Where Does The Time Go?

Now 6 six weeks old, sleeping longer through the night, making mom's day hectic and picking up the pounds left and right.... Baylor and Hunter couldn't be any more perfect! I know it's been quite a while since my last post, but these two have me scrambling day in and day out! So this post is one that's going to take a few sit down sessions.

Let's start from the beginning ~

Oh Hospital, How I Loathe Thee...
Spending 5 days in the hospital after I deliver via c-section = understandable. Returning to the hospital 5 days later because of an unknown infection = utterly ridiculous and 6 of the worst days of my life! My first week in the hospital was actually OK. On the day of their birth (July 7) it was a whirlwind. Baylor arrived at 12:33 and Hunter at 12:35. As soon as I saw Baylor over the curtain, my emotions just began flooding out of me and I was sobbing. I heard him cry and then there was another little angel in my sight... I couldn't believe it! TWO boys... I really incubated two??? I was able to "see" them for a couple of seconds at a time behind my wall of blue in the operating room and then they were gone. I spent an hour in the OR and then another in the recovery room.
One of the doctors was nice enough to take some photos for us

Seeing Baylor for the first time

Seeing Hunter for the first time

By the way, that's the new dad holding his boys!

In the recovery room we had a few scares. Hunter stopped breathing twice, my blood pressure was through the roof and they had to give medication to help stabilize me, and Baylor's insulin level was so low they had to prick his heel at every feeding to check and make sure he was getting better for 4 days....... UGH! What else, right?

But Wait! There's More!
I leave the hospital that Sunday and could not be happier to be going home with my two precious angels! On Monday night I ask David to look at my incision and see if he thinks I'm OK because it is really swollen and hard as rock. The next day I go into my OBs office.
And so the story begins.

After looking at me for a minute Dr. Bennett wants to open me up right away. I have an infection! WHAT?! And I have to do what??? Oh, pack and repack my open wound everyday.... no big deal. After going in to the doctor's office for three days they finally are able to get me into the Wound Care Specialist office at the hospital. By Friday (when I see the wound care people) my infection has gotten worse. They open my incision even more and pack a silver nitrate gauze in me hoping that this will help me heal faster. Nope, not so much. The next day David forces me to the ER b/c he says it has gotten worse and they admit me right away...

Oh and did I mention how amazing David was during this whole process? He had to take off the outer gauze and redress my wound every single day. Sometimes 3 times a day. At least he did not have to pack my wound.

2nd Go 'Round
The ER nurses and doctor were SO nice and helpful. They decided to start me on IV antibiotics at the highest level instead of what my OB decided to do and start from the bottom. First antibiotic down. Second step down of antibiotics and this is what happened...

My eyes started to itch... and then my face. I wanted to claw my skin off! David started to freak out and ran to get the nurse. They immediately took the line off and injected me with Benadryl. Boy did that stuff send me for a ride! I have never felt so loopy and drugged up!!
Cefepime. I'll never forget that name!
LONG story "short" I ended up having my incision completely reopened and packed for 4 more days until the lead doctor of the Wound Care facility, a plastic surgeon no less, decided to throw in the towel and perform a second surgery. I also had an infectious disease doctor come in to see me everyday because they could not determine what was going on with this infection! My red blood cell count was severely low and white cell count extremely high. I was anemic. I never saw my boys until Thursday, for 20 minutes. Needless to say I had to start the recovery process all over again. AND they sent me home with a PICC line and 10 days worth of IV antibiotics to change every morning.
Thank goodness for the second surgery though. I am healing beautifully and feel great! I still have a few pains, but these are actually normal this time around.

Present Day
In this corner, he hails from the right side of the crib. He measures at 20 3/4 inches long, weighing in at 9 pounds. He can down a bottle like it's nobody's business. He currently holds the championship title for the "Largest Poopy Diaper In the Preston Household".... Hunter Preston!!!


And in this corner, hailing from the far left side of the crib. He measures at 20 3/4 inches long, weighing in at 8 pounds. He has a smile that can melt your heart but a scream that can burst an a eardrum. He currently holds the title of "Preston With The Most Gas" (yes, surpassing his dad)..... Baylor Preston!!!


