Just some more pictures from when the babies were born...

This is me just before heading to the doctor's office on December 18, 2008. Little did I know that I'd be having my babies in just a few short hours!


Brian and his daughter--she's already got him wrapped around her finger!



What a great and proud big brother! December 19, 2008


This is Hadden in the special care nursery with his feeding tube--December 19, 2008

McCall in the special care nursery with her feeding tube--December 19, 2008

Babies' birthday

I know I have been very slack with updating my blog, but as you can imagine, things are hectic around the Dart household now that the twins are here!


I never got around to posting my "birth story"--what actually happened the day my babies were born, so here it goes:


I had been on anti-contraction medication for months and was taking it regularly every 4 hours. The night of December 17th I overslept and missed my 5am dose of medication. When I woke up I could tell I was having some slight contractions, but I took my medicine at 7 am on December 18th and started my day.


As the morning went on, though, I could tell that the medicine wasnt working to stop the contractions and I was getting more and more uncomfortable. I was scheduled for a regular checkup with my doctor the next day, but I called anyway to see if I should come in and get checked out. My doctor decided to just bring me in that day, just to see what was going on.


So, off I went to the doctor at about 11 am December 18th. I went in for my growth scan
ultrasound (I had been having these every 2 weeks to make sure that the babies were growing nicely) and we found that in 2 1/2 weeks McCall had not gained any weight at all. In fact, one measurement the ultrasound tech did showed that she had actually lost a few ounces. So, before even seeing my doctor I knew things werent right.


I finally got into see my doctor and the first words out of her mouth were "What have you had to eat today?" Because I knew I was going to have a csection I pretty much figured out where she was going with her line of questioning. She said that because McCall's growth was obviously being restricted that we needed to go ahead and have the babies that day. She did check me for dilation and I was 3 cm dilated and in early labor anyway, so birth day had come at 35 weeks and 5 days of pregnancy!

They took me right over to the hospital (my doctor's office is at the hospital where I delivered) and got me in the triage area to start my IV and monitor my contractions. The nurse there told me that I was 4th in line for a c-section, but that they put my on a monitor to assess whether my contractions were regular enough and my labor was strong enough to push me to the front of the line. Apparently my labor was progressing enough (I was contracting about every 3-5 minutes at this point) that I was moved up to be next in line.


My parents and brother had come to the hospital with Jackson and were waiting in the waiting room for updates. Typically at Candler, when you have a c-section, they will wheel the baby down the hall to the nursery and stop by the waiting room to show the family, so they were waiting for the big moment!


I got into the operating room and got set up and the surgery actually started before Brian even came in the room! They brought Brian in and my doctor started my surgery at 3:42 pm. Eight minutes later, at 3:50 pm, Brian Hadden was born. Olivia McCall was born 1 minute later at 3:51 pm.


As each baby was born my doctor held them up so I could see them (I really just saw them for a couple of seconds each) and they were given to the nursing staff from the Special Care nursery. I do remember asking how much they each weighed--Hadden was 5 pounds 5 ounces and McCall was 3 pounds 13 ounces. I dont remember much of the rest of the surgery because I was given some medication for the pain that sort of knocked me out a little bit, but Brian left with the babies and headed to the special care nursery. Unfortunately, the nurses werent able to stop at the waiting room to show the family the babies because they had to get upstairs to be evaluated more closely.


After the recovery room I was taken to my hospital room and finally got to see my parents and Jackson. They had all been to the special care nursery to see the babies--something I wouldnt get to do for another 12 hours! But, Brian took pictures and video of the babies so that I could see them.


I was having some blood pressure issues, so my nurse wouldnt let me go to the nursery to see the babies until it was stable enough that I would be OK to go over there. Finally, at 4 am the next morning, I got to see my babies for the first time! It was so amazing and overwhelming--of course I cried!


I stayed in the hospital for 4 days, having to go back and forth to the Special Care Nursery to see and feed the babies. They were in the hospital for 8 days and came home on December 26th--the day after Christmas.


Brian all dressed and ready to go to the operating room with me






Brian Hadden Dart





Olivia McCall Dart



Me seeing the babies for the first time

Jackson meeting his brother and sister for the first time

The babies are here!

I just spent, literally, over an hour typing a long blog with the story of the birth and tons of photos of the twins, and when I tried to post it, the hospital's internet usage agreement page popped up and erased everything! Needless to say, I'm furious!

But, I'll get to it again sometime soon! Here's a picture of the babies for now...

Born Thursday, December 18, 2008

(on the left) Olivia McCall Dart

Born at 3:51 pm

3 pounds 13 ounces

18 1/2 inches

(on the right) Brian Hadden Dart

Born at 3:50 pm

5 pounds 5 ounces

18 inches

Jackson and his friends...

Addison, Mason, Jackson, and Payton

Bank of America had their family holiday party tonight at Flying Frogs, an indoor playground for kids. Santa was there handing out presents and Jackson and Brian had so much fun running around and playing! I went, but basically just sat around and watched (since I am technically still on bedrest!) and chatted with all the other moms.

We had a great time and our friend (and awesome photographer), Jennifer, took all the pictures for the event (Addison is her daughter).

In the home stretch to D-day!

But, not without my share of problems popping up at each appointment!

I'm sure that nobody is truly interested in all the sad details of my doctor's appointments and how each one lasts about 2 1/2 to 3 hours or how new and unusual issues keep coming up, but here's a short breakdown of what's going on:

I had my regular weekly appointment with a nurse practitioner the day before Thanksgiving and my blood pressure was up. I begged and pleaded to not be put in the hospital over the holiday, so I was sent home with strict instructions to lay around and do absolutely nothing until today (Monday) when I was to go back in to see my regular doctor for a check-up and ultrasound to make sure the babies are OK.

