December 28, 2010 The BIG day!

6:30am All checked into the hospital and ready for my induction. I just had to document the twins in the "cocoon" one last time. Adam was out parking the car so I had to do the honors.

Whoa Belly! I'll be happy to have you shrink in the coming days, weeks, months...years. =)

7:00am Pitocin drip started on the lowest level to get some real contractions going. I started at 3 cm.

8:00am Dr. Ramsey came in to check my cervix and I was 4 cm. She broke Baby A's water bag and attached an internal monitor to her. (This was the most painful part of the day until my epidural wore off later.)

9:30am Contractions are getting more painful, so I called for the epidural! Praise God it worked!!!! Graham's labor turned into natural labor when my epidural didn't work. SO glad it did this time.

Here is a pic of me, happy as a clam, in pain-free bliss. I'm even laying on my side for the first time in months! Epidural=no hip pain either! I was SO sleepy and the nurse kept saying it was because I was comfortable and pain free, probably for the first time in months and my body was just relaxing. So, I took a nap! Who takes a nap during the last few centimeters of dilation?

12:00pm- Fully dilated and ready to go! Adam put on his suit for the operating room and I had my hair cap on. We had to move to the operating room to deliever just in case I needed an emergency c section. Funny story: Adam first put his labor suit on backwards and we were all laughing at him. Then on TV, 5 mintues later, Mario Lopez was putting on the same operating room suit for his baby to be born and he put in on backwards too! It was so ironic! We told Adam to not worry- he was still cool if Mario Lopez did it too. =)

Mom, Becky and Anna- Anxious to be Gigi and Aunts again!

12:30pm Before we headed down to the operating room, they had me do a practice push in the room. I did one push and we could see Baby Girl's head! Woo hoo! This was soooooooo exciting to me since I had to push for 2 painful hours with Graham. Dare I hope it was going to be that easy this round?!

12:50pm Once in the operating room, we rolled my big self onto the table (no grace involved since my legs were like dead tree trunks) There was a big crowd of drs and nurses and everyone was scurrying around preparing for the twins. I started pushing when they told me I was having a contraction, and 3 contractions later, Miss Loey Kate Hubert popped out into the world at 1:04 pm. She was 6.1 pounds and 18 in long. I bawled my eyes out with relief and joy! It was the most surreal thing in the world because I felt no pain! I could not believe that my baby girl was here. The best feeling in the world. =)

After baby girl came out, the ultrasound tech did a quick check to see if baby boy had his head down still and he did! Everyone in the room cheered and Dr. Ramsey "went after him". She told me to quickly push and not let that little boy get away! At 1:06 she broke his water bag and 2 minutes later Tucker James Hubert was born at 1:08pm! He was 6.6 pounds and 19 3/4 in. Oh, it was such a special moment! More bawling and a busy Daddy trying to video tape me crying, and 2 newborn babies getting checked and weighed.

1:30 They wheeled me back into the regular delivery room, holding my fresh babes in my arms! Adam let me share their names. They quickly bathed Loey Kate and gave me her to breastfeed. Success! Then after she was done they gave me a cleaned up Tucker and he had a little more trouble nursing bc he was "tuckered" out. =)

Happy Family!!!

Happy Birthday Loey Kate and Tucker!!! I love you!

Christmas 2010

Ready with his backpack for a busy Christmas Eve with family!

Sadly, our only family picture taken on Christmas Eve. A foggy one!

Christmas Eve with my grandparents.

Graham giving Grandad his special present.

How much is that Kitty in the window? Meow, Meow.

Christmas morning, Graham checking the babies' heartbeats with his stethoscope. Dr. kit was big hit!

Mega blocks! Let the tower building begin!

Wrestling with Daddy. The best!

Silly Uncle David. Merry Christmas!

Sword Fighting Mimi! On guard!

Peace, yo.

Gran and Grandma at Christmas brunch.

Cool boots! Thanks Mimi- went out to play in the snow with Daddy and Uncle David.

Opening presents Christmas evening with Aunt Becky, Aunt Anna, and Uncle Andy.

Cute onesies from Aunt Becky! Can't WAIT for the little boogers to be out and in those outfits. Merry Christmas...and still pregnant!

Our growing 2 year old!

A few more pictures from Graham's firetruck birthday! He LOVES to blow out candles! He's been practicing for weeks...He got to blow out his birthday candle with ice cream. Grandma Rosie couldn't make it to the birthday party because of the winter storm, so just ice cream and cookies!

His firetruck birthday cake made by Great-Grandma Rosie. She is "famous" for making tasty, cute birthay cakes. Thanks for making Graham's cake! We loved it...so tasty!

Excited for another round of happy birthday and candle blowing!

Go Colts! We think the Colts won their game today because we were all decked out in our Colts gear! .

Are you impressed with my "large-ness"? TWO almost full grown babies in there!

Tomorrow I go to see Dr. Ramsey...again. I see her more often than I see most of my friends! We have an ultrasound appt and then "the talk" with Dr. Ramsey to see what she thinks about the timeline of this pregnancy. We are all thrilled with how everything has gone, and now we wait. How much longer??? We will see! Trying to be patient for God's timing on this one, but maybe He wants me to use the help of some meds to get things moving.

