I see that I am still getting activity on this page. I just wanted you to know I have another blog that is easier to update from my phone. It is www.caringbridge.org/visit/thetuckertwins
The girls are two months old. They are doing extremely well weighting in at almost 8 lbs each. The girls are smiling and drinking from bottles. We are also teaching them to hold their heads up.
Hope you keep reading. The girls love your support! Thank you!
I forget to do both even though I said I would.
We arrived to Philadelphia Monday. We were exhausted since we were up most the night before. Leaving Owen was very tough on both of us. We got to the hospital and ate lunch there. Then went for our appointment. We had an ultrasound and it went great. Girls are still head down and weight in at 4 lbs 5 oz each. Crazy to think they are that big. I had all my blood work done.
We also got settled into the Ronald McDonald House. Its not home but it will do. We are more comfortable now that we have been here a couple days. We have met many families and kids. We also were able to get our own comfort food and make our place here. We will be seeing them a lot this next year.
We went to a near by town for some shopping. It was nice to get out. We are staying in tomorrow. Its suppose to rain and I am exhausted. I physically hurt since it feels like the girls are trying to kick their way out of me.
We have another appointment Monday. The following week is delivery week. Can you believe we are that close?!? My husband can! haha! We will go in Monday the 27th and Tuesday the 28th for steroid shots and preop. Then my parents will come the 29th. One last dinner and then on March 1st the girls will be here. I can’t wait to see their faces. It is so surreal. I will be in the hospital for three days and will try to update as they do tests and when we find out results. Sunday my dad will bring Owen to visit. I can’t wait to see and kiss that little face. He will be here only a night but it will be worth it. Then we will go to a hotel to recover for a few days.
From there we will figure out where we are going. Its up in the air and you can’t plan very well. Just go with the wind.
Please keep the prayers coming. We need them very much so now. Thank you.
I have started a new blog site at caringbridge.org. The link is… http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/thetuckertwins
Please visit there and here. I will keep both updated. Thank you.
I wanted to write to you explaining what is about to happen the next several months. I know you are too young and you won’t understand now, but someday you will be able to read this and understand. I want you to know that your daddy and I love you very much.
Owen you have been the center of our world since the moment I found out I was pregnant. We loved you from the beginning and over time, our love has only grown. I remember the first time I saw you. I held you in my arms and was absolutely overcome with joy and amazement. I adored my beautiful baby boy. You were perfect. Everything I could have ever wanted in a baby, I found it in you and so much more. You stole me from that first moment you looked at me. And to this day, when I hear you say “mama” you melt my heart.
Owen, every time you smile, every time you hold my hand or wrap your arms around me, I fall more in love with you. I never knew I could love someone as much as I love you. You are my pride and joy, you are my world, my every breath. You are the reason I wake up and know that my life has a meaning, to be your mommy.
Owen I want to explain something though. My heart is made up of puzzle pieces. There are four main pieces. Your daddy, well he filled one of those pieces by being my husband. You my son, filled another piece. I never knew I had two more pieces to fill until the day I found out we were going to be having your twin sisters. Now the time has come to fill those pieces and let Amelia and Allie complete the puzzle.
However your daddy and I have to go to a hospital far away from you to bring your sisters into this world. We have to go to a hospital that is far away because your sisters are special. God decided that when he planted your sisters in my belly, he was going to sew them together. He thought they needed each other and so he made them so close that they were knitted together. His plan for the girls is for them to be together and then after they are born, when they get strong enough, we will unsew them and let them be individual kids just like you. He knew they had to be together for a while then someday he was going to separate them so then they could run and jump just like you do. After they are separated, once they get strong enough, they’ll come home and live with us. Until then mommy and daddy will be gone a lot and will be with them in the hospital.
During this time you will get to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Ambeau, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Natalie, and you’ll get to see Aunt Melissa, Uncle Andy, and cousin Luke too. You will even go see GG and Al. There will be lots of people watching you and taking care of you. You will ride to work with Grandma and Grandpa and go to daycare everyday. There you will color, paint, play with sand and water, take naps, and make lots of friends. This will keep you busy and make the days go by.
Mommy and Daddy will miss you big man. We will constantly talk about you. We are sad just like you are. We will miss many dinners together, bath time, night time stories, and Saturday cartoons. We will miss seeing you come home from daycare and we will have to see your art projects over the computer. But know that this time will pass and we will soon be home with you. For now you have to be a good boy and not give your grandparents a hard time. We promise to make up for all the missed times. We will make sure to visit and let you come visit and see your sisters too. It will be hard because it will be boring for you and you’ll want to play. However the area where your sisters will be is not an area for playing.
So Owen, prepare for your two sisters. Amelia and Allie will soon overtake your world. You will be a great big brother, I have no doubt in my mind about that. You will love them and fight with them. You will wish you were an only child some days and other days you’ll be grateful to have them as your sisters. You will do great my son, you will do great.
Just remember we love you. We will always love you. You are our first born and our only son. You hold a special place in our hearts. Please never forget this.
I love you
Your mommy
I wanted to write to you all because I haven’t since my last appointment. We are still here in NY with my family. We have been enjoying our time with our son and my parents. Owen loves having mommy and daddy home. Its been rough because the week we returned him and I got very sick. I still am sick but he is better which is more important. I have a terrible headcold that will not go away. Its been here since before Christmas.