We took them in for their one month check up and were so shocked at how much weight they had gained! Honestly, we thought Hunter was going to be more than just a pound heavier than Baylor!
And speaking of one month, David and I went to Cami Cakes and bought the boys a couple of cupcakes to celebrate their one month birthday! Well, we ate them and said they were for the boys! Mmmm.... I love a good cupcake!






How ADORABLE are these two?! Ugh, we cannot get enough of them! We are getting in to week 7 and we're still in awe, shock, love, disbelief, and heaven when we look at Baylor and Hunter. This is also the time where they will finally recognize us and begin to have reactionary smiles. We've gotten a few here and there. Those moments make all of the trying times and hair pulling nights all worth it!

I forgot to post this last photo of me pregnant! This was week 38 and my last night pregnant! Look at how big I was! Oh my goodness!!! I do sort of miss being pregnant though. Does that make me clinically insane?

Welcome Home Robert Baylor and Hunter Brooks Preston!!!!!!!

So I have had absolutely NO time what so ever to get back to my blogging but wanted to give you all an update! I delivered on my scheduled c-section date, July 7. Baylor arrived at 12:33pm weighing 5 pounds 8 ounces and Hunter just a short two minutes later at 12:35pm weighing 6 pounds 4.5 ounces.
Here's a photo of our beautiful boys just 30 minutes after they were born

Hunter (left) Baylor (right)

Side profile... they look SO much alike! But we are starting to see slight changes day by day. I do hope they don't change too much

Baylor (left) Hunter (right)

I will try and post tomorrow with more details on the delivery and how everyone is doing!

No Pain, No Gain.... Right?

Like I Said, I'm A Good Incubator
Well, today we had our appointment with Dr. Mann today to determine whether we deliver this week or next........................
Next week it is. Baby A had a nice little pocket of fluid and she saw no need to push the c-section date up. This was very, very disappointing to hear. Not the part where they are healthy and having a great time in there, but David and I had mentally prepared ourselves for an earlier date for delivery ever since last Monday ~ and not to mention my body fluffing up and crying out in discomfort! I can't do anything anymore without the swelling becoming so overwhelming that I have to sit down and prop up every limb. Sometimes I can't even see my kneecaps... I think my butt even has fluid in there!!! Needless to say the news was hard to swallow, but all we can do now is wait. Who knows, maybe I'll go into labor before then. We'll see!

Mmm Mmm Mmmmmmm........
On a lighter note I made a yummy-delicious pecan peach cobbler last night! It was my first cobbler ever and I think it turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself! Of course, I did have some help from my trusty sous chef. I found the recipe in Southern Living ~ here's the link. And I actually remembered to take photos! Woohoo! We are going to freeze the leftovers for later when we the boys get here! I also made homemade creamed corn and froze that as well ~ better to be over prepared I guess.

David and I found the juiciest, most fragrant and brightest peaches at Fresh Market! OH MY GOSH... I couldn't stop eating a slice for every peach... Ugh, so good!

Getting ready to bake and become a delicious dessert for us to devour!

Pièce de Résistance

Instead of whipped cream we used a wonderful vanilla bean ice cream to top it off! Enjoy if you decide to make... you will be so happy you did!
Tomorrow I'm making a banana nut bread to freeze as well! I guess I am becoming a little 'Suzy Homemaker'...

Comfy are we???

These past couple of weeks have been getting harder and harder to deal with. My feet and legs will swell up like I'm a 300 pound woman and my hands will not allow me to finish thank you cards! It was hard enough writing David's birthday cards. We are settling in a bit more these days into our new home and anxiously waiting for Baylor and Hunter to grace us with their presence and take our breath away!
So here's the latest....

Sooner or Later They're Gonna Show Themselves
On Monday we had our appointment with Dr. Mann (high risk doc) and everything is still looking great except for Baby A's fluid. It was lower than what it should be, but then again she was not sure if she could actually see the fluid because the boys are a wee bit crowded in there! They are 5 1/2 pounds each these days!!! So, instead of returning in two weeks she asked us to come back in a week. If Baby A's fluid is still low we are going to push the c-section date up! I CAN'T WAIT! I feel like I'm being selfish, but oh my gosh I am soooooooo uncomfortable. If I do go into labor, the doctor said she would not stop things at this point so we'll see on Wednesday what Dr. Mann says... I swear though, if it were up to these two, I'd still be pregnant for another 4 weeks! They are a little too comfortable in there.
On Thursday I met with the last doctor in my OB's practice and she was very nice. She told us to take our hospital bags with us on Wednesday because we could be delivering that day! I am now a total of 156ish pounds! I hate that freaking scale! But I can say that most of it is fluid ~ I don't wake up without something swollen these days.

