One Month Old (May 13, 2011)

This is a little late since the babies are now 7 weeks old but I want to remember what they were doing at this time so here is a late update.

Jackson:

You weight 7 pounds 8 ounces you and are 20.25 inches long. You are growing so big and fast-such a different baby than the one we brought home from the hospital. You are in the first percentile for weight and in the fifth for length. You are a great sleeper, we joke that there are days we don't ever see your eyes. Your hair has a lot of red in it...I am anxious to see if it stays or if you will be more blond or brown. Your eyes are still blue-very dark. You are wearing newborn clothes and diapers but filling them out more and more everyday. You are such a sweet baby. You love to lay on mommy or daddy's chest. You have started to be a little fussy at night from around 9 to midnight. You are eating 75mL every 3 hours, you are a very slow eater-daddy just says that you are savoring your food. Daddy calls you wolverine since you fingernails grow extremely fast and are sharp.

Riggs:

You weigh 6 pounds 1 ounce and are 20 inches long. Your checks are filling out but the rest of you still has little meat. You feel so different to hold than your bother, you are so dainty. You are in the first percentile for weight (.08% to be exact) and seventh for length. You are wearing newborn clothes and preemie diapers-you are still swimming in most of your clothes and bloomers just fall off no matter how small, you are so skinny. You are our flailer and noise maker. You don't like silence and fill it often with one of your barn yard noises. You are awake alot more then your brother but sleep well too. You have the sweetest smile. You are eating right at 2 ounces (60 mL) every 3 hours and can put down a bottle in no time. You love to wear pretty hair bows with all of your outfits. Your hair has red in it as well and you have beautiful blue eyes for now.

You got to celebrate a lot this month with Daddy's birthday, Easter, Mommy's birthday and Mother's Day-but most importantly was coming home from the hospital Rigg's at 15 days and Jackson at 16. You had your first big outing to church on Mother's Day and were perfect-everyone wanted to see our little angels.

You both are perfect and we don't know what we ever did without you. We love you more than we ever knew we could and know that God has forever blessed our lives beyond our greatest dreams.

It is so hard to believe that you have been here a month already. In one moment it seems as you have always been here but then at the same time  I can't believe you are a month old. This has been the craziest but best month of our life.

We love you babies!

Here are a few more pictures of them that were too cute not to post.

Rigg's in a dress I made.

Jackson after daddy posed him like a man.

And just a few more cute ones...

Mr. Jackson Everett & Miss. Riggs Ainsley

Last Wednesday I woke up in the hospital wondering what was in store for the day. My blood pressure was still extremely high so we were playing the wait and see game. Tuesday I had be put on no food for water after midnight in case they decided the next morning they needed to deliver the twins. Around 8 I saw the doctor and he felt it would be soon, but probably not today-we was going to consult the High Risk OB so once they decided to deliver they had the right people lined up. At this point I was given the green light to eat breakfast and continue my day of relaxation.

Breakfast came-it was terrible-I literally ate a corner of a hash-brown and called Aaron to bring me something from Panera since I was starving. 30 minutes later the High Risk OB came by and game me more insight into pre eclampsia and stated based on my current numbers she was going to recommend to my doctor that they deliver me as soon as possible. However since I had "eaten" breakfast they now had to wait 8 hours and I could not eat or drink anything during this time.

From what we could tell we would be meeting our little ones around 5pm that evening. Wednesday was a day of waiting and talking with different doctors and around 4 pm they finally wheeled me down to the OR. Since Jackson was breech and he was baby A so a C-Section was they only option for delivery.

At 5:23 PM Jackson was delivered quickly followed by Riggs at 5:25. After they cleaned him up Aaron was able to hold Jackson for about 30 seconds and I was able to give my son kisses for the first time, before they took him to the NICU. Riggs was having a little trouble breathing on her own when she came out so they inserted a breathing tube and we were only able to see her as she passed by to go to NICU.

After 2 hours in recovered I was finally taken back to my room on Magnesium this was to help with my blood pressure. It made me feel terrible-the best description I was given was that if feels like you have concrete running through your veins, but I was assured that once I was taken off this drug in 24 hours I would feel like a new person.

While I was resting Aaron was able to take a trip down to see our precious babies and bring back some pictures so I could finally see my little ones. A few hours later the nurse and Aaron wheeled me down to meet my babies for the first time. They were perfect! I really don't remember much of this but I know it was the moment my life changed forever. I could only stay for a few minutes as I felt as though I might pass out from the medication so we headed back to my room where I dreamed about our sweet family of FOUR!

34 Weeks 1 Day

Today we had our regular weekly appointment which marked our last appointment. After 2 blood pressure scans it was quickly determined that we were to be admitted to the hospital for pre eclampsia. Babies are doing well and I feel find-just swollen. We are in a game of wait and see. They want to keep the twins in as long as possible but it is looking more and more that they will be here in the next few days if my condition does not improve.
We are very thankful we have made it to this point where the lungs should be fully developed and just pray that the rest of the journey continues to produce good things.
Can't wait to meet you Jackson and Riggs!

