Update on Haley and Liam- Week 1-2

This past Wed was their first pediatrician appt and overall it went very well.  They had left the hospital at 5 lbs 11 oz as they lost 8 and 9% after birth and already were back at 6 lbs and 6 lbs 1 oz, we still have to go back for a weight check next week to ensure they are still gaining weight as they are small for their age.  We also had to go for a bloodtest for their billirubin levels to ensure their jaundice had not gotten worse and thankfully it had not.  I hated watching them take blood from their feet, I realized that was nothing in comparison of what can come over the years, this will be part of being a mom but I still don't like to see it. 

Monday Haley starts her casts for her club feet.  They are going to put casts from her feet to top of her leg for 6-8 weeks which they will change every week then she will likely have a small surgery on her heel then they will do another cast for 3 weeks.  After that she will have a bar with shoes she has to wear at naptime and bedtime until she is 4.  We are very hopeful all of this will take care of it and she will not have to have surgery then.

We have been so blessed with amazing friends and family helping us with things with getting home, bringing meals and just support with all of the new things of being parents. 

Below are some recent pictures, a few are with our new camera that Jason's dad had gotten us so we are excited to have better pictures now.  We are enjoying just watching the babies do different things and continue to enjoy the things that they do similar to eachother.

And the winner is.....

Jenny Daniels- Julie's cousin won the expectnet pool

The babies have arrived!

So I am a bit behind but wanted to post some picture.  As you all probably know by now the babies were born on Thursday, April 21st.  They decided to do a c section after a dr appt that I had where I had high blood pressure and early pre-eclampsia.  The dr came in and said we are going to do a c section within an hour so it didn't leave me too much time to be anxious.  Everything happened sooooo quickly.  I was 37 weeks and 1 day so at that point it was considered term for twins.

Liam Austin Barker was born at 2:40 pm at 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches. 

Haley Marie Barker was born at 2:42 pm at 6 lbs 4 oz and 18.5 inches.

We were so amazed to have twins over 6 lbs.  Everyone could not believe how much hair they had, everyone kept asking if I had a lot of heartbunr in pregnancy, haha:)

Below are some pictures from the first week

Hanging in there

Things are still going well, much quieter also than last week.  Contractions have been pretty calm and Dr. appt went well today.  I can't believe I am making it this far with twins, while we are feeling ready we are really thankful these babies are staying in longer to be as healthy as possible.  Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks which is considered full term for twins.  We have another Dr. appt on thursday and we will also have a non-stress test, this is where they hook you up to monitors to track the heart rates of the babies as well as contractions.  9 days or less and we will get to meet our babies!!!!!

36 Weeks today and it was eventful!

So today we had a practice run.  This morning started with me calling the Dr. at 6:30 letting her know my contractions were under 10 minutes apart or over an hour and she let me know to go to labor and delivery.  We were calm and headed out with our luckily already packed bags.  When we got there they hooked me up to monitor the babies heart rates as well as my contractions.  The boy was hiding so it took them awhile to get his but they were able to.  The nurse then checked my cervix and I went from 1 cm dialated last Thursdsay to 2-3 today and 50% effaced she said today might be the day with it being twins.  They called the on-call Dr. then since mine is off on Wednesdays and she came in and said we should be fine to wait longer since I was not at full labor and the contractions were getting better not worse.  That is good for the babies though, keep them in there as long as possible.  So we headed home but it now feels a lot more real that the babies can be here anytime now.  We are so excited to meet them!  Jason did great today. He was calm and handled everything great!

Below is my 36 week picture, might be the last one unless I really do make it to c section day at 38 weeks - which the Dr. today felt was probably unlikely but anything is still possible.

Next update could be to tell everyone there are babies- could be within days or up to 2 weeks:)

Last ultrasound update

This past Thursday we had our last ulttrasound which was 35 weeks.  One last time of seeing the babies before they are here.  It was hard to see a lot at this point as they have grown so much but they could see that the boy has a lot of hair on his head.  They also took measurements but at this point they said they can be off up to a lb.  The boy estimated at 5 lbs 7 oz and the girl at 5 lbs 5 oz which is great!  They felt like they at least weigh 5 lbs if they are off.  When finding out I was going to have twins even making it to that point with their weights seemed like a lofty goal so that is very exciting.  The dr appt also went well and she checked and I was barely dialated and felt pretty sure I should make it at least another week.  I am still overall feeling pretty well, I have started to have some contractions but nothing too close together so that is really normal at this point.

Something else funny this week was my dad had found out a couple of weeks ago that we had received yankees onesies as a gift from my boss so he went online and purchased the babies their first white sox stuff.  He called and said the babies can be pacers fans and even colts fans but they couldn't be yankees fans, haha:)   Fun to have some family rivalry.

