Happy Birthday babies! Everyone asks me what we are doing to celebrate their first birthday. Well, I was scheduled to take them in for their 1 year well check and get shots! HURRAY! But after all the work and fuss to get 2 babies out the door in a snow storm and myself dressed and the two other boys a sitter.......I went to start the car and the battery was dead. So they'll get their shots tomorrow.December 22nd is a terrible day to have a birthday. Noone needs another party and the present funds are pretty well spent. So I really don't think we'll ever celebrate their birthday on their actual birth date. Probably in January sometime. Then if we decide to have a friend party, we'll celebrate on their half birthday in June. There are so many more options in the summer. But this year, the babies don't know or care...so why add more stress, right? I actually did try to throw a little party last Sunday when my parents were in town. However, they got sick and didn't come. Mom and Dad Parrish were so sweet to still brave the snow and bring a few presents. The babies loved it, even if it was informal. They could tell it was all about them and loved opening the presents and being clapped for. Reese can finally crawl. She can wave bye-bye and spin a circle on the wood floor. Bobo can't quite crawl yet, but he walks along things well and claps his hands. He is still the most perfect child I've ever seen. Just an angel. I think Grandpa Parrish is quite taken with him and his sweet nature. Who wouldn't be? Reese is a spit fire and very smart and advanced. I think it's a girl thing......
To officially celebrate their birthday, I wanted to blog the story of their birth a year ago. I haven't written it down yet, can't imagine why. So here goes: (sorry for the length)
This is the only pic of me close to the end of the pregnancy with my sis in law Natalie. I think this is October sometime. She delivered mid November. I was 2 month after, so you can imagine how I'd look then.... Not a pretty picture for many reasons. However, I take a certain pride in having carried them and the ugliness of it all is in some way a twisted badge of honor.
We concieved the twins through IVF. The process of IVF is pretty grueling. I didn't enjoy the shots or the emotional ride of the hormones. After the pregnancy, I was extremely sick. 1 month into it, I knew all was well when I started throwing up several times a day. This became routine for the entire 8 months I carried them. Without fail, EVERY day. By October, I was contracting and I guess dehydrated because I couldn't keep much down. I finally went in for fluids around Thanksgiving. It was kind of miserable in the hospital, but it gave me about a 5 days of relief. But by mid December, I wasn't sure I could handle it anymore. I went in one more time for fluids and it helped for 24 hours. By the evening of December 21st I was crying in the room. Jeff wanted me to call the Dr. and go in for more fluids. However, I was pretty sure they wouldn't keep me and didn't want to deal with the hospital and iv etc.. so I refused to call. Jeff did for me and in we went. By then I was pretty sure the reason I was so sick was because I actually was in labor. Low and behold, they kept me there and I delivered the Babies at about 3:00 am on December 22, 2007. The babies were both head down, so we decided to deliver vaginally. There is always the chance of an emergency C Section, so you have to deliver in a surgery room prepared for that. It was pretty sterile and a little nerve racking. Reese came first at 2:49. She was so small I think I only pushed like 3 times. I heard her cry and the whisked her away to the NICU to evaluate her. She was 4 lbs 10 oz. So small. We didn't get to hold her or really see her. Then it got really quite and everyone just focused on Dr. Spencer and what he was doing. He was pushing on my belly really hard and forcing Bodee down into the birthing canal and trying to make sure he didn't turn in all the new space created from Reese's delivery. It was about 10 minutes and I started to panic. I looked into Jeff's eyes to see if I could tell if everything was all right or if I was going to be cut open any minute. It was deathly quite. I finally said, "Is it all right? What's happening?" Jeff just looked into my eyes and said, "shhhh", but very calmly. So I just waited. A minute later, Dr. Spencer looked up and saw how intense we were all waiting. Then he motioned to the nurses waiting with scalpel in hand that all was well. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and I pushed a couple times and out came Bodee at 5 lbs even. He cried and they whisked him away. Again, standard procedure. It was actually the best delivery I'd ever had. I didn't tear or have an episiotomy because they were so small. It made a HUGE difference in my recovery. The worst pain was all this bruising on my abdomen that I couldn't figure out. Then I remembered the pushing on my stomach.....
They were so small! I had them together for one full day and night at the hospital. It thought I'd get a lot of attention because, well you know....TWINS! Well, I was the first of 3 sets of twins that were delivered in that hospital that night. Crazy. And Bodee was the only child of all nine that didn't end up in the NICU. Very lucky for me. They seemed to be doing well. They weren't nursing especially well, so we gave them bottles. But they both were too small to be very interested. It was too much work for them. I let the nursery keep them through the night. At 5 am in Sunday morning, the nurses came in and told me to tell Reese goodbye. They were taking her to the NICU. She was having a hard time breathing and hadn't eaten through the night. I was very upset. I could see her little chest heaving as she was trying to breathe. I called Jeff and he wanted to run to the hospital. I told him to stay and sing in the choir program and then come. I have to take a quick moment here to praise this incredible man, whom I am lucky enough to call my husband. He has been absolutely perfect through this whole ordeal. Twins is a 2 person job...with 2 nannies. Since we never had the nannies, it has been an incredible life altering and difficult year. One full of joy and love, but very hard too. I cannot imagine having gone through this without him. I love him more today, am more dependant on him today, and more in awe of him today that I could have ever thought possible. He has treated me like a queen and thought of every possible detail to make it clear to me how much he loves and cares for me and our family. Everyday he tells me how beautiful I am and how much he loves me. If you could only see how I truly look every day, that statement would make you laugh out loud. When he tells me this, I am usually going on 3 day hair, in sweats stained with spit up and baby food and more new wrinkles and age spots that should be legal to acquire in one year. But I SWEAR he doesn't see that. I don't deserve him and the latitude he gives me with my stupidity and lack of self control and lack of patience. He is amazing in every way. I love him more today than then the day we were married. And THAT's something!
