Christmas Time is Here!

Now that it is the week of Christmas, I found the time to do a Christmas post. HA!Thank you twinsies :) Pretty early on in November we realized that the twins (and all of their stuff!) have taken over our home. There is no room for our Christmas tree anywhere in our house! So while this was a very sad realization for me...Ryan literally leaped for joy I think because it meant he didn't have to haul our Christmas stuff and Giant Sequoia Christmas Tree out of the attic. Sooooo, alas, our attempt at having a Christmas environment in the midst of mini Babies-R-Us.

Our pitiful entry way tree ... can't fit alot of presents under there! :)



Christmas Mantle complete with plaid sheet to block the draft coming in the fireplace. haha





Sometime early December I realized we needed stockings for the twins! My mom and I began the hunt...we found Jenna's first....adorable! The matching one for Caden still had some sparklies on it so while we tried to justify it , I knew ultimately if I brought that home for Caden, Ryan would seriously object. So we found another one :) Now, disclaimer: I know that some of you will say that Jenna's is bigger...not true. Hers is skinnier and longer. Caden's is shorter and wider. So total square footage is equal!!!! :)




The twins had their first Christmas Party with our old YM1 Lifeclass at church. It was such a fun night and soooo good for Momma to get out of the house and see her friends :) The night was perfect for a Christmas Party b/c it started snowing! The twins had a majorly exciting night: first snow and first Christmas party! Whew! They were worn out! In honor of our their first party, we had them dressed to impress. I love them, how adorable!







Next we had a photo shoot one morning in their Christmas onesies...I had a blast and LOVE the pictures we got.










THEN, we had a wonderful time at a party with a dear family from Church. The twins were perfect and had such a great time! Caden turned on his charm big time and smiled at every lady in the room. He became best buds with Ms. Emily. Jenna decided this was a party where she needed to catch up on some beauty rest.







Every time we are at a party or place that has a tall Christmas Tree, I get someone to take our picture since we do not have one here at the house to snap photos in front of.







We have had a fun whirlwind December...can't believe that Christmas is here! We took the twins to meet Santa yesterday. Stay tuned for some melt-your-heart cuteness!

Whooooo are You?

The title of this post is meant to be sung to the tune of "Who are you? Who, who, who, who?" by The Who. :)

A while back my mom brought this dress over to our house...it was mine when I was a baby and yes, she had kept it for 27 years. The picture below is me at 6 weeks old. The picture below that is our little Jenna girl in her momma's dress at 7 weeks (and yes, with her tongue out in typical Jenna-style.)







A few observations: I had some mega hair compared to Jenna. I dont think we look alike...maybe its b/c I see J every day ?

What do YOU think?

Wishin' we were in NEW YORK!

Check out our little photo shoot sportin' our New York Onesies. Our friends bought these for them when we went to NYC in May.

Two Months!

Can. Not. Believe. It. I've been so blessed to have my babies here with me for 8 weeks! Certainly the hardest, longest, shortest, best 8 weeks of my life :) We took the twins to their 2 month appt on Friday and they got such good grades on their report cards! Already so proud.... :)

I'm so thankful that Ryan was able to go with me...the first dreaded shots meant we needed a little extra cuddle time in the office before we started our 30 minute process of packing up! haha The kids are doing great! The Doc was so pleased with their progress and development. Thankfully, we got some help for their reflux, they are both on medication that we give them twice a day. We are praying that this will do the trick so they can have some peace after eating!

Since Thanksgiving, Caden has been ready to sleep longer at night...we have to pull every trick out of the bag to get him to eat at the late night feeding (10 or 11 pm) and the early morning feeding ( 3 or 4 am ). Jenna? Not so much. She is ready to get up and EAT! How silly of me that I never once thought about the fact that they might not sleep through the night at the same time. haha We tried letting Caden go once night and not waking him up...not good, he only slept 45ish minutes more so by the time we got J down and in bed, Caden was ready to get up and eat. We only did that one night :) Since then we have done what we can do to wake up him up each time J gets up. We have to force him to take down an ounce. In the mean time, Queen Jenna tanks 4 ounces no problem at each feeding. So for about 3 weeks now Caden takes 3 ounces if we're lucky and Jenna devours 8 ounces in a night time! We have certainly been able to tell too! Jenna has chunked up so fast...I just knew that she would weigh more than Caden at this appointment. Well, she certainly made up ground and gained more total weight, but C-Man still has her by an ounce. Caden weighs 9.8 ( 20%) and Jenna weights 9.7 (25%). They both grew taller too - over an inch! yea! C is 20.75 (2%) and J is 20.25 (3%). They still come in at pitiful percentiles since they are being compared with other full term 8 week olds. When we asked the Doctor about an adjusted scale we looked at his computer and the twins are about 50% in every category! That was good to know, glad we asked! They both got 2 shots each and something by mouth. They were pitiful! I spent the day cuddling and soothing and did literally nothing else :) This picture is my favorite and melts my heart with their little bandaids!




