Welcome Sophie and Campbell

As most of you now know, Kyle and I are officially a mom and dad! Words cannot describe our experiences this past week. First of all, we are thrilled to finally meet our little girls. They are perfect in every way, and we feel as though we cannot love them enough. It truly is a love like no other. Second, we have been on the emotional roller coaster of our lives this week, as well. Sophie and Campbell were born on Friday October 22nd, 2010. I was 35 weeks to the day. I went in Thursday for my twice weekly non-stress test. At my doctor's appointment a few days before, my blood pressure was a bit high, and I had gained (are you ready?) eleven pounds in 2 weeks. Was I eating ice cream and donuts at every meal you ask? No. I'm fairly certain that about 7 lbs. of that weight was water. I was definitely starting to swell up, and it happened fast. This is one of the big signs of pre-eclampsia. My doctor didn't seem too worried. Just that he wanted to make sure my blood pressure was closely monitored at my non-stress tests. So Thursday at the NST, my BP continued to climb. The nurse had me give a urine sample, which contained a trace of protein (another sign of pre-eclampsia). She also drew some blood which appeared to be borderline. She called my doctor, and he decided that I was far enough along that it would be safer to take the babies now than wait for me or them to get sick. I was shocked to say the least. I had no bags at the hospital, and Kyle was at work. Fortunately about mid way through my visit, I called him and told him to get up to the hospital quick as I had a feeling we might be getting some big news. About 15 minutes after his arrival, we get the news that we will be having the girls that night. I started to panic and kept trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I would be meeting them in 3-4 hours. Kyle was so excited, but the mom in me just started worrying that they might not be ready, and I just wanted healthy babies. At about 4:00, Dr. Shanbour called us and said that they had had a record-setting crazy day in labor and delivery and that he could do the C-section at 9 or 10:00, but he thought it would be better to wait until 6 am the next morning. I happily agreed (this meant I got to eat dinner, and I was starving). I also needed just a bit more time to try to mentally prepare myself for this. So we spent a sleepless night at the hospital, and 6 am came very fast. So off we go to the OR. For those of you who have experienced C-sections, it's the most fast and furious thing I have ever experienced. I was in the OR by 6:00, and we had babies less than 30 minutes later!

Campbell Jane Nevels
5 lbs. 7 oz. 18 in. long
6:27 am

Sophie Kay Nevels
4 lbs. 12 oz 18 in. long
6:28 am

Aunt Sara also did a wonderful post about their arrival.

As I write this, both of our girls are still in the NICU. I could write many things about our experience with the NICU this past week. I will sum it up by saying it's been the single most difficult experience of my life. There is nothing normal about having a baby(ies) and having to go home without them. I have shed more tears of grief, joy, and love this week than in my entire life combined. I'm overwhelmed with love every time I look at my girls, and at the same time, grief because we have not been able to bring them home. Let me also say that I know without a doubt how fortunate and blessed we are that they are perfectly healthy, and will only spend a little over a week in the hospital. I know many other moms have and will spend many weeks and months with their babies in the NICU, and my heart breaks for them. The only issue our girls have ever had is getting the hang of feeding. As preemies, it's very difficult at first for them to maintain the strength to keep their body temperature warm and eat enough for them to gain weight. Who knew these 2 things could require so much energy? They were on oxygen for the first day, and taken out of their incubators on the second day. The most difficult part of this week has by far been the many instances of false hope. At first, we believed we would be able to take them home with us, then it was going to be by Wednesday, then Friday, then tomorrow, and now we are cautiously optimistic it could be Sunday evening. We just need our girls to take their feedings well through the night and into tommorow. They have done wonderful overall, and we pray with everything in us that they will continue the trend through tomorrow. We by no means want them to come home before they are ready, but it has been the biggest test of patience for us to acknowledge that we cannot control their readiness. Kyle has been phenomenal throughout this week and my rock. I realize more each day as I watch him with the girls that he is already an incredible father, and these girls have melted his heart. He has taken on the dirty diapers and feedings like a pro.The other night he whispered to me before falling asleep that he can't believe he ever wanted a boy, and this of course melted mommy's heart.

I will end this by saying thank you to all of you who have said many prayers for our little miracles. We have felt all of your support and love, and we will be forever grateful for it. A special thanks to our amazing families. You brought us food, gifts, love, support, and shoulders to cry on during such a wonderful and challenging week. All of the texts, phone calls, and facebook comments have warmed our hearts and sustained our hope. Above all, we know without a doubt that God has had his arms around our girls and us this week, and we pray he will continue to.

