Beautiful Babies!

Our little "bunny". Mikayla likes to sleep like this. It's pretty cute.
Mikayla wearing her "Daddy makes me smile" shirt, since Daddy has been sick and not been able to be around her.

Going home from the hospital! Little Caleb still needs a bit more time in the NICU to learn how to feed better.

Our little Caleb. I feel so bad he has to have all those tubes in him. It's hard to have a baby in the NICU. It really makes you feel guilty as a mother.

Baby Caleb. We are doing skin-to-skin. He loves it.

Mikayla coming home from hospital.

Coming home from hospital again.

Little Caleb all stretched out in the NICU. The nurses all love him to death. He is very responsive and has very cute expressions. He currently is doing better with feeding.

Little Mikayla Grace with her wolf from her daddy since he hasn't been able to be around her much. He is almost better though!!

The Day That Would Never Come!!!

Mikayla Grace (in the pink hat) & Caleb Michael (blue hat)

Well, the day has finally come. After months of bed-rest, nausea, cramps, swelling, ER trips, etc..., little Mikayla and even littler Caleb were born on September 6th 2009 at 5:41 and 5:42 PM respectively. There were born at 36.1 weeks gestational age.

Mikayla

Mikayla came in at 5 lbs. 5 oz. and 18 inches long. She is doing great down in the nursery, healthy and strong. She has a wonderfully cute scowl that she came out with. She's small but doing great so far. Bottom line is that she is perfect and amazing.

Caleb

Caleb is a small little one at 4 lbs. 9 oz and 16.5 inches long. He is up in the NICU right now because his blood sugar levels are low (which is common for premature babies), but everything else is fine. Like his sister, he is amazingly and perfectly wonderful and beautiful.

A proud Dad

I HATE DOCTORS!!!

Here is my belly at 35 weeks 3 days (Sept.1st). It is huge. I currently hate my doctors....and my body for not going into labor. My doctors said the earliest they'd induce me is September 9th after amniocentesis to determine lung development. This is still 8 days away. I know it seems like nothing to most people...and like it's such a short time...but honestly it is NOT. I am so miserable it is not even funny. The babies are so heavy. My back aches. Oh yeah, and not to mention the bladder infections I keep getting....which I'm finally on a maintenance dose of antibiotics for. (Earlier I had one and 4 days later I got another one. I've never had one in my life, but I figure the babies are just sitting on everything down there always, causing it to get infected.). But the main reason I hate my doctors is they do not understand how miserable I am. My one doctor was in favor of the amniocentesis, but only at 36 weeks. The perinatologist said he was not in favor and wanted to know my reasoning for it....me being COMPLETELY MISERABLE was just not enough for him. (I wish a HUGE case of MY pregnancy on him in the next life or something...then he'd realize why he should have induced me like 3 months ago.) Mike and I are just praying the babies lungs will be okay so I can be delivered. The day they'd tentatively be born is 09/09/09...kinda interesting. (It's better than September 11th though.) I still have no clue how I'm going to make it through one more week. It continues to get more difficult every day.
My side profile at 35 weeks 3 days. I don't wish a twin pregnancy on anybody. By the way, as of last Tuesday, Baby A is 4 lbs 13 ounces and Baby B is 4 lbs 11 ounces (plus or minus a few ounces). I'm sure they're in the 5 pound range now that it's one week later.
James, Tira, and Annette babysitting me while Mike is at school. (Preparing meals makes me nauseas. Coupled with no energy, this requires me to be babysat. Yes, I am 23 years old. Obviously, INDEPENDENT me, has had to learn to let people help her....actually I've had to learn that this whole entire pregnancy. I am ever so greatful for everyone's help though.) FYI the movie in the background is Stardust.

Little Tira wanting her picture taken. James and she want to name our babies "Lion" and "Leopard" after their stuffed animals. They also like "Cookie" and "Froggy".

Tira's Tinkerbell Hair-do. She loves it and wanted a picture taken of it.

This reminds me of me. I used to curl up in the blankets to be warm and comfortable. Mike would say I was sitting on my "Rock nest" like a penguin incubating its eggs. Just thought it was funny that Tira does it too.

LIfe couldn't be more MISERABLE!

So, one would think I couldn't get any bigger....or would be delivered by now...but of course my luck is always horrible! This is a side profile of 34 weeks 5 days. I'm finally in the clear if I do go into labor...the doctors will actually let me. The problem is my body won't for some reason. I currently have constant contractions which start to become regular and very painful for a few hours, and then they just stop altogether. My feet and legs are swollen to the max. I can barely stand on them to get up to go to the bathroom. I have these horrible hormones which create awful hot flashes, which sends a feeling comparable to ucky puss surging throughout your body. This also causes me to feel incredibly nauseus. I still have barely any stomach capacity too. I eat like 4 bites of rice and I'm full. It's awful. This increases my feelings of blacking out and extreme fatigue. I'm also starting to look transparent. My veins are sticking out all over my chest and upper stomach, where the fat has been sucked off my body. Honestly, if there was ever a time I wish I were 400 pounds, that time is now. Then I'd at least have energy reserves...cuz that's what fat is.
Here is the front profile at 34 weeks 5 days. I still wear Mike's clothes. The stretch marks have turned into one red mass. My skin on my belly is shiny and stings to high heaven when it stretches. I'm still surprised it hasn't burst open yet. It sure feels like it will.

Side profile at 33 weeks 4 days. No fun.

Front profile at 33 weeks 4 days.

My sweety buns with long hair. School just started and so we took a picture prior to it getting cut by my sister. (FYI This pregnancy has been so awful and Mike has stood by me throughout every minute of it. I love him so dearly! He is the best husband in the world!)

Annette and Mike after the hair-cut. Mike is oh so handsome!