Adelyn Verree

She's Here!!!

Her Story:

At around 4 a.m. Sunday morning I woke up with some pretty impressive contractions and cramping. I checked the timing on them and realized they were about every 7-9 minutes apart at that point. I decided to get up and get a glass of water and a cereal bar to see if that would help calm them back down. I went downstairs and got online for a few minutes to get my mind off of everything. I was still noticing though that they were coming pretty frequently and intense and something just seemed to be happening!

I called my Dr. on call and she told me to try and get a shower. She said if that didn't help then it was time to come on in! I went and got a shower and then laid down next to Chris in bed. We timed 5 minutes between contractions and decided it was time to hit the road!

We called MawMaw (Chris's Mom), to come and care for the boys while we rushed off to the hospital. She got there quickly! We didn't even wait for her to pull in to the drive, but instead met her further up on the block.

My contractions were nowhere near as intense as they were with the boys on the way to the E.R. and so I considered that a good sign. My water hadn't broken this time which I think helped keep things at bay.

We got to the hospital at around 6ish and they checked me in and wheeled me up to the third floor. Nurse Annie (AMAZING woman who brought me such comfort all day long) was there waiting. She hooked me up to a few monitors and we saw that I was indeed contracting every 5-7 minutes or so. She checked on Adelyn and she was remaining perfectly safe and content inside of me so all was good there. At that time I was 3 cm dilated so we were in no huge rush or hurry to have to make things move too quickly.

Because of the couple bites of cereal bar I had eaten a few hours earlier that morning they wanted me to wait as long as possible before doing surgery. Typically they don't want you eating anything up to 8 hours before, but they had me wait about six.

So...we waited.

It was so wonderful. It was wonderful to have that time to know that we would soon meet our daughter, but yet there was no huge emergency or rush to have to get her out right then and there. I didn’t have that with the boys. It was all go, go, go by the time we arrived at the E.R. with them as I was 10 cm dilated and ready to start pushing!

Annie, my nurse, is also the mother of twins. Her twins are one month older than mine and we had the greatest time talking and comparing notes on life with multiples. She was just amazingly sweet and gentle and exactly what I needed during that time.

At around 10 the anesthesiologist came in to the room and talked with me about the c-section. He asked me a bazillion and a half questions and not long after they had me walk down to the O.R. to meet my daughter!

When I walked in to the operating room one of the nurses yelled out “Welcome to the Birthday Room!” There was music playing, people buzzing here and there, and it really did seem like a party was going on! I was so excited knowing that within minutes from that time I would be meeting my daughter face to face.

I was blessed beyond words when I saw that a dear lady who goes to our church, Ann, was going to be in the O.R. during the surgery. She is an amazing RN with over 29 years of experience and it certainly did show. She helped me sit up on the operating table and held my hands and explained to me what they were going to be doing with the spinal and all of that. I was truthfully the most nervous for the spinal above anything else.

While the anesthesiologist was working his magic and doing his thing she stood there right in front of me, allowing me to cling to her hands. At one point I even asked her if her hands were okay because I was squeezing them so tight! It really wasn’t that big of a deal or that painful, it was just the thought of it all that made me a little bit squeamish.

Within minutes he was done and they helped me lift my ever-getting-heavier legs on to the table. Pretty soon I tried to lift them and it was just completely dead weight. They placed warm blankets over the top part of my body and it felt like I was seriously at the spa!

They hung up the famous blue sheet in front of my face and then they went to get Chris. He came and joined me and it was so good to see him and have him there. He stood, holding my hand, for the entire procedure and wanted to see every step in the arrival of our daughter coming in to the world. I am so glad he did because he was able to get some amazing pictures, as well as tell me later about the whole experience.

Ann came over to me just as they were starting the surgery and she prayed with me over the arrival of our baby. It was the most incredible gift that I could have ever been given at that time. It also, as you can imagine, made me even more emotional and touched me at such a deep level. I just felt such complete and absolute peace over the entire situation. She will never know how much that meant to me and how I will never forget it.

It wasn’t too long after they started when they told announced “Here she comes!” At that moment the song “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder came on! Her little head came popping on out and I heard her first little cry. After a little more work the rest of her followed and the doctor held her up for me to get my first look at her. She was big and plump and beautiful! I just sobbed and sobbed, so overcome with emotion at the sight of my daughter.

She was born at 11:24 a.m.

Chris was able at that point to go with them to the other side of the O.R. and help them clean and wrap her up. He then carried her over to me and we snuggled and kissed all over her. Amazing. She was able to stay there with us for about 10 minutes before she went to the nursery to get warm, weighed, and cleaned.

Her official weight was 7 pounds, 15.3 ounces.
She was 20 inches long.

