My Favorite Moments

In honor of the twins' birthday (and the fact a post is long overdue) I will be sharing my favorite moments/things from the past few years (mostly funny ones for your entertainment!) :)

I also want this to be an exciting, encouraging list of things to look forward to for a couple of friends within my network who just became moms of twins recently!  Seriously, the hard work is sooooo worth it!

• The first time they looked at each other and really saw each other, focused, and smiled.

• First time they hugged - 
  

• When they ask to hold hands - 
  

• This moment - 

• First time they wrestled

• Malachi is very tech savvy, and at 1 1/2 knew how to work my iPhone for games and stuff just as well as 3 year old big brother; and Jacob was learning too, but one day he couldn't figure out how to open the game he wanted or something. although I was sitting right there he took it to Malachi for help; and almost without even speaking (they could barely talk anyway) Malachi took the phone, found the app, got it open and gave it back to Jacob!
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• This moment - 
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• Nursery worker said, "I couldn't remember who was who so I asked them "who's Jacob?" they both yelled "me!!" big smiles on their faces…" (didn't think they would do that til they're older but they might not get another chance since they're looking more and more different)

• How they're sooooo different - for example: Malachi likes to be covered and tucked in with his blankie, Jacob just wants his blankie beside him. I give them nachos - Jacob eats all the cheese off and leaves the chips, Malachi pulls the cheese off and eats only the chips. Chicken fettucini - Jacob eats all the chicken, leaves the noodles, Malachi only eats the noodles, leaves the chicken.

• When one falls down the other asks "you ok?" 

• When they figured out they could give each other "horsey" rides… sorta…. with the riders feet dragging the ground… lol!

• This moment - 

• When they're standing and playing with each other in their beds, and they hear us open the door they "hit the deck" like they were just laying there the whole time! It's hilarious, especially since we have a video monitor and have been watching them the whole time!!

• Speaking of the monitor; one night spending out of town with family, they were in their pack n plays next to each other and we watched for almost 20 minutes as (they couldn't talk but were communicating there own little words I guess) They got the bright idea for Jacob to come over to Malachi's bed with him; and we watched as malachi backed up and Jacob picked up his blankie, and stuffed animal and put them over the side, then proceeded to try to get himself over there… he couldn't make it. so eventually Malachi gave him his blankie and stuffed moose back and they went to sleep. (we really save on cable! who needs it!?)

• The first time Jacob went potty on the big potty he didn't care about telling anybody but big brother! He went right up to him and said "I potty I potty!!!"  luckily big brother is so sweet, he was like "good job, buddy!" and Jacob's face was soooo proud! 

• One night Jacob was sitting at the table with me, Malachi sitting with daddy in the living room behind us. both talking pretty well now, but Jacob has always pronounced things almost 100% accurate right away and malachi has the typical toddler mispronunciations; so he's saying something about a "keaah" and daddy is trying to understand. Finally he just says "hey Jacob, what is malachi saying?" Jacob, without even looking over or raising his head from his crayons at the table, says so nonchalantly, "kitty" - to which malachi's face lit up and daddy said "are you saying kitty?" and malachi shook his head yes so happy! so we asked Jacob again just for fun and in almost an irritated voice like duuuuh! "KITTY CAT!" and we've been asking him to translate for us anytime we don't know what malachi's saying ever since (although now he seems to be talking just as well!).

There's probably many more things I'm leaving out and will be more to come! I remember looking forward to these interactions while being pregnant with them and daydreaming about it those times it seemed like all hard work with no pay off. Like I said, new mommies… whether you have 1, 2, or 12 kids… it's hard work, nobody's denying that, but because the blessing is so worth it, I just can't justify complaining about it!

"Confessions" of This Twin Mom

Ok… let's see here… after almost a year and a half of having 3 under two years old and now 3 under three years old… Here are just a few things…

1. I have NEVER gotten the twins mixed up… in the daylight. - OK ONCE, during the wee hours of the night while still in the "survival mode" of the first 6 months of their lives, my routine in the night, if one woke up, was to walk down the hall in complete darkness go in to their room, grab the one crying without waking the other one (not as hard as it sounds, they are so used to each others noises) Take him back to bed and nurse... then carry him back to his own bed. (this is after the stage when I had to  wake them both, no matter what, in order to get some uninterrupted sleep) Now, normally even if i forgot to take note which crib the waker came from.. I could tell just by holding them who I had. And this night as I carried him to bed I did think I knew who I had, until I walked into his room (still in complete dark) and laid him… right on top of his sleeping brother!

2. When I am ready to walk out the door and I get mr. 2 1/2 year old out the door in front of me, sling the bag over my shoulder and pick up a 1 year old in each arm… then turn around to shut the door with my pinky finger and see there are lights still on in the house… I leave them on!!!