When Sam and Cole came to the hospital, they were in love with the babies. They have been ever since. I never had the problem of them resenting the babies because of the time the were taking away from mommy and daddy. They just always wanted to love and hold them. They still do. It is so sweet. I think the most common quote I have said to Cole on a daily basis since their birth is one of these, "Don't touch the babies"! "Leave the babies alone"! "Cole! Get away from the babies"!!!!! Sad but true. He inevitably makes them cry. I just don't have time for any extra crying. But that too, soon shall pass.I came home from the hospital with Bodee on Christmas eve. It was wonderful to have a new baby for Christmas. However, one of the hardest things I ever had to do was look at Reese hooked up to a million pokes and wires in the NICU and leave her there without me that night. During the last 3 months of my pregnancy, I had a cough that wouldn't go away. I was certain the once the babies came out and I could breathe, it would go away. Instead, on Christmas morning, I awoke with a raging infection and walking Pneumonia. I called Dr. Spencer, who called me in a Z pack. The worst part was that I couldn't see Reese for 48 hours. It was a blessing in disguise. I never could have enjoyed Christmas with the boys if I could have been at the hospital. So Jeff and both Moms and Dads went to visit her for me.
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Having my Mom and Dad for Christmas was so fun. The new little miracles brought so much peace to our home that season. I really miss my family. Especially during the holidays. Cliche, but true! My mom was an angel through the whole thing. I couldn't have done it without her help. I called her before we did the IVF, just to say, "Hey, if we do this thing....are you available to help?". Does a bear poop in the woods? My Mother came for 2 months after their birth. Left for a couple weeks. Returned for another month and has had several life saving long stays since then. She is truly an angel. Reese was given the just her first and last name. When we were naming them, I was just too pregnant and past caring to think about it any more. I wanted to name her after my mom, but Reese Merrillyn just wasn't right. Bodee's middle name was Merrill. After my Grandpa, who my mom is named after. So I figured that would have to do. But recently I figured out (blame the double baby brain) that Reese Lynn is supposed be her name. So we are in the process of changing it. If she can turn out even half as wonderful as my mother, she'll be perfect. Jeff and I are truly so grateful for my Mom's love and willingness to help us and my Dad's willingness to be a bachelor again for so long. Honestly, I have the greatest family. (Both sides included!) I am so blessed. I have many special memories that I cannot share of the time spent with my mom and the babies. I will always treasure that time I had with her. The twins won't remember, but I think will always have a special bond with her. 'Nough said!
This is Bodee and Mom on Christmas
Reese finally came home on new years eve. The requirement was that she eat 2 oz on her own every 4 hours. She was pretty much there. But eating just continued to be a struggle for both of them for the next few months. I was trying to nurse and pump and just really struggled to have enough milk. It was crazy. Since they weren't great nursers, I had to nurse and then follow with a bottle. Then pump. Then do the other baby. NIGHTMARE! Well at about 3 months Reese just quit nursing. Bodee followed at 4 months. Nice to have my body back and quit pumping. However, I had no IDEA how expensive formula was. I bought a can thinking, "this should last like 5 days or a week...." We needed almost 4 cans a week to feed them. At over $25 dollars a can, you do the math. Jeff can't wait for them to be on cow's milk! Looking back at the pictures, I can't believe they let me take them home. They were so tiny and fragile. I don't know how we did it. They look like tiny baby birds with bulging eyes. So sweet, though.
This picture just about sums up the last year! Jeff was the first to insist on feeding the babies at the same time and that he could do it. He did. And in just about the same way he is holding them now. Quite a sight. 
It seemed as thought they would never grow. 
But they did. The last year is a blur.
But they did. The last year is a blur.The first time we tried to dress them up and get a picture:
It has been so amazing to watch how they interact with each other. So often they end up in exactly the same position. Like ALWAYS in the stroller. And you'll never believe me, but they are on the same poop schedule. If one has a poop, so does the other. They love to play together and Bodee is ever so patient with Reese and her demands. They never get upset at each other when they hit, claw or other wise maim each other. Many times I'd expect an outcry, but none come. Bodee grew fast and was much bigger than Reese. She is catching up quickly, though. We love them so much and could not imagine life without them!