Jenna smiles when she is falling asleep and Caden has begun to smile in the mornings and most times you put him down to change him. We are so excited to see them start smiling more in response to us! Jenna has decided she does not want to go to sleep at night and continues to have her fussy time in the evening. She is a JOB to soothe and get sleepy at night. Once she is asleep, she is golden. In the mornings,if she wakes up for some reason too early, she is easy to soothe back down for another hour or so of sleep. Caden...oh goodness. He goes down like a dream at night. But once he wakes up (for whatever reason)..that's it! He's up. So as you can see this is just one example where the twins gang up on us and give us fits at different times of the day. It is exhausting some nights/mornings, but neat to think about how this is just reflecting their personalities God has given them to live out.

They consistently have a 5 hr cycle at night (eating/changing for first hour then sleeping for 4) followed by a 3 1/2 hr cycle. So we usually have a 11:00 pm - 4 am - 7:30 am night-time schedule. They have tricked us one night by sleeping from 11 - 5:30 am. That was heavenly..but hasn't been repeated yet :(




We are working on tummy time and breaking out some of their toys like the play gym and such. They are good for a short time before they start spitting up since they are flat on their backs...so we are hoping the medication will kick in soon so we can play more!




Finally after 8 weeks, the newborn diapers are tight! We are finishing our packs around the house now and will just start using size 1 diapers and pulling them as tight as we can. Both kids have outgrown their preemie clothes and wear Newborn outfits pretty well. Size 0-3 month is still a bit big and baggy for the most part but we are enjoying our new options in the wardrobe dept now that they are bigger!

We took the kids to church twice...one Sunday just for Lifeclass to hear Daddy teach and yesterday we took them to class and worship. Once Pastor got up to speak, the kids didn't like the silence and wanted to eat! We are taking baby steps, baby steps...:)

The biggest news of their two month birthday is that they are nursing at the same time! A gazillion thanks to my friend and twin expert, Tara, for coming over and giving some pointers. Life is so good feeding them at the same time. It is definitely hard and one of the most challenging things I've ever done...but it saves so much time! Now, the entire process of feeding, burping, changing, soothing back down takes about 30 -40 minutes and that is it! Turns out they eat better and get a fuller feeding when they are together! Yea!

Now that a day-in-the-life has some sense of schedule and normalcy, we're beginning to do some fun things in our down time....down time was the wrong word there, we have none of that! Maybe I should say happy awake time :) We've done the best we can with our Christmas Decor amongst the overflow of baby stuff. Stay tuned for some really cute pics from the twins' Christmas Party '10 tour!

Keeping me on my Toes...

This is how I found the twins during their nap the other day. Oh my. There was apparently a party in Crib 1.

Wordless Wednesday - Sleep Sacks!

So my blogger friends tell about "Wordless Wednesdays" where you just post a picture and no commentary.Seeing as I have already typed two lines, I obviously don't get it. Anyway, here's a pic I snapped that was fun. We love Sleep Sacks!

Caden Yates

ahhh Caden...our little firecracker. There was definitely no mix-up at the hospital...both kids' personalities are exactly as they were inside of me. Caden doesn't know how to sit still...if he is still too long he gets frustrated and bored. He can't be quiet either...he is King Grunter. There will be no back-seat sitting in Church service with him haha. Caden is always moving...or trying to move. He has unbelievable strength ever since we brought him home. It was about a week we had him home when he picked his head up right off our shoulder. Ever since he does it all the time and can pick it up and move it side-to-side while on his tummy. Not bad for a preemie, huh? Those who are faint and weak shouldn't hold Caden...he takes energy and strength or he will bobble right out of your arms! He is a man of a thousand faces. He is sooo animated and has the funniest faces. We joke that Jenna is our calm and content baby and Caden is our drama...but he just keeps us on our toes. He is so much fun.

If Jenna is our Insta-Burper, then Caden is our Power Burper. There have been times that I was in the other room and honestly thought it was Ryan who burped. No siree..that is my son. He is all boy...a loud boy...on both ends. :) Caden has "silent reflux" meaning all the turmoil is going on inside, he just doesn't spit it up and out. He is so pitiful because you can see him gag and hear the milk trying to come up as he chokes it back down. Absolutely.pitiful.

Caden picked up the nickname "Old Man Krinkle" early on b/c he had the biggest forehead with tons of wrinkles! Definitely gets that from the Little side of the fam.






He too, is a precious sweet baby, he is just not content to be a baby. I joke that he gets frustrated because he can't just get up and walk around. He is a wonderful cuddle-bug after he eats. He has my eyes and hair so far - course,curly and totally unmanageable! Just about everything else is Ryan Yates...exactly. He loooves music! Any toy or trinket that makes music he loves and quiets right down when it plays near him.




Just like he fights being still...he puts up a fight with other things too. Including eating! 9 our of 10 times the two of us fight when I'm nursing him. It takes me 5 -10 minutes sometimes to get him to latch on. He certainly tests my patience! Yet somehow he has kept his half-pound advantage on his sister. He is also going bald front to back which makes him look even more like an old man :)

He is going to be so much fun to keep up with. I can see me telling Ryan to take him outside when he is older just to get some energy out....go play baseball or basketball or something! :) We can tell he is going to be quite animated and funny. I so look forward to watching him grow up and experiencing Caden's world.



