They're here!

On May 15, 2012 two beautiful little girls entered the Anderson family!

Alice Nichole was born at 7:00 pm weighing 6 lbs 6 oz and measuring 19 inches long.

Colette Parker was born at 7:01 pm weighing 6 lbs and measuring 19 inches long.

Here is my birth story:

Tuesday I woke up and had my last meal around 8:30 am.  My c-section was scheduled for 5:30 pm that evening.  I tried to nap through out the day to make it go faster and I did any last minute items around the house.  At 3 pm we got to the hospital to get prepped.  They hooked me up to monitors and got my iv started. My blood pressure was high but since it had been normal all pregnancy they figured it was from me being nervous and decided they would just keep an eye on it.  After being on the monitors for about 30 minutes I started having contractions. I was going into labor!  The girls were coming that day whether I planned it or not.  I was having contractions about 2-3 minutes apart that were not so pleasant.  

At 5 pm my doctor stopped in and said they need to push my c-section back so they could do an emergency c-section and I'd be going in a little later. Cue nervousness.  I was so anxious and hungry! Finally at 6:30 they wheeled me into the OR to get my spinal.  My blood pressure was still high at this point.  They gave me my spinal which is such a weird feeling. I think the numbing shot they give first was the most painful thing of the whole experience.  The anesthesiologist also gave me something to calm my nerves.  Good man that anesthesiologist.  As soon as I was prepped the doctors came in and began!  Gerry came to the curtain and held my hand and next thing I knew Alice Nichole was born screaming, butt first at 7 pm.  Colette Parker followed at 7:01 pm.  Both babies were total rock stars.  Apgars were 9/9 and 8/9. After a few pictures and kisses the babies were wheeled down to the nursery with Gerry while I got stitched up.

My blood pressure came down a little after they were born but it was still high. My doctor said she wanted to put me on magnesium sulfate and monitor me over night.  That stuff sucks.  I don't think I've ever been so hot in my life.  Miserable.  I didn't get to see the babies again until around midnight.  I didn't get to go to a postpartum room that night.  I stayed on the L&D side of things in a triage room where they monitored me.  My blood pressure got to the high side of normal over night so around 8 am I was allowed to stop mag and moved to my postpartum room.  

After all that I was so glad just to be with my babies!  We stayed in the hospital until Saturday May 19th then headed home and it's been a whirlwind since!  They are awesome and yesterday at the Pediatrician Alice was one ounce away from her birth weight and Colette was one ounce over her birth weight.  They are rock stars.  Alice seems to have some mild colic/reflux.  We are working on sorting that out since screaming after each feeding and at night is not so much fun.  Colette is a chill baby who is good to go pretty much all the time.  

Gerry and I are so in love and so grateful that they are here! 


(Oh and I just have to brag... I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight already! That's right, I lost 44 lbs in 2 weeks haha!)

37 weeks- Full Term!

•How far along?: 37 weeks 1 day

•Total weight gain: 41 lbs  

•How big is baby?: The size of a winter melon... I don't even know what that is.

•Maternity clothes?: Same old same old... nothing fits.

•Movement: wiggly wiggly babies

•Stretch marks?: Clear up to my ribs and on my chest

•Sleep?: Definitely practicing for babies... I wake up every 1-2 hours!

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, Rash (PUPPPs)- Itches like mad crazy.  Swelling...  So much swelling

•Food cravings: I made snickerdoodles at 11 pm last night because I wanted something cinnamon and sugar lol.

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Sleeping through the night 

•What I'm looking forward to: TOMORROW IS EVICTION DAY!!

•Best Moment this week: Knowing my little girls will be here tomorrow.  Their cousin is being born right now!  Yay for Todd and Jessica Labrum!  Baby Boy get here safe and soon! Their other cousin should be coming out soon too.  Baby Ian, come out and play!

•Milestone:  Full term!  Who thought I would make it to full term with twins?  It's amazing and I'm glad I did it but man was it hard!

