January 30th - The Birth Story

... Matt and Oscar were right next to me wrestling on the floor and "oops!" my water broke!!!

The time was approximately 5:30... we called Matt's parents to come over, we called my mom so she could get on a plane and we called Karen, our doula. Everyone sprung into action. Matt was running around the house gathering the bags and other gear we wanted to take to the hospital. Oscar was feeling the excitement and was also running around trying to be helpful... mostly keeping me company (and distracting me). Matt's parents arrived shortly after 6 and Matt and I left for the hospital. I had not yet timed contractions until we were in the car -nearly 3 minutes apart from what I could tell! Is this really happening right now!? A few hours earlier I was not suspecting this was how our evening was going to go.

We were greeted at L&D by Vicki, one of the nurses that was present at Oscar's birth, and I was so thankful to see her! We were in our hospital room by 6:45. She got me hooked up to the monitors, and checked me - 9cm! She stepped out of the room for just a few minutes leaving Matt and I alone, the reality was sinking in. This was happening now.

Within minutes the room was full of nurses, both our doctors, and warmers for each baby... unfortunately we had still not spoken to Karen but messages had been left and we were sure she would arrive any minute! "You can try to push if you feel like it." Pushing? Already? I still had my clothes on, we'd only been here a few minutes! Ok, here we go. A few pushes in and Karen arrived - we were thankful to see her! Baby "A", as she had been know for the last several months, was presenting forehead first (her chin was not tucked to her chest). Dr. Grande used the vacuum to tuck her chin and out she came. Rosalie Marie was born at 7:30pm weighing 6lbs. Matt was able to cut the cord and Rosie was wonderful and healthy...

now it was time to prepare for Baby "B". Typically they prefer to deliver twins in the OR just in case of an emergency. I'm not sure if it was because things happened so quickly when we arrived but we were able to deliver Rosie in the labor room. Because Baby "B" was breech our doctor insisted we move to the OR, which was fine with me. Once in the OR they did a quick ultrasound to identify the exact position of the baby. The urge to push wasn't as strong this time. Was it because of her position or from me being tired already? It definitely felt different to push a breech baby. Nurse Vicki was holding my belly to help guide the baby from the outside. Dr. Grande was trying to get a grip on both of B's feet and Dr. Larkin and a few nurses pushed on my belly. Needless to say this was not comfortable for me... but out she came! Harriette Tyler was born at 8:07pm weighing 6lb9oz and healthy as well!! Welcome Hattie!

Two and a half hours after my water broke our beautiful baby girls were born! After the labor we had with Oscar I would not have expected things to go this quickly, smoothly or easily. Birthing these girls was nothing compared to Oscar's birth - piece of cake! We would not have been able to do it with out the amazing team with had with us. Dr. Larkin, who delivered Oscar, suggested Dr. Grande as soon as we found out we were having twins. He felt confident in the experience and skill that Dr. Grande had. Very few doctors these days will deliver a breech baby. Dr. Grande was very clear that as long as Baby "A" was head down he had no problem delivering Baby "B" breech if that was her presentation. Karen, our Doula, was also there at Oscar's birth, and it was great to have her with us again. We are so thankful to have had another amazing un-medicated, natural birth. It was a wonderful experience and we feel so lucky that it all happened the way it did.

Because the girls were born premature (35 weeks 4 days) they needed to keep a close eye on them for the first few days. They were moved to the special care nursery kept under a warmer, on an IV, feeding tube and monitor right away. Mostly it was a precaution due to their early arrival. By the next day they were taken off the warmer and we were working toward taking them off the NG tube. Each day things were looking better and better. Originally the doctors and nurses prepared us for at least a week in the nursery, maybe 2, but as the week went on the girls were exceeding the highest expectations. On Wednesday morning they were un-hooked from everything and we were finally able to take them to our room! When Oscar arrived that morning he was able to hold them and talk to them... what a great birthday present! He just kept saying "hi! hi! hi!..." holding them and nuzzling them. Love.

Thursday morning we were given the OK to go home! Hurray! 5 days old, happy and healthy little girls! Now that we are home we are all making the adjustments to our new life. We are waiting for the results on the genetic testing to find out if the girls are fraternal or identical. Because of the difference in their weight they are easy to tell apart but they are very similar looking. We are so excited and overwhelmed by the gift of 2 beautiful baby girls - at once. Being parents of twins is as amazing as it is exhausting. Oscar did a great job of teaching us how to be parents, and we couldn't do this without him! We are so happy to be a family of 5, and look forward to what the future holds.

Time to catch up

Apparently the last few months have kept me busy. I just noticed that my last post was from Halloween!!

To quickly sum things up...

