Last year before the New Year

Well lets see what Joey and I have been up to for the last year!!

 

We started off ringing in the new year in NYC. 

 

 

Lady Liberty

 

In February, Joey started a new job at John Deere.  He is supervisor of OFP supply managment.  He had 11 employees he supervises.  It seems to be a busy fast paced job.

 

In April, Joey and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  We didn't do anything too special.  We treated ourselves to a membership to the local country club so we could play lots of golf.  I also traded in my Honda Civic for a brand new 2012 Buick Regal.  I was sick of the Honda, it was terrible in the snow and it was small.  The Buick is amazing and I love it-good thing we were blessed with twins!  I may have to trade in my Buick for a mini van?!! 

Starting this month I began training for a half marathon.  I had run it before, but my goal was a certain time, not just to finish it like in years past.  So I was doing lots of running and Joey was doing lots of golf.

 

In June, I ran my half marathon and made my goal time!  I was super pumped and I didn't feel awful afterwards either. :-)  Just a few short days after my race I found out we were pregnant and at the end of June found out it was twins!  That's right, I ran my half marathon pregnant with twins and still made my goal time.  Bragging rights!  Joey and some of his buddies did a trip to The Boundry Waters in MN.  This was their 2nd year going.  They fished and boated and did man things.  He enjoyed it and is planning to go again this year.

 

Much of the summer was spent napping by me and golfing by Joey.  It was VERY hot, well over the 100's many days, so I decided I liked AC and napping better than being outside.  We also had many doctor appointments over the summer for our twin pregnancy.

 

Joey and I were both part of our friends wedding in September.  What a wonderful celebration, we were so glad to be a part of their special day!  It was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding, for a wonderful couple.

 

The end of September, Joey and I and another couple, went to Germany for 2 weeks.  We went to Munich for Octoberfest, visited a concentration camp and saw many castles.  We also went all over Germany and even made our way into Prague and ended in Berlin.  It was a great trip and we were glad we were able to go!

 

 At Octoberfest

Brandenburg gate

 

The Berlin wall 

 

 2 weeks after we came back from Germany, I was admitted to a hospital in Des Moines for fetal monitoring.  I was admitted on October 23rd.  Not much exciting happened until December....

 

Joey GRADUATED with his his MBA!!  What an accomplishment!  I am so proud of him, he has worked very hard the last 2 years.  He had his last final on 12/12/12.  He missed his own graduation on 12/15 to come and stay with me in the hospital.  2 days later on..

 

December 17th, 2012, we welcomed Josie and Ella to the world.  They are doing great and we continue to be in the hospital NICU with them.  We are hoping to take them home in just a few weeks.  Then we can begin the year of 2013 blog with taking them home!!  We had a big year and have been blessed in soo many ways.  We hope our 2013 year will be even more exciting than 2012!  So come back and visit this blog and see what it holds!!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!



Ella Mae

Our little peanut, Ella Mae.  Oh sweet, little Ella.  You were born 2nd at 2:03pm on Monday, December 17th.  You were 3 pounds 8ounces and much smaller.  I figured you would come out second, but I was hoping you would be first.  The reason I figured you would 2nd is because while I was carrying you, you seemed to be laid back and go with the flow.  Your sister was the take charge one and you seemed to just follow.  But it suits you that you were 2nd born.  You scared mommy a little because when you came out, you didn't cry and I wasn't sure what was going on with you.  But that just seems to be you, don't make a fuss!!  Your middle name is after Grandma Eckert whos middle name is Mae.  Also mom's name is angELA so we sorta named both of you after each parent.

First picture of Ella

 

Peanut was the last to come off CPAP the day after Christmas.  IV's are out, she is no longer under the bili lights and she is able to start breastfeeding.  Miss Ella has dropped to 3 lbs 2oz but is doing well for her gestational age and she is doing everything as expected.  We are just comparing her to her sister who is just a bit faster. 

 

You may also be noticing her feet in the above picture.  She was born with bilateral club feet because of the lack of room in utero.  Her sister took all the room! :-)  They will most likely due nothing while we are in the NICU, but when we are discharged, we will be heading to Iowa City to a pediatric Ortho doc.  From what I hear, it will be a series of castings and then braces--more on her club feet later.