We can't wait to share so many more wonderful pictures and moments of our girls with you.

xoxo

Halloween Birthday

Well, it's looking more and more everyday that S & C are going to get the double whammy every year of their birthday and Halloween being back-to-back. Or maybe even on the same day! As my sister so aptly pointed out, this will make for some fun costume-clad birthday parties! I hadn't really given it much thought (or shall I say as much thought as my I-live-for-party-planning-sister), but I came across this cute blog post today and suddenly got excited about this idea. This of course will only be a possibility if these girls come before/on Halloween. And what parent doesn't love the excuse of being able to dress up their kiddo in their Halloween costume besides on Halloween?

And in the event they do arrive before the 31st, hopefully I can convince my sister to whip up some cute onesies such as these for them to wear. I would hate for them to be party poopers or un-festive.

And I'm oh-so-close to ordering 2 of these for the girls, as well. But what a waste on the off-chance they arrive after Halloween. And I just don't think I could stand to give these away!

Oh how I wish I only knew how close to this holiday the girls would arrive. But I think they're just going to keep us guessing... ;)

*Update: I did order 2 of these beanies. The lady is making 2 of them for me for $5 total. I couldn't resist!

Just the Three of Us

I know that the days of just the three of us are numbered. Lately I've been rather hormonal and sentimental about the last 5 years of just Kyle and I (and Teddy the last 3 years). I'm so thankful for the years we have had as just us. I wouldn't trade them for the world. We have been able to make so many fun memories, go on fun trips, be selfish, silly, irresponsible, and most importantly grow as a couple and realize every day that we couldn't have picked a better partner. I also know without a doubt that these girls have come at just the right time. We couldn't be more ready for the next chapter in our lives, and I am thrilled to see what fun and challenges "The Nevels: Part 2" brings to our lives. Here are a few highlights of Part 1.

I like kissing you.

Our Christmas card will look a tad different and less cheesy this year, and (gulp) Teddy might not make the card this year, but we still love you!

Last minute weekend trip to Ft. Worth when we were dating.

New Years in Vegas!

Incredibly fun trip to Crested Butte with friends!

Yet another fun Vegas trip to celebrate our first anniversary.

Maverick and Charlie. :)

Our first, last, and only half marathon. Go us!

Might be one of my favorite pics of us ever. Can't imagine ever two-stepping with anyone else.

Jamaican honeymoon

And the day I became Mrs. Nevels.

Cheers to the next chapter. :)

Marshmallows

I came across these delicious looking morsels on the etsy homepage today. In honor of the weather that is about to turn rather chilly, I thought I would post a pic to get everyone in hot chocolate mode. These look especially scrumptious and they come in different flavors! Who knew marshmallows came in different flavors? YUM.



 

I also, coincidentally, feel like a giant marshmallow today. My hands were actually so swollen when I woke up that I couldn't completely close a fist. I'm pretty sure my nose and face are also starting to resemble a marshmallow. Aaah, the joys of the last few weeks of pregnancy.

 

Happy Monday. :)

House Plants

I have always been a fan of house plants. At least the ones I haven't killed. I will definitely be on the look out for one after we move into our house. I would love to be able to use it as part of a centerpiece on our new kitchen farmhouse table. Here are a few ideas I'm thinking about...

As far as what to plant it in, this is something I'm currently considering (couldn't get the picture to load properly)



My mema is a cactus lover. Maybe it's genetic, but I love them too. Especially this Aloe Vera one. 





We had a spider plant in our last house, and I really liked it. Might have to repeat it in the next one.





New Website

As if I needed another one to spend money on...

A special huge thanks to my friend Mary's sister, Kate, for introducing me to this wonderful website! I'm sure I'm the last mom to find out about it, but it's amazing for many reasons:

1. Free shipping for orders over $50
2. Orders arrive the NEXT day!
3. They have everything for baby from clothes to diapers to formula, etc. And might I say, I am loving the clothing selection on here.
4. I'm already too lazy to go to Wal-Mart or search for the cheapest _________ for baby, I can't imagine once the girls get here that I will be any more excited about getting out and about to buy baby essentials.

Maybe I'm extra excited about this because I still feel so out of the loop on mom/baby stuff. But I hope you enjoy this as much as I already have. I'm excited to make my first purchase!

