5 Month Reviews

So this is how we are going to do it. I was going to slowly add little blogs about each month, but instead, I will just give the highlights from them.

1st Month (8/18-9/18): The major highlights were the 5 generation pictures, the baptism, Brandon visiting and other family visiting from far away, and my 24th birthday. The babies grew very fast and were somewhere around 8.25 lbs to 8.5lbs. and about 22 inches. I had lost the majority of my baby weight by the end of the month, but I was still slowly recovering from the C-Section. My grandma (GiGi) and my mom were still switching nights off and on to help me and Walter through the nights. Chloe was getting better at attaching and Corvin wasn't screaming in his sleep to wake up enough to pass gas and then cry and go back to sleep. We had experimented with formula, and have settled on the Gentlease formula from Enfamil.

2nd Month (9/19-10/18): The babies are growing like weeds: Corvin was 12lbs 13oz and 24 in and Chloe was 12lbs 4.5oz and 24 in. They definitely grew out of a lot of their newborn clothes and were onto 3 month clothing and out of some of them. They really liked to be on their tummies and they were starting to really show personalities. Chloe took to actually standing while being burped, which made it a bit harder to actually burp her due to how long she was getting.

Sadly it was in this month that GiGi had to go home. It had been 5 weeks since her visit of just 6 day actually began ;-)

3rd Month (10/19-11/18): Corvin was 14lbs 13oz and 25 in and Chloe was 14lbs and 25 in. They didn't gain much this month, but they were definitely getting out of the 3 month clothing and moving to the 6 month stuff. This month was an eventful one. They started to get more vocal (especially Corvin) and they were starting to smile. Mornings were lots of fun, getting to hear happy babbling and coming in to smiling babies :-D Both babes also rolled from their stomachs to their backs. It was also the month that Corvin decided to take a couple of nights and sleep through the night. Luckily it was during the first few days back on the job for me. I started back just the three days a week, but I was only working half days. My mom is babysitting the babes for us. And was watching them at our house. We also went to the cabin with my parents for a weekend. It was kinda nice getting out of the house and to the peaceful cabin. The twins also had their first Halloween. Corvin was a little jailbird and Chloe was a pumpkin. I think this is when we started the walkers too.

4th Month (11/19-12/18): Corvin was 16lbs 6oz and 25.5 in and Chloe was 16lbs and 25.5 in. This month Brandon got to come home and see the babies. He was in Uncle heaven :-) It was close to 3.5 months since he got to see them in person (we had been skyping). We did Thanksgiving with Walter's family and spent time as a family with my family as Brandon was only in town for a little while. We also went down to Walter's parents' place in Ocean Shores. During this month the babes were starting to scream while on their tummies (I think they wanted to go places and couldn't figure it out yet) and they were working on getting balance to sit up! They started taking rice cereal 3 days a week and were loving it. By this time Corvin had become very efficient in his walker getting around very well, while Chloe was just content to sit in it and play with the toy bar.

5th Month (12/19-1/18): Corvin was 17lbs 10oz and Chloe was 17lbs 3oz. This month we took another trip down to Oregon to see the babes' Great Great Grandma for her 90th birthday. This time Walter and Dad came along too :-) It was a wonderful visit. We also went to our church's children's Christmas party and of course had their 1st Christmas. It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of Walter's family who hadn't seen the babies yet and live in the area, and they got to see them and they got a lot of presents. I think we will be good on clothes for a while :-) SPOILED ;-) But we are very very very very grateful! Also, this month I started back up to full days (7hrs) three days a week and I started to cart them over to my parents' house. Brandon came back again and we got to go to the cabin for a few days. This month they started taking rice cereal once a day every day. I ended up starting like a few days early because poor Chloe was soo upset when I was eating with her in my lap, that she wouldn't calm down until I gave her the rice cereal. Chloe has gotten much better at the walker and is moving mainly forward, but just seems happy still sitting there, while you have to watch out for your toes with Corvin who likes to be right next to you :-D They are still screaming while on their tummies, but it's taking longer to get to that point, its weird, they used to like it and now all of a sudden just can't handle it....i think they were ready to motate, but just couldn't figure out how. OH! They both had been actively working on rolling from their backs to their fronts and Corvin accomplished it one night and Chloe was right behind him the next night....

