Twin's birth story!

February 2nd 2016 I gave birth to two beautiful babies!! It was nothing short of magical and amazing. I can't believe it's already been 8 weeks! I'm such an awful story teller so I'm just going to hit the high points!

I found out the day before at our weekly doctors appointment that we would induce the next morning because we had been monitoring Baby A (Knox) closely for those last few weeks and his placenta was starting to break down and he wasn't growing at as fast of pace as Baby B (Eleanor). We got to the hospital at 6 am and they hooked me up pretty much right away and started the induction process. My dr tried to break my water for twin A at 9 am and was unable to so he came back at noon. I wasn't in any pain whatsoever until this point even though I was having steady contractions. Breaking my water was so uncomfortable and painful and after that the contractions got long and strong FAST!! I knew I wanted an epidural but for some reason i thought that the epidural would wear off if I got it too soon, I didn't know i would have a button to press and give myself more. So for 3 hours I was in agonizing pain from my contractions! When they got to be one minute apart and I didn't even have time to breathe between them, I was begging for the epidural. I think I buzzed the nurse at least six times and made my husband go look for her (whoops lol) the epidural was nothing I guess because I was so focused on my contractions and kept telling myself that huge needle was going to take away the pain. Once the epidural was in, everything was smooth sailing! Now we were just waiting for me to fully dilate so we could have the babies! I feel it happened pretty fast, before we knew it my doctor was in the room wanting me to do practice pushes and right after that Casey was getting dressed in the scrubs and they were wheeling me to the operating room. Since I was having twins it was mandatory to deliver in the OR incase it turned into an emergency c section. So unfortunately I could only have one person in the room so my photographer couldn't capture the actual birth. 

Now it was time for the birth. The moment I was so terrified of from the very beginning. If labor was that painful I couldn't imagine how painful birthing these two babies would be!!! But it was a breeze!!! Lol! I pushed a few good times and out came Knox Dane Corbin at 7:41 pm he was 5 pounds and 2 ounces 17.5 inches long kicking and screaming. Then he broke my water for Twin B and just 3 short minutes later at 7:44 pm came Eleanor Elizabeth Corbin, 7 pounds 8 ounces 17.5 inches long. Both healthy and beautiful!! 

Video by Samantha Roberts Photography 

29 weeks plus IVF pictures

How far along: 29 weeks

Size of babies: acorn squash!

Babies' size and weight: 17 inches and almost 3 lbs each

My total weight gain: 30 whole lbs! Crazy!!!

Babies' development: buds for their permenant teeth are forming 

Stretch marks: still clear on my tummy but have gotten some tiny ones on my thighs. 

Wedding Ring: Same thing. Band doesn't fit, ring still fits.

Belly Button: Not an outtie yet, just flat 

Maternity clothes: I've had to buy a little bit more but still keeping it at a minimum. I just rotate the few outfits I have

Gender: GIRL & BOY 

Movement: They are so active. It's actually starting to get painful because their feet are in my ribs!

Sleep: no such thing as a full nights sleep anymore. I get hot flashes and have to readjust myself to get comfortable about 3-4 times a night

What I miss: besides being my normal size and not having constant back and rib pain? Nothing..... Hahaha!!! 

Food cravings: I've started craving more healthy meals which is a miracle! I always was so conscious about what I ate before pregnancy, hopefully this is a sign that I'm getting back to my normal habits.

Symptoms: back pain & rib pain.

Nursery: it's coming along soooo perfectly!! I will do a nursery post when it's all finished! Just have a few more things to do.

Casey is: AMAZING!!! He is so attentive and so excited. He is getting in daddy mode for sure!!

What I'm looking forward to: Christmas and my baby shower the day after Christmas! Oh and I love that my appointments are every 2 weeks now so I don't have to wait a whole month between!

Best moments: so many!! passing the 3 HR glucose test after having high blood sugar when I took the 1 hour one. I was so relieved I don't have gestational diabetes! Our 4D sonogram! Also having my husband home for a couple weeks, he put together the nursery furniture and we've just had a really good time. I'm so sad he has to leave soon.

