Brayden and Cooper

Brayden Robert Stidolph was 6 lbs. 19.25" born naturally after 2 hours pushing at 2:28 am and Cooper Cheston Stidolph was 6.2lbs. 18.5" born by c-section at 3:09 am! Cooper was not responding and had to be raced to the infant recovery room to start breathing and get his heart rate back. Brayden and I waited until the nurses rushed to revive him. Now they are both extremely healthy and feeding properly:) After 23 hours of labor and surgery Stacy is recovering well! Can't wait for everyone to meet them!!! More Stories to come later.

Stacy Excited to be in Labor!

Little did she know what was ahead! 

I played nurse all day/night

Happy to be together!

2 cm one hour...empty bladder and fully dilated less than 4 hours later.  Entered operating room at 12:20

Brayden and I waiting for Cooper to come into the room!

Finally Cooper recovered and we spent some time together before heading to see Mommy!

10 minutes after Cooper got his heart rate back and started breathing again!

Finally we are together again!  

Gram gets her first look!

This is what Chet looks like @ 5:00 in the morning!  He looked content! 

Pa Pa getting his chance!

Finally... her first grandchild!  

Stacy recovering with grandparents by her side!  They flew from Tennessee in 6 hours!  Amazing!

Chet wouldn't give them up!

Mommy getting to meet the boys for the first time! 

Cooper's first bottle!  They are doing great with breastfeeding now!  

Brayden on the left and Cooper on the right starting to wake up! 

Great Grandma and Great Aunt Kathy soaking in the cuddles!

Darin and Kyla practicing...they look like they are ready:)

Mommy getting some alone time with the boys!

Then I jumped into the picture

The visitor party started with Robbie, Robin, Hannah, and Chelsea rub'n in some loves 

Grandpa meeting the boys for the first time!  

They stayed asleep even with dad tossing them around! He'll be great! 

Pa Pa taking it in double doses!  

Grandpa and Grandma taking in their first grandchildren! 

Brayden and Cooper staying quiet while in the same crib!  

nesting

The nesting instinct is the name given to the

distinctive urge to clean, tidy, and organize that occurs during pregnancy.

Yep, I have that.

I feel like I've been in the "nesting" mode since the baby shower ... possibly even before that. However, I'm sure much of my preparations are also due to being jobless and having a new house.

I wanted to be mostly ready for their arrival when I reached 34 weeks gestation. From what I've heard and read, it's common for expectant mothers of twins to land in that category of going into pre-term labor. I didn't want to have this happen to me and not be able to give my newborns undivided attention because I was still worrying about this&that around the house. So I got a jumpstart on things! And fortunately, I've been rather capable and self-sufficient with this pregnancy (until recently) so I didn't see any reason to not use my health and strength for "nesting." Also, both my mom and Lora have been a great help with getting everything ready around here! :)

I say "until recently" because I've finally stopped driving myself around, like to the grocery store and my weekly doctor's appointments. I've decided why take the chance? I don't want to be out and about and alone if something starts happening. Which should be any day now.

How long have I been saying that? Way too long. I started that mindset at 34 weeks for the reasons mentioned above, and now it's a month later and I'm getting very impatient and extremely anxious to meet them! I'm not the only one around here feeling it ... there have been several nights where both Nate & I seem rather "off" in our moods. There was one night recently where I just blurted out, a bit whiney and frustrated, "I wish they were here already." Nate lit up when he looked at me and agreed, "Yeah me too. I think that's why I've been in a bad mood all day... because they're not here yet!!" But not to give the impression that we've been spending our last few days as just the two of us all depressed and upset. Yes, we're anxious to meet them, but we've also been enjoying our time together to its fullest!

We've been really glad for his work schedule now which allows us to spend every evening together. This was not the case for our first 4 years of marriage. Between opposite work schedules and college classes, we'd see each other a little bit throughout the hectic week but mainly just on the weekends. Then even on the weekends, we'd often be busy with traveling or getting together with friends and family. It wasn't until this past June that we finally got to settle into what some would consider to be "a normal lifestyle."

Now we can have mid-week dates, like last night for example. I'm new to groupon-ing, so we tried out our first groupon to see how it all works. Turns out it works well and we really did get $20 off our check! We used it at this neat little restaurant downtown Des Moines in celebration of Nate's birthday. Questionable-looking place = very unique and delicious food. If anyone ever offers you a ham and bacon egg roll, accept it. It will be an amazing life-changing experience through your taste buds.

So It seems I've gotten a little bit off track from the main topic. It's probably because I'm still wired at 11:48 pm like usual and am feeling very chatty! Ahhh pregnancy can be so weird sometimes. Anyways! Back to the main topic because I have more to tell you.

