Six Months

Life before babies--snuggling kitties.

The boys are 6 months old today! Can you believe it? It's funny how life changes in the blink of an eye. They've only been here for 6 months, but I can't remember life without them. Actually, I can. I remember sleep fondly.

Six months ago, I was laid up in the hospital after just having 2 human beings removed from my body (I still can't believe I had twins...or that women totally got the shaft and have to grow humans inside themselves)...

My stint in the big house started a week before the boys were born. The doc called me on Thursday, July 12th. My lab work suggested pre-eclampsia, and since I was 36 weeks pregnant, it was time to be admitted to the hospital. She said I could go on in, or wait til morning. I chose to wait and have one more peaceful night in my own bed. Meaning, it was my good fortune to check into the hospital on Friday the 13th. The next week was totally lame and boring. But I guess, it was better to be safe than sorry. Nothing happened, save for Joey Votto blowing out his knee. Yeah, I watched A LOT of Reds baseball while I was in the hospital.

Baby A!

The boys were not set to arrive until the following Thursday. I was all right up until that morning, or D-Day, as I called it. Once the wheelchair arrived to escort me to the operation room, I got scared. That lasted for about 15 minutes. Didn't matter if I was scared or not, those little dudes had to be delivered. So, I had to straighten up and pretend to be brave. After having my arm brutally murdered by the nurse and her giant IV and horrible IV-inserting techniques (there were pools of blood on the floor to prove she was awful), it was showtime!

Sensitive J-Bird.

Boomer went into the operation room with me. She tried to talk to me, hold my hand, and all that good stuff to make me not think about the fact that my body was cut open and I was conscious (I still can't think about that...so strange). Anyway, I wasn't really listening or talking to her. I was too anxious. I wanted everything to be done and over with and I wanted to see my babies! It wasn't too longer after the doctor had started that she said, "Look up, Allison. A healthy baby boy. Baby A! What's his name?" And there he was, my little Julian. About twenty seconds later, she was holding Jonas up for me to see. Good looking little fellers. Holy guacamole! That. Just. Happened.

Douglas and Jason were out in the waiting room, uh, waiting. Boomer went out to tell them the boys had arrived, and as I had been moved to the recovery room, they could come take a gander. Jason cried, cause he's sensitive like that. I think Douglas was still in shock.

The boys had their first visitors that evening: Grandma Carol, Jovita, Joann, Day-Day, Tracy, and Jenna.  Day 2, they met Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Steve!

2nd day home.

We hung out in the hospital for the next few days. I thought I was dying, and was convinced that I was going to rip in half if I moved. (Ugh, please, Lord, take away the memory of what pregnancy and delivery felt like so that I may someday have another child.) Doug tried to sleep on a chair, and found out around Day 2 (in that room), that the chair actually folded out to a "bed." We fed our little dudes (the very first bottle we gave them was 15 mL...a big ole half ounce). Doug Bear changed their diapers (after the nurse showed us how) and took care of their nether regions. And we held them constantly. I can't believe how little they were!

We got 0 hours of sleep. I was completely uncomfortable, and so was Doug. Oh, and the boys had to be fed every 3 hours. One night, the nurse suggested we send the babies to the nursery so we could sleep. We did, and Doug finally got a few hours of shut-eye. I couldn't sleep because I was missing my little dudes. 6AM rolled around, and the nurse came back to the room, pushing the bassinets. I cried when she came in. I was so happy to have them back! (Doug was probably crying because he had to wake up!)

Our happy boys!

All of a sudden, it was time to go home. What do we do with them when we get home? Aaaah! I was still very much crippled, so Doug was really in for it. He had 2 babies and a wife to care for. That first week was pure hell. We didn't know what we were doing. The babies couldn't sleep without being close to their Mama, so I would sleep holding the babies, and Doug would watch us sleep (don't try this at home, people). I was not being successful with nursing. The babies were pissed because they were hungry, and I sucked at feeding them. I cried a lot. But somehow...somehow, we survived, and now it is 6 months later. We didn't break the boys. We realized formula feeding was better than a depressed, exhausted mother. We successfully bathed them (I was very concerned about this, and watched many "how to" videos when I was in the hospital). I changed a diaper (after 2 weeks of letting Doug handle it solo).
We were parents!

Baby B

And now, all is well. Our boys are happy and healthy, and we are learning new tricks every single day.
6 months...feels like a lifetime. Here's to many more months with my main men! (Pray that Doug and I survive!)