3. We eat pizza a lot more than we used to… Homemade… Pizza Hut… Papa Murphy's… Frozen...

4. After many cute pictures and videos of our first childs babyhood, we realized we had forgotten that he had ever cried uncontrollably or done anything other than sleep like an angel. so we reconciled that with a video of the twinsies at their best… - after bath, diaper changes, swaddled and ready for "time with mama" before going to sleep, but for a few minutes they had to wait on me… so they got video taped for a minute while in that desperate state… documented!

5. ALL three boys repertoire of socks has gone from "normal" to… "save the matching pairs of socks for when we go in public or church"… to… "their socks NEVER match"… to…" oh good, its summer, I'm buying you all sandals - WHERE ARE ALL YOUR SOCKS??!"

6. I cook pancakes on very low heat because I almost always get interrupted by a little one who needs help with something or am multitasking and that way when i get back to them they're never burnt! (Yeah, I burnt a lot of pancakes learning this)

7. If you're at our house you might notice that after removing a diaper from a dirty bottom we pretty much immediately fold it up and either hide it under our leg or toss it (across the room) in the direction of the trash can… sometimes we make it, sometimes the lid isn't even open, but we get it away before we finish putting the next diaper on because we learned that 9 times out of 10 there is another little body right there that will inevitable pick it up if we don't!

8. If I text you that the kids just woke up from their nap and I'm gonna throw shoes on them, load them in the car and I'm headed your direction - that means I will get to your house in about an hour… unless you live further than 15 minutes away from me… then it will take longer…

9. I missed grocery shopping during those first months of the twins lives. So much so that now that they're all old enough to manage taking them with me by myself, I still enjoy it!

10. When I was pregnant the second time and found out that we were going to have 3 boys within 17 months of age, the teacher came out in me. When I realized I would basically have a small pre-K class in a couple of years, I actually started looking up activities and lessons that daycares do with their 1&2 year old class…  at the time I asked my (fellow teacher) friend if that was completely nerdy of me… she said yes!   BTW: they're now 2 1/2 and almost 1 1/2 and I have actually done these organized activities/lessons with them… maybe twice…?

11. After seeing that while nursing tater tot #1 I had dropped under my pre-pregnancy weight, my midwife was concerned that nursing twice as much would make me "waste away"… Welp, guess she didn't need to worry about that! proved her wrong!! :)

12. I have yet to do any sort of exercise that doesn't naturally happen during my day… unless this counts!  

                     tried starting, had like a one day in a row streak… I think it's time because...

12. The twins are now 16 months old! When their big brother was that age I was 36 weeks pregnant with them!

13. Having twins killed my pride in the area of asking for help!! And it allowed me to cut myself some slack (mentally). Now, I wish I could make moms who don't have twins cut themselves the same slack and not be so hard on themselves for those things that are sometimes just impossible! SO, ASK FOR HELP AND CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK! :)

(oh. and #14. I started writing this 3 days ago…)

TWINS UPDATE and FAQ's

Obviously this is long over due… I've had this blog written for quite some time in my head, but it turns out with all the technology today you still have to sit down and take time to type it out yourself. 

The twins are 6 months old now, they will be 7 months on Sep. 5th! We are blessed to announce that they have been equally healthy as their older brother and looking like they are going to start crawling this month at the same age their older brother did too! I've been meaning to write this for several months so I apologize in advance that some of the info no longer applies but I'll still share it.  --

While pregnant and looking like… this…

I thought, ok if I can just have these babies I will be able to go out in public again without being a spectacle… WHY did I think that.  Why did I not realize that carrying 2 newborns and a 1 1/2 year old into a public place would not draw a crowd.  A crowd that includes some of the same people that seem to think I'm still wearing a sign, only this time it says (it's socially acceptable to comment or ask me anything because I have twins) :)  - There are two categories of comments I get now. well, ok, maybe three.  

1. The FAQ's - these I don't really mind at all. because I realize that 95% of the population has never had nor has ever sat down and thought about what it would be like to have twins... until they saw me. And they are questions that I would expect all friends and family to ask and don't mind answering.  Therefore… I will answer them here for you (like I said, I intended to post this after the twins were first born… but that was like yesterday in my time… :)

• Are they twins?
• :)-- nope, they were just having a BOGO sale at the hospital… here's your sign…! SRY! I just had too! I know that people only ask this as a way to start a conversation with me, so that they can ask the rest of these! 

