Martha & Jaina update 1

Martha and Jaina are doing well. We took them to our herbalist today to see what food Darcy needs to avoid while nursing. They are both allergic to dairy and goats milk so that means Darcy is going back to drinking soy milk. Jaina is sensitive to beef and we need to keep an eye on her with wheat. Her amino acids are low, but so is Darcy's so Darcy will be taking spirulina to try to take care of that. Other than those few things, the girls are doing great!

Our herbalist gave us some bach flowers for Cora to take to help her adjust with all the changes. Not only is she feeling displaced as the youngest in the family, but she is also teething so she has been having a few hard days. Today seemed to be a little better since Mommy was home all day and spent some time with her. Let's pray she continues to make improvements!

They're Here!

The twins were born on Monday night (2/25/08)! Martha Jane Clare was born at 11:05 pm. She was 6 lbs and 19 1/4" long. Jaina Mattye Suzanne was born at 11:23 pm and was 6 lbs 3 oz and was 20 3/4" long. They are both doing well as is Mom. They will all come home on Wednesday morning (probably).

Where did they go?!

I was busy in the kitchen mixing up some molasses cookies so the girls could help me roll them in sugar and bake them when I heard a lot of noise. It sounded like a cupboard banging and voices muffled so I assumed the girls were either in their sisters' room or in the bathroom playing around. When I looked both those places and didn't find them, I looked in their own room. I only saw Cora and was quite confused.
Then all of a sudden, one of the cabinet doors opened and Sabra popped her hand out!

I asked where Allyn was and then next cabinet door popped open! I made them repose so I could get some pictures!

No Help from the Full Moon

Well, studies have shown that more women go into labor on nights of full moons so I was hoping it might put me into labor; however, still no babies. Although I did have more contractions than I have been having, the increase wasn't enough to warrant even thinking about going to the hospital.

The doctor I have been seeing is on call this whole weekend, so Chad and I are planning on doing some walking to see if we can get labor going. I am considered full-term for having twins already and Sunday would mark "full-term" for a single birth so the doctor thinks I am safe. Also, over a month ago they figured the babies were already 4 lbs and 4 lbs 9 oz so they should be in the high 5 lb to 6 lb range by now.

Chad will be working the Home Expo tomorrow night and Saturday morning (unless I go into labor) and says that I have to wait until after his Sunday School class on Sunday because he has an awesome lesson planned that he couldn't teach last week because of the ice storm. I am just praying it happens sometime this weekend as I am ready to meet our little girls and I am tired of being as big as a house!

Ice Storm

We were hit with freezing rain this morning. Chad left early to go plow the church parking lot. He called to tell me to start the van to warm up and to leave early myself because I would have to drive slow. He had called Pastor to tell him it was slippery, but Pastor didn't say anything about canceling church.

It took me 20 minutes just to get the girls loaded in the van as I walked each one out very carefully. I didn't go over 15 mph and when I was going down the hill on Brown road, I was really nervous as I was picking up speed and was worried about making the curve at the bottom. I told the girls to start praying! We made it around that okay and when I was about 1/2 way to church, Chad called again to say that Pastor had decided to cancel church. I turned around at the next road I came to and ended up stuck. I worked at getting out of there for almost 20 minutes. I finally got out and headed home with Chad coming behind me from church. Well, I couldn't make it back up the hill on Brown Rd. and was sitting half-way up the hill because I kept sliding sideway when I was trying to back down the hill. Again, we started praying! Chad came along and tried to push me up the hill with his truck, but he couldn't get enough traction. He then tried to drive the van up the hill, but couldn't make it either. He suggested we try another way.

We tried the other route in which we also had to go up a hill, but it wasn't as big of a hill. I almost made it to the top of that hill, but not quite. Again, I was sliding sideways will trying to back down. I was in tears at this point. The girls were praying for me at this point because they knew I needed it! I ended up getting in Chad's truck and backing it off the road so he could get a better run at the hill, but the road commission truck was coming down the hill so we had to get out is his way. Come to find out, he was going towards our house. We followed him with Chad driving my van and me driving his truck. After making sure the road commission truck made it up the hill, Chad took a stab at it and made it this time. I followed in his truck.

All in all, I was on the road for almost 2 hours just trying to get to church and then back home! I am definitely glad to be home! God was with us and kept us from harm, but I don't want to experience that again!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, today is my 31st birthday. I can't say I am really excited about growing older. Since my 30th birthday didn't go so well, I am assuming that today should be better. Chad is taking me out to dinner tonight (since I can get a free meal at Lakeside Charlie's!) and his parents will be joining us. The girls will be home with one of their favorite babysitters, Brittany.

I am still dealing with sick kids (just coughing now) and Dara has some kind of bug bites on her body (about a dozen). We assume they are bug bites as they don't itch and no one else seems to have them. We are washing all her bedding in HOT water and hopefully we can take care of the situation. The girls are home from school today, Monday and Tuesday because of Mid-winter break and then parent-teacher conferences.

We are still awaiting the arrival of the twins. Chad thinks it would be great if I had them today because I would get a double birthday present; however, I don't think it would be a great birthday present to be in labor (twice) on my birthday. I am also hoping to wait a little longer so they can continue to grow bigger before being born. Although it would be nice to not be pregnant anymore as it is getting harder and harder to do things the bigger I get!

Team Illness

I don't know what it is, but some virus is going through the family. Chad wasn't feeling well last Thursday and still isn't 100%. Sabra ran a fever on Sunday and didn't have an appetite, but was better by Monday afternoon. Cora had a fever Monday night and slept most of the day. She is now feeling better. Now today, I kept Eva home from school because she was complaining of her throat hurting and she was running a fever. I just pray that I don't come down with it because it is horrible to be sick when this close to delivering babies. Keep all of us in your prayers!

Broncostar update

Chad and the girls had an adventurous maiden voyage in the Broncostar yesterday. They were 4-wheeling with the Kalamazoo Sundowners and Evart RPM Off-road in Evart State land. First, Chad forgot to pack the little potty for the girls to use out on the trail. They weren't happy about having to squat. Second, Chad took reverse out of his transmission shortly after being on the trail. Since he could still go forward, he continued to wheel and when he had to go backward, someone would just pull him backward! They still had lots of fun with all the snow back in the woods!

Family Fun

Chad had been spending a lot of time working on getting the "Broncostar" running so the girls hadn't seen much of him. Last Tuesday night he was home and the girls were all over him.

First, they all wanted on his shoulders at the same time.

Then he stacked them up on each other. Cora even wanted in on the action, but Mommy said she was too little to be stacked so high!

Broncostar

Chad wanted to build an off-road rig that would hold the entire family. He started this areostar last winter and it would have held the entire family until we found out we were pregnant with twins. It is now completed and will seat 7. He is taking it out for it's maiden voyage today with Dara, Eva and Allyn. He has changed it's name to the "Broncostar" as it is built with many parts from my old Bronco II.

First Blog

Well, here it goes! I'm giving blogging a try. I met up with an old friend who told me about her blog and after checking it out and a few others, I thought it would be a great way to keep family and friends who live a long way away up-to-date on the family. It might take me awhile to figure out how to do everything (like post pics, add links, etc.), but I will try to figure it all out. I am not sure how often I will be updating it and adding posts, but will try to do it at least once a week. Wish me luck!