•Nursery Progress: What is done is done and it looks pretty good. :)

36 weeks

•How far along?: 36 weeks 2 days

•Total weight gain: 40 lbs  

•How big is baby?: The size of a honeydew

•Maternity clothes?: Clothes?  Who can wear clothes anymore? I have this t-shirt from high school that is from the football team.  I used to joke it was "one size fits no one"... apparently it is "one size, fits huge pregnant Nikki"  It's all I wear anymore.

•Movement: wiggly wiggly. 

•Stretch marks?: Clear up to my ribs

•Sleep?: Definitely practicing for babies... I wake up every 1-2 hours!

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, Rash (PUPPPs)- Itches like mad crazy.  Swelling...  So much swelling

•Food cravings: None really...

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Sleeping through the night

•What I'm looking forward to: My girls being here!  We got our c-section date changed and they will be here in a week!  May 15th! CRAZY!

•Best Moment this week: Knowing that this is my last week as a family of 2 and getting ready to be a family of 4!

•Milestone: almost full term!  I'm almost to 37 weeks! I can't believe I made it this far.  Full term for twins is considered by some to be 36w 3d and I'm there!

•Nursery Progress: What is done is done and it looks pretty good. :)

34 weeks! GOAL!

Here is me today after church!

I feel like this one really makes the belly look HUGE!

We did it!  My doctor set a goal for me at the beginning of my pregnancy.  She said first thing was to make it to 24 weeks which was Viability Day.  Did that.  Second thing was to make it to the third trimester, 28 weeks.  Check! Final goal was to make it to 34 weeks.  After 34 weeks they would let the babies come.  If labor starts they won't try and stop it any more!  I did it! It's 34 weeks officially today!  I am scheduled for a c-section or induction exactly one month from today on May 22.  I can't believe I only have 30 days left at most!


On to the survey!

•How far along?: 34 weeks

•Total weight gain: 34 lbs  (Big jump this week but you'll find out in the survey why!)

•How big is baby?: The size of a durian... ok thebump.com... you guys are crazy

•Maternity clothes?: Are getting to small!  My selection gets smaller and smaller each day since I'm getting bigger and bigger.

•Movement: So much movement! My stomach was doing the wave today.  Hopefully it was Alice trying to turn! Keep trying little girl!  You can do it!

•Stretch marks?: Where don't I have stretch marks these days...

•Sleep?: Hit and miss.  Definitely practicing for babies... I wake up every 1-2 hours!

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, Rash (PUPPPs)- Itches like mad crazy.  I'm allowed to take Benedryl and put Benedryl cream on it but I'm still scabbing up since I scratch... I can't help it.  Swelling.

•Food cravings: Ice cold water still.  I really want a chocolate eclair but I haven't gotten one yet.

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Sleeping through the night and not wanting to rip my skin off from the itching.

•What I'm looking forward to: May 22! haha.  I am also having my baby shower on April 27 (this Friday) and I can't wait!  Then I can finish getting the last few things we need!

•Best Moment this week: My MFM appointment was awesome and awful at the same time.  I had to go to a different doctor this week since my regular MFM is apparently in the hospital (get better!)  They scheduled me for the same day as my original appointment but at 11 am.  Totally fine.  Their office is in Thousand Oaks (about 30 minutes away).  When I got up I couldn't remember if my appointment was at 1030 (my original appt time with old doctor) or 11.  I listened to a voicemail they had left the day before and it said 11.  I left to go to my appointment around 1015.  I was going to be a little early and that was fine with me.  I got a phone call on my way there asking if I was still coming to my appointment since it was scheduled for 1015 and it was now after 1030.  WHAT?!  I even had a confirmation voicemail it was at 11.  Luckily they were still able to see me that day but I did have to wait a long time.  I got there at 1045 and I didn't go back to the ultrasound until 1155.  I was a little annoyed. BUT good news is that my girls are total rock stars! Alice was measuring 5 lbs 12 oz!  (94th percentile) and Colette was measuring 5 lbs 8 oz (89th percentile)!  Yeah baby girls!  Grow grow grow!  Only bad thing was they are BOTH breech now.   Silly babies.  Turn around!  I am going to say my massive weight jump is from them growing so much!  2 lbs each since their last appointment!