• Are they fraternal or identical
• Fraternal - (2 eggs) they had two separate everything in there, just happened to be in there at the same time.  They share genes just like they do with Landon, but do not have the same DNA.  they are just brothers that were born together. 
• Did you have a c-section/epidural/drugs…etc.(bc if you have twins, your gynecological history is strangers' business. - again, i realize the curiosity).
• no. 
• How did you walk??? (they are obviously picturing me enormously pregnant at this point in the conversation; which is pretty fair, because I was enormous.) 
• I usually just smile and say something generic to this question but I am always thinking in my head "um.. one foot in front of the other? is there another way?" ;) 
• Are you nursing? (this one is a little awkward coming from strangers sometimes, and is usually asked like this "You're not Breastfeeding are you?????!!!" 
• yes. both babies, exclusively breastfed (and started baby food at 5 months)
• Do you feed them at the same time? and HOW??? (also sometimes a weird one if you're in public talking to a perfect stranger, BUT… obviously peoples modesty is overcome by their curiosity! they just gotta know!
• Yes, (and no) I nursed them at the same time until they were 4 1/2 months old. by then, they were too big to fit on the special twins nursing pillow i had AND were also much more fast and efficient eaters by then so I just feed them back to back (still on the same schedule) which brings me to…
• Are they on the same schedule
• YES! they just have to be, and have been since day one. 
• Do they sleep in the same crib
• again yes, (and no). they slept in the same crib until they were about 5 1/2 months and now sleep in the same room in two different cribs due to their size and the fact that they can crawl on top of each other… and like to try to "pick up" each other's eyes… 
• Do they have different personalities
• Yes and yes… always have. and they're too complex to explain because it can't be summed up in "the quiet one" or the "the sensitive one" because it changes, but they are just two different kids.
• Are you done having kids?
• We just simply don't have to make this decision right now so it's kinda pointless to say… are we leaning one way or the other? perhaps, but at 26, I don't think we have to make a definitive statement. ;)
• How do you go grocery shopping?
• I don't.  Hubby does. yes, he loves me. Some husbands have said that something drastic would have to happen for them to go with a massive list to the grocery store every two weeks… and I say to them… having 3 under 2 is drastic enough. 

2. The comments of PITY  - this is the second type of conversation I get a lot from strangers. and it is my least favorite by FAR!!! things like 

• "Oh you poor thing"
• "Oh bless you dear" (you can picture the tone of voice)
• "You have your hands full" sometimes said in a completely friendly way, but usually in a half laughing and tone that is like I am glad I am not you! - this is also the most FREQUENT. If i had a dollar for every time I've heard this, we could retire. 
• "how do you do it"
• "Better you than me"
• "Can you imagine the chaos when they get mobile" … thank you… for that…

You get the idea. Well I don't like these for obvious reasons. Because nobody likes to be pitied… BUT they especially don't like to be pitied when they don't feel a reason for the pity! We love our life and never said it wasn't hard work, but the most worth while things are hard work and we wouldn't change a thing!!  -- but we just smile. Because I've come to realize why people don't understand. It's the same reason I don't understand runners… I have a friend who is an avid runner. Runs everyday. for fun!! MIles and miles!  I cannot run very far before quitting. I would say I really really don't like it. non-runners do not understand runners. I could go very far with this analogy, but you get the point.  So I understand the pity comments. they just don't understand I love "to run"...

3. The third and favorite kind of comments I've received from strangers are from those (usually older) adults who understand what a blessing children are recognize us as blessed as we feel. They sincerely say "oh what a blessing" and other encouraging things.  

Disclaimer: As you know, all of the previous does not phase or offend us, so if you have said any or asked any, you are among the masses and that is why I went ahead and answered questions. Close friends and family can say and ask whatever they want because we know they do it out of love.  :) 