Here's a photo of me at 36 weeks... I don't think I look any bigger. I do look exhausted though!



Happy Birthday!!!!
Friday was David's 33rd birthday! We celebrated with some of his friends and cooked up some yummy-delicious food! (Unfortunately I was so busy I did not have the time to take photos.) David grilled venison burgers, corn on the cobb and pineapple while I made a watermelon, arugala salad with feta, punch and zeppoles instead of a birthday cake. Next time I make these dishes I will have to post some photos because not only are they super delicious, they are so pretty! And when you have the best and freshest ingredients.... oh it makes all the difference in the world. Ever since our move I've had to find new places to shop and have fallen in love with Fresh Market! They have the juiciest watermelon and sweetest peaches! Ugh, I'm dying for some right now...
Sorry for the diversion! David's birthday was really nice. Hanging out with friends, great food and fishing for the guys ~ I don't think David could have come up with a better day!

Speaking of moving and fishing here are the photos that I promised!

Nursery

(Please ignore the ugly green chair. Our glider hasn't arrived yet!)

Our plan is to add their names above their individual cribs. I better get on that one, huh?!

I love this sweet painting! There are two others of an elephant and owl. I thought the elephant was a bit too girly because of the eyelashes and haven't seen the owl in stores yet... I'd like to get the owl for the other side maybe one day.

Say "Cheese"!

Home

From the backyard patio

Koi pond

My avid fisherman out there somewhere!

The backyard from the dock

So those are the photos of our nursery and new pad. We really love the view from the kitchen and the boys have a great view as well! It's ours for the next two years anway...

I will try and post on Wednesday the good/indifferent news that we receive. Hopefully I'll be too busy to post anything Wednesday because we're in the delivery room!! Keep your fingers crossed....

Pushing Through

Well, that title could be looked at in a few different ways! 1)We are pushing through this move and trying to get our new house back to normal and in living condition; 2) I am pushing through this pregnancy day by day; and 3) these boys are trying to literally push their way out! These past few weeks have been creeping by ever so slowly and yet we've been through so much!

Already Defying Mom's Orders
These two are already turning a deaf ear to what I have to say... I last left you with great news that Baby A was still head down and that we would talk with my delivering doctor about how we would deliver. Dr. Bennett was very promising and said that so long as A is head down she would have no problem with a vaginal delivery. I was SO happy with this news. I really thought that this pregnancy was going to be the ending that I've been wanting. Boy was I wrong! The following week I have a follow up with my high risk doctor (different doc this time actually) and Baby A is now BREECH! How in the Hell did this child move?! Where's the room? Needless to say I cried and was very upset to hear this. The last thing I want is a c-section. I didn't want any drugs, but have to have an epidural. I didn't want a c-section, but that's not the case anymore. What else is there? I know everyone is different, but I just don't want to go through that long recovery time and pain of a c-section. And I want to have that special, intimate moment when giving birth. I feel like that feeling of the actual "giving birth" and bonding moments with your baby/ies are taken away because there is literally a wall between you and them... *sigh* I guess this is why birthing plans really serve no purpose what so ever, in most cases.
So this past week I scheduled a c-section for July 7th at noon (my Grandma Georgia's birthday as well). There is always the chance that they could decide to show themselves earlier though. The doctor said that with twins they want to always wait until 38 weeks or longer, if possible. But at this point, 35 weeks, they will not try to stop labor. I am just so proud that I have made it this far! Also, my doctor's will no longer check my cervix measurements... I guess if I've made it this far it doesn't really matter anymore. But it was a nice way to ease our minds and give us a good estimate on when the time would come!