Thanks again, Kate!! :)

Cornbread and Crock-Pots

Two things I love about cooler temperatures! Since Kyle and I have the luxury of my mom cooking for us most nights, I thought I would share 2 delicious dishes she made for dinner last night. Word of Warning: You may or may not eat the entire pan of baked corn once you make it. It's by far one of my most favorite things my mom cooks, and if you like cornbread as much as I do, this is like cornbread on crack-heavenly! It's incredibly yummy with any kind of soup, stew, or chilli you make too. I also know that I am always on the look out for new crock-pot recipes. Throwing everything into a pot to cook on its own for 8 hours = my kind of cooking.

Swiss Chicken Casserole
6 boneles, skinless chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 10 1/4 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
2 cups herb stuffing mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
non-stick cooking spray

Spray the Crock-Pot with cooking spray. Arrange the chicken breasts in the stoneware. Top with the cheese, layering if necessary. Combine the soup, butter and milk and stir well. Spoon the soup, butter, and milk mixture over the cheese and sprinkle with the stuffing mix. Cover; cook on Low for 8-10 hours or on High for 4-6 hours.

Baked Corn
1 can green chillies
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can cream style corn
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup melted butter
2 eggs beaten
2 boxes Jiffy cornbread

Prehat oven to 350. Combine ingredients and put in a 9 X 13. Bake 35-45 minutes.

Enjoy! :)

Country Farmhouse

I follow a great many blogs. Obviously, my favorite ones are those of friends and family. I love reading their thoughts on things, what's going on in their lives, seeing pictures, etc. However, I also enjoy following blogs of complete strangers (creepy? Maybe.) I follow them because their lives are inspiring or they are creative and unique, and it's so interesting to me to see how other people live. I forget how I stumbled upon this wonderful blog, but it's by far one of my favorites to look at now. She and her husband are adorable, they live in a gloriously refurbished country farmhouse in Oregon (I think?). They have a gorgeous garden with breathtakingly beautiful flowers (that she freshly cuts to put in cute vases around her house, of course) and pumpkins, vegetables, etc. galore. She also frequently posts recipes and picures of dishes she makes using produce from her garden. Yes, she is a young Martha Stewart. Her fall recipes and home decor have been extra inspiring to me, which is why I think most of you would enjoy her, as well.
I'm also further drawn to her because after years of going through fertility treatments, she is now pregnant with...twins! I feel on some level we are kindred spirits, minus the fact that my husband and I live in the suburbs and failed miserably at growing any type of produce or flower. Ha. Above all, I mostly just love the simplicity of her life and home.

And since I always enjoy being introduced to new, fun blogs, I thought you might too...

A Country Farmhouse

Enjoy. :)

House and Baby Update

So many of you are so sweet asking for updates on these 2 crucial events in our life right now, so I thought I would give everyone an update. Below are some up to date pictures of our house. They are so close to finishing the exterior, then they will be onto the fun stuff on the inside which will go very quickly! It will not be ready before the girls get here, but it's making great progress and turning out even better than I expected. I absolutely can't wait to bring our girls home to this house. As far as the estimated finish date, we are unsure at this point. We are hoping to be in by the first of December-ish, but you never know with inspections, etc. if that will work out. I figure at this point, we are in no rush so I'm not worried about when the exact finish date is. Truth be told, the only reason I'm shooting for December is so I can hang our stockings on our new fireplace mantle. :)

Sorry my iPhone takes horrible quality pictures, but this is obviously the front totally bricked and almost finished with the rocking. We will have one more rock column to the far right of our front porch.

The front entryway to the house. I'm really pleased with how the rock and brick look together.

And our outdoor fireplace in progress! We will have a rock ledge underneath it to sit on and sip hot coco by the fire. :)

And the amazing, gravity-defying 32 week belly!

A quick update on the girls:

1. I am 33 weeks today!

2. We had our final ultrasound today. Both of the girls are growing and healthy. Campbell is measuring 4.5 lbs, and Sophie is measuring 4.3 lbs. They both received an 8/8 on some special baby score (??). That sounded great, so I didn't ask any more questions!

3. I have started going in this week for non-stress tests twice a week. This is standard procedure for being 33 weeks with twins. I have to go to the 5th floor of the hospital, and they put heart rate monitors on my belly and record the heart rates for about 30 minutes just to make sure they aren't under any "stress" and their heart rates stay stable. Sophie had the hiccups yesterday for about 5 minutes which was fun to listen to. :) Again, all sounded great with their heart rates!

4. And the million dollar question: when will these girls come out to meet everyone? I have NO idea! It could be tomorrow, next week, or 2, 3 weeks from now. Basically, keep your phones nearby! Kyle and I have agreed that making it to 35 weeks would be great, but obviously very out of our control. Dr. Shanbour seems to think I will make it to 36 or 37. I am doing everything in my power to keep them cooking which basically equates to me doing not much at all. I haven't been put on bed rest by a doctor, but I sorta put myself on a modified bed rest. You can imagine with almost 9 lbs of baby in me that being on my feet a lot during the day doesn't sound so great.

