Dealing with the girls reflux

The girls are a total joy and have made our lives complete!!! We never even knew that we were missing anything. I got scared the 5th when Stacey quit breathing on me....we took her to the clinic after I sucked this fluid out of her throat and they decidedto keep her overnight for observation.

We stayed and she was hooked up to machines to monitor her breathing, oxygen levels, and heartbeat. The next morning..after a night of no incidents and me getting some actual rest as I was not worried being in the hospital and hooked up to machines, they sent her down for a Upper GI scan....During the scan the radiologists told me that she had reflux...that the reason she didnt spit up was because the reflux just came to the bottom of her throat and she was getting choked on it, that that was the reason that she quit breathing.

We went home that night with a prescription for reflux medicine and a sleep apnea machine for home at night.

The medicine did not seem to do that good om its own and we were still having 2-3 episodes a day...I took matters into my own hands and put her on the thickener that Ethen used (thanks Angie for still having some) :)

We have only had 1 or 2 since and that is a relief.

Big Brother Sebastian

He is the most proud and loving BIG BROTHER!!! I am so proud of him, everyday is an adventure with him as he thinks everything they do is the coolest and most awesome thing.

He looked forward to seeing them for so long and I think that the reality of the last few months (with me in and out of the hospital) that he was so excited to see them and relieved that it was all over with...he was overwhelmed with emotion the first time that he held Stacey that he just cried....It was the sweetest thing..I looked at him and said are u OK?? He said yea, I am not sad I am so happy to see my sisters and I am just glad that they are here!!!

He hugs and kisses them all day long and would rather spend time with them than to do anything else...We are so proud of him :) Any worries that we had of him being jealous, etc. have been laid to rest...I wish everyone could see the way he looks at them...his heart is so full!!!

Coming home

The closer the day came to go home the more scared I got!!! The ice storm happened the night after the girls were born and I was scared to death to go home in the ice and to be in the dark with no central heat, etc. The girls were ready to come home the day after they were born..not me!!! I dont remember the c-section with Sebastian being near this painful..and the doctors are attributing it to the fact that my uterus was SO BIG!! I could barely stand it the day that we went home and that was not until Thursday January 29th. We put it off as long as we could...and made a plan as a family for the trip home. The lights were still out, so the first order of business was to have Dad, Phyllis, and Terry (Jim's parents) to come home and get the gas stoves going and get the house warmed as much as possible, and to make room in the basement for us to sleep down there with the big oven. The second order of business was the worry of carbon monoxide poisoning...So, Mom and Dad bought a detector that needed no electricity and it was a blessing...it gave me peace of mind and I was relieved to know that we had a plan and were going to be ok.

It was scary with them being so little and new to bring them home during a time like this. It was nice to have the family working together and helping to figure it all out.

After we came home, things worked as planned, we had no problems and the entire house was warmer than it is when the central heat is running. It was so warm that we just slept in the living room..The first night home was AWESOME!!! All the family was here and those that werent came to visit...The girls got to meet their Aunt Gina for the first time and their Uncle CJ was well enough to hold them. I was hurting pretty bad but in and out of lucidity with all the pain medication. I am thankful for the help and support of Phyllis, Terry, and my Dad...without them don;t know what we would have done, I love and appreciate everything that they did for us :) The lights were back on by Friday evening and there was nothing to worry about after that.

Recovery and holding the girls for the first time

I was taken into recovery around 9:00 and it wasn't until 11:00 until the girls could come into the room and join us...they were wheeled in in those little clear bassinets and I couldn't believe my eyes...they were SO DIFFERENT to be identical!!! They had so much hair!! the differences were mostly the coloring and the size of their bodies. The nurse handed me Samantha and I just melted!!! I was holding one of my daughters that I had waited so long to see, then she said.."make room mom!! there are two u know...lol" So, here come little Stacey to join her sister in my arms :) I was as proud as could be. I never imagined a more powerful moment than the first time that I held Sebastian, but there it was...the second most defining and powerful moment in my life. I was definitely struck with LOVE :)

The birth of the girls

It is unbelievable that I have not posted anything about the girls and their birth!! I guess that everyone can imagine and understand that I have been busy :)
4:00 a.m. Monday January 26th 2009 I got up to use the restroom (after another night of sleeping in the recliner) and before I could even sit down there was water trickling out of me and I knew that it was not pee!! I calmly woke Jim and told him that my water had broke and we needed to go to the hospital, then I calmly went down the hall and told my Dad the same thing...I then stuck a towel between my legs and proceeded to make sure that I had everything that I would need for the hospital. Jim and I then woke Sebastian and we were all out of the door before 4:15 and on the way to St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro, AR.

I was immediately taken in for observation and tested that it was amniotic fluid that was leaking...and sure enough IT WAS!!! I was told that we were in line for Cesearean and that we had to wait on Dr. Speights to decide who goes first...the women who were scheduled for this morning and NOT in labor or me...luckily it was me :) We went to the room for surgery @ 7:00 and after prepping for the longest time, it was time for me to have my spinal block...I was nervous but the block did not hurt anything like the epidural that I had had 7 years earlier. I was laid down immediately and before I knew it I could not move my legs or anything below my chest for that matter...I had a few boughts of nausea and sickness...dry heaving and nothing came up--they had to keep giving me anti-nausea medicine. I was fine then and it was time for Dr. Speights to come in and then Jim...it really was time for my girls to get here and I was so excited--it was UNREAL!!! It only took a few minutes of high anticipation and then there it was....Samantha Joanne Alene Fain's beautiful little cry...she was here and it was 8:10 a.m...not even a minute later there was another cry and it was Stacey Lee Marie Fain coming only a minute after her sister and it was 8:11 a.m. THEY WERE HERE!!! I could not believe it and I was dying for them to bring them around so I could meet them. Jim went to take pictures and cut the cords...He was grinning from ear to ear when they brought the babies over to meet me :) First, I saw little Sammy and I was in shock at all her hair, how much she looked like Sebastian and by how little she was. Then they brought little Stacey to meet me and I could not get over how much she looked like her brother also and by how she was bigger and yet still so small. They were both so beautiful and Jim was anxious to hold them both and go show them off.

I of course stayed behind to get sown up and I was crying and just as happy as could be.