We love you Caden!

Jenna O'Neal

I thought it would be neat to write a post on each of the kids showing how different and unique they are. It has been exciting every single day to see their personalities come out...its fun when you have another baby to compare to ... it really makes their individuality stand out!

Jenna is our first born, by an hour. She was still and content as could be inside and that is exactly her personality now. As you know, we hardly saw her...we got a quick glimpse at our last prenatal appointment but for the most part, it was a surprise until she was born. If you remember, I was freaking out that she had Angelina Jolie lips (click here to see that picture again). Well, now we know why! Our little Jenna always has her tongue sticking out! When she sticks it out, it makes her lips look huge. How fun to know that now! Exhibits A-C:





Jenna started out being our Insta-Burper. In the first few weeks, you sat her up and before you could get your hands situated, she was done! Now, she has evolved into our Volcano-Spit-up-er. You can hardly pat her back and out milk comes! She has reflux constantly bless her heart. Its to the point where she can't fall asleep on her back without choking now so she spends alot of time in her bouncy seat and propped up on the couch with pillows. Notice the milk in her mouth when Ryan snapped this shot:




She has adopted the nicknames: "Jenna Girl" and "Sweet Jenna." Just like in the womb, on the outside, she is our content and calm baby with few exceptions: when she has gas and when she is hungry. Other than that, she is precious. Also, just like in the womb, she always favors her right side...her perfect position is to slump her right ear to her shoulder. It looks horribly painful, but she is right at home when she gets "in position." We're working on that so she doesn't end up with a flat head...this is Ryans new mission in life ( Thanks AMBER! ) ;) She has the biggest eyes, compliments of her Momma. I have promised to teach her how to use them to her advantage later in life - hehe.






She is tiny and petite right now, but she has looooong arms and fingers...perfect for Volleyball and Piano :) She has been about a half pound lighter than her brother since birth. However, she is my good eater...she is slow and consistent, latches on first try and gets a good feeding in. (very unlike her Bro). In the first few weeks...it took her an eternity to finish her 2.5 ounce bottle at night. She has turned quite voracious the past few nights :) Like her brother, she has started loosing her hair from the front to back! What is that? Also in the past week or so, her skin has turned an olive color like her Momma again. It wasn't as noticeable until you put her beside Caden.




She is a total girl in her crying...its very high pitched. We temporarily gave her the nickname "Teradactyl" for a while...it was piercing! We can definitely tell who is who when we are not in the same room - her cry is very different from Caden's.

All in all she has us wrapped around her finger...especially her two Papa's!

We love you Jenna Girl!

First Thanksgiving

We had an awesome Thanksgiving holiday last week....it was such a special day to have these two miracles with us. We had a great, chill day with my side of the family. It was awesome to have aunts and uncles begging to help and hold the babies...I even got to go upstairs for a Turkey-Coma Nap!

I couldn't help but think back to last Thanksgiving...I was in my lowest point giving up on our prayer to have children. I was tired of shots, pills, doctor appts, bills, questions...everything! It was an all out struggle to turn my heart and mind to the blessings that God had given us...which was many! Shame shame on me!

I'm so thankful for these babies...I suppose that is what has carried me through these tough 6 weeks of sporadic sleep and loud crying at times:) I'm so very thankful that they are here...its hard for me to get fed up or too frustrated with them :) They were worth every shot, question and tear shed :)

For their first Thanksgiving, the twins had to sport a rocking, coordinating outfit. :) Jenna proceeded to blow hers out with poo so poor thing she is sitting in poo while I snapped some shots before we changed her out.









And the long awaited introduction/reunion of all of my babies! My Snuggle has been staying with my parents while life is crazy for us. Thanksgiving...he met the twins! He did GREAT, he sniffed and licked and more importantly, he snuggled with me :)

Crash Course

So I just got a mouthful crash course in Mommyhood. I'm here at the house by myself today with the twinsies until Ryan gets off work. And here is how it has gone so far (ha!):

Preface : Jenna had an unusually fussy time last night and didn't sleep a wink ( or stop crying very long ) from 7 pm - 10:30 pm. Caden was hit with massive gas and reflux issues all of a sudden. Bless his heart, was in torment all night b/c of his tummy! He didn't finish any of his bottles last night and if you have seen my son take a bottle, you KNOW this is unusual!

6:00 am - after his feeding, Caden is spitting up and choking on his milk, pooping and filling his diaper all at the same time. He can't get any relief no matter what we try. So from 6 am - 8 am I hold him straight up on the couch.

8:00 am - Both babies smell horrible from the events of the night. I attempt to give Jenna her bath in the big girl bathtub! She spits up all over me and in the tub as I put her in. I apparently didn't plug the tub right and our water runs out. Jenna does NOT like the cold empty baby bath tub. Go change her and dress her where she spits up on the outfit I just put on. Oh well, you have to wait now, its Brother's turn.

8: 30 am - Caden is not a fun of the bath tub. Period. Change him pretty uneventfully. Ahhh.

9:00 am - relief while Ryans' parents are here on their way out of town.