So, I go in today and find out immediately that my doctor was called to the other hospital in Savannah to deliver a baby, so she was running at least 45 minutes behind schedule. I was taken in for my ultrasound to see how big the babies are and to make sure they had enough fluid...everything is great there!

Hadden is weighing in at 4 pounds 7 ounces
McCall is weighing in at 4 pounds 3 ounces

After my ultrasound--rather than sit there for an hour or more waiting on my doctor--I went downstairs and got lunch, then came back to the doctor's office and was put on the contraction monitor. Apparently I'm contracting some still (I didnt feel most of them and they were teeny-tiny contractions), but they are enough that they've changed my cervix and I'm now 1 cm dilated!

What's not helping the situation is that I have a pretty nasty cough right now and my doctor is worried that I might literally cough myself into breaking my water--I didnt even know that was possible!

So, I have to take the contraction meds every 6 hours without fail now and I'm also on a prescription strength cough medicine to (hopefully) stop the coughing.

That ended up not being as short an explaination as I'd hoped, but there's the info if you're interested! I have no clue what's going to happen in the next few weeks...I have to go back in on Friday for my second appointment of the week to be re-checked! I'm still hoping to hold on to these babies for at least 2 to 3 more weeks, but we'll see!

Oh--I forgot to add that my total weight gain for this pregnancy is 18 pounds. My doctor just says that I'm, literally, all baby and nothing else! I just hope that it comes off easily when they're born!

My doctor's appointment this week...

I had to go in earlier in the week than I usually do--I usually like to go in on Fridays because I switch from week to week of pregnancy on Saturdays and I feel better going in as close to my week change as possible. But, my doctor was off Friday this week so I had to go in Wednesday instead.

I had another growth scan to see how big the babies had gotten over the past 2 (well, actually 1 1/2 weeks). Hadden weighed in at 3 lbs. 14 oz. and McCall was 3 lbs. 13 oz.

They didnt exactly gain the "1/2 pound a week" that they say that some babies do gain, but they are both in the 45% for fetal weight at 32 weeks gestation, which is great for twins.

I was put on the monitor and found out that I'm having some major contractions, so I am now taking terbutaline (an anti-contraction medicine) as-needed when I feel that they're picking up. There are some horrible side effects of this medicine--jittery shaking, nausea, horrible heartburn--so I'm trying not to take it too often.

In the past 3 weeks I've actually lost 1 pound (which I totally dont get at all--I eat like a horse all day long!), so my doctor just wants me to eat and eat and eat. As you can imagine, there isnt much room in my belly anymore (I'm already measuring 38 weeks gestation) so eating that much is just impossible. I've gained a total of 15 pounds so far.

The good news is that both babies are head down. I'm not sure how much more flipping around they're going to do, since space is limited, so hopefully I'll be able to avoid surgery!

I go back in next Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) for my next appointment, so we'll see what's going on then!

Updates...I have pictures, too!

YEAH--I finally have some pictures of my little man to post! They're in backwards-order from how I want them posted, but this stupid blogger wont let me rearrange the order of the pics!



Jackson at Disney on Ice, November 5th


Showing off his super-cool Flounder hat at Disney on Ice


Halloween, getting ready to go trick-or-treating at Grandma and Granddaddy's house. To infinity and beyond!

My sweet Buzz Lightyear on Halloween! (He posed like this all by himself--I didnt even tell him to!)

Carving a pumpkin with daddy a week before Halloween....the finished product!

My boys playing with pumpkin goo!

I guess I cant really call him "little" because Jackson is getting so big! He is so, so smart and loves just talking and talking all day long. He has the memory of an elephant, so something he did or heard weeks and weeks (or months) ago still becomes topic of many conversations. His favorite thing to talk about is Disney World, but he also loves sports (mainly football and baseball) and snuggling in the bed to watch TV. He loves singing and remembers new songs after hearing them only once or twice. He knows his ABCs and can count to 14! He's going to be such a great big brother--he knows the babies are coming and sometimes puts his toy basketball under his shirt and says he has babies in his tummy just like mommy!

Of course, I have TONS more pictures that I could post, but these are the most recent--being from the past couple of weeks.

On to pregnancy news--I'm 30 weeks pregnant now and I'm still going to the doctor every week. I actually just had my most recent growth scan this past Friday and the babies are getting so big!

Hadden is 3 lbs. 6 oz. and McCall is 3 lbs. 2 oz!

My doctor feels confident that I might make it to the 36 week mark, which will be December 20th. I'm determined, though, that if I do make it that far these babies WILL be born before the end of 2008!

Hadden has flipped around and is breech now (and has been for weeks) and McCall is head-down, but sort of sideways in my belly. Since Hadden is "baby A" and is the biggest one of the two, he'll have to flip back to being head-down for me to not need a c-section. I'm thinking I'm going to be going under the knife to get these kids out because room is getting scarce in my belly for big movements!

I've been feeling sort of crummy lately--I just feel really big (although everyone tells me I dont look big for being 7 1/2 months along with twins. I've only gained 16 pounds, but it feels like so much more!) and I have really, really bad heartburn. Sleeping is a thing of the past--I usually just find myself passing out on the couch around 4 am and sleeping until Brian and Jackson get up in the morning. I count down the minutes to Jackson's naptime every day because I'm completely exhausted all of the time and try to rest when he does. Thank goodness for my parents who help out so much with watching Jackson and giving me a break when I need it!