Jonas on His Baby Brothers

• Everyday several times a day Jonas feels the need to get out of the house which he expresses by repeating "car" over and over again. I think sometimes he feels he needs a bit of a break from the babies. Yesterday as he and Matt pulled out of the driveway he said "Bye babies" in a cheerful little voice. 
• He likes to tickle the babies' ears and to stick soothers in their mouths.
• Jonas has a lot of pent-up feelings he can't express which manifest themselves in epic tantrums, usually about silly things and being extra-sensitive. It doesn't take a lot for him to dissolve into tears lately poor little guy.
• The last two days he loves to hold the babies, Today I showed him the babies can hold onto his pointer finger and he stared fascinated for a few minutes with the smallest little smile on his face as Harland clutched his finger.
• Whenever Matt or I put one baby in the car Jonas shouts out 'notherone to indicate we're missing a baby.
• He seems to be able to tell Rhett and Harland apart now or at least he gets them right most of the time.
• Today he took Rhett's hand and said "Baby one" in a cute little voice, then he held out his own hand and said "Big, big one" in a deep, gruff voice. 
• Voluntarily brings his brothers cars, trucks and trains when they cry or fuss.

The Delivery Story

Three days ago Rhett and Harland turned a week old and I haven't hardly posted anything about those two darling boys! I'll start with the delivery and start posting more about the babies once I download some photos and find some time.

So nine days ago I was in a hospital delivering those boys. I was induced at 7 a.m. and by 11:00 I was in that zone, where my head gets clear and focused and my body shakes uncontrollably as I steel myself for what's ahead. By 12:00 p.m. I really needed to start pushing and five minutes later when the doctor came up I got started just as Mom came into the delivery room. Matt got right in the trenches holding one my legs and from there my delivery was a short and intense sprint compared to the hour fifteen minute marathon I had of pushing Jonas out. Ten minutes of hard pushing without hardly any respite and I felt Rhett slide out. He was briefly held up for me to see before his team of nurses whisked him to the back of the room.

Of course the relief was extremely short-lived. There was another baby to deliver. Harland's birth is really a blur. My OB GYN didn't keep me informed of anything during my delivery so I had no idea that Harland had done a 180 turn once Rhett had come out so that he was in a footling breech position. The birth would have been an automatic c-section position in most situations but my OB GYN proved her delivery room super star status here (the only instance throughout my entire pregnancy/delivery where she shone, but also the most critical situation). My doctor without a word of warning reached up and pulled Harland down by the feet and was extremely insistent I push as hard as I could without any stopping for the next five minutes. Rhett's birth was painful but Harland's birth was extremely painful. If I hadn't had a walking epidural I don't know how I could borne that pain. I don't know exactly what noise I made as I delivered Harland but I suspect it was extremely loud, savage and unladylike.

Then the next three hours in the delivery room were spent monitoring the babies and keeping an eye on my bleeding. I always lose a lot of blood after delivery and this time I was amazed as I surveyed the delivery room. Blood was sprayed across the monitors, table, walls and floor. It looked like something out of a horror movie. The babies had low blood sugar and needed to be bottle-fed right away but otherwise they were healthy. Rhett was 5 pounds 10 ounces and 19.3 inches long. Harland was 6 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long. After I had Jonas I remember feeling sort of bewildered when a full-grown angry screaming baby was placed across my stomach but this time I felt more in touch with my motherly side (I've felt a hundred times more relaxed this second time) as I instinctively snuggled those little bodies against mine and marvelled at my babies one by one. They were as different and distinctive as could be! Finally we could all be moved to the maternity wing where we spent the next three days.

At the hospital Harland had problems feeding. He spent two out of every three hours getting tired out trying to suck enough milk from a bottle. And the nurses' varying prognosis's of him "having a lazy suck", "needing practice" and "not being very hungry" made me furious. There couldn't be a more patient and diligent baby than Harland! He tried so hard to eat and stayed contented when most babies would have been screaming in frustration. Finally a paediatrician came to look at him instead of just having phone conversations with the nurses. Within two minutes, he discovered a cleft palate, in the shape of a hole, at the back of Harland's mouth. Harland had almost no suction because there was a gap in the roof of his mouth! Since then we have had a special double-valved bottle to feed him and he has been gaining weight back steadily.  On Wednesday we have an appointment with Cleft Palate Clinic in Calgary so specialists can decide the best way to close the cleft palate and so within six months it will be as though he never had a cleft palate at all. Such a blessing!

