Breathing

Look who is oxygen and monitor free???

Our cute little Aria has made some great progress the last few weeks.  Actually about 2 weeks ago we started taking her off oxygen during the day and just turning it on when she ate and at night.  We kept her monitor on her at all times so we knew if her oxygen levels would go down.  They only really went down when she was eating and the rare occasion for a second here and there.  Soon we turned it off at night and for eating but still kept the monitor on.  The first night we left the oxygen off I was a little nervous but felt good that at least we would wake up if the monitor went off and she needed us.  She never did.  Then we got brave and turned off the monitor over time and now...well...we're free of all cords, devices, beeps and flashes.  And we're all so happy.

Aria actually gets to move to different parts of the house.  Before it was such a pain that we left her in one room of the house most of the day and only moved her at night when she went to bed.

She's doing great and we're all happy not to be plugged in to anything.

Newborn Pictures

Here are some of our favorite newborn pictures we took.  A big Thank You to Brigitte for taking the time to help me out and get some fabulous pictures.  And a big thanks to Holland for sharing her mom while we ignored her and focused on taking pictures.

 

Aria

 Siena

Here is our birth announcement we put together from the pictures:

Outtakes

With everything going on this month, I never got around to scheduling Newborn pictures to be taken.  I couldn't figure out who to book, when to do it with Aria on her oxygen, schedules, etc.  It just never worked out.  So Brigitte offered to come over and take some with her camera.  So we did our own impromptu newborn shoot.  They actually turned out good.  Before I post those pictures I thought I would post the outtakes that didn't quite make the cut.  They make me laugh to look at.

Siena making her 'Office' look (The Office look is when you're caught looking at the camera)

Aria's 'Office' look

"Look, I saved some milk for later when I get hungry."

 "I didn't save any milk...but your hair looks tasty.  Can I have some of your hair, I don't have as much."

Holland wanted to join in on the fun

Aria forgetting how to pose.

 "Ok, I'm DONE!"

 

"Is this a good smile mom?"

"This is how I feel about photo shoots"

"Is someone still taking my picture, or can I finally rest?"

One Month

Siena and Aria are 1 month old!  I can't believe it.  In some ways it's gone by so fast and then the next minute I feel like they've been here for a lot longer.  I love watching them change and grow but it makes me sad at the same time.

In honor of their one month birthday, we did a photo shoot and then I clipped their finger nails for the first time.  I was nervous but have to say that no blood was seen, so I feel like it was a success.  And now their hands have been our of their little mits and cuffs all day and not one scratch has appeared...yeah!

Here's a little about each girl from this month.

Siena - 

• Loves her pacifier...it's a good and bad thing
• Hates her bath time and screams the entire time
• Loves to grunt while she eats
• Loves to be unswaddled when waking up. She'll stretch and stretch her arms and legs every time she wakes up.
• At 2 weeks she weighed 7lbs 2oz
• One month weight is 8 lbs 8 oz
• Eats every 3 1/2 hours with her sister

Aria - 

• Still on her oxygen.  We can't wait for her to get off and we think it's going to be soon.  In fact as of today she is just on her monitor and has been off oxygen all day.  No alarms last night and today except for when she eats every once in a while.
• Doesn't love her bath but seems to tolerate it for a little bit.
• Had the longest finger nails when I cut them today.  Seriously, I could've given her a french manicure.
• Has the cutest little squeaky voice, I love it.
• Also loves her pacifier but isn't as demanding of it as Siena
• At 2 weeks she weighed 5lbs 13oz
• One month weight is 6 lbs 15 oz
• Still on the 22 calorie Neosure formula

They both have awake time each morning and then after dinner.  We usually lay them on the same blanket and their heads turn towards each other and they just stare.  I'm not sure they realize who they're staring at or can even focus on her sister but it's fun to watch.  They will also move their arm closest to their sister and they kind of interact although probably not on purpose but it's so dang cute to watch.