10:00 am - feed Jenna, Caden is s-c-r-e-a-m-i-n-g. I actually get J to burp so I put her down on the couch propped up beside me. Go get Caden and start feeding him only to look over and J has spit up most of what I just fed her ( or so it looked like). She's laying in spit up while I finish feeding Caden.

10:30 am - try to get a drink of OJ...just a drink babies, not even a full breakfast! Finish feeding C and go to change Jenna's outfit. Change her entire outfit, swaddle her up, put her in her bouncy seat and remember I didn't change her diaper which is very dirty. I see poo stains on the outfit I just took off...great that means its a messy one. She is already content and sleeping in the bouncy seat. ahhh

10:45 am - Change C only to have him spit up all down the changing table.

For right now, the eye of the storm has settled in. All is calm, babies are asleep. Aaahhh...

This is going to be a fun ride! :)

Tummy Time and a Whale Sighting...

So my babies can't decide if they like Tummy Time or not. The first time we tried it, Caden LOVED it! It finally gave his little tummy some relief to have the pressure on it. So naturally, I think this is the best thing ever and start instituting it into our day. One day, it is our life saver:




The next day? Well, as you can see below, tummy time was not the thing to do on this day.

Keep your eyes on Jenna, or should I say our little Whale ? Jenna can kick her pants off in any circumstance, any day, any time.....mostly b/c all of her pants are huge on her little petite body :) In the picture below, I found her a) unswaddled (and it was tight!) and b) pants kicked off :)

Jenna the Whale from Casey Little on Vimeo.

One Month Later...

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I have two one-month-old babies! I'm so behind in this blog world...my first true test to see if I can keep up and I fail! Now that we are in a pretty solid routine, I think I see my spurts of free time where I can sit down here and document all that is happening!

The past month has been absolutely amazing. More than I day-dreamed it would be. Overall, it has flown by; however, there have been a few hours here and there that seemed like an eternity! hehe The babies have changed to much already, it excites me because they are showing us who they are, but Im' so sad that it is going by so quickly! Here is a little snapshot of what we have done and learned the past month:

Weights: My babies are healthy! Praise the Lord they are growing so steadily. It calms me down every time we go weight them at the doctor...I am in a constant state of wondering if I'm producing enough milk for them. So far, so good! Thank You, Lord!




As you can see, they are coming in very low on the percentile scale...but that is because they are using the kids' real age, not gestational age. I.e...at our last appointment, they were 3 weeks old...so they measured them comparing them to other 3 week old babies instead of measuring them by their gestational age which would have been 40 weeks or a typical newborn (somewhere closer to 1 week or less). So the babies are doing great in weight gain while Momma is not as happy with her weight loss. At one month, Jenna is 7 lb 6 oz and Caden is 7 lb 11 oz! Take a look...see a difference? :)







Sleep: The first two days home from the hospital, the babies didn't sleep. I mean that, no exaggeration. The only way they would calm down and "nap" is if someone was holding them upright. Oh to know what we know now....Turns out I wasn't making enough colostrum to feed them both, then when they did get something in their tummy, if they were not upright, it was causing all sorts of pains - reflux and tummy issues. So, we resorted to sleeping on the couch with a baby propped up on us the first 2 nights. In the picture below, Ryan was the hero and took both babies so I could get some real sleep.



Then, on Friday, my milk came in with a furry and all has been well since! Poor babies, they were just hungry! Knowing what we know now...we totally would have given them some formula the first few days until my milk supply came in so they wouldn't be so miserable!

From the start, they were on the same schedule, partly because we made them :) and partly because they were just in sync with each other! We started them a 3 hrs schedule immediately in the hospital and praise the Lord it has stuck! They were not typical preemies - they didn't sleep all the time, they have had a decent amount of alert time from the start. Now sometimes they go the entire time between feedings awake. It makes it difficult to get anything done, but as long as they do that during the day and not night..we are good. It was so hard going in and waking up two sleeping babies at night, but I'm so glad we stuck with the schedule...it has paid off. It has really helped us know the babies' cries and when they are acting hungry vs just a little fussy :) Once they got to 40 weeks / 6 lbs we were able to let them go a longer stretch at night. What a glorious day! Now, they consistently go at least one 4 hr cycle (3 hours of sleep) before waking us to feed. We are hoping they keep increasing, increasing that time! We are on a flexible routine...meaning we may start at different times from one day to the next, but once we start, we go 3 hours throughout the day. At one month of age, here is a typical schedule:

8:00 am - wake up and feed, give bath if bath day.
9:30 am - enjoy some awake alert time
10:00 am - back down to sleep
11:00 am - up for feeding with a furry this time
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - enjoy alert time, then usually fights going back to sleep
2:00 pm - after only a little hour, time to feed again!
3:00 pm - back to sleep
5:00 pm - time to feed and wait for Dad to get home / go for a walk
6:00 pm - Jenna turns into crazy Jenna and starts her fussy time. Caden starts his cool, chill, sleepy time.
7:30 pm - usually need to do an earlier feeding at this point...crying crying!
8:00 pm - snuggle while we catch up on 6,000 recorded episodes on tv
9:30pm - quick feed and try to sooth to bed. Jenna usually stays up the entire time and wants to be held.
11:30 pm - feed with 3 oz bottle, put down to bed for the night
3:30 am / 4:00 am - somebody wakes up hungry so we go in and get the other up. Another 3 oz bottle.
7:30 am / 8:00 am - wake up to start another day!

