Bath Time!

Very alert after their bath
Davis
Henley loved being clean!
Henley after her bath
Henley in the bath
Davis after his bath
Davis getting his first bath
Sorry for such a long delay in posting. As you might imagine, it has been crazy the past few days. We arrived home on Saturday, but that night I developed a "spinal headache." It is a complication from my first spinal tap during the c-section. I was in so much pain and had to go back to the hospital on Sunday morning. The cure for a spinal headache is another spinal tap and what they call a "blood patch." They took blood and put it in my spine and the headache was gone! I'm so thankful to be feeling better and also to my friend, Megan, for taking care of me that day. Other than the headache, I have been trying to figure out how to be a mom to twins. My mother has been here for the past few days. It was great to have her help and input -- Billy and I are both so grateful. Tonight is our first night alone, so wish us luck!

This afternoon Henley and Davis took their first bath and I wanted to share the pictures with you. They are beyond precious and we are having SO much fun. I just STILL can't believe I am so lucky! I find myself thanking God so many times a day for such an immense gift.

Also, I just wanted to update you on a friend of mine who had IVF in Maryland with Dr. Levy. I requested prayer from all of you a couple of weeks ago as she underwent the process. I'm SO happy to announce she is pregnant! Please keep her in your prayers as she awaits the milestones and news of the days to come.

One last note, I know I'm jumping around but there are just so many things to share. When I was in the hospital, the phone rang and the number was unknown but had a (301) area code. I remember this being the area code of Dr. Levy's office in Maryland, so I answered. It was sweet Dr. Levy himself! The day I gave birth, my elated mother had emailed the only contact person she had in her phone -- the financial planner in Maryland. She thought her email would probably never reach Dr. Levy, but we were just SO grateful for the gifts we had been given at that moment. He was on all of our minds. Well, the financial planner gave him the email, he looked up my number and called to personally congratulate all of us! He is just a precious man. Thank you again Dr. Levy.

Still a Mom!

Davis
Henley and her very dramatic stomachache
Davis how he has been so far
She didn't feel so great
Well, turns out this was not all a dream (kind of seemed like it with the morphine!) We are day 2 in the hospital and all is going well. I've learned so much the past couple of days and I think we'll stay til Saturday so we can soak up all we can and take advantage of the nighttime nursery... Davis is precious and so far EXTREMELY laid back. Henley is a little MESS aparently...everybody (nurses, petiaticians, staff) make sure and stop by to tell us. Here are a few more pics of day 1 & 2...

Happy Birthday

Henley getting her hair done
Henley before she got her hair done
Henley
Davis (very concerned)
Davis (still concerned!)
Yesterday was AMAZING! Everything went as planned and I have two precious, perfect children. Thank you Lord, we feel more than blessed right now. Henley Louise Gant was born at 8:56am and Davis Hawkins Gant was born shortly after at 8:58am, weighing 5.9 lbs and 4.15 lbs, respectively. It was a very special and emotional moment(s)! There is just no describing it until you've done it yourself I guess. All I can say is WOW!

Happy Birthday to you....

And here we go....

I'm sitting here in the hospital and can't sleep, despite taking 10 mg of Ambien! I guess you could say I'm a little excited! At my doctor's appt today, Dr. Kimberlin tried to do an amino to check lung development, but she realized the fluid on Baby A (Henley) was reaching a critically low place and there was not enough to do the amnio. Sooooo, things changed and I was admitted to the hospital today. Tonight I'm being monitored and then first thing in the morning, I will have my c-section and my babies in my arms.

Wow -- I can't really even begin to explain how I feel right now -- excited, nervous, so thankful and blessed. I definitely feel strong in body and proud of how far we've come. It's all come rushing back to me, tonight, on the eve of my twins' birthdays. All of the despair I faced, all of the painful shots in my stomach, all of the expense of fertility, all of that turned into the past 9 months, with the elation of finding out I was finally pregnant, finally getting to feel the babies move inside me, getting to enjoy (and complain about ;-) this miracle of pregnancy and now finally this is the culmination of it all! ...what a feeling...I know even now, It was ALL worth it!

I'll post pics as soon as I get them on this computer. Much love to all -- C

Update

It looks like I'm going to carry these twins full term! Who knew? Most of you are aware, but I have scheduled a c-section for next Wednesday, April 22nd. Please keep us in your prayers for a safe delivery and healthy babies.

Billy and I are thrilled beyond belief and are so excited about the arrival of these twins. It's going to be very emotional for so many reasons, but mainly to think of how much we have gone through to get them here. We feel so blessed and we're thankful to all of you for all your prayers throughout the past few years. I will be sure and post pics as soon as we get some on the computer.

I would have pics of the nursery up already, BUT we have a slight disaster with the bedding at the moment. Hopefully it will all be done by this weekend -- talk about last minute! whew. It seems that I way overcompensated for Davis being a boy. I just didn't want the nursery to look to "girly." Well, it definitely is not girly and now I'm going to have to frill Henley up some. Oh well, I guess this is only the start to being pulled in two different directions!

Hope

Hope and faith were two things that were talked about a lot through my journey with infertility. So, it is only fitting the theme would carry over into my nursery. These babies are the result of LOTS of hope.

As most of you know, my Mom is/was an English teacher and she loves poetry. One of her favorite poets is Emily Dickinson. So, when Mom gave me this piece of artwork by one of her favorite poets, containing the very theme of "hope" within the poem -- it was too perfect. As you can imagine, it is one of my favorite gifts and something I will always treasure. I just wanted to share it with all of you too. I think you'll agree, it is pretty special! Thanks Mom.

I also have a prayer request for anyone willing to pray -- one of my infertility friends is currently doing her 1st IVF with Dr. Levy (her 3rd IVF in gerneral) in Maryland. Her retrieval is tomorrow. The next few days will be filled with anxiety as we find out if the eggs are mature, if they fertilized normally and if they are continuing to grow and split. Please keep her in your prayers. Thank you!