On February 14, 2008, I had a regular OB appointment. Jim and Sue picked me up and drove me to my appointment. I was thrilled to have an outing since I'd been on bed rest since before Christmas. Everything looked fine. I was having the typical symptoms of someone who is 35 1/2 weeks pregnant with twins: heartburn, swelling in my feet and ankles, etc. My blood pressure was also a little elevated. I mentioned it to the doctor, who wasn't worried. I, however, was a little concerned since my blood pressure is never high. Sue offered to let me borrow her blood pressure cuff. We stopped by their house on the way home to get it.
Friday evening, when Jeff got home, I had him bring some batteries up from the basement so I could check my blood pressure. I hadn't been able to "let it go," as Jeff says. Well, as you can probably guess, the reading on the machine was very elevated (150/102). Instead of sneaking off to a movie (I was allowed 2 dates a week at this point), I had Jeff take me to Walgreens to double check my BP on their machine. After all, Sue's machine is more than 10 years old. No luck; no BP machine there. Next we drove to Kroger. My BP was still elevated, which earned me a trip straight to Northside Hospital's labor and delivery.
After spending a night in the hospital earlier in my pregnancy, I was not at all excited about the chance of repeating that experience. They ended up keeping me overnight because of some abnormal labs and a (mildly at this point) elevated BP. I sent Jeff home to get some sleep. Ha ha. Seriously though, the room I was in was the pits. I know Northside is supposed to be the place to go to have a baby, but the room was dirty and didn't even have a bathroom with a door. Jeff would have had to sleep in a recliner in the corner and I knew he wouldn't get a minute of rest. Neither of us ended up getting much sleep. A hospital bed is not the least bit comfortable, especially for a hugely pregnant woman. Plus, I had forgotten to ask for Tums to be added to my med list. I watched infomercials for most of the night. Mineral make-up anyone?
They repeated my labs early the next morning (February 16, 2008). Jeff was planning on getting back to the hospital around 7:30 to find out what was next. I was thinking surely I'd get to go home. My OB came in before Jeff got there to tell me that my labs had not improved and that he recommended I deliver via C-section that day so that my BP would not get out of control. He seemed a little concerned that I didn't have any family members in the room. I understood why when he told me we would go to the OR in an hour. Holy cow. I called Jeff to tell him we were having the babies that day and to make sure he really was on his way to the hospital.
What a rush of activity. We barely had time to make a couple phone calls as the next hour was filled with being prepped for surgery, labs, and getting an epidural.
At 8:50 am, Riley Elizabeth Landon arrived. She weighed 5 lbs 5 oz and was 18 inches long.
At 8:52 am, Colter Ezekiel Landon arrived. He weighed 5 lbs and was 18 3/4 inches long.
Brother and sister.
Here is our first family picture.
After being checked out in the nursery, Riley stayed in the room with Jeff and I. Colter spent one night in the NICU to get his blood sugars under control and monitor his breathing. He joined us Sunday afternoon. While it was heartbreaking to have him in the NICU, I knew he was getting the best of care. I was so thankful when the four of us were together.
Good news - Colter is up to 5lbs 6oz and Riley is up to 5lb 4oz! We got the OK to work a little harder on the breastfeeding. Now THAT is a process.
It turns out we don't have to worry about Riley being jaundiced. However, since our doctor isn't impressed with their weight gain (Riley = 5lb 1oz, Colter = 5lb 1.6oz), we'll be feeding them mostly high calorie formula for now and freezing any breast milk I pump.
Gram, Papa Jim, and Grandma went out to eat so that Jeff and I could bring the babies home by ourselves. While the actual leaving process was a drama (Colter didn't pass his car seat test and had to ride in a car bed), walking into the house with the twins was amazing. The first thing we did was sit on the couch and feed them. There was something wonderful about both of us getting to hold a baby and feed them a bottle. Jeff was so sweet to clean the house and put balloons outside to welcome us home. It feels so good to have the four of us here. Thank you, God.