•Milestone: 34 weeks!  Major milestone!

•Nursery Progress: I don't think we will ever hang things on the walls... haha

32 weeks

This is me on Friday at 31 weeks 5 days

•How far along?: 32 weeks 1 day

•Total weight gain: 24 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of a squash!

•Maternity clothes?: Gerry's shirts are getting to be too small to stretch over my bump... sad day

•Movement: So much movement! They get in the weirdest positions. I poke them and they squirm away haha.

•Stretch marks?: I'm starting to get them in my birthmark which is pretty high up on my tummy. Also, I am getting a rash on them... :(

•Sleep?: It was horrible but last night I slept with our memory foam mattress topper and slept so well! My hips didn't hurt and it cradled the belly. Life is good if that continues.

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, Rash (PUPPP i think)- This thing is murder. It showed up in a few stretch marks and has just been spreading. Itches like mad crazy. Doctor said to put cocoa butter on it. Doesn't help. I've googled the crap out of it to try and find remedies. People said to try washing with Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap. I went to a health food store today and bought some. It seems to be helping a bit. They said it takes a few days. Only thing is that it stinks! I smell like a campfire and some smell I can't quite place... it's weird but if it helps I'm ok being stinky!

•Food cravings: Ice cold water still, I am liking sprite and graham crackers. Also I've been cooking a lot of things with sour cream in them.

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Gerry's cousin Michael took us out for sushi this weekend and I couldn't have any of the good stuff! I had to stick to the cooked rolls so I guess I'm missing my rainbow roll.

•What I'm looking forward to: May 22 for sure since I can't wait to meet these girls! I have a regular dr's appointment on Thursday which should be fun and a MFM appointment next Thursday. I love finding out how big my girls are. I also have a second baby shower coming up for church and friends here in Woodland Hills. I'm excited for that!

•Best Moment this week: Being able to sleep last night! But really my friend had her baby shower on Friday and I had a really good time at it. I love all of the people I've been able to meet here.

•Milestone: I'm 32 weeks! In 2 more weeks they won't stop labor and in 6 more weeks my girls will for sure be here! ahh! Crazy and I can't wait.

•Nursery Progress: Still need to hang stuff on the walls... but the extra boxes and bins are put away!

31 weeks

•How far along?: 31 weeks 2 days

•Total weight gain: 23 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of a pineapple!

•Maternity clothes?: Pants are getting hard to put on. I'm wearing more skirts now.

•Movement: More hiccups which is a sign of lung maturity so even though they are CRAZY annoying, they are good things yes? Sometimes Gerry and I just sit back and watch my stomach roll and get poked at.

•Stretch marks?: The ultrasound tech commented on them... That's when you know they are bad.

•Sleep?: I'm sleeping in 3 hour increments whether at night or during the day... I guess I'm preparing for babies?

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, rib pain, contractions, leg cramps, sore joints

•Food cravings: Ice cold water. and it has to be SUPER cold.

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: being able to paint my toenails easily and reach things. Bending is getting hard.

•What I'm looking forward to: I have an eviction date for these little girls!! If they don't come before this date I will be induced or have a c-section on May 22!! That's less than 50 days from now! I can't wait to see them!

•Best Moment this week: Hmmm... It wasn't exactly this week but whatever. I had my MFM appointment and the girls were rockstars! Alice measured 3 lbs 8 oz. She was in the 70th percentile and was measuring 30 weeks 5 days (I was 29 weeks 1 day). Colette was 3 lbs 5 oz. She was in the 65th percentile and was measuring 29 weeks 6 days. They had flipped from their transverse states and Alice was head down and Colette was breech. I have had another u/s since then at my OB's and Alice is breech, butt first, and Colette is trying to be head down but is a little more transverse thanks to her sister taking up all the room.