What Jonas Did Without His Parents

He pretty much had the most fun time ever.

My Mom and Dad came up Wednesday night and I was super nervous leaving Jonas early Thursday morning because I thought there would be a meltdown when he saw Matt and I leaving for the hospital.

Grandma took him downstairs to see "papa" and he never missed us a moment since (though he did have Dad come home every night. One night Matty said Jonas knelt on the back on his legs during prayer and just hugged onto his back and he got to see me in the hospital everyday where he would snuggle in bed next to me while we shared a treat). 

Jonas got to play outside for three hours straight every morning, including riding the tractor Grandma and Grandpa bought!

Jonas was happy when he came home from church on Sunday to find the babies had come home from the hospital! He has been adapting better than I could have hoped. Most of the time he goes about his day like normal but he likes to come see and spend some time with the babies every so often.

He is going to be such a great big brother!

Grandma has already taught him the art of using the diaper genie so he has been eagerly disposing of the baby diapers!

Rhett & Harland

Family of 5

Harland Neil and Rhett Roy with Grandpas Neil and Roy

Harland gazing at Mommy

Rhett Roy Harker - 5 pounds 10 ounces - Born 12:15 PM

Harland Neil Harker - 6 pounds 5 ounces - Born 12:20 PM

Best buds

Now that's a tummy!

That's what I look like today at 37 weeks with twins!

9 weeks ago I was standing on a scale while a nurse laughed at the dumbfounded look on my face. 

I weighed the same at that 28 week appointment I did at my 40 week appointment with Jonas.

8 weeks ago I was laughing uncontrollably as an ultrasound technician informed me she was looking at two babies. She calmly told me "Please marm, I know this must be a bit of a shock, but I can't scan your babies if your stomach keeps moving up and down". To which I immaturely responded by trying to stifle an even stronger desire to laugh with intermittent snorts.

This pregnancy has been a roller coaster. It has been far more challenging than my pregnancy with Jonas but I have been so richly blessed through it. Last night as I was sitting in the tub, watching the tennis match as one side of my stomach would move and then the other alternately in response to each other I couldn't stop thinking about the two strong healthy boys I can't wait to hold tomorrow!

Baby Day!

Baby day is scheduled for this Thursday, April 19. I'm going into the hospital at 6:30 am to get induced. The babies will be 37 weeks and likely a combined weight of 13 pounds by then. They'll both be healthy birthing weights with fully matured lungs which is such a blessing!

I was initially against the idea of being induced but with twins I think it's for the best. I can get an epidural in case of fishing for Baby B or an emergency C-section, the babies can be carefully monitored throughout, and Matt and I and our family members can be prepared to meet Rhett and Harland that day!

Hooray!

Knowing I am going to be bringing home two little bundles this week gives me the energy I need to stock the fridge, change the sheets, get my hair trimmed and give the house a real good clean!

Channeling my Calmer Patient Self

Yesterday I had false labor again. It felt really painful and intense but irregular so I debated whether it was the real thing. In the end I decided to go into the hospital since my doctor said I should have gone in last time I had false labor just in case and since I had an afternoon appointment at the hospital yesterday anyway I thought I could sneak in for my non-stress test early.

I dropped Jonas off at Aunt Karen's, picked up Matt and drove to the hospital. A few hours later after my cervix had been checked a couple times and my appointment had been finished a couple hours early. The babies as usual monitored beautifully (the ultrasound showed with little doubt that Rhett has that funny upper lip that pokes out like Jonas, my Dad, and I) and my cervix was declared thin but not dilated.

Apparently the hospital had been trying to call me that morning anyway to see if I could come in early so I didn't inconvenience the hospital staff but I felt really stupid anyway. Karen had been watching Jonas while Eva was sick and Matt had taken the day off of work.

Now that my worst fear of being sent home from the hospital with false labor has been realized I feel more relaxed and somehow more mentally prepared for when I do go into labor like it was a rehearsal. The babies will come when they are ready. Next time I get contractions, I'll patiently time them. And if this pregnancy lasts until 37.5-38 weeks getting an induction might be just as well as it will ensure that I get an epidural.

Right now I wouldn't be surprised if I make it to 37 weeks or so because let's be real, my torso is the stretch limo of torsos. My babies get a roomy ride which means they are content to stay put for longer. So I'm going to stop complaining and just be grateful I have more time to prepare. Today and tomorrow that means yard work, gardening, and celebrating Matt's 30th birthday.

