as painful as they had been when I had Adelyn, so I still didn't want an epidural.  My nurse told me if I wanted an epidural it would probably have to be now or I might not get a chance.  She was actually really helpful in my decision making because she had very similar labor experiences to mine.  Her first was really hard and her second was easy.  She also had gotten an epidural with her first and she didn't with her second.  She was very encouraging of me to not get an epidural, which is what I had wanted but there were quite a few people who wanted me to have one...doctors, anesthesiologists, other nurses, etc.  She offered me Stadol and I was extremely hesitant to take it because I had heard from quite a few people that it made them sick or hallucinate.  I discussed this with her and she said it lasts about an hour and I would know virtually immediately if it would make me sick or see green people.  She said that I could get half a dose if I wanted and I decided to do that.  No nausea or scary green people :)  We walked around the hall for about 15 minutes because my IV battery was dieing.  That really got things moving and I was feeling some pressure so I asked her to check me again when I got back and she said that I was almost completely dilated and that she was going to call Dr. Taylor.  As soon as she walked out the door I told Eric you better call her back because I'm pushing and I'm pushing now.  In the 4 minutes it takes Dr. Taylor to get to the hospital I had pushed Brecken out and was getting ready to deliver Joelle.  She was head down and remained head down..so no farm animal delivery.  When they came out they looked so small to both Eric and I but we were pleasantly surprised and proud they weighed 6lbs 4rozs and 6lbs 12ozs!  There was no screaming during the delivery on my part and Eric survived with all his limbs intact.  I'm pretty sure not everyone can say that ;)  With all that being said, delivering without an epidural was seriously the best thing I have ever done.  If we have more kids I can say without a doubt that I would not get an epidural..unless if I had a labor similar to Adelyns.

So proud to announce...

Brecken Eric Fitzgerald

5:59pm

6lbs 4oz, 19in

Joelle Marie Fitzgerald

6:08pm

6lbs 12oz, 19in

More details to come later!

D-Day

 38 weeks 2 days.  Huge.

Two bassinets.  Two babies.  Hello reality.

38 Weeks

T-Minus 48 hours'ish until these babies get their eviction notice and have to vacate the premises!

 

Pregnancy Highlights
How far along: 38 weeks, belly measures 42 weeks.
Weight Gain: 35 pounds..let's be serious I am eating way to many Christmas cookies :)

Babies weight: According to BabyCenter 6.8lbs
Movement: They move.  All.The.Time.
Symptoms: Tired.  Uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable.  I have been getting more and more tired and it's really hard to bend over.  If I lay on my back, even a reclined position, I get extremely short of breath.  Like nauseous and about to pass out short of breath.  Something about to much pressure on my aorta.  And my diaphragm.  And my rib cage.  And my back.  You get the picture.
What I miss: My body.
Cravings: 84 East, Christmas cookies, food.

Best moments this week: Getting a good report from the doctor.  They are both still head down and look great.  Induction is scheduled for Saturday at 8:00am.  I asked about just breaking my water since I'm dilated to a 4 and he said we can do that if you want but then if you don't start contracting you just signed yourself up for a c-section.  He said pitocin would be the best way to go because then if my body decides it's not ready they can just turn the pitocin off and I can go home.  Bah.  I really didn't want pitocin but I don't want a c-section even more.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting these babies!!!

Names: Yes!!  Baby boy needs a middle names but Eric is "pretty sure" what it will be..

Wordless Wednesday

37 Weeks

37 Weeks.  I honestly never thought I would see the day where I would carry TWINS to 37 weeks, without any complications.

Pregnancy Highlights
How far along: 37 weeks
Weight Gain: 32 pounds

Babies weight: According to BabyCenter 6 1/3lbs
Movement: They move.  All.The.Time.
Symptoms: Tired.  I have been getting more and more tired and it's really hard to bend over.  If I lay on my back, even a reclined position, I get extremely short of breath.  Like nauseous and about to pass out short of breath.  Something about to much pressure on my aorta.  And my diaphragm.  And my rib cage.  And my back.  You get the picture.
What I miss: My body.
Cravings: ??

Best moments this week: Baby Boy is STILL head down.  Baby Girl is now head down as well!  My doctor was disappointed saying that a vertex/breech delivery is "more fun for the doctor."  I told him that I'm glad I won't have to feel like a farm animal..but that could still change ;) I am dilated to a 4 and 50% effaced.  I have to admit I'm a little nervous of walking around Meijer and sneezing out a baby..  Our poor son is going to have the biggest cone head ever.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting these babies, hopefully sooner rather than later!  This weekend is our "self-induction" weekend in the hopes that they'll come before I have to be induced.  Bring on the hot wings and the pineapple!!  I'll also be taking walks as I can fit them in.

Names: Yes!!  Baby boy needs a middle names but Eric is "pretty sure" what it will be..

36 weeks

Let's be serious.  I am huge.