Here I am at 34 weeks

Weighing In On The Issues At Hand
Oh! The good news of our appointments... the boys weighed in at a whopping 4 pounds 10 oz and 4 lbs 14 oz last week! They are each the same size of a singleton. I am so happy about this. All of that protein that I have been forcing down my throat has been well worth it!
I on the other hand I am now weighing 150!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Really 152, but who needs to count those extra two pounds, right?) I told the nurse that I was going to come and take all of their scales and throw them out the window. I think I just need to stop looking at the scale... Watching them push the scale's bar from the 100 marker to the 150 made my heart fall down to my feet and I could feel myself screaming on the inside "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"! I looked at Candace (my nurse) and she just smiled and said "Oh Mrs. Preston... You're having TWINS!! You should be putting on this kind of weight!" This did not help me feel better.



The New Pad
We moved in to our new home a little over a week ago. It is taking me some getting used to, but David is loving it! Of course this move would not have been possible without the much needed help of my family and family friends. My mom helped wash all of the baby clothes and Jackie helped me paint the nursery. Here's a picture of the future dad putting together one of the cribs




Bit by bit this house is coming together. I am still trying to finish the nursery and the boys bathroom. With my feet and hands swollen like they are everyday, it makes getting myself ready a daunting task. The weekend of our move my feet were so bad! I literally look like I'm 300 pounds just from my feet at times. My right hand is always numb now. It's very frustrating...
I will post some photos of our place, the backyard and the boy's nursery/bathroom as soon as I can.
I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow and they're going to actually check my cervix this time so I'll have a better idea of where I stand these days when it comes to going into labor! David will be in Chicago for work all day tomorrow so let's just hope that I don't go into labor until he gets back! ;)

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

We are officially "homeless". We closed on our house this past Wednesday and have temporarily moved in with some family members here in Atlanta for the time being until this upcoming Friday. It's not our favorite plan (which would involve actually moving in to our new home NOW), but it works. This is definitely better than living in a hotel for almost two weeks! But my poor, sweet Bruizer is in a cage all day everyday being boarded and the dogs are with David's mom. At least they are all being taken care of! We are so ready for life to settle back down ~ for the time being anyway!

One Year, Really??
This past weekend we celebrated our ONE YEAR Anniversary! Can you believe it? Time has just flown by so quickly. It seems like it was just yesterday that we said our "I dos" and flew off to Maui. Ah, Maui, how I miss thee.........

Photo on the 'Road to Hana'

Now we are 8 months pregnant, expecting twins none the less, living in someone else's home, waiting on ours to be move-in ready and already needing another vacation in Maui. But needless to say our one year anniversary rocked! We had an amazing maternity photo shoot and had so much fun! (David loves the camera!) I cannot wait to get the photos online and choose which ones we want to have as our "framers"! But the best part is that we actually get to keep all of the photos taken. Also, the photographer loved us so much he wants to do another photo shoot with us, free of charge! How sweet of a deal is that?! I talked to him a few weeks ago about doing an outdoor shoot in a field somewhere because I love the natural look you can get with the right sunlight/exposure. It can almost have a vintage look to the photos... well he wants to try that! So once this weather clears up, we're heading outdoors. I think this will be even better than the studio photos... When I have the photos I'll post a couple up!!
After our photo shoot David took me out for a fabulous dinner at Pricci! This is where we had our "first" date and David proposed! So it was very fitting that we end up back at Pricci. Here are some pics...

A dessert that they brought us to help celebrate our night

Preggers Update
As for me and the babes, we're doing great! I am now 33 weeks and still kicking and am so lucky to be up and about so late in the game with twins. But, I am definitely at my breaking point. My feet and hands started to swell right as my 3rd trimester hit and I cannot wear my wedding rings anymore. My shoes are a bit tight as well, so I'm just wearing flops at all times when possible. My back and hips are really starting to hurt more and more as well. Other than these few aches and pains, I'm feeling great ~ if you can really say that... I'm just thankful to not be on bedrest and/or in the hospital. So I'll take these pains with pride, for now!
We have a doctor's appointment on Thursday so we may get some more insight on how I'm progressing. We do not have another ultrasound until next Monday so we never really know exactly how I'm doing until those appointments roll around.

Hope everyone had a wonderful and long Memorial Day weekend!

Will Life Ever Be Normal Again?

So it's been a while since my last post and boy have things have been crazy around here! Between this pregnancy, work (that I just quit, again), moving, classes (pregnancy and photography), doctor appointments... I just want another vacation!

