Turner Twins: 15 weeks

NOTE: These post will be a week later than my current week of pregnancy to better give you an idea of what the week has been like on my end.  For example, if I posted 12 weeks pregnant, I would really be 13 weeks.  Also, this blog when viewed on a computer will give you lovely music in the background so don't have your volume turned up to maximum levels, don't forget to click on the twin icon in the left-hand side of the page, and when this is viewed on a cell phone or device it will not have those features (that I am aware of).  

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So now that I have been out of the months of morning sickness and shock of finding out we are having multiples, I have been feeling a little more like normal self these days.  I am still extremely exhausted and my nose is still pretty sensitive to the scent of cooking meat.  After finding out we were pregnant and having TWO, my pregnancy symptoms started making themselves known, and they were like a repeat of when I was pregnant with Graison but with more sickness than ever.  I don't think I have ever thrown up more in my adult life than I have in the first trimester with this pregnancy; it still wasn't as horrible as I anticipated it would get since finding out there are twins in here!

I have definitely been showing for a while now, and couldn't really tell you when it started just that I've got myself a bump.  At 11 weeks we decided that I was looking similar to that of a pregnant gal 3 weeks ahead of me when standing side by side with her, and we even have a body type similar to each other along with the fact that this was pregnancy number three for both of us, I just have twins.  The fact that there are two is still pretty shocking, although I'm starting to get used to the thought now.

We had a check up at the beginning of this week and the babies are looking great!  Heartbeats are steady at a bpm of under 142; one baby was for sure at 138 bpm. On March 23rd, we get the anatomy scan done and will be having the twins' genders placed into an envelope so that we can do a fun reveal at a later set date, so keep an eye out for that being posted either on here, Facebook, or both!! With this post putting a close to my week 15 of pregnancy, I've just noticed the size of the bump along with some other things such as:

• Continuous exhaustion - I am adding in the factors of having two older children and being pregnant with multiples.  I am literally ready for a nap I will never get with Cowen running around at about 10:30 AM!!
• Even though trimester two is supposed to be a break from a lot of pregnancy symptoms, the boobs are still endlessly sensitive and sore.
• The frequency of having to use the restroom is there, however, I have found I am able to hold it in better at nights this time around; knock on wood.
• I want sweet everything and making sure there's fruit lying around helps.  Sweet tea is life.  My pregnancy grapefruit kick came back and that has been DELICIOUS!!  Although the sweet tooth has been a constant need in the back of my mind, I still wouldn't pass up something sour if given the chance. Like salt n vinegar chips or lemonade, or lemon on my shrimp from Red Lobster...mmmm.
• I have had feelings of movement but they are powerfully weird in a way I could not describe properly and I can not decide if it is the movement of the babies or just me being in an odd position.

I am sure I'm missing many more details of this past week, but I haven't been motivated to write up a blog post to update you guys let alone write down some symptoms I've been noticing.  Below I am including some of the things the babies have been developing this week along with some pictures.

MILESTONES:

• Development of sex organs
• Movement and hiccups
• Breathing (yes they breathe while in amniotic fluid)
• Being able to sense changes in light.

Update Coming Soon!!

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!!

An update on our pregnancy blog will be coming soon!

Thanks for your patience!

With Love,

Candice T.

Birth Story

Okay so I have prolonged this post far too long haha!  So here it is....

Monday December 1, 2014, Sheyden and I woke up at 5 am so that we would be ready to undergo our induction at 7 am meaning we had to be at the hospital at 6:45 am for check in.  As we were waiting for Graison's sitter and getting ready to leave the house (temporary lodging on Fairchild AFB) I got a phone call from the hospital CANCELING my induction!!!  I handled it as cool as I could, and the person on the other end sounded as though he was anticipating a huge blow out.  I did have some irritation in my tone, but who wouldn't especially over something as important as the day we were having our baby.  They told me they would call back by 9 am to reschedule the induction.  The reason I was cancelled is because everyone and their dog had been going into labor since the night before.