The Birth

Oh what a day, I guess night is more like it. We had been waiting for this day for about three weeks. Our Due date was Feb 6, that would make it 40 weeks. Well, if you don’t know the Full term with Twins is 37 weeks and usually if you can make it that far it is great and everyone is tickled pink. Well with u,s like a previous post of my wife’s we prayed for and asked the Lord for FULL term 40 week babies. And that is just what we got. We had been told by our Midwife and Dr. that we needed to come straight to the hospital when my wife started labor. Due to the "high risk" pregnancy, and our history with our first son. We didn’t come to the hospital until my wife was at three minutes apart and fairly dilated. So the medical team made it very clear that we were not to wait around again. We explained to them that we would come when it was time, and not to worry. Well, that night could not have come any quicker. I guess it is true when they say that your second comes quicker than you first. But for us we checked into the hospital at 5:00pm and had our first son at 8:30pm, so how much quicker could it have been. Well the actual labor part was extremely fast. I woke up at around 3 am as my wife had woken up to some strong contractions. If you have been down this road before you know that sometimes contractions can be brought on by numerous things. So as the man I was basically in the dark. Trusting my wife that they were significant, but not wanting to call it the "real deal," in fear to disappoint, I waited. She had been having similar contractions about the same time each night but they went away after a little over an hour. So we decided to wait just a little to see if these contractions were the real deal. About an hour went by and we decided to make out way to the hospital. Now I had looked forward to this moment for a long time. I had the best excuse to just haul, fly, speed to the hospital. But, because my wife was so uncomfortable, we drove a nice easy 67 miles per hour the whole way. Oh well, I’m sure I can find other times to put the pedal to the metal. Anyway, we should up to the hospital and went in, making our way back to the labor and delivery. Now, our midwife had explained to us that the nurses on staff sometimes get a little up tight because they don’t know the whole situation and have not gone the whole journey these nine months with us. She explained that all they know is twins full term, to them this is screams "HIGH RISK." Therefore, when we checked in at 4:45am and told them that we were the couple with full term twins we got their attention. Although we peaked their attention, I remember that our nurse, her name was Hope, she was just amazing. She was so relaxed and easy going. I remember telling her that we liked her name because that was a big theme for the night HOPE. I also remember saying something that, on the flip side is pretty awesome. Sometimes when you have bought into something and are all in it makes you over confident and seem cocky, possibly saying things that may seem a bit over confident. But, you have to understand that my wife and I were all in. We had trusted the Lord to and thru this pregnancy we were not going to stop now. So I asked the nurse Hope if she was going to be there for the whole birth. Not realizing that some births take 20 hours she kind of unsurely answered I’ll be here till 8. I told her "Great because you are in for an amazing night. This is going to be awesome and you get to be present for it. I told her that it may seem rocky at times but it is going to be an amazing thing." looking back it is awesome because I was so bought in to the Lord coming through there was no other option. The nurse said "awesome" and we continued the checks. It wasn’t until she asked if she could check to see if my wife was dilated, that the situation got serious for her. I remember her saying "oh crap you’re an eight and I feel his head is right there." Then yelling call the doctor as she sprinted out of the room. Within minutes we had the doctor, our midwife, and another team or nurses there. Let me go back and explain another thing, just for bragging purposes. My wife is the ultimate woman. She is a woman among women. When we checked in the medical staff, I think by law, gives you every possible pain management or pretty much what every you want to speed up slow down, erase, or eliminate the pain. But, MY wife decided long ago that the Lord made her to bare children. He orchestrated these boys inside her, and He was going to be faithful to bring them through this birth. What that means is there is no need for medical intervention. So she did this Birth ALL natural, not medical intervention. Sorry I just wanted to put that plug in because I am amazed by my wife and how amazing she it. So once the Dr. got there they did a sonogram to see where the babies where. We knew that Baby A was head down. But what you don’t want is Baby B to be breach. Due to the possibility of him not coming head down. Then Medical intervention must take place, most times second baby is a c-section. I remember being at the head of my wife while she braced through the contractions, like a might warrior. I overheard the Nurse say to our midwife after finding out that Baby B was in fact breach. In a moment of breaking The nurse said "D I’ve already had two emergency C-sections tonight I don’t want to have another one." Then amazingly my wife piped up and said "guys don’t worry Baby B will go head down." The nurse and the midwife just looked at each other. Well as time progressed, i think probably like an hour or 2, which felt like forever, it was time to push. Now as a man, a husband, loving my wife more than anything on this earth. I really mean that, I love my wife more than anything on this earth. I may have disagreements from people but I love Mommy first. Before my kids I love Mommy, she was there before and after. She is the other half of me that makes me whole, so I love Mommy most. It is incredibly hard to watch her go through birth not being able to do a thing but speak life and breathe over her. This is why I am so glad we have heavenly Daddy to lean on. During this time any man will be stretch. I watched my wife go through this intense situation and all I want is to do it for her. To make the pain the everything go away. Buy I know that she can and that this is what the Lord intended. Therefore, if you have never been stretched like this and completely stretched to the limit of yourself into complete dependence on the Lord you don’t know him like I do. I am not saying that out of arrogance but in amazingness of how He tends to your wife and is there the whole time, comforting, tending, speaking, helping. With that being said Jacob was born at 7:31 am on Feb 5, one day before exactly 40 weeks. Not only that but he weight 9.01 lbs. He was a huge baby, one of the biggest twins that I have heard of or read about. Remember my wife is 5'3'' 110 lbs and just gave birth to a 9lbs baby, can you say miracle. The craziest part that I would tell any twin parents during the birth is that when your baby is born you want to celebrate. You are so overwhelmed and excited because you baby is here, healthy and "it’s over." But, with twins that is not the case, you can only celebrate for a moment and then you have to be ready for number two. So you remember how baby b was breach. Well within a few minutes when the Dr. went to do the sonogram to see where baby b was her ran the sonogram across her stomach and guess what? Baby b was head down. I remember our midwife saying “I think I’m going to cry." Nine minutes after his brother, Malachi was born weighting 6 lbs 15.8oz. If you haven’t read the other blogs this is pretty significant that he was less than 7 lbs, even though it was only .2 oz under. My wife heard the Lord tell her that these babies were both going to be over 6 lbs. And of course they were. But later as we talked about it we realized that if Malachi was 7lbs. then the Lord would have said both were going to be over 7lbs. but that is not what HE said. He told my wife they would be over 6 and they both were, but not both over 7, it was truly amazing. Both babies were born healthy and whole, complete. Just as we had been promised by the Lord. Both babies were great, amazing. they latched onto momma for their first feeding and we all took a big sigh of relief. It wasn’t until after the birth and after everything got settled down that we really examined how awesome this pregnancy was. The next day we got to see Hope again post Birth. I asked her what she thought when we came in and my wife was 2 min apart, 8 cim. dilated and she felt baby A's head? In her words she said “I was like what the F..." She explained the severity of the situation that it is very dangerous for Twins to be born with no medical intervention. She explained that most times it’s c-section on baby B. Because Momma is so tired from pushing her uterus won’t push the second one out. Plus it is dangerous for the mom, because of how tired the Uterus is sometimes it is so fatigued that they fear mom bleeding out. None of these things were things that we had to come up against. This birth was just how He promised Natural complete and Whole. Out nurse Hope told us following our birth that she was going to school to become a teacher in the nursing field and that we were definitely one of the stories she was going to tell. It was truly a amazing day. I can’t begin to put into words what a miracle it was to see my beautiful wife bring these two tiny blessing into the world. And how thankful I am to the Lord who never fails us.