It wasn’t long after and they were wheeling me in to the recovery room. Chris was able to join me in there, and within about 10 minutes after that Adelyn joined us as well. I was able at that time to breastfeed her and she latched on right away!

We were able to spend almost that entire first day together getting to know each other, cuddling, breastfeeding, and just giving me time to soak in this new miracle that was now in my arms.
This experience of having a healthy, full term baby has been SO incredibly healing for me. I don’t think I knew or understood the depths of how much healing it would bring me to be able to have her nestled up next to me without any machines, tubes, or wires getting in the way. It was weeks before I was able to see my little boy’s entire faces free and clear of any tubes…and I was just amazed by the sight of her chubby little cheeks, little button nose, and pouty little lips!

Yesterday morning Ethan and Grayson came to meet their sister for the first time. I was so excited to see their reaction and see my entire family of five in one room together. Below is a video of them seeing her. Priceless.

Today I will be going home WITH my daughter to join the rest of our family. I know much lies ahead as our family gets acquainted with each other and we fall in to a groove. I am so looking forward to it.

I feel blessed. Blessed beyond words at the way my life has turned out this far. I feel undeserving, in awe, overwhelmed at the incredible responsibility that now lays before us as we raise up these three incredible children of ours.

Waiting for everything to begin!

Can you say McSteamy? :)

Chris checking out his daughter

Chris and I kissing her for the first time

10 little fingers, 10 little toes...the total package!

Ethan and Grayson meeting Adelyn for the first time!

UPDATE: For some reason the video of the boys meeting their sister doesn't seem to be working. I will work on this more later when I get home!

Brothers

Overdrive

The 10 day countdown is on until our daughter arrives!! This morning I woke up at 4:30 for the restroom (a common occurrence these nights), and couldn't get my mind to turn off to fall back asleep.

Chris woke up at 5:30 and I decided to go ahead and get up with him. Now it's 10:00 and I'm exhausted and ready for a nap!

No nap right now for me though as I have accepted the help of my amazing mother-in-law and father-in-law today so that I can finally finish tackling this meal planning project. I now 8 weeks of meals planned and need to finish up the grocery lists to accompany them. We have been using them for a few weeks now and I am loving it! It has helped us a lot to know what to pull out of the freezer a couple days in advance, what produce we need to buy, etc.

The Internet is such an amazing tool when trying to tackle projects like this. There are so many amazing blogs out there chalk full of recipes that I am dying to try!

Thanks to all of you who sent me links, emails, and recipes to help fill my menu up. Yum!

In other news...

Life is good...just full!

The boys are doing great. Changing every day it seems. Their personalities are really starting to develop and they are alike in many ways, but in other ways they are different as night and day! We are really working with them on their sharing! Grayson has a tendency to take things away from his brother whenever the desire arises. Ethan doesn't put up a fight usually, but just walks away and finds something else!

So far they are staying put in their cribs. The other day we put Ethan in his and he kept saying "Down, down, down" and trying to lift his little feet up and over the side of his crib!

In baby news the Dr. thinks that our little girl is probably at least 7 1/2 pounds already...so if she makes it til the 2nd we will have close to a 9 pounder on our hands possibly! My goodness she will feel big in my arms compared to those little 5 pound boys I gave birth to! We are so thankful for a big ole chunky baby!

Time to get to it!

Monkey See...

The boys spent the day at MawMaw's house today. When Chris brought them home this evening he told me that they had a first today! They decided to climb on out of their pack and plays at nap time and run all around the bedroom. MawMaw went in, put them back, and told them to go on to sleep. Not long after they were out and running around again! Then Pop decided to go on in and make his presence known! They stayed in their pack and plays after that!

Tonight as we were tucking the boys in to bed we were kissing Grayson goodnight. Chris whispered to me to look at Ethan. When I looked over at Ethan in his crib he had his little left leg swung over the edge of his crib with a big smile on his face.

We are entering a whole new chapter here folks!

I just KNEW they would learn to crawl out of their cribs just as soon as this baby was set to arrive! :) God does have a sense of humor doesn't He?

Christmas

Taken today at 36 weeks, 6 days.

As I look ahead to the birth of our daughter I am filled with such an overwhelming sense of anticipation. It is a completely new feeling for me that I have never experienced before. With my pregnancy with the boys I wasn't able to ever really get this feeling of excitement because I was more concerned about them coming prematurely.

Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks along. Considered full term.

I look at this growing belly of mine and I am in love with it. I am even a little bit in love with the stretch marks that are popping out all over the place (I didn't get any with the boys but I'm getting plenty this time around! I think my body is all like "What in the world are you trying to do to me with two pregnancies in two years crazy woman!?")

