MJ is HERE ya'll!  And I'm sure you've seen it all over my social media.  This birth story will be very different from the twins birth story.  

I went into my last scheduled OB appointment on May 8th and was checked for dilation.  The plan was to decide our next action based on my body's progression.  I was 1+ dilated but had been having intense, irregular contractions all week.  I was frustrated I wasn't farther along than that.  My OB gave us 3 options:

1.) Schedule a C-Section for that week. (40 weeks)

2.)  Induce me on the 13th to have her VBAC on the 14th.

3.). Wait another week to see if she comes naturally and if not, schedule a C- Section for the following week. (41 weeks)

We chose #1, and boy am I glad we did.

Taken right before I went back to get prepped for surgery.

Thursday morning came around and we were scheduled for 11 am!  It felt weird getting everything organized home, packing our bags normally (even though mine had been packed for 3 weeks already) and knowing that in less than a few hours we would be meeting our sweet girl.  We arrived at KU MED at 9 am and walked in for the last time as parents of 2.  The twins were spending the day with Grandma Becky and we planned on them coming up later that afternoon to meet Maggie.

Alex and I were giddy.  We had not made it to 40 weeks with the twins (they were born at 36 weeks and 4 days) and so this pregnancy seemed to draw on forever.  We were just so excited and seeing as though I went through 30+ hours of labor with the twins, this seemed so smooth and relaxing.  Weird, right?  Alex met me back in pre-op and we had about 1.5 hrs until go time.  We, of course, watched The Office on our phone and made bets on Maggie's weight.

Alex: 7 lbs 5 oz.
Me: 7 lbs 8 oz.
My OB: 7 lbs 10 oz.

We were all off.

Alex all ready to go!  Looks pretty good in scrubs, I might add.

Here we go!!!

I walked back to the OR around 10:45 and jumped up on the table.  Again, strangely bizarre considering I was wheeled back in excruciating pain with the twins.  My CRNA was amazing.  They did a spinal block, which I had never had before.  Weirdest feeling ever.  She worked quickly and within 2 minutes, I felt my legs going numb.  They laid me back on the table and began prepping my belly and getting me positioned.  The CRNA told me to let her know if I felt weird.  I did.  I felt lightheaded, nauseous, strange.  I told her and turns out a drop in blood pressure after the spinal can happen and did for me.  Down in the 70's, I felt awful and I thought... I'm going to be sick for MJ's birth.  But after quick action by my CRNA and some powerful IV drugs, I felt a lot better.  Less than 10 minutes went by, and Maggie was born!  They pulled down the drape and showed me my sweet baby girl.

What a CHUNK! My heart melted, I couldn't contain my joy and the tears started flowing.  Hormones are REAL man.  Alex got to cut the cord, something he wasn't able to do with the twins and he held her with me for those first few breaths in this world.  Everything around us went away and I just watched her.  I couldn't believe she was here!

9# 5oz!  3 lbs bigger than the twins were!  She still felt small... crazy to me how that is.

It was cozier in Mom's belly.

First family pic (minus the twins)

Becky and Chris, Alex's parents, brought the twins up to meet Maggie and see Mom and Dad later that afternoon!  It was so great.  They were overwhelmed with being at the hospital, seeing all the family and seeing Mom in a weird bed.  But I think they understood that Maggie was their baby sister.  Emmy wanted to hold her right away and Bennett took some coaxing.  He was a little more stand-off-ish but still always watching and looking at his little sister.

My mom, Heidi, who took a lot of the first pics of Maggie you've seen above.

Alex's parents, Chris and Becky meeting Maggie.

Emmy, not sure and Buddy, all smiles!

Dad of 3! And again, my ROCK throughout the whole experience.

Maggie, passing her checkup!

Buddy, warming up to Miss Maggie.

Pics from my sister... She already looks so different from these!  She lost a little bit of weight, like all newborns, in the hospital (down to 8 lbs 14 oz).  When we left she was 9 lbs exactly!

Alex spent the night with Maggie and I Thursday night, but Friday night he went home to be Dad to the twins and get stuff ready for her arrival home Saturday.  I was flying solo Friday night and it challenged me.  When the twins were born, they were in the NICU our entire hospital stay.  They had their own rooms and nurses and I could retreat back to my room for some "sleep".  I didn't ever worry about them when I left them.  With Maggie, she roomed with me the whole time, which I loved but also through me into reality.  That first night, she had trouble with spit up and coughing up amniotic fluid.  Thankfully the night nurse realized we were having troubles and took her to the nursery for a few hours to suction her out and give us a few hours of rest.  Overall, the stay was great, our nurses were great and we were there shorter than I expected, which is also great.

Leaving the hospital on Saturday!

L i f e  a t  H o m e

It has been crazy, I won't lie.  Life with 3 just always seems busy.  But it's also been amazing too.  I love love love seeing Emmy and Bennett interact with her.  They love to "help Mom" change Maggie, which really means playing in her room while I remembered and struggled with how hard it is to change a newborn's diaper.  Everything is SO SMALL when you've been used to 2T, 3T and 4T clothing!  (Yeah Bennett is starting to fit into some 4T clothing... as a 2.5 year old... )

My girls.

