Full hands

Jake goes back to work in T-minus 9 days! On a normal work day he will leave the house at 7ish and get home about 6ish. That's 11 hours of just me and the girls. And a game night into the mix and he wont get home until 10pm or later. It is going to make for long days for the next few months, until the end of basketball.

Even today, with only practice, Jake was gone from 11:30 until after 3pm. So what do I do when both girls are hungry? Depends...
Sometimes I have to let one of them cry. Other times I am creative enough to feed both of them at the same time. Not really sure how, but I was able to feed both the girls with one between my legs while sitting indian-style and the other on my left leg. The picture above is how they were sitting without the bottles (I haven't figured out how to take a picture, hold both girls, and give them their bottles.)

I love my little girls :O) They sure keep my busy and are constantly challenging me.

Bath time for babies

I finally figured out how to get the videos from our camera. We have tons of short videos from in the hospital when the girls were first born. '

One of my favorite videos is of Hannah getting her first bath, actually her 2nd. But its the first one I was there for. You can hear me asking tons of questions, first time parent and all. Thankfully the nurse that night was awesome at explaining things to me. Giving your child a bath for the first time is a little scary. Well, at least I found it scary.

Unfortunately that video is to large to load. So here are videos of both girls getting baths last night. As part of our routine we started on Monday, they get a bath each night after about 30min of tummy time. I was expecting there to be lots of screaming during the bath. I've heard about a lot of babies that don't like baths, who in turn just scream bloody murder throughout the entire bath. Hannah and Hailey on the other hand seem to love it. It really does calm them down.

It calms the girls down while providing Mommy time where they get my undivided attention. I love those moments where its just me and my girls. I can't wait to have many more Mommy time moments with both Hannah and Hailey!

Success!

Ever night after Hannah and Hailey were born have been ruff. As I would assume it is for every new parent. We just have an extra challenge thrown in to the mix with two babies. But the last few nights at my parents house, Christmas Eve and Christmas night, were especially challenging.

Hailey sometimes wakes up with tummy issues and screams. I feel really bad because there is not a lot we can do other than hold her, kiss her, and try to calm her down. We are giving her gas medicine that sometimes works, but at this point the doctor says to wait on switching formula. (Al thought I am pretty sure we are going to try sensitive formula with her over the next week or so.)

So Christmas Eve and night were not good nights for Hailey. And that we have been able to deal with. We usually just end up sleeping on the couch with her sleeping on our chest. That leaves the other one of us able to go back to bed and sleep. Well not these two nights. Hailey was upset and we couldn't get her calmed down as easily as we have in the past. But Hannah was WIDE AWAKE in the middle of the night. As soon as we would put her down in the pack-n-play she would scream until we picked her up. Eventually, both nights, Jake and I ended up sitting on the couch with either a little girl who was screaming in pain, or a little girl who just didn't want to go to sleep and would sure as heck let you know if you tried.

After over 48 hours with maybe 5 hours of sleep, none of it in more that 30min chunks, we decided it was way past time to start a routine with the girls for bedtime. I always thought that it would just be something that happened with them, especially with having to have them on a 3 hour feeding when they were just born. But boy was I wrong. We have truly paid for it.

Last night at about 9 o'clock we did tummy time with each of the girls. They are great at holding up their heads and turning them from side to side...but they don't like it at all and usually cry the whole time. Crying = good way to tire out little girls. After about 15min or so of tummy time for each of them we gave them a nice warm bath, washed their hair, and massaged them dry. Gave them a bottle, read them a story, and put them to bed.

I was expecting crying. Having to endure a very long 5min of screaming from both girls. Consoling them and then enduring another 5min of screaming. But, guess what? It didn't happen! There was no crying, no screaming, no fussing at all. Both girls went right to sleep actually. 45 min later I decided to go to sleep. Yeah, the whole "sleep when your baby is sleeping" thing...we actually listened to this time.

Both girls slept for over 3hours! And each time they woke up they went right back to sleep for another 3 hours. Hallelujah!!! Needless to say, after a great night of sleep, I feel great! I hope this routine helps get the girls to sleep at night. Even if every night can't be this amazing, I will take these when I can.

Woohoo, one happy mommy :O)

First game of the season

I know this post is very late, but I have not been able to find time to do anything other than sleep, eat, feed the girls, change their diapers, sooth them when upset, put them to bed, and so on and so on. It seems to be never ending these days. I know we will get into a routine soon, I just don't feel like there is enough time in the day any more.

