3 years ago...Day 1

So, the girls had a birthday on September 25th. Ready for a weird confession? Although I know their birthday is a milestone, October 7th is a more important day for me. It was 3 years ago, on the first Sunday in October, which would be today. I dont know why I have never actually written down the story of the girls being sick. I know 3 years ago I wasnt about to make any assumptions about what the end of the story would be, last year was just pure chaos, and I feel that the two children that I look at each day now make for an even more amazing ending. It is a long story, so I am going to break it into parts. So, here goes.

As far as newborns go, the girls were super easy. A little scary kind of easy. Dont get me wrong, they were newborns, up every couple of hours. But, they were both breast feeding well, sleeping as well as you can ask, etc. My mom was down here helping me out, and my dad came down on a Friday night for the day to visit. I sent my mom to get a real night sleep at the hotel with my dad and told her that Mark and I could handle the night since Mark didnt have to work on Saturday. Of course, the girls picked that night to be miserable! I figured my "normal" newborns had arrived. All day Saturday they were just a little fussy, but we got through the day. We even decided that we would take the girls to church the following morning. I went to feed them for their 9 PM feed on Saturday night and BOTH of the girls refused to latch. It was so strange. I didnt know what to do. They were only 11 days old and my sister (who had already done this with 2 kids) informed me they were too young for a hunger strike, so I was stuck. I pulled out the pre-made formula that we had swiped from our overnight Vanderbilt jaundice visit the week before and tried that. They took it. Although I was not pleased about the not breastfeeding deal, they had been so fussy all day, I gave in. First rule of twins: Survive.

They refused to latch at midnight feed also, so out came the formula. Ruthie just flat out refused to eat at the next feed. Both girls were miserable through the entire night. I actually fell asleep in our spare bedroom with Maddie on top of me and my mom fell asleep on the lazy boy with Ruthie in the nursery. We were up all night. For the 6 am feed, I woke up to my mom calling me into the nursery. Ruthie felt warm. I broke out my brand new rectal thermometer that I had no idea how to use as a new mom. 102.5 fever. Panic. I took Maddie's temperature. 102.5 fever also. More panic. Paged the pediatrician for the first time. He sent us to Vanderbilt saying we should plan on being there for the night since they hold newborns with temperatures to check for meningitis, etc.

Since we had been to Vanderbilt less than a week before that for jaundice, the staff remembered the twins. They moved us back into a holding area and put the girls in incubators and started the fluid collection. Ruthie first. Her blood draws were the worst. She was 5 pounds, and they couldnt find a vein. I felt like a horrible mother, but I had to leave. They made us leave for the spinal tap anyways. After we came back in, Maddie was sleeping in her incubator in the corner, and Ruthie was mad at the world. Mark took her little finger in his hand and tried talking to her. Mark called the nurse over. Ruthie was squeezing his finger as she started convulsing in rhythm. The doctor came in and looked at her eyes. Seizures. They gave her some anti-seizure meds through her IV and they stopped. By this time her fever had gone down, so we knew they were febrile seizures. Why is my 12 day old having seizures? Convulsing again. Another round of anti-seizure meds through the IV.

It was close to 10 AM and Ruthie was miserable about life in general. I mentioned to the nurses that she really hadnt eaten since her 2 AM feed, so I thought I should at least give it a try. I took her out of her incubator and tried to give her a bottle. No luck. Newborns are floppy anyways, but she went a little limp. I look up at her monitor and I call the nurse. " I think her oxygen monitor came off her foot. It says her her 02 is at 40%". Then the words that ring in my ears still. "She's not breathing! Bag her!". My child is grabbed from my arms and the screaming, crying mother is kindly escorted from the room. I collapsed on the floor in the hall, screaming. My mom just held me praying over and over again, "Please dont let her die, please dont let her die, please dont let her die." They get her breathing again and let me back in. What in the world is going on? No one seems to know. They decided to take Ruthie for a CT. I decide to go with them to get the CT and Mark is going to stay with Maddie. We get half way down the hall and she stops breathing again. They resuscitate her and we wait in the hall a few minutes. They try moving her again and her 02 stats drop. We are left with no other choice but to intabate her and let a machine breathe for her. She is moved up to the Pediatric ICU. We arent able to see her for a little bit while they get everything situated up in PICU, so we stay in the ER with Maddie.

They have not even began any fluid draws on Maddie. They take her blood and urine and try to put in an IV line. We know from our jaundice stay a week ago that she has hard veins to find. Not much has changed in a week, and they finally get the line into her tiny little 5 pound body. Maddie's fever has dropped also. We know a spinal tap is coming, so we are just waiting until they kick us out for that. Maddie starts convulsing. We page the nurse. Seizures. They give her some anti-seizure medication and they stop. She begins convulsing again, but on the opposite side as before. More anti-seizure medication. The doctors were concerned that breathing problems would come next, just like her sister, so they hold off on the stress of a spinal tap. Although she technically should not have been in PICU for just a fever and seizures, they were kind enough to admit her to PICU so that we could have both of our children on the same floor at least. I have a feeling they could see the stress and fear in our eyes.

