Introducing Bayla and Harper Slemons

They're here! Bayla Celia and Harper Jordan Slemons were born Thursday, April 15. Here's their information:

Bayla Celia Slemons: Born at 1:18 p.m., 4 lbs 13 oz., 16 in. long
Harper Jordan Slemons: Born at 1:19 p.m., 4 lbs 12 oz, 17 3/4 in. long

Both girls are doing incredibly well. They haven't needed any breathing help, and they're learning to take bottles and regulate their temps. We don't know when they'll come home, but the average NICU stay for 34-weekers is about 2 weeks. I might get to go home tomorrow (Sunday).

We are so grateful and relieved that they've been born healthy. We couldn't be more thrilled. We can't wait to introduce them to everyone!

More info soon, and I'm going to figure out how to add photos!

The end of the road, the beginning of an adventure

Here I sit in the hospital room I've been in for the last 11 weeks, knowing that in 2 days I'll have 2 more children. I thought life was complete with an amazing husband, sweet son, supportive family, the best friends anyone could ever hope for, and a meaningful job, but I'm realizing that these girls are really going to round it out. Every life has ups and downs-- I had my biggest down when I lost my mother nearly 6 years ago-- and I guess all you can do is hope and pray that you have more ups than downs. 11.5 weeks ago we were terrified we'd experience another huge down, but here we are. Who knows why? I certainly don't, and I'm not especially inclined to ask. I'm just grateful and hopeful.

I'm also anxious and nervous. Having twins is no walk in the park, and because they'll be preemies, a lot can be wrong. Having major surgery is scary. Trying to fit back into my old life is going to be a hard transition. Affording 3 kids is challenging. Making sure Brady, Shawn, and even the dog get as much as me as I can give is daunting. But it will all be okay, because it has to be. These girls are meant to be ours, and we're going to do our very best to raise happy, healthy, loving children.

I've spent so much time focusing on NOT focusing that I'm experiencing a huge wave of emotions: relief, terror, happiness, excitement. Mostly, I'm ready to get back to my life, know what we're up against, and move forward. It's going to be quite a ride.

The next time you hear from me on the blog, you'll know the girls' names and statistics, and I'll figure out how to add photos so you can see the little faces we've been so excited to see. So more updates soon!

Old wives' tales

We are in the final countdown. Six days to go until we meet our girls...if they wait that long.

So a big rainstorm blew threw Atlanta yesterday, and it poured for a while. Have you ever heard the old wives' tale that women go into labor during a storm? Ask any nurse and they'll tell you it's true, and I can just about corroborate it. When the weather turned yesterday, I started to bleed and contract. I went on the monitors for about 2 hours, and the babies were fine the whole time. But during that 2 hours, the weather cleared, and things smoothed out for me and have been fine ever since. You can correlate the rain going away with my contractions stopping-- and I'm not kidding. It wasn't nearly as scary as the last time I bled, mostly because they're in a much safer place. And probably because I am READY to get the hell out of here. (My water broke 11 weeks ago today.)

But I had an ultrasound this morning and everything looked great. Because I am so close to delivering, any strange goings-on will almost certainly result in me delivering these babies. Strange goings-on could include more bleeding, bad monitoring sessions, etc. I'd like to hold out til Thursday, but we shall see.

I'm not sleeping well, and I'm starting to get very nervous about the surgery and what's in store for the girls. But Shawn and I are SO ready to know what the next stage will be like, and how the girls are doing. We fully expect them to be in the NICU for awhile, but no one knows how long that will be, and they won't even know when they're born. We'll be continuing to play everything by ear, but at least we'll know what we're dealing with. And of course, we'll get to hold and love our baby girls.

So I have one more ultrasound on Tuesday, which is also my last day of work before maternity leave, then it will be go time. More updates soon!

The real countdown is on

Today I'm 32 weeks, 5 days! And we only have 9 days to go until we meet our girls. Only 9 days! To break it down for you the way I'm thinking about it, that means, at the time I'm writing this, I have:
-2 more ultrasounds
-13 more baby and contraction monitoring sessions
-31 more insulin shots
-30 more finger pokes
-About 12 more nights away from my husband, son, and dog (assuming all goes well)

It's exciting! I'm just so so ready to be back to my life. I asked Brady if I can give him baths, read him books, and tuck him in for night night, and he said, "No. Daddy does that." Ouch. But we'll reconnect, I'll bribe him with ice cream, and all will be well. Then his sisters will come home... ;)

We had another ultrasound today, and everything looked great. Baby A had a decent amount of fluid, so that was good news. Baby B is doing fantastic as always. Interestingly, Baby B seems to be everywhere at once-- she's head down, she kinda curves around the middle of my belly, and her legs and feet are on my left side, above her sister. When she gets going, my entire abdomen just goes completely nuts. Baby A is much more reserved. It will be incredibly interesting to see if they retain these personalities. I bet they will, and if so, let me just say this: we are in so much trouble!

But anyway, that's all the news. Tomorrow we'll be counting down from 8 days. More updates soon!

Another week down

It's now been 10 weeks since Baby A's membrane ruptured. Let me repeat that: 10 weeks. Seems like both yesterday and a lifetime ago. I miss being at home with my boys more and more each day, and I'm just glad I don't have that much longer til we can start our family life together again.

We had another ultrasound this morning, and everything looked wonderful. Babies are practicing their breathing, kicking around, and appear otherwise healthy. I'm now 32 weeks, 1 day, so my feeling is that this can really happen any time...any time now... It would be wonderful to make it to 34 weeks-- really wonderful-- but I know the girls would be in such a great place now, and it's extremely freeing. Plus, I'm getting really uncomfortable, and it's no fun to roll myself out of bed every time I need to get up.

Everything is in countdown mode now, and I'm looking forward to April 15 like you wouldn't believe. Oh-- if you have any night nurse recommendations, please let me know. This is actually happening, so we need to start interviewing night nurses so we can actually get some sleep the first couple months these girls are home.

So all is well, and we have another ultrasound Tuesday. More updates soon!