Appointments
Let's start with our appointment with Dr. Mann two weeks ago. So the check up was going well with the boys are weighing 3lb3oz and 3lb1oz each, "beautiful and healthy", but mom... not so much. My cervix measured almost half the size as it was two weeks prior! So of course Dr. Mann had us totally freaked out! She hooked me up to a monitor to see if I was having contractions and going into early labor... everything obviously checked out alright. But she told me to rest, rest, rest. So, I quit my job and am trying to do so. But it's been so hard with this move!

Our next appointment the next week was with Dr. Bennett. I have gained yet another 3.5 pounds! I guess that's not as bad as 4.5. So I think I'm now at 143ish? I can't remember. I believe I mentally blocked out the numbers. To my surprise I received quite the opposite reaction from Dr. Bennett about measurements from the prior week. She was happy with my appointment and thought that my cervix measurement was great to be 31 weeks pregnant with twins. She said most women with twins/more are around 1cm at 31 weeks or earlier. This news definitely made me feel better about things.

Yesterday, Monday, we had our latest appointment with Dr. Mann. I was definitely worried about this check up because of the pains I have been having and how my last check up ended. But low and behold, my measurement was longer!! What?! Really? Dr. Mann was definitely all smiles this time! She said my weight gain is great, the boys look "fabulous" and that my measurements are perfect. The boys are now at a whopping 3lb12oz and 3lb14oz! That's almost 8 pounds! And boy am I feeling their weight gain. Every jolt, stretch, karate chop to the other... I'm getting the short end of the stick here!

Some other good news is that I could possibly have a vaginal delivery instead of the dreaded C-section! I am extremely happy about this news! Baby A (I'm thinking that's Baylor) is still head down (YAY!) and has moved over to the left, creating some room for his brother to come on down! Baby B is still transverse BUT he's at an angle pointing head down.... so there is a HUGE possibility that he could move head down. And if Dr. Bennett would allow me to have a vag birth, Baby B could move in the right direction once he has the extra room. Dr. Mann thinks Bennett will be absolutely comfortable with this so we'll see next Thursday what she says!

Here's what the boys are looking like this week! Let's hope they both end up in this direction soon!!!


But not everything is turning out so "swell" for me these days... (key word being swell in that sentence). As soon as my third trimester hit, my hands and feet started to swell! My hands more so than my feet. My fingers hurt all day long, especially first thing in the morning, and there's nothing that I can do! I've tried wearing braces but they just don't seem to work and are very uncomfortable. I can't even get my wedding rings over my knuckles anymore. I told David that I feel like I'm his pregnant mistress when we go out because he has on his ring... I feel so naked without it!

I thought I'd share these photos of David putting our new stroller together. I can't wait until he can actually put our cribs together!

Dad striking a pose...

The stroller is a Baby Jogger ~ City Select... it's pretty awesome! The seats come out so we can put our car seats in, in any direction... I can't wait to take our little ones for a stroll in the park next to our new house!

I don't have a photo of my belly from two weeks ago to post. Like I said earlier, things have been so crazy around here and I think part of us was just too lazy and we forgot! But here's one for today at 32 weeks (8 months)...



Moving sucks...
We are out on our tails tomorrow ~ we close on our home and can't move into our new place until next Friday, June 4! So for the time being we are going to stay with Jane and Woody (my stepdad's sister and brother-in-law). Thank goodness they have a place here in Atlanta or we'd be moving into an Extended Stay and that costs $.

This move has been trying. Poor David ~ he has been working his tail off packing, loading and moving things between our house, the PODS and a second storage unit that we had to get!!! Needless to say we have lots of stuff. It may be time to go thru it all, again, and see what we really need... But, in our defense, the first storage unit is full of baby stuff! So we shouldn't feel too bad, right?

I am definitely ready for next Friday to get here though. This nesting bug in me has been dying to get out for two months now! Our cribs are still in boxes, clothes have to be washed, I don't have any decorations for the nursery because I don't know how the layout will be... ugh. I'm ready for this move to be over with!

Here are a couple of "before" photos of our move...






On a different note, I don't think I shared these photos with you! I was surprised one day with beautiful flowers from my darling sweetpea! It definitely made my day because I was in need of a good pick me up...




I will try to keep up with these posts a little better. Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer and I can wrap my mind around what's going on!