But, that is not what I was going to blog about. This evening, while doing tummy time with Hannah and Hailey, I was reminded of my mom. Poor girls, Grandmother always tortures them with tummy time.

One of the first times they were being "tortured" was the same night as the first basketball game of the BE Tiger's 2011-2012 season, against Sedro Woolley. Unfortunately I was not able to make it to the game, for good reason, so we were listening to the game on the radio. The game was a killer. The score went back and forth most of the game. All the way down to the buzzer where a Sedro player hit a 3 pointer to tie the game. We went into over time. Not once. Not twice. But three times. Burlington ended up winning 87-75.

The point of this is not that Burlington won in triple overtime (although that is awesome and we were all very proud of Daddy for winning his first game.) The point is actually that with 3 seconds left of the 3rd overtime, Hannah had a very loud poop. The kind only a new born baby can have. Not out of the ordinary but both Grandmother and I look at each other and laugh a little. And then, the part I never expected especially from my mom, Grandmother gets this big smile on her face and says....

"Daddy, I was so excited you won your game I shit my pants!"

We laughed so hard we both cried. Even now, 7 games later, it still makes me laugh. I think this will be one of those moments that the two of us will never forget. I can't wait to tell the girls about their first experience listening to their Daddy coaching basketball for Burlington on the radio and how Grandmother made us cry laughing.

One of those stories that my mom will never live down and I will never forget.

Our miracles

Jennifer takes some absolutly amazing pictures! I am so thankful she likes taking pictures for us :O) These pictures are of both Hannah and Hailey. I absolutly love love love these pictures...

Our little Miss Hailey

Here are the pictures of Hailey at 11 days old taken by Jennifer...

Our little Hannah

At 11 days old, we had Jennifer (our favorite photographer) take pictures of the girls. It was a fun afternoon. And she took some amazing pictures! Here are a few of our little Hannah...

Tiger Basketball

December 2nd marked the first game Jake would coach as the BE Tiger Head Basketball coach. The past two weeks have been a great start to what will be an amazing Tiger season. After playing all of their big rivals (Sedro Woolley, Mount Vernon, and Anacortes) and beating all three of them, we decided it was time the girls went to their first basketball game.

We only went to the 2nd half, not knowing how they would handle all the loud noises with all the buzzers and whistles and what not. But the girls did great! They actually slept through most of it. Sleeping or not, I think it was a successful evening. Here are some pictures from the evening...

Our first family picture in our BE gear.
The Girls representing Daddy's numbers from when he played sports at North Central High School.

Jake enjoying a great Daddy 'n Hannah moment. This is going to be one of those moments that he will remember for the rest of his life!

Hannah and I with some of the girls in one of Jake's classes. They were so cute and so excited to see our twins.
Future baby sitters I think :O)

The back of Hannah's shirt with Daddy's number. Hailey's had 42, his other number.

Hailey was not really happy at this moment, but the game was over it was ok.

All in all it was a great outing. I can't wait to be able to take them to more of Jake's basketball games. And I hope the Tigers keep up the winning streak...5-0!

We joined the Parent Club

We have one little girl, Hailey, who has some tummy issues. The doctor thinks it is because she doesn't like the feeling she gets after eating food when her tummy is doing what it should. Nothing serious, it just feels funny to her. We give her some gas medicine to help her out a little and that seems to help her out a little.

It crossed my mind this afternoon, as I'm sending Jake a txt, that a lot of our txt messages have become about what little girl pooped. Hailey had a really really hard afternoon. Nothing made her tummy better. Except when either Grandmother or I were holding her upright.

So this evening, after 3 days of nothing, there it was. Not just a little but a whole explosion. We should have known it was going to be bad when it was going out the front. Needles to say, we had to take a bath after that.

And what is the first thing I do...txt Daddy and tell him that she was successful and is feeling much better. His response, "Yeah, was it a lot?" We txt back and forth a few times about the amount making us parents and joining the Parent Club. According to my sister-in-law, the next step is catching projectile vomit. Can't wait for the next step into the club!

Our village

I am so overwhelmed with all the support I am getting with the whole breast feeding. I never, in a million years, would think that most woman have issues with breast feeding.

I think my sister-in-law said it best when she said it has a lot to do with the fact that we just do see woman breast feeding in public. We don't see the struggles. All we see is the very rehearsed, totally covered, looking like the easiest thing in the world, process. It can sure make a first-timer feel overwhelmed and very frustrated. Take it from me (and apparently most woman out there.)