 

Mom was the first to hold you and she had to wait a full 24 hours to do it.  It was torcher for her.  I held you first and when they placed you in my arms I couldn't hold back the tears.  I was soo happy!

 



See what a peanut she is

 

 

Measuring her to piglet

 

We will continue to measure the girls against Pooh and Piglet so you can see how they are growing

 

Look Mom, no tubes!!

 

       Ahhhhhh!!  Stretching out!                                Merry Christmas hat and booties!

 

 

 

 

















Josie Marie

Josie Marie, our first born, was born at 1:58pm on Monday, December 17th.  She came out crying and weighing 4 pounds 4 ounces.  She got her name after her father, Joseph and her grandfather Joe.  How did we choose that name for her?  She is my wild one.  While I was carrying her, she seemed to be the boss of the show.  She was bigger and seemed to push her sister around.  With all the many ultrasounds I had, I was able to see it was her acting up!  I felt Josie was a stronger name than Ella, so she is Josie!

 Stretching out

 

 

Josie started off on CPAP, an umbilical line, had a feeding tube placed.  She had TPN and Lipids going thru the umbilical line.  On day 2, she was able to be taken off CPAP, however that short lived and she was put back on it the next day.  Her bilirubin level was high so she did have to go under the phototherapy.  Her weight has dropped to 3 pounds 12 ounces. 

 

 





Measuring her to Winnie the Pooh

She's so tiny, like a baby doll.

Look Ma, No CPAP!

On Christmas Eve day Josie was able to come off CPAP again!  This time she did great and continues to be off it.  They also took out her umbilical line and IV and then increased her feedings.

Daddy got to hold you first and that was a full 24 hours later.  You were so tiny in dads arms.  Our first family photo was when we were both "kangarooing" you two!



Her teenie tiny foot under phototherapy

 

 

On Christmas day I dressed each girl up in a pair of booties and hat.  They were given to us by a group of crocheters and donated these to the NICU.  You woulda thought I was torturing miss Josie with all the noise and faces she made.  How stinking cute though!!!





Merry Christmas Josie

 

Today, Josie has tried to breastfeed for the first time and did great!  It didn't last long, but that is expected with preemies.  They don't really have a suck reflex or the energy to suck.  All in all, Josie got about 3mls down and that is great for the first time!  Josie seems to be the leader of the 2, not that Ella is struggling or behind, just that dominant, take control kinda attitude I think she is going to have!





Happy Birth Day

December 17th, 2012 was FINALLY here!  We made it to 32 weeks and 1 day.  My scheduled C-Section was at 1pm and here is the run down of the event.  Both grandmas came on Sunday night all the way from Ohio.  When they came they had alot of gifts from people, so we had a "mini-shower" in my hospital room.  It was nice as it took our minds off the next days big events. 

Both Grandmas checking out the gifts

 

At midnight I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything to prepare me for surgery.  So at 11:45 pm I decided I needed to eat my candy and snacks I had around my room.  I was very concerned about not eating until 1pm the next day!  Then at midnight the nurse came in to start my IV.  They don't want me to dehydrate while not eating.  4 IV sticks later they finally got one in!  Now I had a little friend I needed push around with me, the IV pole. 

 

The next morning not too much happened.  Joey and I watched TV, both grandmas showed up at around 10am.  Then about 11am my nurse said they were ready for me in pre-op and we were off!!  Woo!  I walked myself (and IV pole) over to pre-op, got hugs from grandmas and checked in.  I wasn't nervous about the c-section or anything about the surgery, since I used to do them when I worked in surgery.  I was nervous at how our baby girls would do with coming so early.  The things that were most important to me was seeing the girls ASAP and then I wanted a picture of my tangled cords.

 

 Last pregnancy shot, bare belly and all! 

 

 

 

Last family photo of 2

Dad ready for surgery

 

 

1pm came and went and I was still in preop.  They were running late :(  About 1:45 they said they were ready and off we went.  Still not nervous!  Anesthesia gave me a my spinal lickity split and almost immediately my butt was warm and tingly, they laid me flat on the table and my toes were equal to my rear!  The drapes go up, in comes Dr. Mandsager and were ready.  I can see in the lights above that he had made his incision on me and that is when Joey was able to come it.  He was at my head and I was hoping he wasn't going to pass out. 