So as you can see, we typically get 6 ish hours a night, its just not all at once :) We rotate feedings so that Ryan can sleep thru one, our helper can sleep thru one and I can get up to pump and go right back down and "sleep thru one."

Feedings: I am soooo thankful the Lord has allowed me to breastfeed the twins so far. Most other couples in our Twin Class we met have gone with formula for one reason or another. It is a huge commitment and challenge, but one that is best for the babies. I nurse them during the day, right now one at a time. Until they get some better head control, its easier to feed one at a time and takes just as long as tandem feeding. The hope and prayer is to get to tandem nursing by Christmas so feedings and can go faster! I pump after most feedings and have enough to feed the twins with a bottle at our night feedings. We have gotten the night feedings down to a science...most nights we can have the babies up, fed, burped, changed and soothed back down to bed in an hour. I think Team Ryan/Casey has posted the best time coming in at 45 minutes. :)

Mom: The day I came home from the hospital I had lost 23 lbs. When the twins were 1 week old I was up to 30 lbs. The past two weeks have stalled a bit...I'm sitting at 32 lbs lost...25 lbs to go. Yep, my total weight gain was 57 lbs! My last belly measurement came in at 50 inches!!!!! I can hardly believe it now when I look at pictures or hold up a measuring tape to 50 in. Recovery has been incredibly blessed, fast and complete. I've only had 2 breakdowns...both of which happened in the first 2 days we were home when the babies were Crazy Twins and the morning Ryan went back to work. I love being a Mom and love every bit of my twins. And yes, I vow to do a better job at documenting as things happen so we can keep track of everything and remember all of these precious moments we are living!

Twin Brain

So I think I'm going to start a series called "Twin Brain" to remember some of the crazy things that happen as a result of having newborns, lack of sleep, no sense of time and lots of pee/poop/spit-up all over you. To date we have:

* Ryan renamed our son. One time he was holding him (I think Caden was crying), Ryan, in an attempt to soothe our son, looked down and called him "Kevin." !?? To Ryan's defense, he had been calling him "Evan" ( our nephew ) alot and he says that he was starting to say "Evan" and tried to stop it and it came out "Kevin." I'll let you decide if that is a viable story :) hehe love you Rhino.

* One night recently, I walked into the Bonus Room for the middle of the night feeding...Ryan had gone in the nursery and picked up a baby. I walked in and asked who he had so I knew which bottle to give him (Caden needs a different top on his bottle). Ryan paused and said he had no idea who he was holding.

* Another night ( I see a trend when these "happenings" occur, dont you?) Ryan woke me up and said someone was crying. He said there was a light on and one of the babies was crying. Ok, A) why did you wake me up? B) I got up, walked to the nursery where there was no light on and no crying babies. I walked back in and shared with Ryan how crazy he was.

* Just tonight, Jenna was crying fiercely. We were sitting on the couch downstairs when Ryan asked where her paci was. He started looking around. I looked at him like he was loco and pointed down....he was holding it and even playing with it. oh my....

* I asked my mom if New Year's Eve was on the same day each year. Yep...

* Last, for now, I can't tell you how many times I have woke up in bed, in the nursing position. When I wake up, I feel around for the baby and freak out when it is not there...I pat all around the bed thinking I have dropped the baby (even though we have never slept with the babies or laid the babies on the bed!). One time it took me getting out of bed and walking a few steps before I realized it was the middle of the night, I was not nursing, and no one was crying. Oh, sleep deprivation....

Caden and Jenna's Birth Story...part 2...the Grand Finale!

Ok, so Sunday night we went to bed as usual. I was on my normal schedule of getting up every 2 hours to stretch, go to the bathroom, change positions...something!

(3:30 am) I get up and go to the bathroom where I find some spotting. Hmmm...what is this? I remember reading and hearing in our birth classes a bunch of terms...Mucus Plug, Bloody Show...wonder if this is one of them? I go looking for my "What to Expect when your Expecting" book...it is in the bonus room where Ryan is sleeping. I tip toed in and got the book when Ryan woke up and asked "what is happening?". I told him "nothing...I dont think, I'll let you know if something happens" and that I just wanted to look up something. I went back to our bedroom and climbed back in bed (with a stepping stool mind you...b/c I was so big I couldn't get myself up on the bed!). The second I sat down on the bed...there it was. If no one had ever explained what it felt like or what to expect, I still would have known my water was breaking. Oh my word. All I could think about was to get to the bathroom and NOT mess up our new carpet...Ryan would kill me. Somehow I made it to our bathroom where Hoover Dam proceeded to unleash. I immediately yelled for Ryan who came in asking what was wrong. I smiled and told him "ummm my water definitely just broke." Well, that woke him up! Ryan's first question was "what is our timeline here...what do we do?"