•Milestone: Each week is a milestone now. My doctor said "each day you stay pregnant is a victory" I have to remember that on the days I feel like I'm going to burst I'm so big.

•Nursery Progress: Still need to hang stuff on the walls... but the extra boxes and bins are put away!

I do have a favor to ask you all! Pray that these babies get into position! Yesterday Alice was still butt first and I really want her head down! I want to try and avoid a c-section and the farther along I get the less likely she is to turn. Practically the whole pregnancy she was head down and now in these last few weeks she is head up! Twins typically settle into final position at 28 weeks but mine have changed position twice since then so there is hope!

Nursery!

So blogger is not letting me upload photos right now. If you are friends with me on facebook I put some pictures up in my Baby Anderson #1 & #2 album instead for right now. I will try to get blogger to cooperate later this week. Sorry!

UPDATE: So my computer crashed and along with it disappeared my photos. Temporary delay will be continued. Sorry!

29 weeks and a scare!

28.5 weeks in this pic

•How far along?: 29 weeks

•Total weight gain: 20 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of an acorn squash!

•Maternity clothes?: I basically live in sweats and Gerry's oversized shirts. I don't fit in anything comfortably anymore.

•Movement: More hiccups. Also retaliation after contractions (More on those a little later)

•Stretch marks?: No one ever told me how sore stretch marks get

•Sleep?: doing surprisingly better this week

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, back pain, rib pain, Braxton Hicks contractions and "real" ones!

•Food cravings: egg salad sandwiches... weird right?

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Being mobile. Not hurting at my joints.

•What I'm looking forward to: MFM appointment tomorrow! Can't wait to see if babies are still measuring a week ahead and what position they are in (at my OB appointment on Thursday they were both transverse with their heads on my right)

•Best Moment this week: Finding out even though I was getting crazy contractions the rest of my body was fine. All signs point to no early labor at this point! Yay!

•Milestone: Into single digit weeks left! OB said they would induce at 38 weeks (May 20) if Alice and Colette don't come on their own before that.

•Nursery Progress: Basically just need to hang some stuff on the walls and get a few boxes/bins put away. I am about to write a post with pictures. :)

As promised here is my crazy contractions story:

Friday (3/9) I had braxton hicks (BH) contractions all day. These my doctor said would happen and to call if I had more than 4 an hour for 4 hours straight. I had been taking it easy that day and yet they continued. Toward the evening they got more and more frequent and I started having some painful ones. They were anywhere from 10 to 3 minutes apart. I started freaking out a little but not wanting to call my OB since it was 9:45 on a Friday night. Gerry told me I should at least call. So I did. My OB said go to Labor and Delivery and get checked out. In we went. I think we were the only people there on the L&D floor. They hooked me up to monitors and sure enough I was contracting every 2-3 minutes. Not huge ones but they were uncomfortable. They then did a physical check and an ultrasound to make sure nothing was dilating and everything looked good on that front. No sign that these contractions were putting me into pre-term labor. They then did a fetal fibronectin test. Basically if this test is positive you go into labor typically within that week. Mine was negative. A good thing. My blood pressure was high (because I was stressed I think) and so they decided to monitor the babies for a bit. So first we had to find the babies. Every time the nurse would find one and move on to the next one, babies would move. They were having a hard time getting them on the monitors. Also, Alice, usually our calm child from what we can tell via ultrasound, was so mad. She kept kicking the little sensor and so it had all sorts of misreadings since she didn't want it on. Colette kept trying to hide from her sensor. They had been being squished all day from BH and they were done. After each BH both of them would flail around like crazy. My stomach looked like a water bed.