 

It was about 7 minutes into surgery and out came Josie Marie, crying up a storm.  I could feel the pressure come off me when she came out!  I was so happy to hear her crying.  They wisked her out of the room to an adjacent room, where all the NICU staff and her isolette were.  I didn't get to see her, but I got to hear her :).  It doesn't take long to get the second baby out, but for some reason it seemed like eternity for me.  Then I hear the doctor ask for the vacuum.  WHAT?!!!  That is not normal.  I got REALLY concerned at this point.  Afew minutes later, out came Ella Mae.  She was not crying.  They wisked her out just as fast as her sister, but I was very concerned and I didn't know if she was ok.  Dad was taken to the room they were in.  I was hoping someone would tell me if she was ok.  Then the OR doors opened up and I made eye contact with someone in with our girls and she gave me the 2 thumbs up!  Whew! Now I could relax.  Before they took them up to the NICU they wheeled each one in so I could see them!  :)  I still had to go to recovery after. :(

 

Josie Marie 4lbs 4oz at 1:58pm

 

 

Ella Mae 3lb 8oz at 2:03pm

 

My 2 requests, see my girls ASAP and a picture of my cords.  Here it is.  This was the reason of my stress the entire pregnancy, the 8 week hospital stay, the early delivery and the c-section.  All worth it cause my girls are here.  We are sooo lucky this knot of cords didn't pull tight and cut off their life-line.  God was looking out for my girls and I am so very thankful for that. 

 

 

 

Recovery was uneventful, but I was VERY anxious to go see my girls.  Joey was going back and forth between the girls and me, showing me pics on the camera.  After recovery, they took me up to see the girls and I was able to just touch them.

 

Me touching Josie for the first time :)

 

 

And then Ella

 

I started to feel really sick from the spinal so they took me down stairs.  It wasn't until the next day, 24 hours later I got to hold Ella. 

 

Everything went pretty smooth and our girls were doing good!  I couldn't have asked for anything more.  We are so happy with the outcomes and truely had a wonderful Christmas as a new family of 4!!!

We have a date!

 

Well, it's official..we have a c-section date.  We are scheduled for Monday, December 17th at 1pm!  This is assuming they don't get into distress before hand, but I'm not forseeing that happen.  So now I sit here in the hospital and wait for the 17th to come.  Right now, I have 6 days until D-day.  I can't believe we have made it this far.  At my 8 week appointment when we found out the mono-mono twin diagnosis, I couldn't imagine getting to 32 weeks.  It seemed soo far away, and now, we are almost here!  Each appointment we had, we just needed to hear each heartbeat and then get me to the next appointment.  Appointment by appointment, day by day, was this pregnancy. It was hard to even talk about future plans with the girls like names, setting up nursery or having a baby shower.  If something happened to our girls I didn't want to come home to house full of baby stuff.  I was putting up a wall to protect myself for "the just in case."  Now here we are 6 short days away from absolute craziness and can't help but smile! 

 

 

 

 30 weeks!

Mile Stones

 

I have made a few mile stones during this pregnancy of my mono-mono twins.  The first was making it to viability at 23 weeks and the second mile stone was making it to 28 weeks.  I have been admitted to the hospital for fetal monitoring and cord monitoring since 24 weeks.  Being here for 4 weeks has been rough.  My husband can't be up here during the week because we live 2 hours away and well, someone has to work! :)  But, since everything has been looking good the doctor actually said I could leave the hospital for a few hours and get some good ole fresh air.  So excited!!  Well in a last minute thought while I was getting ready for my day out, I thought we should do an impromptu "maternity photo shoot."  I asked my friend Steph is she would mind taking our pictures and she said YES!!!  So she took our pics and then I edited them.  This is exciting for me as I NEVER thought I would get to maternity pics with being in the hospital.  So here are a few that we got! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(notice my hospital band)

Herschleb family

 

We tried to get some family photos, but Grant wanted nothing to do with being held.  He wanted to run around and be free!!  So we tried again...and again he didn't like the idea of being held for a family picture.  I was able to get a few of him smiles, but family picture time was again not his idea of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holly--Senior Pictures

 

I was able to photograph Holly for her senior pics and here are few of what I got.  She was easy to work with, but add a dog in there and "Oh Boy!"  A scratch on the neck later...  Heres a "sneak peak!"