Ok, I think that catches most of you up....its almost 1 am and I am getting very sleepy. I will try to get the 6 Month update out soon! Loves to you all!

Baptism and 5 Generations

Brandon (Godfather), Walter holding Chloe, Me holding Corvin, and Crystal (Godmother)

Before the twins were born, we had already set up the twins' baptism so their godfather, Brandon, could come. So, September 6th at the 6pm youth mass we had their baptism. It was such a truly God felt day. Brandon is their Godfather and Walter's sister, Crystal, is their Godmother. Not only was Walter's family and grandparents; my family and Gigi, but also were my great aunt and uncle (Rachael and John, Gigi's brother), my second cousins (Jennifer & Chris), and my Nana & Papa. We also had some very close friends of my family's there too.


When we brought up the gifts during offertory, the priest, Father Jose, felt moved to take each baby and lift them up towards the alter. He said that it just came as an idea to him, and it's also something done in Mexico. We are there to promise to raise the babies up Catholic and dedicate their lives to Christ and God, so he felt it was also right to raise them up as another sign as offering them to Christ and God. It was a very deeply felt and moving moment.

Corvin

Chloe

Chloe

Corvin

The next day (Monday) was my birthday, the 7th, and we had a small family BBQ and get together at our place. And the following day (Tuesday), Mom, me and the babes took off to Oregon for three days. My great grandma is still living.....yes that means, the twins' Great GREAT Grandma. Since this is such a rare opportunity (and my great grandma will more than likely not be able to travel here) we wanted to commemorate it by taking pictures of the 5 generations. Dad drove down that Wednesday with Nana and we spent the afternoon taking pictures at my great grandma's house. While we were their my dad's brother and wife also stopped by to see the babes.... It was really fun. We took a bunch with both, but we also took the opportunity to take pictures of the straight 5 generations of WOMEN....:-) Below are some of the pictures from the day.....

Starting from bottom left...Chloe, Me, Nana (my mom's mom), My Mom, Great Grandma (Nana's mom), Corvin

This was a "caught in the moment" picture that was unanimously loved!

The 5G's of Women

Loving momma

Aunt Wendy and Uncle Reynold (my dad's brother)

Home Sweet Home

(Wrote this back in December :-))

So much for trying to write a couple of blogs a couple of days apart to
update you all :-( oh well let's see what I can do now.  Typing this on
my iTouch on our way back from the in laws' place in ocean shores
while the babes are sleeping :-)

The babies have arrived!

I left off last time with our hospital stay. When we got home we ate
some pizza and watched a movie. I think it was after dinner that
Walter realized my feet had ballooned up and were about 3-4 times
their normal size. We put them up and they started their way back
to normal. My mom was so wonderful and was willing to stay the night,
I wasn't quite ready to be without all the help I had been used to in
the hospital. They slept in their pack'n'play at the foot of our bed.
That was a crazy night. I got maybe about 30 min to an hour of sleep
at a time.

There after mom spent the nights helping me and Walter out. And
helping me most nights so Walter could get rest for work. Usually
I would feed one while the other was getting diapered and then we
would switch or we would diaper and I would nurse one and the
other would get a little bit of formula and then we would switch.

Man, life is busy! I am now getting back to this a week later.

Mom wanted to go see Brandon after the babes were born. So
they had booked tickets before I delivered and we called my
dad's mom, Gigi, to come help me while mom was back east. Gigi
ended up coming for 5 weeks instead of the 6 days like she was
planning. It was so nice to have her here and get to know my
grandma on a different level and learn family history. Mom came
back and they helped take care of me and my twins. With the
c-section I ended up staying on the couch once I finally made it
downstairs and didn't go back up until It was time to go to bed.

Gigi (named by my cousin's little one who couldn't say great
grandma) and my mom are God sends. I couldn't have taken care of
the twins and myself after the major surgery.

GiGi & Oma playing with the babies

Gigi and Mom: Thank you sooooooooooo much! Your love and
generosity is so greatly appreciated and I don't think there's enough
words to express how wonderful you both are.

God truly blessed me with you two!

