Mommy of twins in waiting no more . . .

After 9 weeks of bedrest, the wait is over! Bennett Michael and Kendyll Samantha made their grand entrance in the early morning hours of Wednesday, 2.13.08. Bennett weighted in at 4 lbs 4 oz and Kendyll at 4 lbs 7oz.

It started out as a rough week for me (sorry of this is TMI). I visited the hospital early Monday morning with some cramping and discomfort; turns out it was just an infection that we started to treat with medication. I still wasn't feeling so hot Monday night and Tuesday night I woke up to horrible cramps, so we headed out to Riverside again. We figured this would finally be the time they kept me in the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy on bedrest. Turns out I was experiencing active labor -- both having contractions and dilating 3 cm in a couple of hours -- so after deliberating with my doctor they decided to take me in for a c-section. Once the decision was made everything moved pretty fast. It was a little before 5 am and we had exactly 7 minutes to call our parents to tell them what was going on! Within minutes I was prepped for surgery and we were taken back to the OR.

Overall, my c-section has been a breeze (and I was SO worried about it!). I'd be happy to share all of the gory details with anyone who is interested, but I will say it wasn't as scary or painful as I thought. It moved pretty quickly, too, and before we knew it Bennett was born at 6:17 am and Kendyll was pulled out two minutes later -- both were screaming and were overall very healthy for being born at 32w6d. Tim went with them to the NICU.

Both babies are doing very well. The doctors have said they could be in the NICU for as long as 4 weeks; they both are having slight breathing problems due to their immature lungs, but are improving every day and they will need to learn to eat and grow a little bit bigger before we can bring them home. Bennett seems very feisty -- he has quite a temper when the nurses and doctors try to move him or mess with his tubes. He does, however, seem to be very glad to be in a bed of his own -- after 8 months of sharing space with his bully sister he seems very happy to be able to spread out! :-) Kendyll was the one who would kick me so hard and in every ultrasound she seemed to be the boss, kicking and hitting her brother. She is still the diva now -- her nurse told me this morning that she is has been very difficult to please and every position they try to move her to she screams. They can only leave her on her tummy and if they try to move her she throws a fit. We may have our hands full with this one already! Big "brother" Tabasco is eagerly awaiting them home, but he has no idea how much his world will change very soon!

We don't have many pictures yet -- both Kendyll and Bennett are in isolettes and it is difficult to get a good shot. But Papa Williams snapped these two with his camera yesterday, so I wanted to pass them along.

Kendyll

Bennett

I will continue to post updates here as the twins grow and I will add more pictures as well. I will probably go home from the hospital on Saturday or Sunday. We appreciate all of the well wishes and support -- Tim and I can't wait to introduce you all to Bennett and Kendyll soon.