They were so right when they said it takes a village to raise a child. I have my little one-on-one village at my house with my husband and mother. But I never realized there are "villagers" out there that might never meet these little girls. And those villagers are just as supportive and as big a part of the journey as those that see the girls every day.

Thank you so much to my entire village. You are all very appreciated. Thank you for all the support and suggestions. You are all amazing and have a very special place in my heart!

Breast vs Bottle

From the time we started talking about having babies I knew I wanted to breastfeed rather than use bottled formula. I knew we would use bottles once in a while so Jake could feed our children. But I always thought it would be stored breast milk.

When Hannah and Hailey were born, their sucking reflex was not quite developed all the way. I guess, according to the nurses that helped us, the sucking is one of the last things to develop. Because of this, we had to supplement with formula on top of trying to breast feed. Both in a bottle and using a tube like thing while they sucked our finger.

We did have to limit the amount of time we tried to breastfeed as well. With the girls being so small, we didn't want them to burn extra calories trying to get food. So why wast their precious calories when they need all of them they can get?

I pumped at the hospital, and still do at home. But it doesn't seem to be enough and I am getting a little worried. I should have more of a supply by now, at least I would think. I am more than a little worried about it actually. With me probably not working much after my maternity leave from the bank we are not going to have a lot of extra money. And formula is extremely expensive.

The other problem with breastfeeding is that there isn't enough time in the day. You figure it takes about 30min for the girls to eat a meal. 30min times 2 = 1 hour. Then both of them need to be changed and usually a change of clothes. (Neither of our girls are very clean eaters.) So there is at least 30min for that. (We are now up to 1hour and 30min.) At this point, they are usually awake for 30-45min after a feeding. And that makes this process at least 2 hours. They have been waking hungry every 2 1/2 to 3 hours from start of the previous feeding. Now if you do the math...where is there time to do anything between the time they fall asleep and the first one is waking up ready to be fed?

It is starting to wear on me. I want to do what is best for these little girls. I want to give them every advantage I can. And I know breast milk is the way to do that right now. But...when?

The other problem at this point, they won't latch. Hannah has always had a hard time, and Hailey was only a little better at it. Once in a while we get a good one but that is very few and far between. I have even stopped trying to get them to latch over the last few days. It is rather frustrating to have a hungry child and not be able to get them what they need. It SEEMS easier to pump and just give them the breast milk that way. But like I said, it SEEMS easier. In a perfect world it might be but not right now. Not for this mommy and her little girls.

Well, the girls are awake again. Maybe we will try this whole nursing thing again. Any tips or suggestions I would love them.

~One frustrated Momma

Meeting Mommy's family

Hannah and Hailey got to meet my family soon after their entry into our lives. I do not remember this but thankfuly we have cameras to capture all the great things in our lives.

Hannah and her Uncle Stephen
Hannah and her Grandmother

Hailey and her Uncle Stephen

And below is Hannah and her Grandfather

I know we have more pictures of Hailey and my family. I will post them when I find them. We kind of have pictures all over the place on our computer.

I can't wait to be able to show the girls these pictures. What great memories we have made in the first few hours and days of our little girls' lives.

Before our c-section

All my amazing support (minus my dad who was taking the picture)

I was a little done with pictures right now.

My daddy and me :O)

Little brother being silly like always

My mommy and me :O)

I'm pretty sure this was the first picture taken. I was still ok with pictures at this point

Jake and I waiting to go meet our little girls!

My mommy and daddy :O)

Little brother Stephen...and a somewhat normal smile too :O) Oh, and the nurse I really liked, who helped me survive the surgery!


Alright, lets get this show on the road! Probably about 5pm waiting to go back. And less than 39 minuets before meeting Hannah, and 41 minuets before meeting Hailey.

Birth of our little miracles

Its been no secret that my blood pressure has been high over the last few weeks. And high might be an understatement. On Tuesday November 22nd I had a doctors appointment. It happened to be the first of all our prenatal appointments that Jake wasn't able to go to. And of course, luck would have it, that this would turn out to be the most important appointment.

My blood pressure was up, and way up this visit. I can't remember exactly what it was but if I recall correctly it was 160 something/115. It didn't even drop when I would lay down on my left side, and normally it did. They checked some other things and sent me home with an appointment for the next day, November 23rd at one o'clock, and strict instructions to do absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing as in actual bed rest. Only getting up to go to the bathroom and nothing else.

