The boys have hit their one-month birthday this past weekend! Although some days have felt like an eternity long, overall it has gone by so fast! Here’s some pics my friend Jenn took on their birthday-enjoy!

The boys will be 3 weeks tomorrow and the expression “It takes a village to raise a child” is so true and -boy– has the village come out for our sons! Tim and I are couldn’t have made it without all the help! Thank you guys so much. Here’s a bunch of pics of all their visitors!

Each day with the babies I feel a little more confident…a little. The boys are going through about 27-28 diapers a day, they nurse about 12 times a day, and they’re up a whopping 2 hours at the most (usually at night-go figure). That is just a big ole’ recipe for a meltdown or two a day and -boy oh boy- did I go there. I was on a 28 hour no sleep stretch and the boys were singing me a choir of tears. I looked in the mirror and saw my frizzed-haven’t shampooed in far too long hair, and my teenager acne coming back with a vengeance, the sweatpants I’d been wearing for at least 3 days-and freaked. I told Tim it was HIS TURN ( even though he had been helping me all night long). I spent the rest of the day in tears over how I couldn’t do this and then!

My best friend was chatting with me online and she said “Friend, give the boys to Tim, go in the other room, and GET SOME SLEEP! Give them formula if you must, but you HAVE to get some sleep to care for them.” Although she wasn’t the first to give that advice, I finally heard someone. And wow. I slept from 10 to 4! 6 hours! and the best part is the boys only woke up once in that time period, so Tim got to sleep a lot too.

Today is a new day! I can do this with sleep, so now I am making a schedule to make sure I get at least 4 straight hours each night. I think that will make this all bareable.

Ok now for the fun part-Here’s some pics of the boys and their new tummy time mat!

Ok well this parenting business is much much harder than I ever imagined. My husband has saved the day by taking a night shift with my pumped milk which is how I’ve even made it to the computer today. Everyone keeps reassuring me that it will get better and I’m hanging on to those words. Here’s a few pics highlighting the boys second week of life.

Here’s a slideshow of the boys first week.

They also went to the doctor for the first time. Both have a bit of jaundice and will need to keep sun bathing with mama in the mornings. Logan’s heart murmur is already gone and they are still the same weights and heights. We go on Thursday to check their weights and jaunice.

I had my 36 week OB appointment and got news from the doc that since baby Gavin was breech that we need to schedule my C-section. He told me it was highly unlikely for the baby to turn at this point, but if he did, I could have a vaginal birth. I was completely dreading the idea of a C-section, but knew that I didn’t have a choice and was putting my big girl pants on for my babies. So I went online and researched every which way to turn a breech baby: I did handstands in the pool, stood on my head for 10 minutes 3x a day, stuck a flashlight to the belly, put ice on the top of my upper right rib, took several long walks to get them moving, and even “meditated” them down. I asked everyone I knew and even people I didn’t know to pray for the big flip…

On Monday night we went to the hospital for our last Non-Stress Test. (A test where they monitor the babies’ heart rates.) I told the nurse, before I even got in the room, that I was so excited to find out what position baby Gavin was. I had heard hiccups in my lower hip area the night before and had a sneaking suspicion that he was upside down.  She turned and said, “Not to be a kill joy, but twins do not flip around in the 37^th week.” She gooed me up and there he was-thump thump thump-down exactly where I predicted. I did it-God did it-We did it! I was so happy.

I knew that if my little tyke could turn in less than a week, he could do it again, so I more or less demanded that they admit me and induce. She called my doctor to see what he thought and his response was, “Well I guess there’s no convincing her now.”

I was admitted and so stoked to get the process going, but learned that I wouldn’t be able to be induced that night because my doctor wanted to be around when they give the Pitocin. So now I had to wait a whole other day to get the process started. I sent Tim home to get all the stuff ready for our hospital stay. The nurse put me on fluids and was also put on continuous heart monitoring of the babies. They put these little round heart monitors on your belly around where the babies’ hearts are, and, my God, was that horrendous! I basically had to stay completely still the entire night to keep the monitors on the babies hearts. We had an awful nurse and, I’m sorry, I was measuring 12 months pregnant and had to move occasionally.

The next day we woke up and were told we had to get an official ultrasound done to verify that Gavin had turned. It felt like it took years, but after only a few more hours of waiting, we got the go ahead for induction time.

Everything was all setup at about 2pm. Because the Pitocin is famous for decreasing the babies’ heart rates, I was put back on the God forsaken heart monitors. I was told it was crucial that I try and stay as still as possible. I couldn’t sit up, adjust my position, or scratch my nose or else I would have a team of nurses trying to locate heart rates for, no exaggeration, at least an hour! That part was absolute hell!