<3

Hospital Stay

Because I had a C-section, we were able to stay in the hospital for 5 days....Monday (day of induction) to Friday. It was really nice to be there and get all the help I did....and stay in bed after major surgery. We had a lot of visitors....Walter's parents and grandparents, my parents, Crystal, Kristal, the Kvardas, Julie and Cindy, David, Lauren and her mom, Bri and Jeff, JJ and Susie, Kathy and Alexandra.....I think I got everyone, if not I am sorry....I truely am grateful and appreciative that you came and saw us. My mom was there everyday and Dad showed up in the evenings. Walter spent every night in the hospital with me on the little chair by my bed.

Some highlights from our hospital stay:

• Both babes lost a lot of weight....Chloe lost 13oz and Corvin lost 11oz...this concerned the doc, so after we left we went and saw our pediatrician the next day and three more times in a month to make sure they were gaining properly and they were.
• Corvin wasn't getting enough from my colostrum and ended up losing his voice within 2 days. We ended up supplementing with formula for both babes by day 2.
• Had a ton of flowers and balloons in our room, the nurses kept telling how loved I was :-) boy did we know :-D
• Chloe had a hard time latching and didn't end up eating for the first 24 hours-ish and when she did latch she had a hard time getting on and ended up making my nipple bleed. Good thing I was still at the hospital and had access to a wonderful nurse and lactation nurse.
• FINALLY got to eat Monday morning! and finally got to take a shower on Tuesday! (had to wait because of surgery)
• By the end of Monday, I had all of the tubes and hoses out....it was soooo nice to be free.
• Ended up with an allergic reaction to the morphine like pain killer and had to switch to Vicadin. Got really really itchy!
• Walter helped out sooo much at night with the babes. Would go for walks with them at night to help soothe them and to let me sleep.
• The nurses helped him out and took the babes a couple of times to let us sleep....was hard at first....felt like I was being a bad mom not having my babes with me.
• Dr Rogers said I was healing nicely and that the scar looked good.
• Corvin got his circumcision.
• Walter and I had a celebration lunch of steak and cheesecake and other delicious treats.
• Got to go home on Friday!

Walter taking a nap in the comfy chair next to my bed

Proud Grandparents (my parents)

This is lovingly known as the Yin-Yang picture :-)

Me and my beautiful twins!

Arriving at home at last!

Labor & Delivery Cont....

After we were wheeled back into the room, Walter and I got some alone time with the babies. We were sooo overjoyed. They were both so healthy and beautiful. It's something I will never forget, holding those two brand new babies and they were happy and so awake. Corvin stayed awake for about 3 hours if not more after he was born.

Corvin Ryder Phillips...6lbs 14oz 19in...born at 1:17am

Chloe Rebekah Phillips....7lbs 1oz 19.5in....born at 1:19am

After a bit, Mom came in and we handed her a baby. She was so funny....at first she was kinda like "No....they are so tiny....nothing like you and your brother!" (B was 9lbs13oz and I was 10lbs1.5oz) Eventually we had to give Chloe to the nurse, she was a little on the cold side and needed to be under the heat lamp in our room. Walter went and got the rest of the family....when he did Corvin heard him leave and started to cry until he heard Walter's voice coming back into the room. Crazy how he already felt comfort with his daddy's voice.

Visitors after babes were born

Chloe under the warming lights....sunbathing beauty already!

After like 4am everyone had gone and it was just Walter, me, the babes and nurses. The twins got their first baths and were sleeping. I, on the other hand, was put on a morphine like drip to help with the pain as the epi was wearing off and as they manipulated my tummy....they were worried about some clotting issues with me. Eventually I got to go to sleep....ahhhhhhh....

It was the most difficult and most rewarding day ever! I can see why my dad says what he does about mothers.....God makes women stupid....we forget all the pain and suffering and get pregnant again.....why not....we get the best gift ever afterwards......new life!

Labor & Delivery

WARNING: THIS IS A REALLY LONG BLOG :-D

Ok let's start with labor....So August 17th was the inducing date. At this point I was about 80% effaced and about 2cm dilated.