As they are moving the girls up to the PICU we walk out into the waiting room of Vanderbilt Children's. An entire waiting room of our family and church family from Hillsboro Church of Christ are there waiting for us. It was around 11:30 AM, so they had come over as soon as the "Amen" was said on the closing prayer. They hugged us, they stayed and prayed with us. We had no idea what was going on. Our church family would become a huge part of this story.

That was Day 1 of 10 days.

These are the Moments

Having twins is one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I am not saying that it is easy, but I know for a fact that I get to experience so many different things than my friends that only have one baby at a time. Even those that have two kids, it is still a completely different experience. There is just something about watching these two little girls, that have been together for all but 3 minutes of their ENTIRE lives (Ruthie is 3 minutes older than Maddie). They are just a part of one another in such a neat way.

When they were younger, blogging was so much easier! I could take pictures of the cute things they were doing, the smiling, the milestones etc. Now, the things that I would LOVE to share on here are impossible to document. Primarily because I do not think I am a capable enough writer to get the full picture across of the hilarious things that they say or do. Their interactions with each other and their conversations are funnier than anything you could see on Comedy Central. Just the tone in their voice or the timing of a question or the body motions that go with what they are saying, make it impossible to have the same affect retold in words alone. Unfortunately, as soon as I pull out the video camera they either yell "CHEESE" or stop what they are doing since they see me. So, it is these rare moments that I can actually catch from sneaking around the corner of another room, that I savor. I hate to think that I wont remember some of these times like I dont remember so much of them as babies.

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Dreams of Parents

I think any one that is a parent has dreams for what they would like their kids to accomplish. It is only natural. When we found out we were having twins, Mark was convinced we would have a soprano and an alto that could harmonize making sweet, sweet music. Most of you already know that Mark has a marvelous voice and a deep love of music. It seems as if our children have inherited the deep love of music, but not so much the voice. All though you can only see Maddie in the video, you can hear her sister "harmonizing" in the background.

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I'm thinking Mark will have to find another dream for them.

Riding Bikes

We had given the girls tricycles for Christmas, even though we knew they wouldnt be able to use them for a little while. I probably should have taken them out more on their bikes this summer, but it was hotter than Hades here, so I avoided outside activities like the plague. Not to mention the aforementioned mountain that we happen to live on. It is instant death if I let them try to go by themselves on their bikes down it. So, now that some fall weather is upon us, I decided to break out the bikes on the flat street that is at the bottom of our cul de sac, for safety purposes.

Lo and behold, they were pretty good on them! Ok, correction. Ruthie was pretty good on the bike. I feel that the only accurate way to express this experience is through a video. There are not enough words to express the drama that occurs in this house over the silliest things. This, is a perfect example.

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Off to School We Go!

It is hard to believe the girls are old enough to go to pre-school! Granted, they are the youngest in their class because of their birthday, but they are "technically" old enough. The cut off age here in Nashville is you have to be 3 by September 30th, and with a September 25th birthday, they make the cut! So, we packed our lunches and our backpacks, and headed out the door!

The girls are in the "Zebra" class at school. That means nothing to them, but is cute to me.

There are 14 other kids in their class, mostly girls. We had gone to an open house last week, so the girls had already been in their classroom for a little bit. So, when we walked in, then knew exactly what to do. No tears, no whining, just straight to playing.

When I picked them up, their teachers said they did really well......EXCEPT......for rest time. I knew this was going to be an issue on several levels. First issue is that their rest time is about an hour before the girls are used to laying down. Second thing is that I have never seen my children lay down quietly for 90 minutes. They are used to their beds, in their dark rooms, with their sound machine on when they sleep. There is no comparison to laying on a mat, in a classroom, with 14 other kids. Apparently they separated them and when one would cry the other would yell out that their sister was crying and needed help. Maddie even pulled out her famous line, "I'm having a hard time" to her teacher. Hopefully over time it will get better.

I know they are picking up things at school already because when we got home yesterday, Maddie was doing something and she says, "That is cool!" I had never heard her say that, and I am not one to use retro 80's lingo, so I said, "What did you say?" and she says, "That is cool! That is what my friends at school say." It made me laugh. Let's hope that is the only 4-letter word she comes back from school learning.

As for Momma, I could not have been happier to send them off to school! From posts on my facebook wall I assume that I am supposed to be sad about it or upset that they are old enough for school. Apparently I am missing that part of the Mommy gene, because I was probably more excited for my time from 9-3 than they were! I cant remember the last time I went to bed at night and felt like I accomplished so much in a day! No tears here! Bring on the next day to send them!

Six Flags!

There is a Six Flags that is only an hour from my parents house. Growing up it was the Great Escape, and going there was a special treat. I went there more when I was a teenager than when I was a kid, because it wasnt really kid friendly. Well, things have changed there! I looked at their website and they showed 30 kids rides! And then there was the topper.....WIGGLES WORLD! Not to mention kids 2 and under are free, and since the girls dont turn 3 until September, this was the last time we could get them in without paying for them. So, off to Lake George we went.

