I decided to do this blog as kind of a way to reach out to other mothers of multiples, and also so my children can possibly see how much they owe me someday for everything they put me through. :)
So lets see...probably should start at the beginning. I found out I was preggers at about 5 weeks, so Mid-october 2008. I was excited and naive thinking..."eh...whats a baby?". I was excited but I didn't doubt my capabilities to parent a newborn in the slightests. Can you see where this is going?
So I made the routine doctor appointments and we let our families know. His mother was stunned and kind of excited. At this point in time his sister had no plans of having children. His sister was less than thrilled, knowing we weren't ready for kids yet. My mom was also less than thrilled, as I was still attending college, and my sister was shocked but excited. She expressed a wish for a nephew considering we only have nieces. All of our friends were happy for us.
A month later I am sitting in the waiting room of my doctors office with the father. We had just gotten back together after a 6 month long break, and we were joking about "what if there were triplets?" We talked about trading my VW Beetle in for a Honda Odyssey because we would need the space and it had dual sliding doors.
Within minutes I was in the back, all measurements taken. Laying on the exam table for the lovely first ultrasound of pregnancy. I first saw a tiny blob, about the size of a jelly bean. It was moving gently (yeah, the experts that think a baby doesn't move until late in the 1st trimester are off on that) and to the side we saw another sliver of what appeared to be liquid. The doctor moved the wand and suddenly...TWO BABIES!
Instantly I froze. I wasn't stupid. The screen was clear enough to tell that the two very separate and distinct blobs was two babies. The doctor and her nurse screamed with excitement. Another nurse poked her head in asking if there were "twins in here?" After receiving word that yes, it appeared to be a multiple pregnancy, she shut the door and yelled the news to the rest of the office. It was a bit like being on display at a circus.
Michael (the father) and I were in shock. We both wanted kids, a minimum of two, but preferably farther apart than just a few minutes!! But there was a weird feeling among all the emotions of fear and excitement; relief. I was happy to know that even if I never had another child, barring all unforeseen complications, my children would never be alone. They would have a companion from day 0.
So we then had to make more ultrasound appointments. The doctor wanted to be sure that the twins were fraternal, with separate sacs and placentas. We all prayed for this one as there is a much higher risk for babies sharing either of the two. Personally, I didn't care if they were identical or as different as night and day. I just wanted two healthy children. It seems odd, but once you are finding out you are carrying more than one child, you want both children. Even if the idea of multiples is scary.
The rest of my pregnancy was major ups and downs. We were told there was an increased risk of twin B (the one up higher and also who turned out to be Tiernin) having downs syndrome. Thank god for that being just odd measurements. I had tons of episodes with preterm labor including dialating to 4 cm. at 31 weeks and being shipped to a hospital about 2 hours away so the twins would be close to a state of the art NICU. Luckily though my pregnancy was rough, my delivery was beautiful.
On May 22nd, 2009 I delivered both children vaginally. Emmeline was first at 3:03 pm weighing in a 4 lbs 8 oz and 17 7/8 in. long. Tiernin was next at 3:36 pm (I needed a bit of a rest between deliveries) weighing in at 5 lbs 1 oz and 18 1/2 in. long. Both were incredibly healthy and good sized considering they were exactly 4 weeks early. We did have minor issues in the beginning, but nothing major. The twins both dropped quite a bit of weight. Emma went down to 4 lbs 2 oz. Tier went down to 4 lbs 6 oz. Neither one were able to breastfeed or even drink from a preemie nipple and had to have feeding tubes for three days. I pumped milk and within 2 weeks we were home and they had started gaining healthy amounts again.
The next three months were a blur. I was like a zombie. I eventually swithed to formula completely because I was just too exhausted to pump every two hours. They grew steadily and hit all the milestones either on time or early. They smiled at 6 weeks, rolled over at 4 months, sat up at 6 months, crawled at 7 months, pulled themselves up at 7 months, and walked at 10 months. At ten months Tiernin had minor surgery to correct a Urinary tract defect, but other than that (and some painful months spent teething) the have had no issues and have grown amazingly well. They are small for their age, at 15 months they still fit into 6-9 month size clothing (though it is finally getting to be a bit small) but they don't seem to suffer from any disadvantages from their early birth.
These days we are up to 12 hours of straight sleep a night, running around tearing apart our home, talking more and more each day, and doing cute imitations of adults. For example:
Emma will grab my cell phone and put it to her ear, walk around and babble into it while making the cutest facial expressions.
Tiernin picks up their baby doll and says baby while giving it a cuddle (and then throwing it down violently).
They know how to "wash hands" with soap.
They wash their own hair, eat with utensils, pick up items from the floor and put them where they belong, and can almost reach the front door handle.
So from now on I will be talking about the joys, fears, frustrations and all-around amazingness of parenting these two active toddlers. New words, accomplishments, and situations will be documented and posted with as many picturs as possible.
I have included pictures from birth and a few along the way.
Emma about 5 mins old. 
Tier about 5 mins old. 
10 Days old.
1 week.
Emma at 3 weeks. Oh, by the way, I do drive a 2000 Honda Odyssey and those dual sliding doors have saved my back. :)
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