Lesson Learned

Matty sent this out in an email to family today and I thought I would post it here so hopefully everyone who reads it learns from our experience and gets a carbon monoxide detector just in case!


We had an eventful evening last night. At about 11:30 our carbon monoxide alarm started going off. We got out of the house, I called 911, and the fire department came about 10 minutes later.  They came in the house with their monitors and immediately found high levels of carbon monoxide.  They called atco gas to come check it out since they have more accurate monitors and they can detect other things in the air as well. The firemen suited up with air tanks and looked around the house but could find no cause.  The Atco gas guy came and he found out that it was the hot water heater.  When he put his monitor right by the hot water heater his monitor went to EEEEE which means greater than 1000 ppm carbon monoxide. The rest of the house was reading about 70 ppm when the fire department got there, the Atco guy said about 25 - 75 ppm is when you should evacuate. His opinion is that the hot water heater vent needs to be fixed and maybe the baffles inside the heater are plugged.  We turned the hot water heater off opened all the windows and the readings fell to 1 ppm which is normal.  We all got back in bed at 1:00. We are very thankful the previous home owners had installed a carbon monoxide alarm. If any of you don’t have one installed it would be a great idea! You can get ones that just plug right into any outlet.


Another lesson: don't ever have a non-professional install your hot water heater. We talked to the previous owner today and he'd had a friend do it. It took a few years for the problems from a less than perfect installation to show up but they did!

Slow Curtain, The End

I'm thirty-five and a half weeks today which means the longest I will be pregnant for is two more weeks. For most of this last trimester I've felt like I've been living in someone else's body.

My body is unrecognizable to me now. It's even more disheartening to think on what it will look like after the babies. Like a deflated air balloon I imagine. I am grateful for a sturdy, strong body to house my two active little boys (who weigh eleven pounds combined) but it's hard to be positive about the way I look when I can barely find a top and bottom to cover my stomach. And when I feel the eyes of strangers staring at my enormous girth, probably thinking as a stranger unkindly expressed aloud the other day "You poor dear!"

My body feels weary and heavy. When I move it's with the slow, ponderous steps of an elephant. And in the night I can barely roll myself out of bed. A few days ago I woke up on Jonas bed at 9:30 in the morning with no recollection of either having fallen asleep an hour before or of a barrel full of monkeys climbing into my jungle of hair.

When will I stop feeling worn out? Not after I deliver two newborns I imagine.

Please, please, please don't anyone ever utter that abominable phrase "2-for-1" within my hearing.

Mind Games

Well I said it over and over again before I found out I was pregnant with twins and I still feel the same. This pregnancy feels so completely different from my last one.

Particularly now that my body feels like it is preparing for labor. Pregnant with Jonas I got a few feeble Braxton-Hicks and at my last doctor appointment on his due date my doctor told me there was no way my body would go into labor on its own before the scheduled induction. There was zero dilation and no indications it was getting ready for labor.

But my body did go into labor two days before I was supposed to be induced. Fast and furious labor that progressed so quickly I didn't have any time to worry, just to deal with what was happening at that moment.

This time my body seems to diligently be following a labor training program. I've had a ton of Braxton Hicks in the last week and last night I felt the babies drop (no more Harland curling his toes under my rib cage). Then after a day of almost steady Braxton-Hicks contractions, last night my body went into prodromal (or false) labor which left Matt and I uneasily tossing and turning in bed for a couple hours. The contractions reminded me so much of my early labor with Jonas I had a weird recollection of the smell of the new carpet in our last house.

It's so confusing to me! On the one hand the hospital wants me to go in at the first signs of labor and on the other hand it goes completely against my nature to go into the hospital until I've had positive signs of advanced labor like bleeding or contractions too painful to speak through. But by that point last time I was 5 cm dilated and only another hour away from being borderline too far along for an epidural.

I just really hope I'm going to be able to recognize the right time to go into the hospital. The websites I've been looking at say that false labor could indicate that active labor is just hours away or several days. Not helpful. But last night did convince me that going out to the farm this weekend for my Dad's 50 birthday and Easter is probably not wise (Matt gets super stressed just thinking about me going into labor out there). Being an hour and a half away from the babies "birthing party" of 10-12 specialists or at the very least one OBGYN seems like a recipe for a scary delivery if anything abnormal happens so I guess we're officially homebound.