I was so excited! This was it...we were going to have babies that day! Since I wasn't having any contractions, I didn't feel it was necessary to call anyone or rush anywhere. I told R we had time to stay calm and get ready / finish packing our bags. So we took showers, finished packing items, made some coffee and picked up some things around the house.

(4:20 am) So about an hour later I called the number to my OB on call...I just KNEW it would not be Dr J b/c surely if she had the weekend on call, she would be off today (on Monday). Guess who called me back? Yep. Dr J who was on call all day on Monday! I don't know if I was just so excited to finally be meeting the babies or if I finally realized I was not in control, but I wasn't as upset as I thought I would be when I hung up and told R she was on call. She told us to go ahead and get packed and head over to Rex where she would tell them we were coming.

(5:00 am) We got in the car to head to the hospital! yea! We snap my last belly shot as we walk out the door. Oh my goodness, I can't believe a) skin stretches that much, b) internal organs move around and still function that much and c) my two babies were in there! I have my first strong contraction. About 6 or 7 minutes later I have another one...ok not too bad, at least things are happening. Then, oops, we have a few 3 minutes apart. This was at the intersection of Millbrook and Glenwood Ave...Ryan has a freakout moment since that one came so close. They weren't hurting me, I could just tell they were contractions so I wasn't worried...




(5:20 am) We arrive at Rex where Ryan pulls up to let me walk in. I stand up and holy moly, super gush. Why didn't any of you Mama's warn me that once your water breaks...it keeps breaking with a vengeance!? It was no trickle either, like I read in my books. Well, standing under the overhang of Rex I really thought maybe my second bag of water had broken. I just stood there telling Ryan I couldn't stop it! Once I realized this was not going to stop, I just went ahead in the lobby looking like I had sat in a bathtub with my pants on. That poor Security Guard...I bet he has some stories! Speaking of stories, a funny one: there were 3 ladies sitting in the lobby waiting room. Once I had checked in, I stood there waiting for R to come in. One of the ladies said " oh my, you are so calm! Are you really in labor? " I wanted to tell them to look at my pants, but I just smiled and said yes ma'am! Then she asked " how many are in there?" Really? Now that I look back, I realize how huge I looked. I told her twins and answered a few other questions before Ryan came in. Afterward, during our stay in the hospital, we kept hearing stories of ladies who were asking about "The twins." When my parents were outside of the nursery looking at the babies, one of the ladies came up asking if they knew anything about the twins...had they been born? what did they weigh? etc..." So funny!

(6:00 am) We are settled in triage and getting check in. The nurse checks me and says I'm 3cm! yea! Already moving and not in any pain! Ryan and I hang out in triage talking to each other, what our day is going to be like, what labor will be like and...how to have the discussion with Dr J once she got there. I told Ryan to pray so we would know what to say and how to say it. Now that I'm hooked up to monitors we can see I'm having really decent contractions that lasted a while! Still, no big deal...I can handle this!

(8:00 am) ALOT happens at this point. First, Dr J gets to the hospital. She checks me and I'm up to 5 cm. Babies look good with A head down and B transverse. She proceeds to start "the discussion" about our options. Of course she says C Section would be fast, safe, quick...in fact, she could wheel us in right now and it would be done within the hour. (!!!!!!). My heart is starting to drop a bit. Then she tells us the most amazing thing ever...that she has called my primary OB (Dr M) at the practice (who has the most experience delivering twins and who I am most comfortable with), woke her up and discussed the situation with her. Remember, I had seen Dr J just that week before and really told her my wishes for a natural delivery. I think she remembered that! Anyway, she said after discussing the numbers and position of the babies and my lab work, that Dr M had agreed to come into the hospital and help her delivery the twins if I wanted to try natural. WHAT? This is like the most perfect unheard-of scenario! I'm still shocked to think about the fact that Dr J, a certified, qualified professional would call her colleague up and ask for help...just for the wishes of a patient. Thank you God! My eyes light up and a I stare at R in disbelief...this is perfect! I ask a few questions to make sure it is safe for the babies and then say yes, yes, yes...that is exactly how I would like to proceed. The only catch is that they need to slow the labor down so I can make it to 2/3 pm....Dr M had appointments in the office and could not make it to Rex until then. HHMMMM, how do you do that? Doesn't matter to me, whatever it takes! So the plan then became to get us in a room, give me an epidural to slow down the labor and wait.




(8:40 am) I'm not happy about this epidural...these 5 cm contractions are no big deal and I'm' terrified of the epidural! They come in working very quickly to try to slow this labor down. This is the first (and interestingly enough, the only) time I cry...i'm such a baby, but I cry during the epidural. Turns out it was all fear...all in my head. It didn't hurt bad. Ok, now I'm just supposed to relax and hang out until late afternoon when Dr M gets here. ahhhh... We take our last picture of just the two of us!




(9:30 am) Just a quick check on how things are going....oops I'm 8 cm!!! This is the first time I really realize I'm not going to make it to 2/3 pm. I start to worry...can our plan still happen? The L/D nurse had come in and checked me this time which I thought was odd. She says she will go tell the Doc.