Alex is now officially done with school for the summer and I couldn't be more excited.  The week I had to myself was FINE, not easy, not glamorous, and I definitely wore my pj's and didn't brush my teeth some days, but all my children survived, were happy 90% of the time and it made me realize it's possible!  This weekend has been a great start to the summer, and I couldn't be more excited for the next few months.

Aren't they basically teenagers???

I'm sorry the blog took so long to get out, but when you're raising 3 babies, most of my "free time" is spent loving on them, or rewatching The Office for the 900th time.  No judgements.

Next blog I'll talk about breastfeeding, and life with 3 under 3!  Thanks for reading and Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

Until next time...
Lauren, E, B, & MJ

Twins vs. Singleton: Pregnancy

People are ALWAYS asking me, "how much easier is this pregnancy than your first?"  And it's been very different I can tell you. Not always easier, but different.  First and foremost, here's the current situation.

S t a t s

Twin Pregnancy: Emmy and Bennett
Born at 36 weeks and 4 days.  Was measuring 47+ weeks.
Induction because of Cholestasis.
Babies weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and 6 lbs 5 oz.

Singleton Pregnany:  Margaret (Maggie)
TBD :) I am currently sitting at 39+ weeks and measuring right at 40 weeks.
Lots of Braxton Hick's contractions the past week, but nothing huge.
Going to try for natural VBAC delivery.  Wish us luck!

With the twins, it was not only my first pregnancy, but it was a high risk one and one that none of my close friends or acquaintances had been through.  I was overly cautious, aware and called in to the triage line with all kinds of questions and concerns during the later months of the pregnancy.  I was also working full time days at the time and it was more convenient for me to go over to labor and delivery at KU if I wasn't feeling like something was right.

I didn't drink caffeine, watched very closely what I ate, and was a GEM at taking weekly baby bump pics.  I even had energy and motivation to work out all the way up until I was about 30 weeks! It was as straight forward a pregnancy as you can get, until the end where the Cholestasis hit and my emergent delivery (for more on that, check back to January 2016 posts for my birth story).  I remember the weeks leading up to the delivery:  it was winter so the weather was dreary, cold and unforgiving.  I struggled with things to wear (maternity stuff is great and all, but finding things that were comfortable and didn't look like a sack of potatoes was hard for me).

I was LARGE, ladies and gents.  For those of you who don't remember... here's a couple of belly pics right before they were born.

This was taken my last day of work with the twins.  I stopped working just before hitting 34 weeks and it needed to happen.  I was too big and too uncomfortable to do my job well and ended up needing those few weeks to rest and try to gear up for life after the twins.  Although, I did go a bit stir crazy, that I do remember.

4 days before they were born!  I felt really good that day.  Probably because it was Christmas Eve and that's my favorite holiday.  So thanks for being born around then JC.  Helped me out.

I just remember hating how big and heavy my belly was.  And pregnancy means a heavy belly, I get that.  And it is such a short amount of time feel uncomfortable for such a beautiful miracle (in our case 2!) of bringing babies into this world, but at the time, I couldn't get in and out of bed by myself, off the couch, into the car normally, or even just sit normally.  When sitting down becomes even uncomfortable, well I'll let you imagine.

Day before they arrived!

Hard to really see the true comparison of my belly with both pregnancies since I was NOT great at taking belly pics this time around.  I took a few and here they are next to the twins.

18 weeks with Twins

18 weeks with Maggie

21+ weeks with twins on left and with Maggie on right

34 weeks with Twins

34+ weeks with Maggie

With my current pregnancy, I'm already farther along then I have ever been.  Sitting at 39 weeks now, I am ready to meet this little girl like crazy!  Alex thinks she will maker her appearance on the 5th- Cinco de Mayo and her Grandpa's birthday!  I would be super happy with this week- as long as she is healthy and I want a safe, smooth delivery.  It's definitely testing my patience and my inner planner is a wreck.

37 weeks with Maggie

38 weeks with Maggie

39 weeks with Maggie! 

Overall, this pregnancy has been pretty straightforward.  Besides my bout with Pericarditis in November, things have been very normal.  I haven't had any signs of the Cholestasis returning, I've felt big but NOTHING compared to the size of my twin belly.  The hardest part of this pregnancy has been keeping up with the twins (shoutout to the blog name).  Toddlers have some ENERGY.

I would say the biggest difference for me has been the size of my belly and missing out on the weekly ultrasounds to keep up with weight gain and see the babies.  I haven't seen Maggie since her 20 week ultrasound and it seems so long ago!   I'm so eager to see who she looks more like, if she has hair, how much she weighs, yada yada.

Can't wait for the next blog post... which will be after Maggie is here and I'm so excited to introduce her to everyone!  Hope everyone is enjoying the Spring weather (FINALLY) and gearing up for what will be an awesome summer, I just know it.

Until next time,
Lauren, E, B, & MJ