2 weeks

Our babies are 2 weeks old today. I love having twins! It's crazy, crazy but so good & I love it. Have I mentioned that I love it? Everyone should have twins :) My Mom and I were talking about how normal and right it feels that we have two babies instead of just one. It doesn't seem strange at all. Can't beat 2 for the price of 1.

The nursing thing hasn't gone as I was hoping but I am trying to stay positive. I realized everything in my pregnancy and especially in the labor went so perfectly that I can't expect there to be no tricky spots, right? I was so determined to nurse them to 12 months and determined it would be easy but um, not so much. They both lost a pound within the first four days and we had to supplement. Neither of them nurse very well and take the bottle a lot better. So I'm pumping now and still supplementing and we'll see how long I last. The whole process takes like an hour with help or 1 hour and 40 minutes without help. But they are both way above their birth weight now, filling out, and getting bigger every day.

They have decided to have fussy time in the middle of the night and the last couple of nights it was pretty much all night long. So, I'm going to change some things in my diet (I'm still eating lots of ice cream though!) and we're trying hard to keep them awake after they eat during the day so hopefully that will help with the night thing.

I'm so thankful my Mom has been here for 2 weeks and has another 2 weeks to go! Hyrum & Hunter would be sadly neglected otherwise.

They are both so sweet and fun to cuddle. I can't believe we're a little family of 6 now...

Emma & Justin

Awwww...we have TWO babies at home!!!!

Here we are awaiting the arrival of PIT

Proud Parents

Proud brothers (although I think Hunter prefers them at a distance and not crying)

Sweet babies!

So here's the story & I'll try to keep it short & sweet.

We arrived at the hospital Sunday night at 7pm and got all checked in. Turns out I was already dilated to a 4cm & having random contractions so they decided to give me just a small amount of Pitocin over a few hours. Then they took me off of it to see if my body would pick up on it's own but it didn't so after a few hours of that they gave me a good strong dose of PIT and within 20 minutes the contractions were terrible. So after a few of those I got my epidural around 6:30am which was AMAZING! Thank you whoever you were, my anesthesiologist! I didn't feel a thing and could finally get a couple hours of sleep. They checked me again around 9:45ish and I was 10cm and ready to rock & roll.

Because I was "high risk" I had to deliver in the Operating Room just in case. Everyone I talked to knew how much I wanted a natural (vaginal) birth & how much I wanted to avoid a c-section. There were about 10 other people in the room besides Jeremy & I, including a seasoned high risk labor & delivery doctor. So I started pushing at 10:22am and Emma Louise Shakespear was born at 10:27 at a whopping 7 lb 2 oz. Baby B's heartbeat plummeted in the 40's & stayed there, I pushed twice and they said I had one more push or they would have to do a c-section. I was pretty terrified so I pushed again and still nothing and they gave me one extra chance & Justin Taylor Shakespear was born at 10:31am at 6 lb 15 oz!!!!! He had a little help from a friendly vacuum. So they are 4 minutes a part.

We were able to go home the day after delivery & we are doing great. Really! They are sweet, sweet babies & sleep well & are doing their best at nursing. Today I even started nursing them at the same time which is going to give me some extra nap time I hope :) My Mom is here for another few weeks and Jeremy took the whole week off of school.

I just wanted to thank everyone for praying for us to have big, healthy babies & to have a natural birth. Those were the two things I was especially nervous about & we feel so blessed to have things work out the way they did.

More pictures to come soon (hopefully)

*********Our happy winners**********

Lyndsi Rivera guessed my tummy circumference right on the head at 45 inches!
(Before I measured I was right with all of you who guessed 55 inches and above)

Jon & Becky Tolman are our ecstatic winners by guessing a grand total of 14 lb 2 oz of total baby weight (our baby weight was 14 lb 1 oz)

Thanks to all for playing the game & we will get a sweet bag of chocolates your ways ASAP! (Lyndsi, email me your address!)

Chocolate!

picture at 38 weeks and 0 days

Here is a chance to win some free chocolate...

You can have two guesses

1. How much total baby weight I've gained (so the babies weights added up after birth of course)

2. How many inches around my big ol' gut is as of today (38 weeks), don't worry about hurting my feelings, guess what you really think :)

Whoever gets closest wins a bag of some sort of chocolate that is yummy and hopefully we'll have two winners! We are leaving in 20 minutes for my scheduled induction so hope that these babies come naturally, NO C-SECTION!!! Think positive thoughts.....thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes, I've been rather overwhelmed by it all, we have the best friends & family!

2 year old Hunterbug

I can't believe the Bug is 2 already! Wasn't I just pregnant with him???

Look at that face

And that face too, he is so incredibly cute

His birthday was the 8th but we decided to celebrate with the best present on the 9th-the arrival of Gramma Darlin'. This is Jeremy's masterpiece firetruck cake.
This is what Hunter ordered and got, along with hats, balloons, lollipops and 'trumpets' (those bday noise makers). I think the cake looks amazing! I'm glad I married a creative man.

We got Hunter a few of the 'Cars' characters and I think he was excited-such a boy, he loves anything with wheels.

We LOVE you Hunter!!!

My Sunbeam

This was a big day (for me anyway). Hyrum went to church for the first time as a Sunbeam! I can't believe I have a kid old enough to be in Primary. I guess I'm still in a bit of shock. I love that I get to serve in Primary as a leader and was able to watch him at least before he headed off to class. He did great and tried to be reverent and sing the songs and keep his arms folded. He got a new pen for having a January birthday and made a crown that said 'I am a Child of God' on it and he seemed really excited about everything. He did say 'Mommy I was tired after singing that song we sang for a million times' :)

(In our church kids ages 3-12 go to Primary- after the family meeting called Sacrament Meeting-and are divided into classes according to age to sing songs about and learn about Jesus and His gospel. Before this they go to nursery where they mostly play and eat, so it's a bit of a transition!)

Welcome 2010!

Our 'shmoman' that lasted about 2 hours before crashing to an untimely death

Our playing-in-the-snow-and-sledding-lovin'-boys

sharing some hot chocolate


The highlight of my New Years is that these babies are still where they should be! No December babies! First goal accomplished. Second goal is for them to be at least 37 weeks (this Sunday) & my most recent goal is for them not to come until my scheduled induction day, January 10th. My Mom flies in the 9th, I'll be induced the evening of the 10th & they'll most likely be born on the 11th. Then hopefully we can go home a day or two after that. Yes, I am unbelievably uncomfortable but I would still love to make it till next Sunday so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Oh and thanks Curtis family for a fun New Year's Eve!