I am just thankful, and don't take for granted for a second, this gift that we have been given.

This gift of carrying a child.

This gift of parenting.

I know many people who were not, or are not able to experience having children of their own naturally. This is one of those sad mysteries of life to me...why some people are able and other deserving and amazing couples are not...

I do not take the responsibility lightly. It is such an overwhelming duty that we are called to as parents. It's so much more than just sticking in a movie and wiping off a mouth or two...

I am scared sometimes thinking about what comes along with the arrival of this new child.

Another person to raise, shape, mold, instruct, discipline, teach, love...

Last night I held my precious sons in my arms, one on each side of me, while we said our bedtime prayers. I felt their little bodies warm in their footie pajamas against me. Their little heads nestled in against my chest. Breathing in the smell of their newly shampooed little heads...and I just paused.

How quickly will moments like that be over....fleeting....a memory...gone.

And so as we anticipate the arrival of this newest member of our family I feel like it's Christmas and I have this amazing present to unwrap. This present I've been studying, shaking, inspecting, longing for...

I can't wait to see her. My arms long to hold her. To smell her. To kiss her every precious part.

What an amazing miracle.

Days Like This

Today was just one of those days that I just really loved.

It just seemed like everything went right.

The boys were in great moods from the minute they got out of their cribs this morning all the way until we tucked them back in tonight.

My twin babies turned 20 months old.

I was able to go to church for the first time in six weeks.

My husband said such sweet things about the way I looked this morning even though I felt completely huge and puffy.

I met two dear friends precious little baby boys for the first time.

We enjoyed lunch out together as a family.

I had a pretty amazing nap.

We had a great dinner with fresh corn-on-the-cob from a neighbor, pulled pork, and fruit and the boys ate it all along with us without a complaint or a sour face.

Ethan and Grayson got their 2nd haircut from Daddy.

I had lots of cuddling time with my sons and told Chris I truly never knew the depths to which I would love and take delight in my children.

I laughed and talked a lot with Chris.

It was just a good one and I just didn't want to forget it...

20 Months

I find it so hard to believe that in four days my identical twin baby boys are going to be 20 months old! Many parents of grown children have often told us how the years just flew by in the blink of an eye, and I am beginning to understand exactly what they mean.

It seems like only yesterday we were struggling to keep two little preemie boys awake for a full feeding by putting a cold washcloth on their toes or stripping them down to their little diapers just to get them to drink before zonking out again.

Now they are talking, dancing, spinning, climbing, kissing, running, temper tantrum throwing little toddler boys!

I am loving this stage and I enjoy every day wondering what in the world they are going to do or say next! There is never a dull moment in this house when those two are present!

They have gotten so used to me being on bed rest now. Every time they are asked if they want to go to the car, or swing, or swim, or go play outside they always turn to me first, wave, and say "bye!" They will then run over and give me a big smooch before going "down, down, down" the stairs! Melts my heart!

They are talking so much now and even putting a few mini-sentences together. Every day we are hearing new words and they repeat most every thing we say. We need to watch that! We are even starting to spell out many words now because they understand way too much! I just can't believe what little sponges they are right now and how they love to learn, explore, and just soak up knowledge! They know many of their body parts, they are learning to count, they can stack blocks up to five or six high, they can recognize their colors, and their vocabulary is just exploding! We are so blessed to see these preemie boys just thriving like their NICU doctor said they would!

Here are a few cute stories that I don't want to forget:

Grayson:

• This little boy loves his little pool. He could spend the entire day splashing in it if given the opportunity. The other day after dinner Chris and I were cleaning up. Grayson comes running in after digging through his drawers and holds up his swimming trunks. "Poo? Poo?" he asked.
• That same night while swimming in the pool we told the boys that it was time to come inside, get dried off, and get our pajamas on and ready for bed. Grayson looked down at the water, waved, and said "Bye-bye poo!" He then stepped right out and wrapped himself in to his towel. Oh so precious!
• A couple nights ago, after toys were cleaned up, diapers were changed, and pajamas were put on it was time for the boys nightly cup of milk. (Yes, they still both drink a cup of warm milk at bed. We asked the Dr. about when we should possibly stop this part of their evening routine, and he said that if we want to mess with their bedtime routine we do it at our own risk! He said why mess with a good thing...and so we don't!) Anyhow, I was holding Ethan up on the couch and Chris picked up Grayson. We usually hold a boy while they calm down and drink. Typically they love this part of the evening and settle right down in our arms...but not that night! Grayson started bucking around, crying, kicking, hitting, swatting at his cup. He did not want to sit still! We looked at each other trying to make sense of what in the world was making him so upset! We tried everything to calm him down and get him to settle but he was having none of it! I finally told Chris to try to set him next to me on the couch. As soon as Chris placed him next to me he let out a deep sigh, rested his head against my arm, picked up his cup, and quietly drank his milk down without incident! Little stinker! We are entering a whole new chapter of parenting when it comes to dealing with toddler tantrums!