It seriously could not be a more beautiful day to be outside at Lake George! A high of 78 degrees with clear skies. I love upstate NY in August! I was afraid of the girls not napping or just having an off day, so as soon as we got in the gate we bolted to Wiggle World.

As soon as we got in there a show was in progress, so we took them straight over there. The show was a little ghetto, but the girls didnt know the difference. Let's just say, Six Flags didnt splurge on getting a convincing Captain Feathersword. They didnt even attempt to find 4 guys to imitate the actual Wiggles, so this girl was singing all of them for some reason. Dorthy, Wags and Henry were really good though.

Since there were hardly any one at the first show, the characters came down and posed for pictures, which the girls loved!

Then came the rides! They had a great time on the Big Red Cars and Dorthy's Rosy Tea cups. Great themed rides that the girls have talked about every day since!

I never understood the appeal of these little houses that are all around Great Escape as I was growing up. As a parent of toddlers, they are the most amazing thing, ever! I think they may have liked the little houses more than they even liked Wiggle World. They played in the little houses for about 30 minutes before we made them leave.





Mark and I were able to go on a few of the roller coasters since my mom came along with us. She watched the kids so we could go on a few big kid rides. I did fine on all of the roller coasters, but this ride was my downfall.

It looks so innocent, but I had to sit down for a good chunk of time to get my stomach and head back. I am getting old.

Hence, the carousal. More my style.

Great family day! The girls rode rides by themselves for the first time and had a great time. They are getting so big. School starts next week, so I will try to post those pictures too!

Imagination

Growing almost as fast as my children is their imagination. The stories they are coming up with are absolutely hilarious. Granted, most of them are based on TV episodes, so I wont give them too much credit. For all of you toddler TV aficionados, this will be a great test of your TV knowledge. I will name the scenario and see if you can pick up where they got it from. You can have 3 chances.

The girls have decided that our half bath downstairs is now a "Tall Tower". You can still go potty in there, but you are going potty in the tall tower. Once one goes in, the other one shuts the door and will not open it until they hear the magic word, "Abre"

Answer: Ok, too easy, I mean there is Spanish in it. Obviously Dora the Explorer. The episode that the witch locks the prince in a tall tower and he needs to rescued by Boots and Dora.

We recently had a fight between the girls since Maddie had one of my dish towels, which she claimed was a "magic carpet". Ruthie went to sit on Maddie's magic carpet and Maddie flipped out that (and I quote)"The magic carpet wont go super high in the sky with Ruthie on it!". Crisis averted by getting Ruthie a dish towel, I mean, magic carpet.

Answer: This one is courtesy of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, episode Donald of the Desert where they have a magic carpet.

We recently got a sandbox for the girls in the backyard. They continually ask me to come outside and play with them in the sandbox. When out there, they usually give me a shovel and tell me to dig for the treasure chest. It usually only takes 1 or 2 digs before it is announced that it has been found! When I ask them what is inside they let me know that it is costumes! They then pull out a pirate eye patch, boots and a hat.

Answer: Dora the Explorer Pirates, of course! Thanks to those wonderful Pirate Piggies who steal the treasure chest of costumes and they cant do the play without their pirate costumes.

Scoring

1/3 You probably just guessed Dora the Explorer on that first one, not too impressive

2/3 You watch a significant amount of Nick Jr. and Disney channel, but it hasnt all infiltrated your brain quite yet

3/3 This post makes complete sense to you because you have a child that is doing the exact same thing

Probably the biggest thing they have picked up from Dora is their backpacks. Here is a picture of Maddie showing you her backpack. Obviously there is a back pack there. It is in plain site people. And what does an almost three year old keep in her imaginary backpack? There is ALWAYS a rope in there. This comes in handy when they drop things (not really) that the rope will help them pick up. Usually there is a bandaid in there, for the occasional boo-boo.* A spare change of clothes and a hat is usually in there also. Only when it rains is an umbrella in there.

*Complete side note. I put the girls in babysitting at the YMCA to play volleyball and when I came back they informed me that BOTH of them had found red crayon and colored all over one of the baby doll's heads. When the worker asked them why they informed her that the baby had a boo-boo. Maddie offered a bandaid, conveniently located in her backpack, of course!

Ruthie has become a stuffed animal/baby doll child. She brings a bear or Baby Lulu with her where ever we go. Baby LuLu actually walked down the aisle at my brother in laws wedding. We werent given much choice. Ruthie refused to move without LuLu. Bear and LuLu come in the car also. If there is a place they can not come into, they must be buckled in to Ruthie's carseat for safe keeping. In the course of a day they will usually get sick and need to go to the doctor, get several baths in the sink in the bathroom and get put down for several naps because they are tired.

I have to admit that this has been such a fun stage with them. We have run into a couple problems with their imaginary situations, like the magic carpet, or the fact that one wants to have a beach party and the other wants to have a tea party, but very manageable. With their imaginations have come some awesome play time between the two. They really are into playing with each other and involving the other in their stories they have created. (I had a really cute video to insert here, but the server seems to be acting up, so i will try to do that later.).