What a Testimony

What a testimony is right! Sometimes (a lot of the time) it’s hard to see Gods plan for things until you are down the road on the journey. You have to just Trust Him and have faith. Since that is all we are supposed to do anyway, my wife and I have made up our minds to not ask questions, because it is not our job to ask questions. It is our job to act in obedience and have FAITH. So to be completely honest, and to fill you in on how we operate. We believe in the Lord. We believe that He created life and has intention and purpose in every life that He created. Therefore, it would do Him no Good to create life and not bring it to completion. (Meaning birth without complication) With that being said we go completely natural with our births, which means no medical intervention of any sort, short of the Doctors (in the twin case) and the midwife being there. At this point in life having walked in obedience and seen the things that we have seen, I am not going to debate or argue. I know what we have experienced and that is all. (Sorry if that seemed aggressive, but I have seen miracles with my eyes so I will not waiver) So when we found out that we were having Twins, and our midwife said "oh my gosh, I wish it wasn’t you guys." We knew that she said this because of the "High Risk" that twins bring to a pregnancy. Our midwife explained to us at the first appointment that we were possibly going to have to do things that we didn’t want to because of the "High Risk". Now for my wife and I, we didn't see anything "High Risk" about this pregnancy. Why would the Lord who LOVES us give us two beautiful blessings then cause problems and make it an incredibly rough pregnancy, No that’s not how God operates. So for us we were confident the whole time, in the wholeness of these babies. From the beginning the Doctor and midwife were prepping us for a turbulent pregnancy. While My wife and I continued to rely on the Lord and convince them time and time again that these babies were blessed and would be complete and whole. I can remember the visit we had after our first Visit with the doctor when we found out we were having twins. (If you haven’t read that story I believe it’s the first one of these blogs, take a look at it I think it’s a good one) Anyway, we saw our midwife and after she had told us that we really needed to pray that the twins were in two sacs with two placentas, we saw the Doc. let’s just say it was a little better, maybe from completely poopy to just a regular poopy pants visit. He was still Doctor downy, still explaining all the risks involved and what he would like us to do. Well we had another plan; it’s called Faith in GOD. They told us the interventions that they wanted to do because of the possibility of a "high risk" pregnancy, we told them we would intervene, and so we did, we talked to Daddy continually about it. And, as if I would have to convince you He came through. OF COURSE HE DID, EVERYTIME, without Fail. From the beginning when we prayed for two sacs and two placentas, and the next appointment that is exactly what it was. This was the continual process for us throughout this pregnancy. From praying for healthy babies, continual weight gain, heartbeat regularity, regular practicing breathing, to the birth, we have continually taking our concerns and worries to the One who can actually do something. Don’t get me wrong I know that the Doctors and Midwives have the best interest in mind for us, but our DADDY does to, and who can do more than Him. So I wondered why we are even having these babies at the hospital. When we can hire an outside midwife and have them old fashioned way, in our home. (I know that you thinking were crazy, and yes we are, but we have a protector, and a great Daddy that takes good care of us.) Instead of questioning this continually we just Trusted Daddy. Looking back know I can see the testimony of our pregnancy. The third appointment we scheduled with just the doctor, we (I) were going to straighten him out, let him know what was up, and how this pregnancy was going to be. I believe that our midwife knew of our intention and pre-warned the Doctor. When we met he seemed to have his dukes up approach and was ready to "throw down". Well God knew better. On the way, as my wife and I prayed about it the Lord told us to just Love on him, no confrontation, just Love on him. So that is exactly what we did probably to an awkward extent. We could tell that this caught him off guard because he kept asking us "don’t you guys have any other question", and we could politely answer "no we are just so thankful that you have taken time to see us and want our babies to be healthy and whole. We really appreciate you and all your doing for us and for our babies." It is incredible how far LOVE will go, I wonder why Jesus considered in the greatest. Anyway, this little meeting shifted our whole experience with the Doctor. After that meeting he seemed to have a different mindset about us. Although I know he considered us to be the "Amish" couple, he still seemed to have our backs from that point on. Another thing that helped our pregnancy is God continually answered our prayers about the health and vitality of our babies. With Twins you have a ridiculous amount of sonograms that you have to do for them to monitor the growth and all the