Dad dropped Mom off at our house around 6:30am to french braid my hair (wanted to make sure it wasn't going to get in the way). We left the house around 7:15am and got to the hospital and checked in around 7:45am. They showed me back to room 713 (the biggest on the floor), had me change into my hospital gown and stated finishing checking me in in the room while they were hooking up the monitors (two for babes and one for contractions) and IV. They hooked me up to Pitocin to get the labor started. Labor really didn't start until Dr. Rogers broke Corvin's water around 12:30, I was still only at about 2-3cm. Man was that the weirdest feeling. Felt like I was peeing in bed, especially with each contraction as it would get a little gush. At this time they also upped my Pitocin trying to get labor going. I had family visitors off and on that day checking in.

(Me just after check-in....and no that's not my belly button poking out(it just stretched)...it's the other monitor)

Later in the afternoon, after going to the bathroom a bunch and having the hassle of all the monitor adjusting afterwards and picking up one baby's heartbeat in both monitors, they doctor had a scalpel monitor put in for Corvin's heartbeat and then a internal contraction monitor was put in to get a better read on the strength of my contractions....totally uncomfortable! I am not sure when, but after different nurses all day, I finally got my labor and delivery nurse, Mindy. She was super nice. Around dinner time my parents, Walter's parents and grandparents had stopped by and were trying to keep me company as they kept upping my Pitocin. Shortly there after the contractions really started to come and everyone left but Walter, my mom and Walter's mom. I really couldn't have done this part without Walter and my mom. Walter was great at coaching me along and mom was the best at helping keeping me breathing...something I forget to do when I get in pain or have to concentrate. Walter's mom was really nice to offer to hold the puke bucket for me....I got really close but nothing ever came.

At about 9pm Dr Rogers came back and checked me, I was finally at 5cm.....13 hours and I had only gotten 3 cm bigger. Since I was at 5cm, Dr Rogers said I could have my epidural. I said yes mainly as a precaution in case there was going to be any problems with Chloe after Corvin was delivered. They had to put a catheter in (thank goodness....I was tired of getting up to go to the bathroom with all the cords and paraphernalia) but Mindy missed and Dr Rogers came in and put it in for her....I felt that for weeks after every time I moved my right leg....after I received the epi, I took a 2 hour nap.

Around 12am, Dr Rogers came back for another check....I was still at 5cm and pretty much fully effaced. No change. So now we had to discuss other options since there wasn't any additional progress and it had be about 12 hours since Corvin's water was broken and the risk of infection was going up with every minute now and he had to be delivered within the next 12 hours (once your water is broken they like to deliver the baby within 24 hours). Dr Rogers spoke the hard truth that I had only dilated about 3 cm since I came in around 8am...and she didn't want to wait longer for any additional slow progress. Time was of an essence now. The conclusion was that my uterus was soo distended that it was being able to contract like it needed to get progression (yes I was getting contractions). So the next hour was spend prepaing me a C-Section.

(Walter in his scrubs to come with me into the OR.)

(Last prego picture of me just before being wheeled into the OR.)

Once in the OR things happened so fast. They rolled me onto the operating table, put up this bar and draped my gown and another drape over it so I couldn't see below, put really warm towels on my upper body and legs (I was shaking so bad from all of the hormones and lack of sleep and food), and the anesthesiologist started talking to me to get me to relax and be comfortable. He was great letting me know when I would feel pressure and giving me the heads up in case I need something.

There were 2 nurses for each baby, my labor and delivery nurse, Dr Rogers and another assisting doctor, the anesthesiologist, Walter and Me....that's 9 people with 2 more on the way....crazy! When Dr Rogers cut in she made 2 comments: "Wow, there's like no fat, you are all baby!" and "Oh my God! They are each the size of ONE 38 week baby!" With each baby she would bring them out and show me over the drapes and then bring them off to my right to show me them. Then Walter went over to help dry them off and then they brought them to him while he sat by my head and showed me my two new wonderful goregous babies. I kinda forgot what was going on and was just in love with them. We made the most beautiful babies!

They finished cleaning me up and sewing me back together and then wheeled me back to my room with each baby in my arms. Walter and I spent some time by ourselves before we had everyone else join us.

(The new family....Corvin is on the left and Chloe is on the right)

I will share the rest of the night and my hospital experience in my next blog :-) Gotta go feed babies!

I AM BACK!!!

Hey All!!! I know you all have been patiently awaiting the return of my blogging!! :-D

I am going to slowly and surely put up bits of the last almost 7 weeks!! (Yeah, really it's been that long!) I will add little stories starting from the last blog to the most recent activities!

Loves!