(10:00 am) Sometime around 10 am, something straight from a movie happens...the door to our room opens, and busting through the curtains is....Dr M!!!! She marches in like she owns the place and just as chipper as ever asking how things are going...are we ready to have some babies!? Im' stunned and thrilled and thankful and beyond ecstatic. I instantly feel relieved and like everything is going to be ok. She comes in and looks over all of my charts and chats with us for a while. Turns out that Dr J's daughter had been in a car accident and Dr J was with her (that is why the nurse checked me a few minutes ago instead of the Doc like we were expecting). I think to myself that the Lord's ways sure are higher than my ways...never would have thought of that to be the scenario that would bring Dr M to us! Turns out Dr M cancelled or moved all of her appointments and came in to the Hospital on her week off rotation. A-mazing.


(10:45 am) We stop talking with Dr M and I stop profusely thanking her for being there long enough for her to check me. She tells me I'm 9 cm. What? This is flying by! We haven't even gotten my bag out of the car that had all of my "labor essentials." (i.e. gatorade, sour patch kids..I was going to sneak a few of those in.. my ipod etc...)She says she will be right back. I tell Ryan to go to the car and get some things including his Daddy Gift I got him. I wanted to have this really special time, just the two of us, to give him his gift...a bookmark that I had engraved with 1 Samuel 26:23 : "The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness..." Time was running out fast!

(11:15 am) Dr M checks me one more time...fully dilated...time to head to the OR. yippee! I was in shock that this part of labor was already over! From my water breaking to fully dilated was less than 6 hours! Dr M looks up and tells my L/D nurse to get the OR ready b/c we are coming! She literally starts unhooking my blood pressure machine and other tubes right then. Ryan tells our family its go time. We start rolling down the hallway to the OR (we had to deliver in the OR since I was high risk and b/c I was carrying multiples.) Ryan makes a pit stop in this little room where they tell him to get dressed in scrubs while they wheel me in and get me set in the OR. The atmosphere was nothing like I thought it would be...Ryan counted 13 doctors / nurses in that tiny OR room. There were neonattologist, anesthesiologist, several L/D nurses, OR techs, each baby had a nurse and my two doctors. Yep, as I was getting set on the table, Dr J walks in. Turns out her daughter was ok so she came back to get in on the twin delivery!




(11:25 am) In the OR, set up, ready to go. Coach Ryan in place.

(11:35) Dr M says to push! Jenna was so low already that her labor was not very eventful. Pushing was work, but completely manageable. We talked and joked in between contractions. At one point I told everyone in the room we needed some music b/c after a contraction, everyone would just be hanging out and making small talk. Things got interesting when she started to crown...I'll admit that was quite intense, but it was only for about 5 minutes or less.

(12:31pm) Almost one hour exactly after we began pushing, sweet Jenna was born weighing 5 lb 7 oz and measuring 18 3/4 inches. I didn't get to see her much, they whisked her away to a side room to get her checked out since she was a "preemie." Also, not 5 seconds after she was out they started working on me/ trying to turn Caden to the head down position.



They brought Jenna back in after she checked out ok and let Ryan hold her. In between my contractions with Caden I could hear the "stats" and stare at my baby girl...talk about a great distraction! So right after she was born, Dr M told everyone the "game plan" for trying to turn Caden. Everyone took their positions. Two nurses and Dr M started pushing, jumping, beating and squishing my stomach (so it felt like). Dr J kept the U/S on so they could see his position and another nurse had a heart rate monitor on him so they could monitor his heart rate. In about 10-15 minutes, Dr M said he had turned! A nurse stayed on my left side and kept pushing on my stomach so he wouldn't flip right back up. It was alot of pressure and made breathing that much harder! During this time, my contractions started easing off and slowing down. Dr M did not like this at all and ordered Pitocin...quickly. They kept going up and up as my contractions got farther apart. They told me to start pushing and to push hard so we could get him down and out before any complications popped up.

Now, enter Casey's head for a second. Most of the books and stories I had heard of natural twin deliveries occurred minutes within each other. You have already pushed one baby out...doesn't this one just come right on down and out?! I was thinking the hardest part was over. ha. ha. what. a. joke. I start pushing thinking this will be quick. I push and push and feel nothing dropping. Everyone assures me that he is...he was just so high to start with, it was going to take longer. Ten minutes go by, then 20, a half hour (!), then 45 minutes. The pitocin got things moving so I was pushing every minute or two towards the 45 minute-mark. I start to panic in my head for the first time that I can't do this. I start to feel sick like I might puke everywhere. Ryan says my blood pressure shot up. Then, Dr M says quite non-chalantly that both of her kids were born with the help of the vacuum and all was well so she recommended that we do the same. She said he was so close and that with one good contraction she could have him out. I'm exhausted so I look to Ryan and we say go for it. They get him hooked up and sure enough, one contraction and all of a sudden they say to stop. Funny story is that at this point I hear Ryan and some nurses saying " he's out, he's out!" I open my eyes and say he is NOT out...someone better pull him out fast! Why was this so much harder and hurt more than Jenna?