Monitoring came back good and Dr. said to go home, rest, drink lots of water and come back if I had 6 painful ones in an hour. All day Saturday I continued to have BH and it was annoying. My body was so sore from all the tightening. Then on Sunday we went to church and during Relief Society I had 7 painful contractions in 40 minutes. I started panicking again. Gerry took me home. Filled me with water and put me to bed. I guess I had overdone it. Monday the BH seemed to slow and although I have them occasionally still they aren't too bad anymore.

At my OB appointment the babies were transverse laying with their heads together on my right side. They had been head down and my Dr thinks that this move on their part may have caused the contractions to get out of hand. Anyway, I'm doing better now. Drinking my weight in water and babies are staying put. :)

28 weeks

•How far along?: 28 weeks

•Total weight gain: 18 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of a rutabaga!

•Maternity clothes?: Yes and some maternity shirts are getting too short!

•Movement: Oh yes. They never stop... like never... always on the move. Hiccups are happening more and more

•Stretch marks?: I think I'm part tiger now...

•Sleep?: I get great sleep during naps.

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, back pain, rib pain, the usual. :)

•Food cravings: bready things. Cinnamon rolls, crescent rolls

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Being able to get up or out of bed easily, laying on my stomach, not getting winded or sore doing anything, being able to get in and out of the car easily.

•What I'm looking forward to: June 3...

•Best Moment this week: realizing I've hit 3rd trimester!

•Milestone: I'm in my 3rd trimester! I'm almost there!

•Nursery Progress: Basically just need to hang some stuff on the walls and get a few boxes/bins put away. I am about to write a post with pictures. :)

27 weeks

•How far along?: 27 weeks

•Total weight gain: 16 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of a cauliflower!

•Maternity clothes?: Yes and some maternity shirts are getting too short!

•Movement: Oh yes. They never stop... like never...

•Stretch marks?: Let's just say I'm starting to look like a road map.

•Sleep?: It's hit and miss. Not bad when I'm alone and sometimes it's ok with Gerry there. Sometimes not.

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, back pain, rib pain, The waddle has begun

•Food cravings: Strawberries and whipped cream

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Being able to get up or out of bed easily, laying on my stomach, not getting winded or sore doing anything, being able to get in and out of the car easily.

•What I'm looking forward to: MFM appt on the 19. Hopefully we will get some 3d of Alice this time. Getting the nursery put together!

•Best Moment this week: Going the nursery furniture put together.

•Milestone: There are cribs in my house.

•Nursery Progress: Furniture is together! I will get pictures ASAP!

New pictures and my survey

First of all I'd like to show you a few shots of Colette from my MFM appointment. Alice was not a fan of the 3D ultrasound and kept her knee in her face the whole time so we didn't get any of her. I think Colette has her Grandpa Greg's nose. She looks a lot like her cousins on Daddy's side.

I think she's saying in this one, "No, don't bother me with pictures!"

Since I haven't been very good at taking belly shots here is one from yesterday at 26 weeks. I kind of missed the other weeks. oops!

Here is my survey for this week!

•How far along?: 26 weeks

•Total weight gain: 15 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of a head of lettuce!

•Maternity clothes?: Yes and some maternity shirts are getting too short!

•Movement: Oh yes. They love to dance!

•Stretch marks?: Yes... I even have some around my actual belly button now.

•Sleep?: It's been ok. I still sleep better when I'm in the bed alone.

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, back pain

•Food cravings: Chocolate ice cream with gummy bears.

•Belly button in or out?: Off-center outie

•What I miss: Being able to get up or out of bed easily.

•What I'm looking forward to: Getting the nursery set up on Tuesday!

•Best Moment this week: Going to the pool with my friend Melissa and just chilling.

•Milestone:I'm in double digits remaining! I think it's 97 days left and that's if I go until my due date!

•Nursery Progress: Cribs and dresser being delivered on Tuesday. Hopefully Gerry's parents are coming Tuesday evening to help set them up. Gerry's sister Anneke is buying bedding for us for a shower gift (Thanks Anneke!) and I can't wait to get it!