So I sent Jake a txt message while he was at work letting him know what was going on. I also told him that he HAD to be at the appointment the next day. Good thing it was the day before Thanksgiving and he only had a half day, basketball practice was going to have to be done by the assistant coaches. It was sooooo hard to stay in bed that night. Other then a headache I felt fine. Plus after a few hours I was already board. I have no idea how people do bed rest for more than a few days let alone weeks. But I did. Jake made dinner and the next day we went to the doctors.

Again my blood pressure was up. And again I don't recall the exact numbers but they were high. Along with everything else and it being a long weekend, the office was closed from Thursday until the following Monday, we decided it was best to deliver the Girls. Our doctor didn't want me having seizures and the doctor on call having to try to figure out what was going on. It was so much better for me to deliver them then rather then push it. So that was that. We were on our way to the hospital.

The "emergency" c-section was scheduled for 5:30pm on Wednesday November 23rd. We had about 45 min before we had to be at the hospital so we went home, made sure the cats had food, called our parents, and some friends, and away we went. To the hospital where we would enter a family of 2 and leave a family of 4. Never again to be the same, with our lives and hearts forever changed.

My parents were on their way to Burlington knowing it was a great possibility we would have to have the girls that day. We called them and told them just to meet them at the hospital. They actually beat us there by a minuet or two. We all walked into the hospital and up the elevator to Labor and Delivery together. It was such an amazing feeling to know that we had so much support with us. I'm glad they could be there.

I got all checked in (like it was a hotel or something) and ready to go. My parents and Jake were able to come in and visit me in our enormous room. I really wish we had gotten a picture of the whole room, it was big and the corner room. Now it was just time to wait until the doctor got to the hospital. (I have some pictures from when we were waiting for the doctor to get there, I will post them in a few days when I have some more energy, but more on that later.) He actually got there about 45 min early so we got to go back to the operating room at 5:15pm or so.

Above is a picture of Jake and I ready to go back to the operating room to meet our little girls! I think the scariest part was knowing that Jake wasn't going to be there in the room with me until everything was ready. He couldn't be there when I got the spinal block and that scared me. Good thing there were an amazing group of people there with me to help me.

Our nurse, and I can't remember her name right now, was awesome. When I started to cry and get upset because I was scared, she told me it was going to be ok. And not just the typical "Its going to be ok." Somehow it was different and I truly believed her. She said she had been through a c-section herself and knew what I was feeling. It helped to know that. But I made it though the worst part, my feet got warm and numb, they laid me down, and put up the famous blue curtain. The next thing I knew Jake was in there and we were ready to go.

Of course I didn't feel a thing, not even any pressure as they say. It was rather easy. I remember hearing Hannah cry for the first time. I can't even describe how happy that made me. She was healthy. Scored a 9 on the APGAR test even! Jake started to smile and laugh at this point. And then when we heard Hailey, oh man. That was it. I was the happiest woman in the world at that point. Both our girls, even though they were a little early, were healthy. Both scoring that wonderful 9 on the APGAR.

Jake lost it and started laughing even more. He was way beyond excited at that moment.

They brought over each little girl so we could see them and then took the girls and Jake to the warmers. Later Jake told me that he saw the placenta laying on the floor. Can we say gross? That is more than enough to gross someone out, let alone a guy. The next thing I knew Jake was back and was holding Hailey for me to see. I remember kissing her little cheek and wanting to be able to hold her soooo bad. He brought Hannah over next. And then all of them were off to the nursery for their first bath and so that mommy could get put back together. It was really hard laying there all by myself while Jake and the girls were in another room.

It seemed like it took forever to be stitched and stapled back together. During the process my stomach got upset from all the medication and I ended up vomiting a few times. Once while I was being rolled to my room even. It was not fun at all. Once we got back into the room, Jake visited me for a little bit. Even though I wanted him in the room with me, I wanted him with the girls even more. I would be ok and they needed him.

And before I knew it, all three of them were back in our room with me. Mommy, Daddy, Hannah and Hailey...finaly a family!

November 23rd, 2011

I would like to introduce the newest members of the Martyn family...

Hannah Elizabeth Martyn

Born: 5:39 pm 11/23/11

Weight: 5 pounds 6 ounces

Length: 18 inches

Brown hair and loves to people watch just like her mommy

Hailey Jane Martyn
Born: 5:41 pm 11/23/11
Weight: 5 pounds 11 ounces
Length: 19 inches

Blondish-brown hair and always active just like her daddy

Hannah and Hailey with their mommy for their first picture together

It has been one heck of a journey to get these two little girls. Even though this last week has been really challenging, we love them so very much and could not imagine our life without them.

Welcome to the family little ones.