(1:29 pm) Almost an hour after his sister was born, Caden Yates joined us weighing 5 lb 15 oz and measuring 19 inches (ah-hah! that's why it was harder!)Just like that, we have two babies! Caden shows us his personality instantly...as you can see below :) They whisk him away too but let me see him quickly.





Later we learn that Caden's heart rate had begun to dip...it had been such a long time between delivery of Jenna and him that Dr M was not liking hte situation and wanted him out quickly. She never let on or caused me any concern. More brownie points for Dr M! She is awesome.) I immediately had this super burst of energy and was STARVING! Thankfully, I hardly tore, did not have any blood loss issues and even though the babies' placenta's had fused, we had no issues delivering it intact. The Lord was over every second of our day and protected me and these babies with only His strength. Ryan left to go be with the babies and make sure they checked out ok. Remember, at this point, we didn't know if they would be in the NICU or not. They wheeled me into my room and brougth me the best ice-cold Coke I have ever tasted! Ryan brought our camera to me so I could see pics of the babies ... he told me they were perfect and in the regular nursery! They would be in our recovery room waiting for us! Praise the Lord...can't describe what that feeling was...an answer to 9 months of prayer! They brought Jenna to me while I was still downstairs so I got to hold my sweet baby girl while we got transported to our room. Caden needed some help with his blood sugar so he stayed in the nursery a bit longer and joined the party soon after :)




They wheeled Caden in and we put them in the same bin and just stared. They were beautiful, perfect, sweet, tiny, and both inside of me just a few minutes before! All of our family came in and the party began! I"m so blessed, so thankful to have such a wonderful delivery. Recovery has been super quick and easy...in fact, my wrist surgery in college was worse! The Lord has graciously allowed me to be back to normal quickly so I could be involved and active in these first few precious days / weeks of our babies' lives.

J and C...you are finally here. You have a beautiful, powerful story that begins even before the first second you were created. I love your birth story and can't wait to tell you stories of the day you joined us!

Caden and Jenna's Birth Story...part 1

Yea! I'm finally sitting down to write down one of the most amazing days of my life. I've been wanting to sit down and get it all out of my head before I forget, but the twins have had different plans for me so far :)

Many thanks to our record keeper, Ryan Little...he kept a notepad and wrote down what was happening as they happened b/c we knew we would both forget. Its a good thing he did...as you will see, things happened fast!

The twins were born on Monday, October 18th, but I think their birth story starts the Wednesday before:

Wednesday, October 13th...I go to the Doctor and find that I am still 1 cm dilated...the medication and the strict bedrest have worked - thank the Lord! We got to our original goal of 36 weeks. The babies looked great on the U/S and all of my labs were perfect. So....I was told I could stop taking the medication and get off bedrest! I made sure I understood clearly by telling my Doctor that I intended to "walk these babies out" and not sit down until it was time to go to bed at night. Yep, all ok, so off I went. However, not before I shared with Dr. J that I really really desired to have a natural birth. I did NOT want a C-Section as long as the babies were ok and healthy. She danced around the conversation a bit and made it clear that she thought the best option would be a C-Section since Caden was still breech.She also told me that if it came to me being induced...she would probably schedule me with another Doctor in the practice who was more comfortable delivering twins. Ok, that's fine with me, I thought. Then she proceeds to tell me she is on call all weekend. oh no! I was in a panic. I didn't want to have the babies when she was on call b/c I knew what she would be inclined to do! I worried about it so much I got a cold sore...dang it! Hate those things. Anyway, me and my project event planner came out so the game plan was for me to have the babies before Friday at 5pm when Dr J went on call. (How is the Lord so patient!? Don't you think I would have learned in the 2 years prior that everything is going to happen when God allows it to happen for HIS good!?)

Anyway, so began my mission: Operation Have-the-Twins. Wednesday and Thursday, I walked and walked...I finally walked around the neighborhood with Ryan...well actually only to the stop sign. I was sooo out of breath from not doing anything since August!

By Friday nothing had happened so what's a girl to do? How about go to the NC State Fair and walk around and eat fried foods!? Check. I enjoyed about 2 hours of walking with my girlfriends and ate Corn on the Cob, fried honeybun, lemonade, and Cheesecake on a stick. YUM. Surely this will get things going....



Saturday comes around...nothing has happened. So I do some yard work with Ryan...quite awkwardly, but I do what I can do. Saturday night, we go to Ryan's Grandparents House for dinner where everyone can't believe I'm still pregnant. We are seriously about out of room babies! Ryan's mom tells me that the time is close b/c my face is puffy.

Sunday morning...for the first time in months I go to Church b/c I'm off bedrest! It was so fantastic to see everyone and be in Church to worship with others instead of by myself on the couch. By now, I feel good about going into labor...surely Dr J's "on call" schedule will end Monday morning and another doctor will be on call who will entertain the idea of letting me deliver the twins naturally. Sunday afternoon I did alot of stuff around the house and worked on the twins' baby books for hours. (maybe I subconsciously knew I wouldn't be looking at those things for weeks! haha). Me and Ryan go to bed wondering what day of the week the twins will come! Surely it can't be too much longer!?

Stay tuned for the rest of the story...Caden is crying :)