Anyway, I need to update again later with pictures from my baby shower Gerry's sister threw me (Thanks Mia!) and stuff from when my mom was here but I've been keeping busy busy busy! Hopefully I'll get that done soon!

25 weeks

•How far along?: 25 weeks

•Total weight gain: 14 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of an eggplant!

•Maternity clothes?: Of course. ain't nothing fitting these days

•Movement: They never stop! My ribs feel bruised and I figure this is going to be a regular thing. They kick whenever a computer is near my belly.

•Stretch marks?: Yes...

•Sleep?:Sometimes I sleep well... most of the time no.

•Symptoms?: Heartburn. Back pain. Crying.

•Food cravings: nothing this week really...

•Belly button in or out?: Full on outie. and as my mom was so nice to point out, it's off center

•What I miss: Being comfortable... Laying on my stomach

•What I'm looking forward to: My MFM appointment on the 20th.

•Best Moment this week: Baby shower!- I got so many nice things and was so blessed to have so many generous people! Cute story- There was a little girl at my shower, Ruby, and when she got there she said to her mom, "I thought Nikki was having twins. Where are they?" Her mom told her they were in my stomach and Ruby said "But she only has one bump!" So cute! We all laughed so hard.

•Milestone: Baby shower!

•Nursery Progress: Ordered baby furniture.

24 weeks

This was from last week when my mom got here!

•How far along?: 24 weeks

•Total weight gain: 12 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of an ear of corn!

•Maternity clothes?: Of course. I got some new ones from my cousin Jess and her family! Thanks Jess!

•Movement: They never stop! My ribs feel bruised and I figure this is going to be a regular thing.

•Stretch marks?: Yes...

•Sleep?:The nighttime hot flashes have started.. ugh

•Symptoms?: Heartburn. Crazy back pain in between my shoulder blades and in my ribs. hot flashes

•Food cravings: Yogurt, Corndogs

•Belly button in or out?: Full on outie.

•What I miss: Being comfortable... Laying on my stomach

•What I'm looking forward to: My baby shower this Saturday! My MFM appointment on the 20th.

•Best Moment this week: Going to get relief from the chiropractor.

•Milestone:Viability Day!! (if you didn't know, they say babies have a much better chance to survive after the 24 week mark if they come early.)

•Nursery Progress: It's going to come along this week. We will be getting the cribs! Pics to follow.

23 weeks

•How far along?: 23 weeks

•Total weight gain: 9 lbs

•How big is baby?: The size of a pomegranate!

•Maternity clothes?: Of course.

•Movement: Consistent. Baby A is easier to feel now. She's been getting into my ribs and I get tapping from Baby B all the time

•Stretch marks?: Yes... I broke out a mirror and looked under my belly and lo and behold... all sorts of marks.

•Sleep?: It's a weird schedule. Honestly I sleep better in the bed alone so I get a couple hours after Gerry leaves for school and I'm really comfortable during that time.

•Symptoms?: Heartburn, heartburn and more heartburn. ugh. Crazy back pain in between my shoulder blades. The constant peeing has started.

•Food cravings: Eggos Chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream, peaches

•Belly button in or out?: Full on outie. Trying to poke through my shirts!

•What I miss: Being comfortable... Sushi... not getting pain in my pelvis from walking too much

•What I'm looking forward to: My baby shower next month with my mom and dad coming to visit still! Also, I have an appt with the MFM on Feb 20 and I think I may be getting some 3D pics

•Best Moment this week: Watching my nephew get blessed and imagining how stinking cute the girls will be in their little white dresses.

•Milestone: Feeling Baby A consistently! and next week is V-day! (viability day)

•Nursery Progress: We got a changing table from a couple at church for free and it's sitting in there now. That's about it :)

I will try to post a picture sometime this week. I haven't taken another one yet but I'm feeling huge!