The Boys Are Here!

Abraham, top; Winston bottom

We are joyful in announcing the arrival of our boys.  Abraham and Winston were born on March 10, 2011.  Abraham Simon was born at 5:37 pm with a weight of 5 lbs. 15 oz. and 18.75 inches tall.  Winston Carol was born at 10:45 pm with a weight of 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches tall.  The second induction was successful and I was able to deliver both boys vaginally.  Yes, you are correct in reading that my second son was born five hours after the first.  It was a hard labor for Winston who was surprisingly big and born sunny side up.  I had a wonderful birth despite the back labor, especially with Winston.  Winston had some respiratory distress within minutes of being born and spent the night in the nursery for observation.  My placenta then abrupted.  I lost consciousness from blood loss and my doctor had to act quickly to do a manual extraction.  I was stabilized within several hours and am recovering now like a champ.  I honestly cannot believe all that happened based on how good I feel now.  I am so grateful for my doctor who acted skillfully and confidently. We spent an additional three nights in the hospital and came home yesterday. 

Abraham is my little scrapper and makes the most amazing faces.  He tends to look like a grumpy old man or the Grinch.  He is so little compared to Winston and it just makes me want to eat him up.  His middle name, Simon, is after my paternal grandfather who passed away shortly before Eric and I got married.

Winston is more mellow but he has a temper.  He is the more extroverted of the two at this point.  He loves to try to track our voices and movements with his eyes.  He is my chunky monkey and I love his sweet baby cheeks.  He is also more vocal and we call him Squeaker. His middle name, Carol, is after Eric's paternal grandfather who passed away this last summer.

Both boys do not like having dirty diapers and make it very clear by becoming very loud.  They both like to flail their little hands and legs.  As the days progress they look more and more identical. 

I have so much to say but as you all know, so little time.  I am running on fumes but I can say that there was a tremendous joy when we came home and put our boys to sleep in the bassinets in our bedroom.  I had imagined them side by side for months and the reality was as precious and joyful as I had anticipated.  Eric and I both cried and reflected on how blessed we were.  Eric prayed over our little sons and we feel scared and excited about this thing called parenthood.  We are so thankful both boys are healthy.  We are trying to get some weight on them as they are jaundiced and have lost between 10-11% of their body weight since birth.  Tandem breast feeding is really hard but I am trying to persevere!  Right now we are pumping and using a bottle to supplement.  Thanks for all your support.  Any advice on twins would be welcome!

Sorry for the iPhone pic but my laptop died right before the boys are born.  We have some awesome pics to share but it will be a while until I can upload them.