34 weeks

I am 34 weeks as of yesterday and excited to say the babies will be here in 4 weeks or less from today.  I can't believe how close it is getting now, we can't wait to meet them!!!!!  We had a Dr. appt. today, no ultrasound or any checks on the babies but everything was good with me including blood pressure check, protein in urine, etc.  She said I still appear to be doing well.  We did get the heartbeats.  His took awhile to find just based on how he is positioned, but they did get them both.  Hers was 137 bmp and his was 148 bmp.   She did also say that if I were to go into labor between now and 36 weeks they would try to stop the labor. After 36 weeks they will not.  We are looking forward to having an ultrasound next week to actually see the babies and hear how they are measuring as well. 

We also took a huge step towards being parents this week and bought a mini van- yep a van   :)  We got a Toyota Sienna, we think it will make things really easy with the 2 car seats and all of the stuff we will have to bring places.  It was hard to say good-bye to my jeep, but anything for these babies.

Below is my 34 week belly picture and a picture of our new van.

32 weeks

So I can not believe the babies will be here 6 weeks or less from yesterday.  I currently have a planned c section scheduled for April 28th, which is 38 weeks if I make it to that point.  My dr. really wants to try to get me that far which is great for the babies. 

The room is feeling a lot more ready, we have put away a lot of the baby gifts, Jason's parents help put an overhead light in the room last weekend with a dimmer.  Jason is picking up the crib mattresses today, so then we will put the bedding and mobiles on and take a picture to post with the completed beds.  We are getting so excited to meet these babies, but know they need to stay in there as long as possible! 

As of the last ultrasound on March 10th the boy estimated at 3 lbs 11 oz and the girl at 3 lbs 10 oz so they are growing really well.  So at this point they could be close to around 4 lbs.  I measure as a full term pregnancy right now which makes sense as I have about 8 lbs of babies and 2 placentas in there  :)  They were not able to get any good pictures as the babies were not facing where it was easy to get them.  They said we probably won't be able to get any more good ones.  Something that was cute was their heads were right up against each other with the membrane in between.  At least one is not kicking the other's head like before, haha. 

I am still working, but it has been nice to be working from home Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which saves me from a lot of driving and allows me to have my feet up.  Overall I am feeling well, but do have a really bad pain in my back/hip but I know this is normal with the weight I am carrying.  Sleep is getting tough, everyone says sleep now but I think I am just preparing for how much I will be up in the night soon enough   :) 

Below is my 32 weeks and 1 day picture, it was St. Patty's Day so that is what is with the funny bead necklace I am wearing:)

Baby shower with friends

I had such a nice 2nd baby shower with my friends.  My friends Cassie, Marcie and Missie had a baby shower for all my girlfriends at my house this past weekend.  It was a lot of fun and we got a lot more great stuff for the babies.  Below are some photos my friend Abby took from the shower which she also posted on facebook.

Diaper cake from my small group friends- Maggie made it

Addie helping me open the mobile gym from Erin



Misse, Marcie and Cassie- the girls who threw the shower



Amber, Cassie, myself, Therese and Marcie

Joanna, Kayla and myself

myself, Emily and Addie and Erin

Marcie at 20 weeks and me at 30 weeks

Liz and I

Small group friends

work friends

30 weeks today

It feels like a big milestone to be at 30 weeks today.  We are getting so anxious to meet these babies but want them to stay in as long as possible.  The room is really getting ready, after this weekend when I have another shower I will post pictures of the nursery that now has furniture.  We love it!   We are looking forward to our Dr. appt next Thursday, this is one where we will get a full ultrasound where they will do measurements of the babies, it is always fun to hear how they are tracking and weights and see them!

Below is my 30 week photo

Last Sunday my good friend Abby McKinney took maternity photos for us, I will put a few on here that I have and will post more later.  It was really fun to do that and she did a great job.  She is also going to take our newborn photos for us.


 

Photos from my family shower- 2/19/2011

I wanted to put up some photos from my first baby shower- it was a lot of fun.  Thank you Aunt Marcy, Jenny, Mom and Joanna for everything you did and thanks all for the wonderful gifts!  These babies have a lot of people taking care of them already.  I am looking forward to the next shower in a week with some friends:)  I also put at the bottom my belly photo from 28 weeks since I had not posted it.

I wish you could see the 3 diaper cakes behind me better that we got, they were soooooo cute.  One of Jason's cousins Lauren made her first one and it was really good and we got 2 others from Jason's Aunt Wanda.

The cake was really yummy!!!!

Jason's grandma made both of the quilts below, the babies are going to love these and they match the jungle theme

above is the girls bedding from my mom

Above is one of the bibs that my step-mom stitched

Above was a gift from my cousin Cameron who is an endodontist and his Wife Haley who is in med school

28 week belly photo