My mom, Tim’s sister, and of course, Tim were all there as my cheerleaders. I felt pumped-ready to do this thing! The contractions came and went for a few hours and I kept comparing my contractions to my appendectomy. I remember specifically saying, “Oh I can totally handle this type of pain….” And I swear, as soon as that was off the lips, the real labor came with a vengeance. I’m not sure about the exact time, but the nurse checked me around then-4 cm! I had only been doing this for a small bit of time and 4cm was almost half way. I so had this.

The labor kept progressing and It went quickly from a 6 on my pain scale to “what the hell do numbers have to do with this?!? This junk hurts!” Tim’s sister was my very impromptu labor coach. She has never been interested in having her own children and all together isn’t very “kidsy,” but here she was breathing with me taking the contractions on as if they were her own. My mom was right beside me, telling me over and over that she wishes she could take the pain away. And poor, poor Tim. He just couldn’t help but cry for me. I never took Lamaze class because the hospital charged $100.00 for it, and I remember thinking how stupid I was to not shell over 100.00 for the most important breathing lessons of my life.

Somewhere in between my doctor came in and broke my water bag. Gag me! That was gross. He checked me- 4cm, but he did say that breaking the bag would most definitely get things rolling. Almost immediately after the bag was broken, the contractions came on hard and much, much longer. I’m pretty sure I was two minutes apart and at least a minute long. I started transitioning from the deep breaths to the he-he-hoo, hee-he-hoo. I wasn’t a noisy laborer, but when it came to the hoo’s I couldn’t help myself but to let out a large “hoooooo” noise. The entire room was breathing with me at this point and I’m almost positive they were all about to pass out from it as well.

I think somewhere around 1 am, I got checked again…freakin’ frackin’ 4 cm! I had to get up to go to the bathroom just to clear my head and while doing so, I overheard my mom talking to the nurse about my progression or lack thereof. She said that I was on the clock and a cesarean was looking like the next step. I came back, had the worst contraction, and finally said ‘I give’ and asked for the epidural. Tim immediately did what I coached him to do and tried to get me to change my mind, but soon realized that I wasn’t just panicking.

The anesthesiologist came in swabbed my back and started pressing on my back to feel where the spine was and the next thing I knew, the catheter was in place. I have heard one horror story after another about epidurals and how painful they were, but for me I seriously didn’t even feel a single prick. It took about 10 minutes and then—sweet, sweet relief.

I watched the contraction monitor in awe that all those spikes were happening and I was completely unaware. The nurse came in and checked me after about 10 minutes. She looked up at me completely bewildered and called another nurse in the room to check. The second nurse confirmed her suspicions and gave me the news-9 cm!! Typically epidurals slow down labor, but I really think in my case my body just wasn’t allowing itself to relax and as soon as that happened, I hit 9 cm, baby!

By 1:30ish, it was push time and I gave it my all, but the nurse said without saying it that I was a crappy pusher J I held off for a while more; something they call “laboring down.” And then somewhere around 3am I started to really progress. One of the nurses told me to get mad at the contraction and those were the words I needed to hear. I remember staring at the corner of the light bulb, knowing that I looked ridiculous making the angry face I had on, but at that point I couldn’t hear or see anything else besides the corner of that bulb and boom-before I knew it the baby was crowning.

Because I was having twins, I had to deliver the babies in the OR. Baby Gavin still had high chances of flipping around after Logan made his exit and that would mean C-section. The nurses covered me up with sheets and off we went. The weirdest thing happened on our way to the OR. We passed the nurses’ station and one of my nurses shouted out, “we’re about to have twins here tonight.” And no joke-they stopped me and the nurses asked if I knew if they were identical or fraternal. I politely said identical but my head was saying, “Are you kidding me with this? I have a head in between my legs and you’re stopping me now!?

When we got in the OR, I was amazed at how much it reminded me of what I picture the inside of a UFO to look like. It was super bright plus it had these two ginormous spot lights and I kept looking around for the probe. The nurses were so nice and kept me distracted by telling me what every little gadget and gismo did in there while we waited for my doctor. It only took him about 10 minutes to appear, but it felt like an eternity.

