Delivery Room Video

Jeff was able to shoot a few seconds of video after delivery before the nurses told him he was not allowed to video!

Together at Last!

We are happy to announce that Camdyn came home to us on Thursday! It has been quite a juggling act, even with 4 adults here (my dad came in on Friday), but we are doing great. Jeff and I have managed to work out a bit of an assembly line for middle of the night feedings and diaper changes, and although we are exhausted from waking up every 3 hours, we are surviving! Big Brother Cole is adjusting great, and really doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to his sisters yet.

On Friday, they visited the pediatrician and got a great report! Camdyn was already over her birth weight at 4 lbs, 1 oz and Delainey was 5 lbs, 5 oz.

As promised, here are some photos of the girls' first week of life and their transition from the hospital to home.

Camdyn (Left) Delainey (Right)

Delainey (left) Camdyn (Right)

Big Brother Cole comes to visit the hospital

Delainey comes home 9/7/10 Camdyn comes home 9/9/10

Learning to Multi-Task! Camdyn (left) and Delainey (right)

Delainey (left) Camdyn (right)

Welcome to the World Delainey and Camdyn!!!

We are proud to announce the arrival of our precious little girls! Delainey Elizabeth was born on August 31, 2010 at 5:56 p.m. weighing 5 lbs, 6 oz and 17.5 inches long. Her sister Camdyn Rose joined her just one minute later weighing 4 lbs, 0 oz and 17.25 inches long.

The girls are doing well, despite being preemies at 35 weeks and 5 days. Delainey spent exactly one week in the NICU, and came home to meet her brother on Tuesday, Sept 7. Camdyn is still in the NICU, trying to gain enough weight so that she can join her family at home. We can't wait to have our entire family together!

Here are the events leading up to their arrival:

On August 31, I went in for my weekly check-up and ultrasound with my doctor at 10:30 a.m. I have been seeing both my primary OB and a maternal fetal specialist for most of my pregnancy, and had ultrasounds almost weekly. At my 20 week appointment, it was discovered that Camdyn had a 2 vessel cord (babies should have 3 vessel cords), so her growth was monitored very carefully. My OB was constantly concerned about her lack of growth, and she warned me that there was a very good chance that the twins would have to be induced early in order to give Camdyn the best chance to thrive. Fortunately, every time I visited the maternal fetal specialist, she'd had a growth spurt which kept her just above the minimum. However, at my appointment on Tuesday, Camdyn had finally dropped below the 10th percentile for growth, which was a sign that her cord/placenta were not providing enough nourishment for her to develop any further. My doctor had a difficult decision to make: if she induced the girls, Delainey would be cheated out of a few more critical days/weeks of development. If she did not induce them, however, Camdyn could be in danger. My doctor sent for the maternal fetal specialist so they could consult on the matter.

In the meantime, my doctor asked how I'd been feeling. I mentioned that I was having some mild contractions from time to time, but I was sure they were Braxton Hicks contractions and nothing more. I was uncomfortable, but I had felt that way for months! She decided to go ahead and do an exam. She started laughing and shaking her head at me and said, "So, you feel only a LITTLE uncomfortable? Just a few MILD contractions? Well, you are 5 centimeters dilated and you are clearly in LABOR!" She did not have to make a decision after all...the girls were coming that day no matter what!!!

I quickly called Jeff at work while the nurse wheeled me over to Labor & Delivery. By the time I got settled in, it was about 12:30 p.m. I began to feel the contractions more regularly, but they still were not painful. I'd been having pre-term labor since week 30, and I had only stopped taking my medication 3 days prior. My doctor came in around 3:30 to break my water and by this time, I was at 6 cm. Shortly after that, I began to feel the contractions in my back and I could tell things were really speeding up. I called for the nurse and told her to order my epidural quickly, because I knew this labor was going to go FAST! Fortunately, the anesthesiologist arrived in minutes, and Jeff and I were able to take naps and relax. At 5:45, the nurse said I was ready!! They wheeled me up to the O.R. (they deliver all twins in the O.R. just in case an emergency C-Section is necessary). Before I even knew what was going on, the doctor was telling me to push, and with one push, Delainey was out!!! One minute later, my doctor delivered Camdyn, who was breech, by pulling her out feet-first! Everything happened so fast, I think I was completely in shock!

I barely got to see the girls at all before they were whisked off to the NICU. It was about 2 hours later before we were able to go down and visit them, and find out more about their condition. Both girls were on oxygen for a few hours, but their lungs were fully developed and they were breathing on their own! Seeing them for the first time was really surreal...they were so tiny and fragile, yet I couldn't believe that BOTH of them had actually been in my body just a few hours ago!

Most shocking of all was that they have a full head of dark hair!!! Delainey has a little more hair than Camdyn, which makes it easy to tell them apart. As each day passes, however, their individual features become more apparent. We still don't have the results of whether they are fraternal or identical, but I'm pretty sure they are fraternal. My mom, however, is convinced that the only reason they look different is because Delainey's face is more filled out than Camdyn's. They definitely do look alike, though, and they both look like their big brother did as a newborn (except for the hair!).

When my doctor visited me the next day, she explained to me that Camdyn's placenta was "no good." It was half the size of her sister's and extremely fibrous. She told me that many babies would not have survived, and it was amazing that she made it up to 4 lbs. Camdyn is already proving to be our little fighter!

The past week has been extremely chaotic. After weeks of being on bedrest at home and then being in the hospital for 2 days, Cole became very clingy and upset whenever I left his sight. This makes it very difficult to leave home and go visit the girls in the hospital. But of course, when I am at home, I feel guilty that I am not with the babies. Now that Delainey is home and Camdyn is not, the situation is even more complicated! Cole is doing pretty well with his new sister being home. He is very interested in her, yet he does get jealous when we are holding her. I have been doing my best to spend quality time with Cole in between trips to the hospital to visit Camdyn and drop off breast milk several times a day, feed Delainey at home in between, and make sure to pump at least every 3 hours! It has been exhausting! Fortunately, Delainey has been a VERY easy baby so far!

In the NICU, each day was a huge milestone! They went from being on feeding tubes, to alternating every other feeding with a bottle, and then being completely off the tubes! Delainey has even started breastfeeding now that she is getting stronger. Camdyn does great with a bottle and is able to eat almost as much as her "big" sister. They were moved out of their warming isolettes and managed to maintain/regulate their own body temperature in an open crib. A nurse told me that Camdyn is the smallest baby she has ever seen that was able to be in an open crib!

In order to bring Camdyn home, we have got to get her to put on weight!!! She dropped down to 3 lbs 11 oz after birth, but was steadily gaining her weight back until 2 days ago. Even though she is eating very well, she has started to lose weight again. Her doctor has decided to add fortifier to her milk in order to add extra calories. Hopefully that will do the trick! Other than her weight, she is completely healthy!

Well, it seems that it is time to feed Delainey yet again! I promise to do a separate post of just photos, since I don't have time to upload more tonight. I wanted to put all these details out there since I haven't had time to return many phone calls and emails, but I wanted everyone to know how much we appreciate your well-wishes and prayers for our girls! Hopefully I will be updating with the good news that Camdyn is coming home very soon!!!

Lots of love,

Sarah