As for Shane and I, we are doing good.  Because of Aria's size we have to feed them every 3 1/2 hours. Hopefully that will change here in the next week or so and we can start stretching it out a bit.  I'm so lucky that Shane works from home because he feeds one of the girls during the day with me which saves a ton of time.  Then at night he takes the late feeding and settles them down while I sleep and then I take the morning feedings.  It seems to work out well.  Shane has really been amazing.  I would be going crazy without him and he is the cutest dad always helping out and making sure all his girls (me included) are doing good.  He will also watch them if I ever need or want to get out of the house.

The days go by so fast.  I always have things I want to get done and it seems like the time between each feeding flies by and I just have time to shower, eat and wash some bottles and do some laundry.  I do get naps here and there but that's about all I get done these days it feels like.  So far I haven't had one moment of boredom.  And when I do have a spare minute it's spent holding and playing with the girls.

The Birth Story

Today is my official due date...yeah for the girls already being over 3 weeks old, so I decided I better write down the birth story before I forget it.

The Wednesday before, was my birthday.  I had an appt. and was very scared that I was going to go to this appointment and something would happen that they would keep me and the babies would be born on my birthday.  I would love to be able to say that I would happily share my birthday with them, but really...to be totally honest, I didn't want to share my birthday.  So selfish of me, but true.

So at the dr. appt. I had an ultrasound, everything looked good, both babies were estimating to be in the 5lb range and higher.  I had a non stress test, had a few contractions, but things were good.  Then met with my doctor.  She checked me and when she told me I was dialated to a 5, I knew I wasn't lasting much longer.  Add that to the fact that they babies hadn't grown much since my last ultrasound and I knew it was time for them to be born.  The good news is my doctor. didn't act like I needed to stay and do it that day.  (Although she did say she later questioned the decision to let me leave there that day.)  My family were freaking out that I was at a 5 and they let me leave.  So my doctor asked when we wanted to have these babies and Shane said we kind of wanted to have them on Saturday because then their birth date would be 9-10-11.  My doctor just happened to be on call that weekend so it was scheduled for Saturday morning!

The next 2 days I literally sat at home on the couch and did very little.  Saturday morning we had to be at the hospital at 4:30am....talk about not getting any sleep.  I think I slept for about 2 hours max.  We got there and got all settled, IV started, etc. I was having pretty regular and painful contractions by then but I knew it was almost over.  About 6:15am they walked me into the operating room, and gave me my spinal block (it hurt but wasn't too bad, just made me flinch and although I tried to hold still, it made my back arch away a little.)

Then the team got all set up, I could see the 2 nursery beds, my doctor walked in and we got started.  We even listened to some music at the request of Shane.  She talked through a lot of it what she was doing so I knew when it was getting close.  Sure enough all of the sudden I could feel a big release of pressure and a minute later cute Siena appeared over the curtain at me before they whisked her away to start cleaning her up and look at her.  I couldn't believe she was here and yes I did cry a little, such an emotional moment to meet your daughter.  2 minutes later, little Aria's face appeared and my first words were 'oh my gosh, she's so small.'  There was a very obvious contrast between Siena and Aria, and when they weighed them it was confirmed.  Both of them had some good lungs and it was crazy to hear them both crying at the same time.  They both cried for several minutes and I remember just sitting there thinking how much I loved hearing them cry.  They worked on them and me for a while longer while Shane went over and took pictures of the girls.  They cleaned them up, fed them a little and pretty soon I got to meet them again.  They even put 2 different color hats on them so we knew who was who.

I don't really have a good answer as to why we named which one which...just that when I looked at them one looked like Siena and Aria looked like Aria to me.

They wheeled me to my room as I held both of them, such an incredible feeling holding them both in my arms.  Soon they took them to the nursery to bathe them and take a closer look.  From there the rest of the day is kind of a blur.  My parents and Jennifer showed up shortly after and then it was determined Aria had to go to the NICU.  Shane spent a lot of the morning in the nursery and the NICU and then coming back and updating me.  I wasn't able to see Aria in the NICU until I was able to get up from bed which was that evening I think around 10:30pm.  So the rest of the time Siena stayed with us and then we would go to each of Aria's feedings and feed her and hold her.

We are still thrilled with our little girls and the joy they have brought to our family!  Here are some pictures of the day.