At the beginning of November went for one last visit to St. Louis to see the family before I would be restricted from travel and the 24week point in the pregnancy when I would be on "modified bed rest". We celebrated Thanksgiving here at our house surrounded by lots of friends and family... it was quite a feast! Before we knew it Christmas was here and then New Years (and yes we managed to have our annual new years eve party)!! As much as we missed our traditional holiday routine it was nice to be home and not traveling. Waking up at home on Christmas morning was special. It also made us think about the logistics of traveling for the holidays next year with 3 little ones in tow! The "bed rest" was officially over at the end of December but by that point I was having a hard time getting around due to my GIANT belly. January kept us busy with all the birthdays in the Zabel clan, nearly every weekend we had celebrations to keep us busy and distract us from the anticipation.

the feast

visit with Santa

going out to do some scoopin'

Santa didn't finish his nog and cookies

kitchen from Santa

Happy New Year!

more scoopin'

Mid-January things seemed to change. At my 32 week appointment they noticed I was having regular contractions (though not painful to me) but after a few visits to the hospital for further monitoring they decided to put me on meds to hold off labor for a bit longer. My next few weekly appointments continued to show the same thing but because there was no cervical changes (not significant anyway) they were not concerned. At my 35 week appointment they decided something was happening. I was instructed to stop taking the medication because it seemed like these girls were ready to arrive and the med wasn't doing too much to stop them. Dr. Grande actually told me I was in labor and that I should just go straight to the hospital. I was very surprised since I still didn't feel like I was in labor. I opted to just go home and get my self organized and wait for some real action to start. I had been having contractions for weeks and this day didn't seem any different... maybe a little stronger at times but not consistent. We all got excited and let everyone know that things were going to happen soon - this was Tuesday. Matt stayed home from work the next day, sure that it was the day! We did some nesting, cooking, organizing, preparing for the babies... and still nothing. By Thursday we decided it was just a false alarm and that it might possibly be weeks before they actually are here. Through out the whole pregnancy I realized that twins often arrive early (on average between 34-38 weeks) and I had said many times that I hoped they wait till after Oscar's birthday party.

Olive shows up to the party like a rockstar!

"choo choo!"

do I look like I'm about to have some babies?

secrets

Sunday was Oscar's 2nd birthday party at Choo Choo Bob's. I had a terrible night sleep but was excited to celebrate Oscar's golden birthday. Oscar had a wonderful time at his party. Trains, pizza, birthday cake, presents and his friends and family... doesn't get any better than that! We were all exhausted after the party so we headed home for nap time. Oscar and I napped while Matt went to get a haircut. After tossing and turning I was not napping, feeling very uncomfortable and feeling very emotional. I felt like something was happening, but I was still not having regular or "stop-you-in-your-tracks" contractions (if I kept busy I wouldn't even notice them). A friend of mine that recently had a baby had "silent labor" and without even noticing it she was nearly fully dilated and it was time to have a baby! I was starting to worry that this was happening to me. I put a call out to our doula, Karen, just to talk things over with her... maybe she could ease my mind? Then I started googling "silent labor" looking for some clue. Matt and Oscar were right next to me wrestling on the floor and "oops!" my water broke!!!

to be continued....

Halloween

Oscar discovered pumpkins mid-September. He would see a few here and there, and once he was paying attention he started seeing them everywhere! Then he got a book about pumpkins and a stuffed one too! He started getting into the holiday spirit.

First Fitting

Muppin Man

Oscar has developed an obsession with muffins (or as he calls them "MUPPINS"). So, a few months ago when we were trying to decide what he would be for Halloween, we thought it would be fun for him to be a muffin. I found some inspiration online but most of those costume ideas were cupcakes. I found a laundry basket that was Oscar sized and wandered the fabric store till I came across the perfect fabric. It was a pretty simple design and I got it done in one afternoon.

3 Little Birds Halloween Parade

Hanging out with Michael

As soon as Oscar saw it he knew right away that is was a "MUPPIN!" and was happy to put it on... but only for a few minutes at a time. On Halloween weekend we went to a few parties and once he saw other kiddos dressed in costume he seemed to "get it" and then didn't want to take the costume off! (which made getting into the car a bit of a challenge) As for Trick-Or-Treating, he totally got it! The first house we had to of show him what to do and that was all it took, he was an expert after that. We walked 2 blocks in our neighborhood with our neighbors and their daughter, Alice. Halloween was a success and I'm already looking forward to next year. I wonder if Oscar will start requesting his own costume or will I get to keep coming up with them for the next few years?

"Where the treats at?!"

"C'mon on we're ready to trick-or-treat!"

"Hello Mr. Pumpkin."

"Treats go in here."

A few weeks ago we went in for the big 20 week ultrasound... and got to find out that the twins are GIRLS!!! and apparently identical. We got to see them wiggling around, fingers, toes and everything seems to be in the right place. They are measuring right on schedule and weigh within a few grams of one another. So, a good report and everyone is healthy! The ultrasound pictures were not too exciting this time... but fortunately I will be having an ultrasound every other appointment from now on.