According to the hospital's records, I had reached 38 weeks this past Monday. However, according to my own records, I will be 38 weeks this coming Saturday. The explanation of the 5-day difference is that I messed up the paperwork when I was getting everything switched over from IL to IA. The good thing is that this may work to my advantage! IF I want it to. It's been my doctor's general practice over the years to induce twins at 38 weeks because that is considered to be full-term for twins. Just recently, new guidelines came out stating that an induction is not allowed before 39 weeks unless there are certain complications. This is to reduce the number of unnecessary inductions and to encourage women to allow themselves to go into natural labor. "Twins without complications" is a listed specification that must wait until the 39-week mark. Since I will be 39 weeks this coming Monday, according to the hospital's records, it is my choice to ask to be induced or to schedule a C-section anytime next week. That's if I haven't already gone into spontaneous labor by that point. At my last appointment this past Tuesday, my doctor left me with the words, "keep your fingers crossed," meaning "nothing is happening yet, so let's hope nature takes care of this soon so you won't have to try to decide on what to do." I've been crossing my fingers and toes all week and even stared at the full moon last night for an unprecedented amount of time, but still nothing has happened. Nate came to the conclusion just tonight during supper that they're still in my belly because they're just thoroughly enjoying the food that I eat. This could be ... I have been feeding them many delicious things! I know it's best for the babies that they stay in there as long as possible to continue to develop their lungs, and I'm so thankful that they've been growing so well and have been checking out healthy at every appointment. But seriously, any day now.

We haven't come to a decision about what to do next week. I'm planning on going to yet another appt. next Tues and we will base our decision on what they tell us about how things are or are not progressing at that time.

If they're continuing to grow at the same rate they've been growing, they should measure at about 6 & 1/2 pounds each now. It feels like it too!

So maybe if we all say it together ... "C'mooooon babies!!!!!" :)

getting ready to put in the first load of baby clothes!

never did I enjoy folding clean laundry as much as I did this time

picking out the coordinating newborn outfits for them to wear home from the hospital -

the outfits looked a little big for being newborn, but it seems I'm not growing preemies!

packing the hospital bag

Nate has been doing some "nesting" of his own - practicing up!

we received these jungle-themed wooden block letters as a baby shower gift -

aren't they awesome-looking???

34 weeks ... I guess I shouldn't look so surprised, they've been there for awhile now!

36 weeks - growing and I still have no idea where it's going!

celebrating my 24th birthday at John & Lora's with Lanae, turning 8

my choice from the menu last night:

smoked gouda mac n cheese w/ bacon

my old hubby is now 26! :)

turkey time twenty-twelve

Be thankful for what you have;

you'll end up having more.

If you concentrate on what you don't have,

you will never, ever have enough.

The turkey wasn't the only thing stuffed at Thanksgiving this year. My belly was a big competitor! The boys decided to stay put and let me enjoy one more "peace" of pie this holiday. I always really love this time of year when families come together to spend quality time full of food, fun, and fellowship.

We had the privilege this year of spending Thanksgiving day with all of my immediate family and Nate's immediate family and grandma. John & Lora graciously hosted all of us for a spectacular dinner. We had the whole works: 2 turkeys, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, homemade bread, jello, cranberry, corn, butternut squash, and pies galore. Tell me again, why does this holiday only come once a year??

After dinner, we went around the table and shared what we were thankful for. It was so touching and encouraging to hear what everyone had to say. I was last to share my thoughts due to the sequence of seating, and of course pregnancy hormones had kicked in full swing by that point, so the only way I managed to make it through my little speech was with a box of tissues at hand. Anyways, I'm glad the conversation led me to think about just how much I am truly grateful for: God, family, friends, life, hope, health ... the list is endless.

It was so awesome that my parents, brother, and sister were all able to drive the distance to our place this year so that we could spend the holiday together since I obviously wasn't allowed to travel very far away this time.

So Wednesday was when most of my family arrived, Thursday consisted of the big turkey dinner followed by naps and a game night which included friends in the area (we surprisingly all left still being friends even after playing a few rounds of mafia), Friday was a day of rest and recuperation, then most of the day Saturday was spent at the science museum in Des Moines, and late that evening we all went for a very chilly, windy walk on the bridge. Today brought the dreaded yet inevitable departure of the family. They'll be back soon though since the arrival of our rip-roarin', I mean well-behaved, twins will be any day now!

Thanksgiving Day 2012

Dad and Lora figuring it out

carving the turkey

Chet & I pulling up dad's sleeves so he didn't get any turkey juices on them!

even though it was turkey that they ate, Ryan & Amy still managed to "ham" it up at the end of the table

coloring! :)

Gram surrounded by grandkids happily enjoying their ice cream cones

an ice cream cone in hand and a toy train waiting to be played with ... life is good

so true :)

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science museum pics

Nate & Lara tightly securing their wooden eggs with foam wrapping

for the mighty egg drop test

admiring the "ball wall"

carefully completing his domino chain

and now building a rocket ...

let's just say the "kids" really enjoyed the museum ;)

soon to be 6 of them!

Uncle Eric demonstrating how to hold the green cloth to appear headless on the screen

:)

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bridge pics

the "walk" across the bridge was pretty easy-breezy for me - Chet took pity on the pregnant lady and pushed me in a wheelchair since I didn't feel that I should go into labor on a 13-story high bridge 30 minutes away from the hospital

all bundled up!!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great week! :)