other things that they are checking for. Well like I said each week we prayed for specific things, one week it was baby A's steady growth, another time it was for baby B to flip over and go head down. Just like I mentioned above, weekly we say testimony to the GREATNESS of our FATHER. Continually these babies scored perfectly on all their test. This makes life way easier, because the Doctor was seeing our God at work, so now our words had validity because he couldn't argue with his test results. Even at 33 weeks we had a small conference with the Doc and our Midwife because they were concerned that we would go into labor between 33-35 weeks. We reassured them that this was not the case and that the Lord intended us to go full term. Then at 37 weeks we had another appointment with similar intentions to talk about labor and delivery, again we assured them that these babies were going to go FULL TERM. I understood where they were coming from legally and as responsible people with what they thought my wife’s life and the babies’ lives in their hands. Little did they know that without God they wouldn’t even be breathing at that very minute, and that was who we had entrusted these babies to. At our last appointment I got to see the whole picture as to why the Lord told us to go to this particular place to have these babies. A pregnancy that we truly were not anticipating, not even on our radar, the Lord had Kingdom purposes. I remember talking about what birth was going to be like and typically the Doctor had to go over all the variables. Including wanting to do birth in the OR, having my wife hooked up to and IV, all the ins and outs, just in case. We politely told them that none of that would be necessary because these babies are blessed and will come out on their own. They said "yea we know, but....." Again we assured them that these babies were going to be okay and come out naturally. The doctor then said something that completely took both my wife and I off guard. Right after he had gone through the possible risks he then said "well Hun, (speaking to my wife) there is nothing to lead me to believe that these babies wont just fall out, your pregnancy has been nothing but perfect and that is what I expect you labor and birth to be, "then he patted her on the leg. This was the same man that dropped the poo bomb on us the very first meeting, and now he was advocating for us. Unbelievable. Our midwife seemed to have taken a shift though, possibly because she was so involved and truly cared for us. We assured her that these babies were fine and that they would come when the Lord wanted them He appointed it and has tended to them thus far He won’t stop now. She said" I wish I could have the faith that you guys have, you truly are and inspiration and I wish that I could not worry about this like you guys." After some convincing we assured her that we were not confident in us but in the Lord who has done nothing but bless this pregnancy. She settled down and gave us some medical advice and we proceeded to schedule a follow up appointment just in cases these babies wanted to hibernate some more. Once we got up there I became overwhelmed with what was told to my wife. As a husband this was truly one of the proudest days of my life. In life my whole goal is to bring Glory to the Father. The ultimate, is when someone sees your life and realizes there is something different and desirable about it. This is the Gospel not that there is anything special about me or my wife (although she is the GREATEST), it is that God Loves us so much He wants to bless us and take care of us like a Daddy. When we were making our next appointment the Ladies who were scheduling us made the same comments that we had heard so many times before. "Oh girl how is your back?" " I feel so bad for you." My wife responded " my back is fine truly, I have truly not had any pain in it, I must look more miserable than I am." Then it came, the ladies said with all sincerity "there is something different about you, of all the women who would have an excuse to complain it would be you. And I have never heard anything but positivity comes from you. And you have never had anything but greatness throughout this pregnancy. You are TRULY BLESSED." I cried, and had to hold off from crying the whole way home. I was so unbelievable blessed that the woman whom the Lord had given me was truly walking out Christ, so that others could see. It was an unbelievable testimony to me as we reminisced on the way home about the last nine months, and how the Lord had had his hand on the whole bit. We didn’t question, we didn’t wine, we continued on the path that He had made strait. We don’t waiver unless He directs in a different way. I cannot say that when people, especially Doctors say things about the possibilities of what "could" happen, it is easy to disregard it. No it is very hard, but death to self is Hard to. These Boys have been blessed to this point and why would I waiver from the unshakable, undeniable, trustworthy, loyal, loving Father. Who has promised GOOD to us. He will see this through, and they will be born Supernaturally. God has purpose and intention for our boys lives, they have kingdom value to him. It would be a shame for me to get in the way of the King of Kings when He is shaping something to be supernatural.