This weekend has been a funny weekend though. Productive Friday (thought process,"I can wait a few more days", SUPER GROUCHY SATURDAY (thought process,"For the LOVE get these children OUT", and a productive Sunday (thought process, "Well if I have to wait, I have to wait". No/little sleep equals a Sarah even I don't want to be around. Sorry to anyone who interacted with me on Saturday- ha! I got great sleep on Saturday night though and today has been good! Go figure. Makes me nervous for the next several months of no sleep again...sorry hubby, in advance.

I keep telling Adam that I'm the one that's supposed to be nesting, but I think it's his turn! He has been Mr. Organization. He cleaned our kitchen thoroughly today, reorganized our entire pantry/laundry area, got rid of expired spices and cleaned out the junk drawer. It's pretty cute; he keeps walking into the pantry area and saying, "Dang, that looks good!".

Graham has also been showing off his smarts to us! We were in the car on Friday night and Graham kept talking over and over. We finally listened to him and he kept saying, "Daddy, Adam. Mama, Sarah." He learned our names and wanted us to know it. =) We also wanted to note that Graham's first time to use the word "mean" came out tonight. Graham hit Adam when Adam told him no about something, and so we decided to instill timeout for the first time. It took several times of Adam putting him back in the same spot for him to get it. He was crying for me, but after about 45 seconds decided that it was worth it to say "sorry" to Daddy. Then he wanted a snack, so I put him in his high chair. He looked at Adam and as serious as can be said, "Mean. Daddy mean." Oh man! How does he know that word? Graham also knows how to use scissors already! Crazy! I've shown him how a few times with my craft scissors because he has been interested, and then tonight at my parents house I watched him make cuts in paper with the bubble scissors! So big, my two year old. He loves to learn. =) 75th percentile for both height and weight at his check up on Friday. Healthy as can be! We are proud of you buddy, even if we get called "mean" every now and then. =) I guess that means we are doing our job, huh?

36 weeks and ready.

Getting your cervix checked should be against the law. Definitely on my list of top 10 HATED things in my life.
According to my calculations, I am 36 weeks today! Last night, I truly thought that we were headed to the hospital. At 10:00ish I started having some painful contractions and I timed them for an hour or two. They were 7-8 min apart for about an hour and then were a little more sporadic. At 11:45, I told Adam we should just try and sleep and if they were real contractions, then I wouldn't be able to sleep. Well, I slept in spurts and figured it was a false alarm since they weren't getting any worse. JUST ANNOYING BRAXTON HICKS. I never really had those until the night before I went into labor with Graham. Not a fan of them. So, at the dr appt today we found out I'm 2 cm and 70% effaced, so at least the contractions are starting to do a little work. Baby girl's head COULD NOT get any lower. Dr. Ramsey thinks she should come out fairly easily since she is already as far down as she can be. Her head is like a cork on my cervix, so most likely no huge "water breaking" moment, possibly a trickle if that.
So, we wait. I waddle. I get stared at. I still get to shock people with the answer, "No, we are having a boy AND a girl." I like to tell people that and watch their face go from "dang, she's huge, to Ohhhh I get it!". I bought Graham a big brother shirt today at the hospital.
Now, we wait! Christmas babies are becoming a larger reality as each day passes!

Happy Birthday Graham

A blast to December 11, 2008. On our way to the hospital! Giddy to meet our baby boy! Not so giddy anymore, but in pain! Hello contractions...all worth it though, to get our prize. =)

Graham Heston Hubert! Born at 6:07 pm, 8 lbs 10 oz, 20 inch long. True love...

December 11, 2009 Happy 1st birthday baby!

My baby is 2!!! Ready for a day of fun! (This is a pic from my phone, but we have LOTS of other pictures to post from the birthday weekend. Adam just bought a nice new Nikon camera but we have not figured out how to get the pics off the camera and onto the computer...Soon though!)

Graham's 2nd birthday fun began on Dec. 8th when Gigi and Gpa took Graham to Barney's Birthday Bash Live at the Centre. My parents said he was in a "Barney trance" of awe the whole time. Then Friday he opened birthday presents from my parents and we went out to dinner. Saturday morning (Graham's actual birthday) we opened up presents, headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, went to Tri-State to visit with Santa and eat some more, home for a family nap, back out to attend Christmas at Crossroads concert, then Gatti Town with the grandparents! PHEW! Can you tell I'm not on bedrest anymore? Then Sunday we spent the day getting our house ready for Graham's birthday party that night! It was a crazy day of weather and snow!!! Most of our party guests braved the weather and came out to celebrate. Graham was in heaven! We had a firetruck theme (which he picked) and he loved all the attention. I drove Adam crazy all day, but the party was a success! Needless to say...today I felt like I could have slept the day away. Luckily, my good two year old was happy to have a jammie day at home with all of his new toys. I think we have had at least 10 "concerts" today with his new drum, courtesy of Mimi and Pop. =)

