Happy 13th Birthday Sarah and Zachary

Yes, I am now the mother of FOUR teenagers.....God, help me (I'm not kidding)!  In preparation of this post, I was looking at some old pics of when I was pregnant, their birth and when they were little babies.  Those were some trying years. 

When I was pregnant with them, I was sick for months....I almost miscarried them....I was on bedrest....the doctor threatened to hook me up to an IV fluid drip, because I couldn't keep anything down.....then I went into premature labor at 30 weeks....was life flighted to another hospital where the doctors there stopped the labor, but made me stay on bedrest for 2 plus weeks....I wasn't allowed to get out of bed to even use the bathroom.....when they did any tests like amnios, bloodwork or ultrasounds, I was either wheeled in a wheel chair or carted in the hospital bed. 

(holy smokes - twins!!!)

(I think I was 4 months pregnant here)

(I got to stand for the first time in weeks, while they got the bed ready for me....right before their birth at 32 weeks, they were 8 weeks early)

During their birth....I had to have an epidural in case of an emergency c-section (thankfully, I didn't need one)....was carted off to the operating room.....had 2 doctors and 4 nurses for me, another doctor and 2 nurses for each baby and a small army of interns in the room....was lucky enough to give birth to Sarah with no complications, only to turn around and have double the trouble with Zachary.  He had his cord wrapped around his neck twice. 

Not many people know how we chose the name Zachary....it means God hears my prayers.  After Sarah was born, Rich asked one of the doctors, what would happen next.  Would I have the other baby or would the placenta from Sarah come out.  She said the baby and then both placentas...only Sarah's placenta came out first.  The next thing I know the doctor gives Rich a concerned look....Rich started praying in my ear....and an intern started pushing on my stomach to keep Zachary from flip flopping anymore than he already had.  Rich said Amen, and Zachary was born, 45 minutes after his sister.  God truly did hear our prayers.

(Could this O.R. get any more crowded?)

After the twins were born I was allowed to take a shower and since I was on bedrest for so long, I ended up passing out in the bathroom.  All I remember is pulling the emergency cord on my way to the floor and hearing running footsteps coming towards me.  I woke up in bed a couple hours later.  I guess I can't ever make anything easy LOL!

The best thing about the whole process, for all the mixed blessings and trauma we went through was that the twins went home 2 days later.  The cortizone shots they gave me while I was hospitalized to help develop their lungs worked.  God is good and he hears our prayers!

They were little munchkins - Sarah weighed 5 pounds and 1 ounce and Zachary 4 pounds and 13 ounces.  They wore baby doll clothes or those little baby nightgowns for the first few months of their lives.  Amanda and Anthony loved their baby brother and sister. 

The funniest thing that happened was while I was on bedrest, my mom had asked our church family and friends to help us by making meals, cleaning the house, playing with Amanda and Anthony and keeping me company.  Shortly after bringing the twins home, I was carrying them both down the hallway and tripped.  In order to catch myself from falling with both babies I stuck my foot out to catch myself and my foot came down sideways instead of flat.  I ended up with a hairline fracture right below my pinkie toe.......So, my mom had to call all the church people back to help again LOL! At least this time, they got to hold the babies when they came to help.

(I walked around with this face for months LOL - Sarah had colic)

They were inseparable when they were babies.  We would lay one baby at one end of the crib and one at the other and by morning they would be slumped on top of each other.  Later, they figured out how to crawl out of their cribs and crawl/walk across the dresser between their cribs and get into each other's beds. 

It has been so much fun having twins.....double the trouble.....double the blessings!

I can't tell you how many times, I had to scrub poop off of their bedroom walls, because they would play in their diapers and smear it on the walls.  Or how I wore a path in the carpet walking the floor at night because it was the only way to keep Sarah happy.  Or how every night like clockwork, Zachary would wake up at 1 in the morning for his mommy and me time...it was the only time his sister was asleep and not needing extra attention.  He patiently waited for his mommy time.  Or how Rich was afraid to hold Zachary for fear of breaking him (Zachary was only as long as Rich's hand to his elbow).  Or how I once had to clean toothpaste, toilet paper, dental floss and smeared soap in the bathroom....Or sweep up baby powder off their carpet.....Or eggs off the kitchen floor.   Or how clingy Sarah was and laid back Zach had been.  Or how many times they tried and succeeded at locking me out of the house.  Double the trouble indeed.

I can tell you how many times my heart melted or broke watching them cheer for each other at baseball or basketball games....or how they comforted each other when they were sad...or how they always had each other's back when someone tried to pick on them....or how they leaned on each other for support.   How they still love to cause trouble and be sneaky and hang out with each other.  Double the blessings.   Rich once wrote a long time ago, about how much he knew I wanted twins and how nothing made me as happy as the day I found out I was pregnant with them...How happy and thrilled I was being pregnant with them....How I would of given anything for them.  How I endured months of bedrest and pain and how much I worried about them...How grateful I was, we were, that they were born healthy.  That they were totally worth all the pain, discomfort, tears and joy.  He couldn't have said it any better.  They were and they are worth it.  I love them, and even though I know they are growing up (and going to leave me someday), I am so lucky that God gave me my double blessings and I wouldn't change a thing!

Happy 13th Birthday Sarah and Zachary....We Love You!