So 9 am rolls around and I had been trying to get some rest in as Sheyden and I could not fall asleep again and Graison luckily was able to sleep in a little longer than anticipated but he was on edge as well.  I ended up calling my doctors office and asking who I needed to talk to about the rescheduling of our induction....they transferred me to a voice mail system.  I was a ball pf stress!!  Not only had I been having anxiety about Graison's sitter situation the weekend of having our baby, but now I had to deal with the possibility of not being able to get our day in where Sheyden would be there for the birth.  Thankfully Heavenly Father was watching out for us and had a plan.  The charge nurse called me back around 10:15 or 10:20 and told me I "might" be able to get in by noon, then after getting off the phone called me back about ten minutes later telling me to come in at 11 for sure for our induction.  That left us little time to work with in letting the sitter know what the situation was and also getting our exhausted selves ready and out the door.  The only thing I ate was part of Graisons apples and peanut butter snack.  Yes, I did eat a breakfast but I should have fit in some more food at some point, but hey I was tired and stressing out!

We finally got to the hospital and checked in at 11:08, ten minutes after the time we were supposed to be there and it was all traffic and parking's fault!  Once we got there, I ended up feeling a little irritated because one of the nurses commented on how many inductions were happening that day and all I could think of was WHY did my morning get cancelled then and WAS THERE REALLY even enough pregnant ladies naturally going into labor or was someone lying and pushing back a morning induction or two.  I ended up getting over myself because we were finally there and finally about to get started in the end part of our journey. [pictures of my belly just before heading to the hospital].

So we got into our labor and delivery room and prepped to start the induction.  The nurse blew 2 of my veins trying to put my IV in and had to call another to come in and try.  He blew one vein before finally finding a taker....I was abused but found it humorous, after all I was just happy we were finally starting something.  We finally saw my doctor a little after noon, he checked me and I WAS STILL ONLY 3 cm (3.5 to be exact) and had increased to 90 percent effacement, station (babies head position) was a -1 or in other words he was just above the crowning point; so he was pretty low.  We broke my water at 1:54 and waited.  They started my pitocin with a dose of only 2 ml, the nurse who had blown my veins had told me before we started pitocin that I was having regular contractions 5 min apart; I thought it funny and told her I was not noticing any of it, because I wasn't I only felt hardening here and there and without any pain.

The nurse that blew my veins with the IV, switched with a different nurse and she stayed the duration of the labor and delivery.  This nurse is the one that started my pitocin and she only gave me that one dose.  My body decided it wanted to dilate itself.  The only thing I feel that the pitocin did for me was make my contractions more painful.  An hour after starting my labor with breaking the waters, I was checked and I had reached full effacement and was dilated to a 4.  My labor pains were in the front with this one, but gradually started turning into back labor and started hurting worse and worse with each contraction getting closer and closer together.  I held out on getting an epidural for as long as I could because I really wanted to experience a non medicated birth again.  Given my labor with Graison was really fast, I still felt pain and had no time for the epidural I wanted and having him un-medicated was way better than I had imagined.  I ended up having an internal argument with myself on the idea of the epidural.  I asked the nurse to check me again, this was about 40 minutes after having been checked previously.  The nurse granted my wish and checked me again, I had dilated to about 6 cm.  So I decided on getting an epidural before it was too late and as a precaution for more intense contractions.  The pain was still tolerable to me but I wanted that insurance of relief in case they became unbearable.  This was around 4:30 pm and my epidural started kicking in around 4:45.

I felt amazing after my epidural kicked in!! I was no longer feeling down about getting it and only looked forward to being able to experience the birth of my baby differently than that of Graison's.  By the time 5:30 rolled around the nurse checked me again because my contractions were becoming really close and I had started to feel some pressure.  When she checked me she commented "I see some hair" and proceeded to tell me I was between 8 and 8.5 cm dilated.  She got her phone out and called my doctor out of his meeting and told him we were going to start some practice pushes as he made his trek to my delivery room.  We started the push process and in between pushes I was appreciative about my decision of the epidural as I was able to focus on my job and all I needed to do to get this baby here.  Sheyden was very encouraging and supportive and I was and am so thrilled he was able to be there with me.  I could not imagine how hard it would be not having your rock be there for you and Sheyden is my rock.  My doctor finally got there, within 10 minutes, and more pushes began.  I don't want to get too graphic but will share that I noticed when I re tore the spot I tore when having Graison, because I noticed the change in pressure and shortly after I heard my doctor quietly say "Oh Shoot".  I don't remember if Sheyden said he heard Dr. Zwiesler say that or not but Sheyden had a different experience with this baby than with Graison as well.

