More Twin Pictures

I just wanted to take a quick moment to post a few more pictures of the 'Birth Day.

More pictures will be posted later.

We had three appointments today with the twins, first was the lactation appointment and the babies are gaining weight, Sophia is back up to her birth weight: 6 lbs 8oz, and Christian is past his birth weight: 6 lbs 2.8 oz. The second appointment was Christian's circumcision and the third appointment was picking up a loaner breast pump since mine was starting to go on me!

Welcome Christian Layne & Sophia Grace!

As God's timing is perfect, he decided to bring our twins, Chrisitan and Sophia, into this world earlier than our scheduled c-section date for the 22nd.

DOB: 6/18/09

Birth Order:

Christian Layne 5 lbs 13 oz 19 1/4 inches

Sophia Grace 6 lbs 8 oz 19 1/2 inches

Bartlett Beginnings Web Photos (there are two - one for each twin):

http://www.bartletthospital.org/newborn/

It so happened that as Mike's mother, Jeanette, was coming into Juneau the afternoon of 6/18 (via Alaska Air) as I was being prepped to go into surgery for my c-section. It was wonderful to have her here, as she helped out A LOT with watching Jr. and Connor.

The story: I started feeling MAJOR contractions about 11am and called Mike to come home and pick me up to take me to the hospital. They were so strong I was shaking and could barely dial the phone, but I managed to call my Dr's office to let them know I was going to the hospital and to cancel my appointment that day, I then called my dad, who just happened to be home for lunch, to come and get the boys, Michael Jr. and Connor, while Mike was in transit on his way home to pick me up.

I should have figured something was up the day before when I had a burst of energy and conquered scrubbing the stains out of my white kitchen sink and bath tub!

Anyway, I'm kind of writting this on the fly, as all four children are down for a nap right now and I'm just typing as I remember things off the top of my head.

OK, so, Christian Layne was pulled out first and then came Sophia Grace. It was a wonderful feeling to see them after such a long wait. I had a good discussion with the Dr. before the procedure and it was determined that I should have my tubes tied because of the greater risk on my health if I were to be pregnant again. So, 'FOUR' is the magic number for us, unless, of course, we are crazy enough to adopt later down the road - we'll just see how 'baby' crazy I get or if I will be exhausted with the wonderful children God has already blessed us with.

As far as recovery, this pregnancy has been different in all respects, including recovery, I had a difficult time in the hospital due to 'gas' from the c-section, which I didn't have with Jr or Connor, and then to top it off, both Chrisitan and Sophia lost 10% of their birthweight so I have been on a very stressful nursing, pumping and supplementing (breast milk and formula) schedule for every 2-3 hours.

I've got to go! Twins are waking from their nap! Enjoy and I'll post more later.

I only am posting a few pictures here, and will post more later as time allows!

One Week To Go & Baby Names

OK, so we've finally decided on some baby names. We've narrowed it down to two boys and two girls names:

Boys: Christian Layne & Jean Luc Jaecar
Girls: Sophia Grace & Arianna Starr

Next Monday, the 22nd at 8am, we'll have these babies! I'm just so excited to meet them and be able to move around without all this weight in the front tugging at all my muscles.

I am just so thankful for everyone's support, prayers, meals and help with Michael Jr. & Connor.

Mike's Fire Fighter Graduation

Well, it's been a long time coming, and Mike is no longer a 'Brown Tag' (Exterior Fire Fighter) - he's passed his written and practical and can now fight fires inside structures.

I'm just glad he was able to complete all his training and testing before I have to go in and have these babies!

You may or may not know that this is an on-going goal of his to become 'Career' and continue his training this summer as soon as we settle in with the new little ones. He will always have ongoing drills and trainings, but is also working towards his EMT designation so he can apply for a position when one becomes available. It will take some time - but will be well worth the investment, as a Fire Fighter Schedule is usually a few days on, a few days off, so he'll actually get to spend more time with the family!

Laptop Issues

OK, so we're having a few issues with our laptop not being able to hold a charge and then the plug-in not connecting properly with the laptop, so not sure how much I'll be posting until this gets resolved. Sometimes the laptop just shuts down with no warning. Many of you may wonder, since Mike is a computer guy, why this issue hasn't been resolved, and it's mainly because he's been VERY busy with Fire Fighter & ETT Training as well as working on the plumbing and other little projects around the house. We've had this Toshiba laptop for nearly 5 years now and never had any problems, except for this power issue, so I consider ourselves very fortunate and feel like we really got our money's worth. Not even sure if we can get a replacement plug-in plus battery without wondering if we should just buy another one, since laptops are so cheap these days. I might be posting from my parent's computer if I have the energy and time or Mike might do it for me. Until next time...