I feel so incredibly blessed with these two already! Can you believe that picture is them only 5 days into their existence on the day of our embryo transfer?! After the roller coaster that is called IVF, those were our two little perfect embryos, we had no clue if it would even work. I never let infertility get the best of me, and I give the credit for that to my husband for being my rock but I will admit that at times I just couldn't understand WHY?! It blew my mind that something that is so easy for some people, was so hard for me. That is why I love this quote: 

"If you could only see the size of blessing coming, you would understand the magnitude of the battle you're fighting."

It's so true!! God had the most perfect plan for us, better than anything we could have planned for ourselves.

So in honor of flashback Friday & being a week into my third trimester, here are a few pictures from my IVF journey. I took these with full intent to talk about it when it was all said and done... Not realizing how hard it would be. I thought once I was pregnant, the pain of infertility would just disappear but I was 1000000% wrong! My heart still aches for those who feel like they will never see a positive test, I know that feeling so well but remember the only way you can let it beat you is giving up. Xoxo

6 months preggers!!!!

(I have made this dress my "official baby bump dress" because it shows it most acuratly.) 

How far along: 24 weeks

Size of babies: ears of corn!

Babies' size and weight: 8.5 inches & 1 1/2 lbs 

My total weight gain: 24.8 lbs! Yay!! I met the goal of 24 lbs by 24 weeks which means my chances of pre-term labor have gone down a ton! I feel so huge but mostly because I still refuse to buy legit maternity clothes besides the jeans and leggings I had to have. But my tops are just mostly big flowy tunic-type shirts that I had before pregnancy so they're not very flattering! its just hard to spend money on clothes that I know I'll only get a few months use of! 

Babies' development: they can hear everything now and their little beautiful faces are almost fully formed.

Stretch marks: still clear... For now! 

Wedding Ring: Same thing. Band fits but it's hard to take off so I'm not wearing it anymore. It was right to begin with because it was a half size smaller but my diamond ring fits just fine still.

Belly Button: In still, well it's starting to flatten out. 

Maternity clothes: Haven't bought anymore just trying to work with what I've got for as long as I can.

Gender: GIRL & BOY 

Movement: Constantly! I can feel everything from kicks, punches, rolls and turns. I am so so so in love!!!!

Sleep: my sleep schedule is super messed up but mostly because my husband is in Asia so I set alarms to FaceTime him when he gets off work.

What I miss: I do miss wearing normal clothes and not being so heavy!! But it's all worth it for my babies I love the fact that my body is their home and where they are growing and getting prepared to enter the world and I know 100% I will miss having them this close. Everything they need, my body supplies it for them and that is a beautiful thing! I am just ready to hold & kiss them already! Not complaining though I have been super blessed with an easy pregnancy! 

Food cravings: spicy anything!!! 

Symptoms: nothing besides the kicks and movement. Oh and the back and rib aches.

Nursery: the nursery is still a hot mess but we have the cribs & some wall decor... and a wonderful/ talented little lady is coming to paint next month!! I am so excited to have it all put together!

Casey is: he loves touching my belly and feeling them kick, and he's been so helpful with everything that needs to be done! Love that man with all I am I couldn't have asked for a better person to be parents with!!!

What I'm looking forward to: thanksgiving!!! One of my favorite holidays! And our 3D/ 4D sonogram in a few weeks!!

Best moments: the kicks and being able to see my tummy move when I'm laying down!

21 weeks

How far along: 21 weeks

Size of babies: large bananas

Babies' size and weight: 7 inches and about 11 ounces

My total weight gain: 18 lbs as of last Monday so now probably closer to 20!! Twin pregnancy weight gain is no joke! I need to gain 24 lbs by 24 weeks to cut my chances of preterm labor! I am certainly on the right track! Lol.

Babies' development: this week they are able to taste what I am eating! So cool!!

Stretch marks: None yet! 

Wedding Ring: My wedding band fits, but is difficult to take off so I don't wear it anymore. My big ring still fits just fine since it's a 5 1/2 and my band is size 5 

Belly Button: In still. 

Maternity clothes: I finally got some maternity jeans that I love and my mom got me two pair of leggings that go over the belly and they are heaven! Trying to just work with what I have for as long as I can.

Gender: handsome baby boy and beautiful baby girl.

Movement: I just started feeling light movement because of where my placentas are but holy moly they move like crazy!! Since we have twins and an IVF pregnancy, we get sonograms often and that's the first thing the dr says every time is how they are just wiggle worms!! baby girl is constantly on my bladder and I can definitely tell!