Sheyden ended up needing a chair to sit in shortly after seeing baby's face, as he continued to support me.  Cowen Brooks Turner was born at 6:14 pm and weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces measuring 19.5 inches long.  With Graison, I only got to see him for a few seconds in which a photo was quickly snapped and then if he and Sheyden went with nurses and doctors up to the NICU.  This time with Cowen I was able to cherish the moment of bonding by being able to hold him immediately after birth and just stare at him with Sheyden.  I am so grateful to have had that experience and I'll never forget it.

Both of my babies I have been able to cherish precious moments with them in the hospital.  Whether it was somewhat stressfull or as chill as can be, I have been given such great blessings from our Heavenly Father and I am so honored to be able to cherish and experience being a mother, especially with my rock (Sheyden) by my side.  As Cowen and I go through the trial of being separated from Graison and Sheyden, they are going through it too and I thank our lucky stars that we have the technology we do today to be able to speak with and look at them through programs like Skype.  It makes me appreciate those who lived through the times where even "snail mail" took forever to make it to their loved ones even more than I already do.  I know our Heavenly Father has a plan set for us and that we are living it out and will be together as a whole soon.  For now I have to be a rock for Cowen and Sheyden a rock for Graison, without eachother, family, faith, and especially love I don't know where we would be.  I  thankful for all I have been given and for all I have to share with others. I'm so ecstatic to see what Cowen has to offer us as he grows and so excited to see the bond between brothers in my sons!  

38 weeks

First things first, I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays this week and had a safe Black Friday!  Hopefully nobody got brutally injured or murdered in the process of getting their Christmas shopping done.  Anyways, back to my post!

This week was LO-ONG! Monday we started the process of packing up the house and the movers arrived around 8:00-8:30 in the morning.  Tuesday gave us the same start and they finished the boxing up of belongings. Wednesday brought the big ol moving truck and they packed everything into the crates that will go on the ship to Japan. Although it was fast, it was long and exhausting.  Very nice people helping us get our house packed up though.  Definitely weren't drinking on the job like I remember (scent memory) one crew doing with one of my family's moves in my youth.

WEDNESDAY ALSO BROUGHT my 38 week check up.  We found out I have not dilated at all in about a month.  Because this is a second pregnancy, going so long without seeing any progress usually means that the labor and delivery of the baby will be like having your first baby--lots of work into the push phase.

My doctor was mentioning and warning us to be prepared in seeing a good amount of work in pushing and also preparing us for having a baby that is close to or just over 8lbs.  I honestly am not surprised or discouraged by that fact.  I was 8 lbs 3oz, Sheyden was somewhere in the 7's, and if graison would have made it to full term he would've been around 7-7.5lbs.  So I am not scared about having a bigger baby.  I'm going to mentally prepare myself for anything and stick to my plan.  Natural, epidural if I really am having a painful time and if I am able to still get it, and cesarean as my last resort or emergency option.  It's easy to work with and gives us a goal of getting the baby here somehow safely.  I have a lot of faith that I can get this little guy out and Sheyden is truly an amazing and strong support for me.  What more can a girl ask for than a husband who is there for them in the moments that she needs him to be the most!! 

Although we are ready this little man in my belly is happy where he is and will have his own special day to celebrate his birth!  On Monday we have to be at the hospital at 6:45 am to check in and get any missing admittance done; which should be fully covered as I already talked to the RN in a phone appointment.  At 7:00 am we start the induction and my doctor thinks the baby should be born within 5 hours of that start time.  I'm hoping things will move swiftly and the process in getting little monkey boy two here won't be as exhausting as we are being warned and are preparing for.  

THIS IS MY LAST POST ABOUT MY PREGNANCY Y'ALL!!!  The next time I post on the blog, will be when our little guy is here and will bring details of how his birth ended up going!  Sheyden will be posting his arrival in facebook once immediate family have been notified and we have rested a little.  I'm sure both of us will be overwhelmed with exhaustion and overjoyed with a new love in our lives!  I am sooo excited to see Graisons reaction to meeting his brother and am so curious as to how things will go in that first meeting!! 

UNTIL NEXT TIME !!