"Full Term" - I Need My Mommy!!

I am officially 39 weeks pregnant with the twins!  If you'll remember with me WAAAYY back in August when we were told the big news of the TWO babies, we were also told many "wonderful" facts about what happens with twin pregnancies and births.  Among other things the most common/general concern was preterm labor, low birth weight (makes sense that these go together).  I was told that the "AVG" twin is born at 35 weeks and weighs 5.5 lbs. and medical professionals (and those "medical professionals" at walmart...) began to let me know as soon as I started looking really big, that I would not make it to my due date.  Of course, our midwife had the usual concerns about me taking it easy to prevent pre-pre-term labor (around 32, 33 weeks) and it did make me slow down a little with how much I picked up and carried my now almost 18 month old! But I still sorta stood on the side of -- I am not going to "throw myself into labor" unless it was going to be time anyway...

You see, about 20 weeks prior, we (my husband and I), or course, starting praying for these twins and this whole unknown process we were about to go through.  I asked and believe the Lord told me that I didn't have to buy in to the "facts" that these babies were going to be born early just because they are twins (because twins do not develop any faster than a single baby, so what is good for one, is good for two... and FULL TERM - 40 weeks is good for one, or in my first son's case - 41 weeks).  I was lead to pray and ask that they make it full term - 40 weeks and that they both weigh at least 6 lbs.  My hubby joined me, and some friends and family joined us.   And it was oh so easy to pray for 40 weeks when i was barely even showing...

Now...  these past few weeks have been CHALLENGING, in that; tests show the babies weighing over 6 lbs. each (and estimate which could be off by almost a full pound) and I am... let's just say... I began feeling physically ready to not be a whale pregnant several weeks ago...  I began, thinking... "hey! 37 weeks could be considered full term even for a singleton...  i would be ok with that!"  I justified looking forward to the 37th week and definitely started letting people know I was ready (even though our house/nursery etc. were not ready!)

Just when I thought "it" (the belly) couldn't get any heavier or lower... it did (has) and it did begin taking its toll on what I could physically get done in one day... I just couldn't keep up with what I was used to being able to get done... but I sure did try... like I said before, I hadn't really ever thought "I better be careful not to work my body into labor!"  But my prideful self was definitely becoming more and more open to the idea of receiving help whenever offered! (advice that multiple twin moms had given me!).  There had been talk/plans that this time around my mom would come to help and be here BEFORE I went into labor (which none of us knew when that would be), but whether they were coming immediately or not... I was moving slower and needing help keeping up with daily maintenance and cooking dinner every night, not to mention I couldn't even begin to start organizing closets, washing baby clothes, getting all of those things you want done before you have to go to the hospital done! So my awesome mommy was thinking and praying about in what timing she should come stay with me and Tater while Hubby worked.  One night when I was 36.5 weeks along I was awaken by a VERY intense contraction, the kind with the back pain very much involved! (I could tell baby A was "sunny side up" his spine on mine).  Not a huge surprise to me since I have the sort of uterus that practices contractions starting around twenty-something weeks and slowly prepares for labor over time. I only expected that one... but 15 min. later... another one... and 15 min. later...  for almost 2 hours.  I knew my doctor would have been completely fine with twins making it to 36 weeks (like I said the avg is 35), but I knew it was too soon!  I wasn't sure where this was going, but if it was going to turn into full blown labor, I did not want it unless it was the Lord's timing.  So, still half asleep in between the 15 min. I placed my hands on my stomach and asked the Lord to stop this labor if it was not supposed to be happening yet.  They Stopped.

The next morning my mom called and asked if she could go ahead and come that day... I was like "YES"  We are so grateful to have her and she is the perfect example of a servant's heart.  She came prepared to stay for as long as she needed to (until they came, at this point we thought could be anytime in the next 4 weeks..!)  She has done laundry, dishes, all the cooking... helped me organize baby stuff (when I say helped, I mean she pretty much did it, seeing as how I had to sit down every 5 min!), allowed me to rest and enjoy these past couple weeks with my husband and first born!  She expects nothing in return!

Just a few days ago she shared with me that the night before she came, she was awaken in the night to pray about when she was supposed to come and help me... (no doubt, she was awaken the same time I was having those contractions) and when she got up the next morning, she knew she was supposed to come that day!
And because of her help, now for about the past week we have been ready, I mean really actually Ready in all the ways you wanna be... House ready, clean, organized! and of course there's still my flesh that is ready to find relief! So it has been very hard and I will admit I have prayed to go ahead and go into labor already!! But this week I find peace and am reminded of what the Lord had me praying for when all these physical circumstances were not an issue!... 40 weeks!