Ethan

• Ethan has really been getting in to his barn and animals lately. He loves to study the animals, make them "eat" the food in the barn, and make all their noises as he plays with them. It is so cute to see him running his little horse around saying "neigh, neigh, neigh."
• The other day Pop (Chris's dad) was over here helping us with the boys. The boys were sitting up on his lap while he sang and read to them. They love their Pop. In the meantime I was in the kitchen eating some lunch after they were done with theirs and I kept seeing these little eyes peering at me over the top of Pop's stomach. Pretty soon I heard Ethan say "down, down" and I knew he was on his way to the kitchen to come and mooch a few bites off of Mommy. He got as far as the kitchen doorway when he heard bath water start to run from the back of the house indicating that it was time to get clean! He looked at me, looked down the hallway, looked at me, looked down the hallway....then he held up his hand, waved at me, said "Bye!" and off he ran to get his bath! Bath time won that round!
• Ethan has been very concerned in his pool lately about bees. With every little speck of dust and dirt he points to it, looks at us with this concerned look on his face, and says "Bee? Bee?" We don't know where this fear started, but we have to keep convincing him time and time again that he's okay and the dirt won't hurt him! Last night while he was swimming there really was a bee flying around overhead. He sure was studying that guy!

Grayson

Ethan

I just love these boys more than words could ever express. I love the energy and joy they bring in to this home, and they sure do keep us on our toes! It truly is hard to imagine what life was like without them anymore! I can't wait to see them interact with their baby sister here soon.

What an incredibly busy, blessed life we lead! We are thankful!

Where Are My Shades?

35 weeks and 4 days along today. Wow, that feels good! Little lady does not appear to be wanting to leave her nest anytime soon.

Last Friday at my weekly check-up I was given a quick ultrasound just to check position, fluids, etc.etc.etc. The doc was poking and prodding around on my belly with her hand before she started and she said "I think she's head down now!" "Oh no," I, Dr. Mom, assured her. "She has been breech this entire time and I haven't felt her move at all, so I'm pretty sure she's still got her little hind end down there."
Well - upon taking a peek we see that indeed she is no longer breech! Her little head is now right down there where it belongs and her feet and directly in line with my ribs to make for some pretty good kicks!

I was measuring about a week ahead, which means she's even bigger than we probably originally thought. I'm okay with that!

She is just looking perfect in there. She was practicing her breathing and her little heart was just beating away around 150 bpm.

I was told that I could gradually begin to do more here and there around the house. I still shouldn't get too cocky until 37 weeks, but at least now I can help out a bit in the kitchen, fold some laundry, change a diaper or two, and just get involved in my house again! It feels so good! The boys seem to be enjoying having their Mommy back and have wanted to do a lot of cuddling and get some TLC here lately.

In addition to helping around the house I am also scheduling a few short little outings to get out of the house too! A pedicure and haircut are in my foreseeable future!

I also was so touched when two dear friends,Dana and Mary, threw me a mini baby shower last week. It just so happened that Mary was in town at the same time as my Mom, so they threw together a little celebration of this new life that will soon join our family! It was just so thoughtful and felt so nice to get out of the house for few minutes!

So...all in all, doing good! Finishing up some projects here while I have the time, realizing that soon this time of laying around will really be a thing of the past!

4

4 weeks from today I will finally meet you face to face.

4 weeks from today your brothers will get to hold their baby sister for the first time.

4 weeks from today your Daddy will have a little girl in his arms who can begin to melt his heart.

4 weeks from today we can start life as a family of 5.

4 weeks from today I can nuzzle my face in to your neck and breathe in the smell of you.

4 weeks from today I can hear your tiny cries.

4 weeks from today I can study your little fingers and toes and kiss each one.

4 weeks from today...

4 weeks from today I will have to say goodbye to these amazing feelings of life inside of me as you kick and stretch and grow.

4 weeks from today I will have to share you with the rest of the world and this time that you just you and I have shared privately will be no longer ours.

4 weeks from today my precious daughter...

you will be here.

My Mother

IMG_1216, originally uploaded by Freesnowcone1.

I am trying out a few new things with my blog today, and in the meantime I thought I would do a quick post about my amazing mama. Here she is hard at work in the kitchen baking us some fresh chocolate chip cookies. She has been such a huge blessing to us this past month and we are going to miss her so horribly once she has to go back home on Thursday!