Sleep: now that my allergies are AWFUL it's so hard to sleep at night, When I lay down, I can't breathe through my nose! But last night rubbing coconut oil with a few drops of peppermint essential oil on my chest seemed to help a lot! My mom also got me a "snoogle" which is a body pillow that is shaped perfectly for the way I sleep, it's been such a good help for getting comfortable! 

What I miss: only thing I can say I miss is fitting into my normal clothes, like I said I don't want to spend much money on maternity clothes so I'm extremely limited in my closet! It wouldn't be a problem at all if I could stay in comfy clothes all day but I have to dress professionally for work everyday, so it's pretty uncomfortable! Other than that not a thing! 

Food cravings: Pizza!!! Haha! 

Symptoms: nothing really. Haha I am lucky with this pregnancy. I feel pretty normal besides the fact that I get tired easier and my my hips, knees and ankles are definitely feeling the weight so they start to ache if I'm up for too long.  

Nursery: Still just a blank room I have a bunch of baby stuff in there just haven't put anything together. We will do that next time Casey is home in December.

Casey is: so so so excited. He talks non stop about his babies. I can't wait for him to be able to feel them kicking.

What I'm looking forward to: the holidays, maternity pictures and the baby shower in December! Casey will be here for that and Christmas so I'm extremely excited!! Since he will be here, we're having a fun couples shower! 

Best moments: feeling my babies move and shopping for them!! 

19 week bumpdate

How far along: 19 weeks

Size of babies: tomatoes 

My total weight gain: not sure I go to the dr Friday and will find out

Baby's development: babies are covered in their vernix caseosa

Stretch marks: None yet.

Maternity clothes: can't wear jeans and haven't bought any maternity jeans yet. So I wear nothing but dresses and leggings

Gender: Baby A is a BOY!!!! and baby B is a GIRL!!!

Movement: I can feel movement now! I wouldn't say "kicks" but movement. They wiggle soooo much! They wouldn't sit still for their anatomy ultrasound.

Sleep: sleeping fine now, having some very weird and crazy dreams. My husband acually had to wake me up from a real nightmare last night.

What I miss: nothing still! Enjoying every minute

Food cravings: everything! I'm hungry all the time! But I don't really have any specific cravings.

Symptoms: still getting hot at night so I have to keep our house very cold. But other than that, nothing. 

Casey is: so excited to be having a boy and a girl! It's exactly what we both wanted but just really didn't think it would happen! He brags to everyone he talks to about becoming a daddy!! He's the sweetest daddy to be still, we have had so much fun buying clothes for them and picking out nursery furniture.

What I'm looking forward to: We've started ordering our nursery furniture so I'm really excited to start getting it all set up! 

Best moments: I would have to say our gender sonogram. We found out two weeks before everyone else and it was honestly such a special moment! 

bumpdate

How far along: 16 weeks

Size of babies: avocados

My total weight gain: 8 lbs 

Baby's development: babies are practicing breathing, sucking and swallowing. All the things they'll need to survive outside the womb. They are also moving... A LOT

Stretch marks: None.

Maternity clothes: I need to buy some! The very few I've bought are winter clothes and I officially don't fit in anything but dresses! 

Gender: Gender reveal party coming up October 1st!!  

Movement: I felt baby flutters for the first time last Saturday but haven't since. They sure were moving a lot during their sonogram, just still can't feel it.

Sleep: I've been sleeping a lot better now! All through the night, better enjoy it now! 

What I miss: nothing at all! I am enjoying every single second of this pregnancy.

Food cravings: still craving comfort food! And bbq!

Symptoms: I have my energy back so pretty much have no symptoms except the occasional hot flash at night &I'm  starving 24/7. 

Casey is: still doing great at taking care of this momma to be. He says the sweetest things all the time about our babies & he's anxious to find out the genders. He says he will be happy no matter what, just wants healthy babies! Same here!

What I'm looking forward to: our gender sonogram and of course our party! Also just to feel some baby kicks 

Best moments: nothing too exciting has happened since my last update but the best moments are honestly every moment. I am embracing every little detail, my body is doing an amazing thing. I love these little ones so much already!