My Prayer Journal entry dated Aug. 21st, 2012

So here I am saying... Sorry everybody, you gotta wait one more week!  Because our God is FAITHFUL!

Our Progress

For those of you who have been gifted with the great gift of TWINS you know the constant monitoring and checking of these babies that takes place during the pregnancy. there are constant sonograms, checkups, and just another handful of "procedures “that you must undergo when having twins. I thought I would take a chance and brag on God and how Gracious He has been to us throughout this process. We had no idea when we started this journey that Twins would be considered such an "extreme" risk. Especially when I have read and been told of twins so early in the Bible with Jacob and Esau. So, for my wife and I, twins are a natural "normal" part of life, well kinda. (Maybe natural is a better word to describe it) Anyway, the journey began with us of course hearing all the wrongs that could go on with a twin pregnancy, a complete rain storm on an already heavy day when we just found out. The Journey has been everything but a rainy day. For the past 36 weeks we have had nothing but complete and utter BLESSINGS, from the Lord. He has been overly gracious and wonderful to us. Sometimes I feel like I am something special because of how greatly blessed I am. And then I realize I am because I am one of HIS. We have been told numerous times over and over, as if it is the Law of Doctor that they must warn you and fill your head full of the "what if's" and the "worst case scenario". Well, as I described to our Doctor during our Last visit, my wife and I travel a road in life that is sunny 75 degrees, perfect, beautiful day. I don’t worry or travel down the roads of "what if's" that is in the Drivers hands and I am not the Driver, HE is. Therefore, we don’t concern ourselves with the worst case scenario, because God has told us He will never take us down a worst Case Scenario road. In fact the word very Clearly says that He will make Straight our path, Guide us into abundance and Love us the whole way. Again, Therefore, we don’t travel those roads. This has always been foreign to our Doctors because that seems to be the only roads they travel. However, with exception for our Midwife, who has been an absolute blessing in our lives. I’ll call her D, she has been and unbelievable advocate and strength when I know that we have made her life tough. Even from the first day we found out we were having twins, she said that she wished it wasn’t us. Not because anything wrong, she just knew how we operate and said that with twins the road is much more complicated. With that said D has remained with us the whole way. Swinging the bat in whatever direction we have asked. She has truly been a "God Sent Angel" for us. I can only hope that this journey that we all have been on, including D, that we have blessed her as much as she has TRULY blessed us. Anyway, I just wanted to brag about how God has continued to "beat" the odds. First my wife is a amazing woman, sorry ladies, she stands out bounds above y'all. With that being said you must know that she is 5'3'' 110lbs. so she is not really considered the peak of physical stature. All I am saying is if you were picking a basketball team she might not be your first pick. (Wink, wink, sorry babe) So of course when we started this journey the concern everyone had was could she carry these babies. Well ladies and gentleman here were are going on 36 weeks and she has had no problems, no back pain, in fact she has maintained taking care of our 16 month old and taking care of the house, all while growing two humans inside of her. How about unbelievable, praise the Lord. But it doesn’t stop there. With twins there are some many things that I learned, that I did not know in the beginning. Like about their growth, about the Amniotic fluid index, about the movement, heart rate, practice swallowing, and many more things. These are all things that they continually monitor to make sure the babies are growing developing adequately. Well, all of these things have been amazing, scoring off the charts, she and the babies have been doing amazing. At one point the Dr. said that they were concerned about the growth of the Babies. With twins most times one will be bigger than the other. Which is normal, however, you don’t want one to be too big, that means it is stealing nutrients from the other baby. Well, as is normal Baby A is larger than Baby B. The Dr. told us that they wanted to monitor that because if they continue to grow farther apart they will have to intervene. Well, we sought another opinion from the GREAT PHYSICIAN. We called on DADDY and asked him to grow baby B to bridge the gap in weight, but to not stop the growth of Baby A. You might think wow that is pretty specific, and kinda demanding. Well you have you have to know My DADDY. He loves me, and my wife and these Babies more than I love Me, My wife, and my Babies. I know the will the Lord has for us so I can ask with Confidence that it will be done. And guess what, that is the very Testimony of what happen. Baby B has grown and bridged the gap, while Baby A continues to grow, healthily. Praise the Lord. This Birth has been a completely unbelievable journey, one that I personally thought was going to be rocky, tough and challenging. It goes to show you that although we may think that the waves are crashing, the boat is about to capsize, the Lord lays quietly comfortable resting at the head of our ship. It is only when we fix out eyes in the eyes of the beholder that we can see past all circumstances, all situations, and see strait to the peace and confidence that surpasses all understanding. We have and will continue to fix our eyes on HIM instead ourselves on his eyes as he directs this ship, into wholeness, and perfection as the Author and Perfector, He has promised good to us, so we will sit patiently and trust in his DIRECTION.