Hi all!
Thank you so much for your concern & wishes ladies! Sorry I haven't been in touch sooner - the week has been a blur.

Jessica Amy & Isabel Ruby arrived via c-section on Tuesday, 1st March at 6.48am and 6.49am respectively. They weighed 2.44kg and 2.43kg and both are 45.5cm long.

We arrived home yesterday after the girls spent the week in the SCN to monitor their weight (so much for my last ultrasound weight prediction!!) & they are doing really well. It was great that the hospital extended my stay so we could go home together.

The Birth Story...
On Mon, 28th Feb I had my 37-week OB appointment in the building next to the hospital & my BP was 160/100. My OB decided that it was way too high and organised for me to be admitted immediately for bed rest until my scheduled c/s on Thurs 3/3. Luckily my mum had driven me to my appt and went home to get my suitcase while I was admitted. DH arrived a short while later while I was hooked up to monitors, etc to make sure babies were ok.
All was fine & DH went home to bed that night while I had my BP checked every hour & had numerous urine and blood tests done to check for pre-eclampsia (I didn't have it). At 4am I woke up to strong BH contractions, but they were coming more often than usual, so I called the midwife in.
The midwife hooked me up to a monitor and it turns out they were contractions 5 mins apart! DH and OB arrived shortly afterward at 4.30am & I was 4cms dilated, with much stronger contractions coming 3-4 mins apart. I was given the choice of changing to a vaginal birth at this stage, but I decided to still have a c/s, since I was mentally prepared for that. The c/s went well (I had a spinal block instead of an epidural because it would work faster) and no complications.
The only drawback to the birth I can think of was that I didn't get a big cuddle with the girls because they were taken straight to the SCN after they were born (Isabel's breathing wasn't great). After 24 hrs in a humidicrib together, both were transferred to a cot.
I tried to breastfeed, but I wasn't producing enough milk for both and they kept having to increase their formula top-ups. Now that they're bottle-fed at home, I am much more relaxed and they are feeding like clockwork every 4 hours. Fingers crossed they stay that way!!
Also - FYI - it turns out they're not identical - a good look at the placenta afterwards (not by me, ugh!) showed that it was actually 2 placentas fused together. They do look quite different even though they pretty much have the same dimensions! Amazing that this wasn't picked up although I had a bazillion ultrasounds.
Thanks again for all your advice and support during my pregnancy - your advice about c-section recovery from my previous post has been invaluable. Now I'll be bothering you for newborn advice!

Lisa
<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://lilypie.com/pic/050308/c1ff299.jpg" alt="Lilypie Baby Pic" border="0" /><img src="http://lilypie.com/baby1/060301/2/21/1/+10" alt="Lilypie Baby Ticker" border="0" /></a>

This message was edited by lisa&twins on Tuesday, 8 March 2005 @ 9:06 PM

Wow Lisa congratulations!!! Beautiful names. Hope you're getting some naps here and there,
congratulations to you and your DH,

Maycee (35)
DH (33)
Twin boys (4/12/01)
DD (7/10/03)

Congratulations and welcome to the world girls!!!

Sounds like everything went pretty well and you are all doing a geat job of settling in! Enjoy your new family!

hugs!

Kate

Congratulations on the safe arrival of your girls. Lovely names! Take care, get any rest you can and if you have any questions - just ask!



Maree

Harriet Lorna 1/8/03
Eleanor Rosalind 1/8/03

Hi Lisa - I am new to EB, but wanted to congratulate you on the Arrival of Jessica and Isabel! Your story is inspirational, and I am glad that you have a positve birth experience to share with us!

The girls weights were very good too - you did a great job to get to 37 weeks gestation....

What a suprise finding that they were non-identical right at the end! We were told at the start that our twins were identical, so we told everyone and then oops there is the other placenta Like you said it doenst matter as long as they are healthy and to be so close in dimensions is amazing.....

