Me: "What are you doing Abby?"
Abby: "Nothing"
Me: "What's in your shirt Abby?"
Abby: "Oh this? (pause) I brought you some crackers Daddy."
Me: "You weren't trying to take them upstairs with you, where you?"
Abby: "Yes, but there for you now."
And that pretty much sums up what we deal with every day most of these past 4 years; a good mix of mischief, cuteness and witty responses or lies depending on how you choose to look at it.
Four years ago God blessed with us with these 2 wonderful tiny little babies. While they do create a great deal of mayhem in our lives and we frequently complain about the craziness that raising twins can bring, truth is we cannot imagine life without them. Funny thing is about 4 1/2 years ago, we were preparing for the fact that both of them may not even live to come home with us. For those who don't know about the challenges during their pregnancy, there is a reason we call them "miracle babies" and what better day to tell their story than on their birthday.
About 15 weeks into the pregnancy, we went for a sonogram with most of Kasey's family in the room while we determined the sex of the baby. The anticipation was great and there was concern of disappointment conveyed by yours truly as my preference for a boy had been made very clear. The process began and the images on the screen started to come into focus. After a few minutes, a comment was made something along the lines of, "you know there are 2, right?" Ha, ha, very funny. After some fun was had at my expense, there is was, the image was clear and I saw 2 babies. Kasey is yelling out, "I knew it, I told my doctor I was having twins." Kasey's brother secured Lily from my arms in fear that she be dropped as the color on my face began to fade to more of a greenish hue. While this tidbit of info was still setting in and weakening my knees, along comes the knock out punch, "they are both girls". Holy *&?*^! is what I start thinking. 3 girls, 3 weddings, 3 college tuition's, not enough guns to wart off all those boys, and on and on my mind raced. As if that wasn't enough, Dr. T asked to clear the room so he could explain some things to us.
Basically we were told that we need to schedule an appointment with Kasey's doctor the very next day. During that visit, it was explained that Abby and Chloe were mono-amnionic meaning they shared the same sac. Kasey's doctor, Chuck, (we have had enough kids that I'm on first name basis with her OBGYN), felt horrible that he missed the twins, but because there was only one sac he assumed one baby. Chuck sent us to another specialist. While his candor was appreciated, he did not do much to make Kasey feel at ease. This guy basically told us there is nothing we can do but spend some time in the hospital moitoring the babies and hope for the best. He told us right now I would say your babies have a 50/50 shot of both living. I still remember walking out of his office that day, and Kasey just began to cry on the sidewalk.
During her 25th week of pregnancy and the day after Thanksgiving, Kasey went into the hospital where she would spend the next 9 weeks. Abby and Chloe would have to be monitored every couple hours to make sure they were not killing each other. Not much has changed really since then has it? They were monitored to make sure one baby was not getting all the blood supply, and to make sure that their umbilical cords were not knotted off. If at any time something happened, Kasey would be rushed in for an emergency C Section.
Those 9 weeks were some of the most memorable weeks of my life. Lily and I spent so much time together during that time frame and she was such a trooper. We went to the hospital almost every night and not once did she cry or make a scene when we left Kasey there. This time frame may be where she mastered her art of stealthing into our bed, as I woke up most every morning with her curled up next to me. Abby and Chloe did great, and aside from the occasional technical difficulties of finding their heart beats, it was pretty smooth going. Kasey became fast friends with all the nurses and if memory serves me correct, Kasey knew all the good gossip around the prenatal unit. We snuck Kasey out of the hospital for 2 hours on Christmas so she could at least open gifts with us. That may have been the toughest day for Kasey through the whole thing. We had so many sonograms those 9 weeks, that we were actually able to pick up on some of Abby and Chloe's characteristics. Chloe could sense when the sonogram was happening and it was if she was trying to push Abby aside so she could get in the picture. We have a sonogram picture of the two of them actually holding hands in the womb.
So the plan was to take them at 34 weeks or 6 weeks early. Chuck said they could spend as much as 6 weeks in the NICU just depending on how well they ate. That day 4 years ago came and Abby arrive first the smaller of the 2 white as a sheet and barely a peep. Chloe came out screaming bloody murder and red as a beet. We got to see them all of 2 seconds before they were rushed away into a room with 8 to 10 people waiting to care for them. It only took a few minutes before they allowed me into the room and asked me what their names were. "Which one came out first, and is she smaller?", I said. They confirmed that baby A was smaller, so I confirmed that was Abby and baby B is Chloe. They were the tiniest little babies I had ever seen both weighing about 4 lbs. Chloe to this day is still the first one to try new things, and she came home a day before Abby after only 10 days in the hospital.
Happy Birthday to my sweet little twin baby girls, we love you so much!
Quick Lawson Story: We attended cousin Morgan's basketball game who is now playing for Arlington Baptist. After the game all the kids were running around and before they got out of control, they were told to settle down. Lawson began to back talk me as he often does, and after a couple warnings he got a little love tap on his rear end. Though it wasn't hard enough for him to barely feel it, he played the sympathy card and began crying. He shuffles over to Mommy and proceeds to tell on me:
Kasey: "what happened Lawson?"
Lawson: "Daddy hit me."
Kasey: "Where you talking back?"
Lawson: "No, daddy hit me". (He then turns around pointing at his hiney) "Daddy hit me on my hiney......will you kiss it?"
Jeff, Kasey, Lily, Abby, Chloe, and Lawson Boy