Could I love Graham Hubert anymore than I do? Not possible! Does his Daddy think he is the greatest thing to ever walk the planet? YES! He really brings out a whole new level of love I didn't know existed! Being his Mom is something I will always treasure. He will always be my baby. Always. As I think about how our lives are going to change in a few days or weeks with the birth of twins, I sometimes get really sad. Sad, just thinking that this special one-on-one time with Graham will be over most days. BUT-SO excited to meet these 2 new people that will change my heart and life again! You just can't imagine how much you will love your children until you meet then. Then it's all over... =)

Graham- you truly hold Mommy's heart! I love you, I love you, I love you! You are my favorite 2 year old in the world! I can't wait to watch you transform into the most amazing big brother. I can already tell you love baby brother and baby sister. Today, while eating lunch, you told me that if baby brother and sister were crying you would give them a "sassy". Your favorite thing in the world! You are sweet already big brother.

35 weeks

35 weeks and growing! Man! My stomach is so unbelievably big. Just had to say that...

I had my last dr appt on Wednesday and we headed to ultrasound first. Adam didn't have a patient during that hour so he got to come with me since it will most likely be the last ultrasound at the office. I was anxious to see if baby boy would still be head down or not. Well, he is still head down and so is his sister. Their heads were so low that the ultrasound tech eventually just had to guesstimate their head size. They both had their heads shoved way down in my left hip. It's always amazing to see where they have moved to. I'm always guessing who is kicking me and with what body part. The tech was amazed at how big they were and how much baby I actually had inside. Both babies still had hair floating around! They checked out beautifully though- plenty of fluid, good breathing motions, swallowing, heart, kidneys...everything was great! We just have never been able to get good quality pics of their faces. They are always hiding. I guess they both want to be a surprise! Since she had to sort of guess at their measurements, we are thinking they are both in the 5-5 1/2 pd range. Dr. Ramsey would love for them to both reach 6 pds. We talked a lot at my appt this time about logistics of the labor process with twins. She really wants me to try and deliver vaginally since both are head down (and I agree!). I'm very happy about this and pray that I'll be able to. I did it before and was SO proud of myself! I want the "high" feeling of "I did it" x2! I will labor in my normal hospital room, but when it's time to push they will move me to an operating room just in case of an emergency c section for one or both. She called it a dual set-up- ready for both scenarios. I asked if I should wait until contractions are 3-5 min apart and she said, "NO!". Come in as soon as I think I am in labor since I'm considered "high risk". So, no calm baths at home and movie watching- it'll all be done at the hospital. I remember going into labor with Graham like it was yesterday- we'll see how this compares. I was GIDDY with excitement when I went into labor the first time. It's strange that 2 years ago, I was VERY pregnant and waiting to go into labor and then that night, I did! I don't expect to go into labor tonight, but it would be quite ironic, wouldn't it? I'm having so many uncomfortable Braxton Hicks that I never know if it's a real one or not. Obviously, they aren't real ones yet. It was so clear to me when I went into labor with Graham- I hope it's clear again this time! I've been very uncomfortable, to say the least. Two sets of feet are literally IN MY RIGHT RIB. I can push them out, but then they just go right back. Can't wait to kiss those feet...

I'm determined to succeed at breastfeeding both twins, but I know that not all babies are eating champs like Graham was, so we will just see. I start to laugh whenever I think about the logistics of nursing 2 babies at the same time. Pretty sure it's going to be a 2 person job for quite some time. I think we are ready??? But who knows...I'm sure I'm naive about how it's really going to be with twins...but that's ok! I couldn't be in a better situation with support and help. If you know me and you live in Evansville...be prepared for the "HELP ME" phone call that might come your way soon!

Yesterday I had random energy and wanted to clean...? Nesting? Oh, and I think we finally decided on a girl name last night. We'll see if it sticks! We both were liking the same name for a few days and so Adam decided to "call" it. I still reserve the right to switch at the last minute if she really looks like the other name, but I think we are set. =) Their names are pretty darn cute...can't wait to share them!!!

Sorry for the long post...just wanted to jot down my thoughts for myself while I have the time! =)

The "fun" in my life!

For being on semi-bedrest, we have been able to do some very fun things in the past week and a half for my "outings"! 34 1/2 weeks currently and holding strong! For a month, I've been worried about going into labor too early. Now, I'm worried I'll be pregnant forever!!! =) Actually, so grateful to still be pregnant. People ask me what week I'd like to make it to and I guess my answer is past 36 weeks, since that is "full term" for twins, even though the longer they are in there, the better! Graham turns 2 on December 11, so how about sometime at the end of that next week? My older sister claims December 18...we'll see! The Hadi Shrine circus- a Thanksgiving classic for our family! Graham loved it!

34 weeks pregnant and ready for the Carrie Underwood concert! Dr. Ramsey cleared me to go as long as I stayed hydrated and off my feet the rest of the day. =) Worth it!

Me and my HEAVY babies!

Go Carrie! She had a cool set with lots of tricks. =)

Right before we left the concert...made it most of the way!

At Kristyn's surprise 30th birthday party! Thanks to her parents for a fun night!

Anyone with a Christmas Eve birthday deserves a few special parties to make up for getting jipped the rest of the birthdays! (Might be the twins...)