Well done and enjoy them! Look forward to reading of your progress! It will be me soon....OMG


Haylie ~ 25
DH (Phil) ~ 38
DSD (Ebony) ~ 15
Our Family is soon to be 5 when our twins arrive......
<a href="http://www.snugglepie.com"><img border="0" src="http://www.snugglepie.com/ezb/90603.png"></a>

Congratulations Lisa. I love the names you have given them. It sounds like all is going well at home - enjoy them. I hope you are getting plenty of rest. Looking forward to hearing more about your little girls

Julie
DS Luke 6/8/04
DD Jenna 6/8/04

<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://lilypie.com/baby1/050806/3/18/0/+10" alt="Lilypie Baby Ticker" border="0" /></a>

CONGRATULATIONS LISA

Congratulations on the safe arrival of your baby girls. Well done and best wishes to you, your DH and your new little family

Edited to say: keep forgetting my signature.......

Rachel
Twin boys due 11 April

This message was edited by Gracie on Wednesday, 9 March 2005 @ 12:23 PM

CONGRATULATIONS On the arrival of your two little girls ... Enjoy them ... Girls are the best
Hope you and babies are doing well.Take Care

Congratulations, loved reading your story thanks for sharing it, ah takes me back!
Enjoy your girls,
Heather

[color=Pink]Oh Lisa, congratulations on your beautiful baby girls! Sounds as though you did a great job with the labour etc and you're doing a great job at home.

Take care, and enjoy getting to know your babies.

Vanessa

<font color="#FF99CC">A very big congratulations to you Lisa! Welcome to the world Jessica Amy & Isabel Ruby.</font color>

CONGRATULATIONS LISA AND YOUR DH
I am only new to EB but am so happy to have found all of these Mummies of multiples. Enjoy every minute with your little bundles of joy. How many times have you said to yourself "I can't believe there is two of them?" I still say it to myself all the time. Try and get heaps of rest and lots of cat naps.
congratulations once again. Any questions and I would be so happy to help
Jodi
p.s have to get my ticker sorted!!!!!Congratulations lisa[color=Pink]

AAAAAAWWWWWWWW! Congratulations and well done! I really enjoyed reading your story...and I just LERV the names! Just wonderful!!!!!!!

Take it easy and enjoy those precious first weeks!!!1

Congrats and well done. Beautiful names. enjoy your first few weeks. Cant imagine just having one can you??

Rebecca, Amber & Olivia

Thank you all for your positive vibes. We are lucky that Jessica & Isabel have settled in so nicely, we're enjoying it while it lasts!

We went for our first walk around the 'block' (well - it took longer to get them ready for the trip than the trip itself..!) today to slowly break in the pram and to get my confidence up while DH is around to help me. I must say I have a new perspective on things when I'm behind a double pram with two precious bundles inside!

We're making the most of cat napping, although I still feel a little guilty about leaving the phone to go to answering machine.

I think reality will hit when DH goes back to work - I haven't figured out how I'll feed both together yet!

Well I must be off - we're about to crack open a bottle of wine and some brie while the girls are asleep (sorry to the pregnant ladies reading this!).

Lisa
<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://lilypie.com/pic/050308/c1ff299.jpg" alt="Lilypie Baby Pic" border="0" /><img src="http://lilypie.com/baby1/060301/2/21/1/+10" alt="Lilypie Baby Ticker" border="0" /></a>

This message was edited by lisa&twins on Thursday, 10 March 2005 @ 6:58 PM

Hi Lisa,
It is really lovely to read your posts and you sound so very happy! I am glad that the girls are setteling in for you and DH and I am sure they will be just fine. You made me laugh about the trip around the block! I suppose I will be able to laugh at myself in the next few weeks as we get ready to venture somewhere.

How long does your DH have off? I know that will be the best support system for me even though I have my Mum, phils Mum and lots of clucky girlfriends ready!

Good work on the wine and brie!I accept your apologies, the wine doesnt bother me as I dont drink but I cant wait to eat the cheese!!!!!!!YUM

Loving the progress reports! Keep well and happy.....


Haylie ~ 25
DH (Phil) ~ 38
DSD (Ebony) ~ 15
Our Family is soon to be 5 when our twins arrive......
<a href="http://www.snugglepie.com"><img border="0" src="http://www.snugglepie.com/ezb/90603.png"></a>

Lisa - congratulations on the safe arrival of Jessica and Isabel. It sounds like they are settling in nicely. What magical times for you