Pregnancy Highlights
How far along: 36 week, my belly measures 40 weeks.
Weight Gain: 30 pounds

Babies weight: According to BabyCenter almost 6lbs
Movement: They move.  All.The.Time.
Symptoms: Tired.  I have been getting more and more tired and it's really hard to bend over.  If I lay on my back, even a reclined position, I get extremely short of breath.  Like nauseous and about to pass out short of breath.  Something about to much pressure on my aorta.  And my diaphragm.  And my rib cage.  And my back.  You get the picture.
What I miss: Cuddling with Adelyn.  Having a normal proportioned body.  My belly looks entirely unnatural and I don't think my legs will ever *look* as skinny as they do right now!
Cravings: Cereal

Best moments this week: Baby Boy is STILL head down.  It's a record for him, folks.  Dr. Taylor *says* that since he has been like this for 2 weeks now he "shouldn't" move.  Hopefully.  Making it full term.  I never thought I would make it this far.  Being dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting these little ones.  They can come any day and theoretically be ok and not need any extra measures taken.  I have an induction date of December 18..if I make it that far.  Please, dear God, don't let me make it that far.

Names: Yes!!  Baby boy needs a middle names but Eric is "pretty sure" what it will be..

22 Months

Since I haven't talked ONLY about Adelyn in forever, I'm pretty sure I need to do that.

*Adelyn you are officially 22 months old. 

*You weigh about 28lbs and are 35-36in long...and still have a large head ;)

*You wear size 24month, 2T and some 3T clothes.

*You wear a size 5 diaper..although we are moving up to a size 6 shortly, at night, because we have had way to many leaks lately.

*You have had your very first haircut and I cut barely an inch off the back.  You were rocking the mullet pretty hard core so I laid down the law and said it had to go.  Since your curls aren't quite so curly in the winter it was looking pretty bad.

*You take 1 nap from about 1-3 and you sleep from 8ish to 8ish.

*You are currently on your 3rd cold, for this season.  And refuse to get rid of it.

*You talk A LOT.  I couldn't even count how many words you say and you understand pretty much everything we say.  Sometimes you string together two words but it's still mostly one.  You are getting much better about using your words instead of having a temper tantrum and most of the time if we remind you, you use them instead of having a temper tantrum.

*You do this adorable thing where you turn your head to the side and say "peas peas" if you want something.  Sometimes you cut your eyes over at us to instead of looking directly at us and that just totally adds to the cuteness.

*You use "peas" and "tanks" a lot!!  I love that you are so polite and you will even tell random people that if they have something you want.. for example: stickers at the doctors office/target/wherever we happen to be.

*We are working on your patience.  We usually just have to tell you, and keep gently reminding you, to be patient when it comes to getting what your wanting.  Who are we kidding though, everybody struggles with patience!!

*You LOVE the movies Cars, Choo Choo (The Polar Express), and the Babies movie (which is a documentary I picked up at Redbox one day..and for a while it was the only thing you would watch..thankfully we can now watch any of those 3 and it's ok).  Anything else though and you don't like it.  It's been rather nice that I can sit down for an hour and a half and we are both entertained.

*You officially made the transition to the way back of the van and it slightly saddens me.  You don't seem to mind and you love to climb up into your seat by yourself (I put a stool in front of your seat so you could easily get to it).  I think you actually cry/whine less being way back there because now I really can't get anything for you.

*You LOVE your Papa and Nana.  You ask for them practically every day, multiple times a day.  It usually goes something along the lines of Daddy? He's at work.  Papa? He's at work  Nana? She's at work.  2-3 times, sometimes more, per day.

*I worry about you adjusting to being a big sister but we talk about it with you all the time so hopefully we only have minor jealousy issues.  We have some plans in place so you hopefully feel extra special.

*You still LOVE to eat.

*You still only bite/hit/kick me.  It makes me sad but at least it isn't anybody else and according to Parenting it means that you are most comfortable with me...hmm...

*You still have a love affair with your paci.  You typically only get it at night and for naps but I think you might have a heart attack if we took it away.

*You currently have approximately 6 teeth on top and 8 on bottom.  You got 5 of those teeth, 2 molars and 3 eye teeth, within the last 3 weeks...another good reason you may be hanging onto your cold.  I say approximately because you rarely ever let me feel the top teeth and when I stuck my finger in there the other day I discovered the eye tooth and the molar on the one side and still have yet to figure out if you have any on the other side.

*When we went to the allergist the other day I was strongly encouraged to use your Flonase/Nasonex daily because you are a mouth breather and if you continue that you could be a mouth breather for the rest of your life.  So we now added that to your Qvar regiment.  You are going to be my drug baby.  It could be MUCH worse though so we'll be thankful that we have minor issues with you.

Mommy loves you baby Adelyn and I know that you are going to be the best big sister I could ask for.  I am so excited to watch you grow and I LOVE the stage you are in right now.  I think I say that a lot but this stage is really fun because you express yourself so much and you are starting to talk so much now!!