The baker with his buns in the oven.

It has been quite a summer

In late June Matt and I got some unexpected news... I found out I was pregnant! We were planning on waiting until the up coming Fall before attempting to add to our family. But these things happen and we were very excited about this little surprise. Little did we know...

Beginning of August I went in for my first prenatal appointment. Oscar was with me for his check-up but no Matt. I assumed it would be a pretty standard appointment and he wouldn't miss anything -HA! The doctor offered to do a quick, informal ultrasound just to see the heartbeat, because it was probably too early to hear it. I could immediately tell that something looked a little different... and when he zoomed out a bit I could see TWO LITTLE BABIES! Not that I'm an ultrasound technician, but even I could see what I was looking at! "You''re joking" came out of my mouth probably 100 times while the doctor was doing the US. My mind was spinning, I was in disbelief, and I so wished that Matt had been there with Oscar and I to share in the excitement (and shock).

I called him right away to break the news. He was just leaving work... me: "you should sit down." Matt: "why?" me: "um, well..." Matt:"what are you telling me?" me:"there's 2, I saw them with my own eyes!". We could not believe it, Matt more than I since I had actually seem them. But I had scheduled an official US for the next evening so that he could join me.

The next evening we went in for the official ultrasound. It was right there for Matt to see... he had no choice but to believe it!!

Introducing "Baby A"... ("A" because it's closest to the "exit")

and "Baby B"!!

Group shot!

We immediately had some Google-ing to do in an attempt to self educate ourselves on the subject of twins. So much to learn.

Here are some interesting facts:

• There are basically five common variations of twinning. The most common type of twinning is fraternal, male-female twins. This particular combination makes up approximately 40 percent of all twins born, followed by fraternal girls, then fraternal boys. After that, there's identical girls, then identical boys. (twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com)
• Identical twins (monozygotic) occur when a single egg, fertilized by a single sperm, splits into two identical halves. Two separate babies with identical DNA are formed. Identical twins are always the same sex and blood type. They almost always share the same placenta but may also have two separate placentas. Depending on when the egg splits usually determines if identical twins will share the same placenta, and/or chorions and amnions. Twins are always identical when they share the same amnion (sac) and chorion. (twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com)
• Fraternal twins (dizygotic) occur when two separate eggs are fertilized by two separate sperm. Two separate babies with no more in common than siblings born at different times are formed. Fraternal twins can be the same sex and/or blood type. They always have separate placentas, but their placentas may fuse together during the course of pregnancy and appear as one at birth. Fraternal twins will never share the same amnion and chorion. Twins that are male and female and or have different blood types can easily be determined as fraternal. Lastly, fraternal twins may be due to hereditary influences. (twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com)
• These days, about one in 32 births are twin births. This rate has gone up 65 percent since 1980, and it's more than double the rate among women who conceive without medical assistance — one in 89. Meanwhile, the likelihood of having identical twins (when one fertilized egg divides in half) is about one in 250. This rate hasn't changed over the decades and is remarkably constant all over the world. (babycenter.com)

At this point we have no idea what we are having. They can see that the babies are in there own amniotic sac... which is good (no possibility of conjoined twins). But the US that we have had so far are too early to see if they are sharing a placenta or not. From most of the research we've done there is really no way to tell for sure if they are identical or fraternal (unless they are boy/girl) with out genetic testing. So we will just have to wait and see. It might be obvious or maybe we wont feel the need to know. We are however planning to find out the sexes this time. We left Oscar gender to be discovered upon delivery. But after all the surprises we've had so far so planning is going to be required. I am 17+ weeks at this point and we are really looking forward to our next doctors appointment and "the big" ultrasound in just a few weeks!

I am feeling good at this point, starting to feel stronger baby kicks as the days go on, my energy levels are good and I am doing my best to stay happy and healthy. My belly is growing and growing and I'm sure my belly is a lot larger than it was at this point in my last pregnancy. I am planning to continue using the blog to update everyone on Oscar's busy routine but also for the twins.

5th Anniversary in the Northwoods

16+ weeks

Outside the Hazen Inn (where we had our wedding reception)

...Do you mean...?

For some reason it's more fun to say "no" than it is "yes". So we have to ask him ..."do you mean...?" and he usually says yes. I'm glad we caught it on video because he's already starting to catch himself and say yes with out being prompted.

First Haircut

4th of July in St. Louis

Things we did in St. Louis:

went to the playground with Grannie.

had a dance party at GG's house

giggled with Uncle Larry... and ate ice cream!

went to the St. Louis Zoo with our cousins from Texas

"there's a monkey!"

rode the train at the zoo

"choo choo"

played with Jaxon

shared dinner with Grandpa King

played with Benny

and rode another "choo choo" with Grannie.

It was a special treat to have the whole King side

of the family together for the first time in years!

It was a busy week, as usual. But we had a wonderful time seeing everyone.