The TWINS Have Arrived!!

September 15, 2012 at 10:14 and 10:16 pm our dream of a family finally came true. Our twins came into the world at 37 weeks 1 day and made our lives complete. Evan was born first weighting 5 lbs 11 oz quickly followed by Ella weighing 6 lbs 5 oz. Both were 19 inches long. Both were given a completely healthy bill of health and never left our side.

 Evan immediately after he was born                                                                     Ella immediately after she was born

Both of their first names were names we simply liked. I have been in love with the name Ella since college (a friend coached gymnastics and told me several stories about a precious girl named Ella). Evan was a name my husband came up with and I loved it as well. We had no intentions of naming them with similar sounding names (i.e. both names starting with 'E'), it just happened that way. Lee is family name from both sides of our family. Rose has a special meaning to us; I wrote a post about what happened to us back on Dec 3, 2009 you can read here-http://casomeday.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-3-2009.html. The rose I found that day in Dec symbolized hope and encouraged me to keep fighting for our 'someday.' It also honors the angel we'll get to meet someday.

Ella and right before we left the hospital in their take home outfits

I'll write up a separate post about the birth story...it will be a long one. I've been meaning to write their birth announcement for over a week and it just hasn't happened! I've been blissfully submerged in baby land and had no desire to come up for air. Well, that, and the babies have kept us a tad busy.

We are completely and utterly in love. I wanted, prayed, hoped and begged for this, but I had no idea it would be so perfect. If you're reading this and you're still in the trenches of infertility, I hope you keep fighting for your someday. We've waited over four years for our family, but I can honestly say it was worth the wait. Keep fighting! It can happen.

Our two beautiful babies.

Here's a bullet list of what we've been up to in the past week:

• We arrived home Tuesday afternoon. We walked in the door, set the babies down, stood arm in arm and stared at them. The rest of the day we simply held them and soaked it all in.
• Wednesday we had their first pediatrician appointment at 8 am. Getting out the door for an early morning appointment was insane, but we made it. Both babies checked out as 'perfect.' Evan had a two vessel cord, so the MD suggested getting an ultrasound done to ensure his kidneys were healthy. There is a rare chance of kidney issues when a two vessel cord is present.
• Thursday we had another morning appointment to get newborn pictures taken. The session was supposed to last 2-3 hours but turned into a 4.5 hour session. Our twins cooperated extremely well so the photographer took extra shots. I'm very anxious to see the results!!
• Friday afternoon Evan had the ultrasound done on his kidneys. Although we don't have the offical results from the MD yet, the tech told my husband there didn't seem to be any reason to worry.
• Saturday my husband ran out on a much needed Target run. I survived being home alone with the twins for a few hours.
• Finally, today, Sunday, we've both been able to be home the ENTIRE day with no appointments or errands to run!! We've also been engaging in endless amounts of snuggles with the babies.

The past week has simply been magical. The babies each have their own personality. Ella is peaceful and calm unless she needs something. She only cries if she's hungry or has a dirty diaper; but when she cries it is loud! Once her needs are met she quickly falls asleep in our arms. She's sweet and beautiful. Evan can be calm, but he goes through periods of fussiness when we have difficulty soothing him. He's been cluster feeding, usually from 10 pm-1am, and it is not easy for mom and dad. He's a tiny little guy compared to his sister. Despite his random fussy times, he's gorgeous and loves to snuggle. We both love watching the faces they make, the random movements they make, listening to their sounds and can't get enough of just looking at them! We are in love. At this moment, life could not be any better.

Time seems to be passing by fast and I want to soak in every moment. I started a notebook where I'm writing down a few things that happen each day to try to savor as much as possible.

We have one more week together as a family of four before family rolls into town (all of our family lives out of state and we wanted some time to bond before we had people staying with us). Although I'm looking forward to our families meeting the twins, I hope this week goes by incredibly slow.

There is so much more I want to say and share, but I'm going to wrap things up-I have a beautiful family I want to spend time with...