The doc came in, asked the nurses if it was time to push, and immediately we started. I think he was annoyed that I insisted on a vaginal birth, because the entire time he never said even one word to Tim and I. We pushed six times and at 4:22am we had our son, Logan Elliot Nordin. He came out nice and pink and crying like no other. The nurses then did an ultrasound to see where Gavin was positioned and lo and behold he was still head down. Pushing him was a piece of cake. Gavin James arrived at 4:27am and again was pink and crying! The doc delivered the placenta, stitched me up a bit and finally gave us a lackluster “Congratulations.”

We had done it-we were parents and nothing in the whole world could feel better than that moment! We made it back to the recovery room and the photo op began. Logan was still being checked out, so I began my first nurse with Gavin. He was a pro! As soon as Logan got the clear, he also ate his little heart out.

After a few hours in the recovery area, we were brought up to the mother/baby wing. One of the biggest pieces of advice I got pre-motherhood was to sleep when they slept and that’s exactly what I did. We spent the next 3 days in the hospital. There was no NICU time and relatively no problems. Logan has a touch of jaundice and also has a heart murmur that apparently goes away with most children. Their weights are on the smaller side, but with all the milk I’ve been giving, I expect them to chunk up nice and fast.

We’ve been home for two days now. Sleep is a miracle, and I can’t get through a diaper change without getting pee’d on, but I can’t say enough how absolutely fortwinate I am to have such beautiful, beautiful babies. Our lives are never going to be the same again and that couldn’t be more thrilling.

On Tuesday, the boys go in for their first pediatrician appointment and that will also be circumcision day. Ouch. I hope to keep everyone updated with lots of baby pics and stories along the way. For now, here are some more pictures from our time in the hospital.

We got a late surprise tonight…Stephanie stepped into the other room and while she was out, her cousin Megan made an unannounced visit all the way from Tampa. Stephanie already knew cousin Brittany might drop by again tonight, but she was so surprised when she came back into the room and Megan was there. The girls just ate our boys up: taking pictures and cuddling them all night. We had a great night and Megan promised to come back again tomorrow to continue the love fest.

Surprise!

Immediately the debate began...which one is cuter?

Even though Brittany was here yesterday, she still demanded face time...and who could blame her?

Megan and Logan

Megan and Gavin

I think he likes you...

Gotta get ready for the picture

Picture Perfect! Sisters with Brothers

Of course the girls wanted their own pictures (See their facebooks for additional angles)

We had a GREAT Night!

Today has been a truly great day! After a very long and tiresome night, Stephanie and I were able to get a good two hour nap this morning! “Hallelujah!” The boys are doing great. They passed their hearing tests, got their birth certificates, and have just been SO peaceful all day. FYI: Logan and Gavin’s birth announcements will be in the Naples Daily News on Sunday November 1st. We had a couple more visitors: Grandma Henderson came by and let me go home for about three hours to take a shower and get the car seats from the house. “THANK YOU SO MUCH, MOM! I REALLY REALLY APPRECIATED IT.” Evan and Sarah Burd, our friends that are pregnant with triplets, stopped by and got a sneak peak at the glorious miracles in their future. Jim and Sarah Klages and Aunt Babbette made appearances too. We will hopefully all be discharged tomorrow sometime and get to start our brand new lives with these two glorious gifts of God.

Day 2 Very Peaceful

Evan and Sara Burd stop by to see the boys

Hey Everybody,
This is Tim (daddy) filling in for my beautiful and wonderfully courageous wife: NEWS FLASH! THE TWINS HAVE ARRIVED!!! On Wednesday October 21,2009 at 4:22 AM, Logan Elliot was born (6lbs 1oz, 19 in long) followed by his brother Gavin James at 4:27 AM (5lbs 1oz, 18 in long). I will leave the miraculous birth story to Stephanie, but I know you all want to see some pictures. So here you go.

Logan and Gavin...fresh into to the world

Logan Elliot

Gavin James

Daddy and Gavin

One AMAZING Momma!

Beautiful Baby Eyes

Hey Gavin, Did you meet this Daddy guy? He looks strong!

Hey Logan! I caught Aunt Jen...she promised presents in return of her finger!

Grandma Henderson saying hello

Grandpa Henderson checking these miracles out

Grandma Henderson already spoiling...

Aunt Jen loves you so much

First Bath

Memories of the womb

Little Angels

Look at that “Nordin Nose!”

“I’m ready for my close-up”

I went in last night for a non-stress test only to find out that Gavin did turn head down!!! Another Nordin family miracle. They decided to keep me monitored overnight and any moment now they are going to be wheeling to get one final ultrasound before they begin Pitocin. As soon as I have news, I’ll have Tim post for me. Meanwhile, enjoy these pics for your viewing pleasure