I am getting larger and clothes are getting smaller. It’s a ongoing joke in my household that my belly hangs out of my shirts because even the longest shirts don’t help. I gave up on caring anymore. We spent this past weekend with family and friends. It was nice to go out with my brother and his girlfriend Natalie Saturday night and hang out with all their friends for my brother’s 27th birthday. Happy Birthday Old Man! Sunday we spent the day with family to celebrate my big brother’s birthday. It was nice because it gave us one last time before the babies are born to get together. Later we watched the Superbowl. I fell asleep however sometime in the second half. I was very tired.
Our stuff is all packed and we are getting closer to relocating. I am getting nervous as the days go by. My wonderful husband keeps assuring me things will be fine and he is there next to me through it all. I couldn’t ask for a better partner to be by my side. He listens to all my fears and concerns, my hopes and joys. He is truly there for me through this all. He even lets me hold his arm when walking into a store since walking is very hard these days.
I wanted to include in this post a recent story I heard about a very beautiful 5 year old, Maddie Musto. You might have heard her story recently but if you haven’t here is a link to the blog I recently read her story. http://www.kidographybydania.com/musto/ After reading her story, I just cried. My heart truly breaks for them. Sadly Maddie passed away today. God felt she was ready to get her wings and fly. As I watch our community gather and grieve over the lost of this little girl, I see how many hearts she has touched. Please say a prayer for this family tonight. Hold your children and loved ones and tell them how much they mean to you. Rest in peace sweet Maddie! You are so loved by many!
*moment of silence*
I just wanted to end this by saying life is short and precious and we must love every chance we get. God bless everyone.
After reading a very touching letter to a photographer, it made my husband and I realize that family pictures are precious and so important. The letter was from a mother who passed away from cancer but she wrote this letter to her photographer saying she wishes she got pictures one last time for her kids to have after she passed away. It broke my heart but it hit us really hard. You never know what life is going to bring to you. We realized first hand, crazy things happen when you aren’t expecting. All I wanted and asked for was pictures. So tonight we went and got pictures. Please enjoy!
Once again we hit another week! We have made it to 31 weeks. Today was a bittersweet day. It was our last appointment at the Syracuse office before having the girls. I love the staff there and love going there. But having this last appointment means the babies are soon to come!!!
We had our usual ultrasound. The girls were wiggling. Baby A heartbeat was 168 and Baby B was 149. They have a ton of hair from what we could see. They also look sooo much like Owen. Its unbelievable. Their weight is great. One is 3lbs 13 oz and the other is 3lbs 10oz. They are absolutely perfect!!!
Everything looks great. I look like I am going to make it the next 11 days we have left here. Its been a rough week since we came back. Owen and myself have been sick and Owen has been home with us. Hopefully next week we will get him back to the daycare and his routine before we leave again.
Other than that there is not much to update. Here are some pictures of the girls!!!
And of course I had to include Owen’s Big Brother gift. We got him a Build-a-Bear and we plan on getting him a little backpack and cowboy hat of his own!
This is Bobo!!!
This is going to be a very informative and positive post. Just a few days ago Greg and I didn’t have a clue when we were relocating to Philadelphia, when we would deliver the babies, how the delivery even went like, or what was to come before us. Our only jobs were to sit and wait, and for me to keep baking these babies.
Tuesday morning we made our trip to Philadelphia. We had all our clothes, baby clothes, everything packed to stay for four weeks. We were told we would come for our 30 week appointment and depending on how I was doing, they would tell us if we were staying or not. If we didn’t stay, we would be allowed back for two more weeks before really relocating. This was very hard for us. When you have a child already, leaving them is the worse and hardest thing possible. If we were going to be given two more weeks with him, we would take it in a heart beat. However we had two baby girls to worry about also.
Wednesday we had all our appointments. When we say appointments, we are scheduled to see a ton of people. First was the echo on the girls’ hearts. This is an hour long ultrasound where they look at the girls hearts. The echo turned out good. Both hearts were beating great and they had great blood flow. Second was our ultrasound. The girls were moving all over and it was hard to get good measurements. Not to mention, I am so large laying on my back is a challenge. After the tests we met with the OB. He was great and very pleased with the growth of the girls. He said they were doing great and we could go home for two more weeks. He said everything anatomy wise looks excellent. This is pure music to our ears. I felt my heart smile in that moment. Later we met with the midwife. She was sooo nice. She told us our scheduled csection date, March 1st. To our surprise, we were pushed back from 34 weeks to 35 weeks. This is great news because even though I would be that much bigger, so will they and that means the most. We also scheduled the date we would relocate to Philadelphia. We would be going February 13th. That is when the fun stuff really begins.
During our visit we also learned what delivery day would be like. We would be scheduled for the morning. Not sure the time yet but I am guessing early. We will go in and I will get prepped. Greg will be in the room with me. There will also be a huge huge team of doctors and nurses. Because there are two babies and they are conjoined, we will have two OBs doing the surgery. Once the girls are delivered they will go to a team who will stabilize them. Before they leave, I will get to see them quickly. Greg will be able to go and take pictures while they clean them off. I will be closed up and taken to my recovery room where my parents will be. Once the girls are stable, they will bring them by the room so we can see them again. It won’t be for long but at least we can see them. The girls will then go to the NICU and later we will be able to see them again.
We also learned about feedings. Because they are conjoined, the babies will not be able to feed by mouth at first. They will get IVs. However there is a procedure they would like us to do and its called oral care. This is where every time I pump, one of us can take our clean finger or a swab and take the milk and coat each girl’s mouth. This way the milk is absorbed into their cheeks. This is entirely new, cool, and exciting bonding experience for us.
Here we are though, very excited to see our little girls soon. Five more weeks of baking and they will be stronger and healthier. We are hoping March 1, 2012 will be our little girls’ birthdays!
thetuckertwins 