5. Both of the girls are head down and have been since 18 weeks. I am fortunate to have a doctor that is very good at delivering twins naturally (and by naturally, I mean non-C-section, not drugless-BRING ON the epidural). He seems very optimistic that we can stick to this plan unless other things come up closer to delivery. This has been a very difficult decision for me to make, and I may still decide to take the C-section route. I know a C-section recovery is tougher, so if I can avoid it with 2 babies to take care of, this seems like the better option, right? Although a C-section sounds SO easy (see what I mean about difficult decision?). Guess we will have to see what happens once it becomes go-time.

Kyle and I ask that you continue to pray for us and that these girls stay in there as long as possible, so they are big and strong when they decide to arrive.

Have a great weekend! :)

Electronic Nesting

Since I have been insanely deprived of being able to prepare a nursery, I'm going to have to "vent" if you will on my blog. These are a few things that I cannot wait to put up in the girls' room. Obviously there are many more things I'm excited about for the nursery (seeing their 2 sweet cribs, pretty bedding, initials above their cribs, etc.), but these are just a few (oh, and thanks Pottery Barn Kids).



I adore these shelves from PB Kids. Can't wait to put some sweet pictures, piggy bank (see below) and this cute, white ballerina figure I found at Marshall's on these.



I first saw this frame on PB Kids when I was searching for a Christmas gift for my sister last year. I ended up getting it for her, having Canon's name and birthday personalized on it, and even getting his foot and hand print stamped on it without her knowing! I have wanted one ever since, and one of my mom's friends gave it to me as a gift with the girls' names on it. Can't wait to display it somewhere special!



I just think this is really fun. Again, another thoughtful gift!



And this was yet another wonderful gift from a friend. I think I'm going to put a baby pic of Kyle and I on here along with some other pics of the girls, their birth announcement, and maybe some belly pics. They even include the little clothes pins to use.


Can't wait to meet you girls! Sorry the only "nest" you will have for the first few weeks is Dad and I's overcrowded bedroom. ;)

Did you know...

 ...that October is National Pork and Sausage month? Well, if you didn't know, consider yourself now informed. I plan on celebrating this the entire month by eating hot dogs, pigs in a blanket, breakfast kolaches and sausage egg mcmuffins. It's going to be a sacrifice, but heaven forbid I not celebrate this all important occasion. Here are a few pics to whet your whistle...

Let it be known that pigs in a blanket are one of my all-time favorite things in the world. My favorite kind are the type that are the little smokies wrapped in croissants. I like the fact that they are bite-sized, and I can easily dip them into a variety of condiments (aaah, condiments and dips-yet another one of my favorite things). I could easily eat these on a daily basis, but I would most likely start to resemble a real pig and be forced to wear a blanket for clothing.

Ok, if this doesn't epitomize this month's festivities, I don't know what does. My husband sent me this picture and recipe the other day, and I could not stop laughing. If you know anything about Kyle, you know that he is a definite "meat head." I'm pretty sure he could exist on a diet of pure beef, and probably did back in his bachelor days before he had a woman to cook well-balanced dinners for him. These are called Turtle Burgers, by the way, for obvious reasons. If you want your husband to love you even more than he already does, you should surprise him with these on game day (or a night where you plan on telling him about a rather large online purchase, but I'm not speaking from experience). I personally think they look a bit un-appetizing and would like some carbs to balance them out, but I'm pretty sure they are most men's dream come true. See below for recipe.

Handmade ground beef patties, topped with sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped in a bacon weave, then the next step, add hot-dogs as the heads, legs with slits for toes and tail.

Next step. Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and baked for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. A little crispy, not too crunchy...just how a turtle should be, no?

What will you do to celebrate this month?

Happy m-eating!

Newborn Pictures

So I think I have officially decided on a photographer for the girls' newborn pics. She photographed my friend, Katy's, darling little boys, and after looking at her newborn pics, I was sold! Her name is Angel Porch, and I'm super excited to see what she comes up with for the girls. No, it still hasn't quite hit me that I will have 2 actual babies to photograph in a few short weeks. I have always planned on having my talented photographer sister with her fancy camera take the majority of the girls' pics (3 months, 6 months, year, etc.), but I thought we would splurge and get some fun newborn pics done. Here are a few of her sweet pics of newborns.