29 Week Update

I know I have done a terrible job of documenting all that has been going on in this pregnancy, but really it has been so uneventful that there has not been much to write so far.

This past weekend was full of celebration for Jackson and Riggs. Saturday Staci hosted a shower that was absolutely perfect in every way. I am really thinking she should go into party planning instead of accounting-though I am not sure what Jon would think about that! Here are some pictures of the fun day!

Treats for the guest to take home.

The food table.

Some of the guest.

Jackson's Quilt made by Auntie Staci!

Riggs' Quilt made by Auntie Staci!

The Hostess with the Mostest!

Sunday was another fun shower put on by the ladies at church. Aaron and I have been so blessed by Holland Park Church and they truly showered us with love on Sunday. At both showers the babies were spoiled by all!

My parents, Melissa, Luke and Grayson all came in for the weekend. It was hectic but fun to share in this time with them all. Siri was in Texas recruiting for Clemson Soccer we missed having her here with us.

After a fun filled weekend Aaron and I had one more treat in store for the week-on Wednesday we had another Ultrasound. Since we are having twins in this last push we will get them at least every four weeks so they can check the growth of each twin and make sure one is not growing substantially more than the other. Ours are perfect. Riggs is weighing 3 lbs 2 oz (56 percentile) and Jackson is 3 lbs 1 oz (54 percentile)-there is only a 1% difference between the two of them and they are right on average for growth that this stage. I love Beth our Ultrasound tech, she always gets so excited and after she is done with the measurements for the doctors she switches to 3D and 4D so we can better see our little ones. It was amazing to see how much they had developed from 4 weeks ago. We also tried to see if Jackson had webbed toes like his daddy but we could not tell. She also told us that Riggs has more hair than her brother, so maybe they will not be bald like Aaron was for two years. Here are some pictures of our photo shoot!

Our little contortionist. Jackson with his knees in his face.

Sweet Riggs with her had in front of her face.

Long update for a great week. The doctor said they are both doing great and everything is going as perfect as it could be at this time. She also told me that they will not let me go past 38 weeks which gave me a sigh of relief but also put a little panic in us-we are down to 8.5 weeks tops SINGLE DIGITS. There is lots to do to prepare for their arrival!

25 Weeks Ultrasound Pictures

Yesterday we had an ultrasound appointment to make sure both of the twins are continuing to grow and develop. Everything checked out great, Jackson is currently 1 pound 9 ounces and Riggs is 1 pound 12 ounces. It is such an amazing experience to be able to see them, we got some 3D pictures and were able to see them move a bit in 4D-we saw both of them yawn...it was so cool.

20 Weeks

Well I guess it is time to update since we are at least half way through this pregnancy. Since it is twins I am hoping I have less than 20 weeks to go. I thought I would update more during this but so far it has been really uneventful. I have been so blessed to not have ANY sickness. I know there are many mothers out their that want to punch me, but I have a feeling that my pay back will come at the end when I am so big I can barely move.

We did find out that we are having a precious little boy and a precious little girl last week. Aaron and I were over the moon. While we would have been happy with any combination this is what we really wanted. They are doing well and growing right along. Find out their sexes has made them seem so much more real it is crazy. Also it has helped that they now have names so they are no longer Baby A and Baby B. Our son is Jackson Everett and our daughter is Riggs Ainsley. It feels so great to say their names when we talk to them or about them. Neither name has any historical significance to us, just names we felt were perfect for our little peanuts.

We are so anxious to meet them but are glad we still have a few more months to prepare. This week I have been trying to find fabric for the nursery. I never knew it would be so hard to find coordinating fabrics for a boy and a girl. I think I finally have found what we are going to use but we are still deciding. I will share that once we purchase everything!

Also we have been so blessed by my sister with all of her hand-me-downs. With two of her own they are done having kids and are ready to rid their house or items out grown. We came back from Christmas with a swing, bouncy seats, bath tub, breast pump and other items. I am most excited to get Grayson's clothes for our Riggs. G will be about 11 months older so we are excited that we might never need to buy her any clothes. Also I have a girl at work who has GB twins that will be about 9 months older and she told me she will see what she can pass along as well. We are so blessed and God is providing in ways we were not expecting for their needs before they even arrive.

Lukeisms

I have the most adorable 3.5 year old nephew. He is hilarious and says the funniest things. I am sure later in his life we will want to remember some of these so I thought I would post a few.

One day at preschool they had a fire drill while they were all standing outside a beer truck passed. Luke decided to tell everyone the follow...
My daddy loves beer. He loves beer and wine...but he really love beer.

The other night they were ordering pizza for dinner and David my brother-in-law asked Luke what he wanted on the pizza...cheese, pepperoni etc. His response...No I just want the grease.

For Halloween Luke was dressed up as Spider-Man. On Friday he got to wear his costume to school and that morning after he was dressed he went over to Grayson (his baby sister) and said...Grayson don't be scared it's just me in a costume!

And last but not least for today.
The other day Luke was putting back on his PJs after going to the bathroom he said to Melissa...Mommy you don't want to see my whole wiener do you?