BIRTH day!!!!

2 hours til Surgey. I'm very nervous. Mandy gave me something to relax.


Last pregnant photo. Mommy, Daddy & Nurse Mandy.

Mommy is off to the OR. Daddy and Kai look worried.


Kennedy (Baby B) - birth

Kamryn (Baby A)-birth

Our girls are here. Please welcome Kamryn Bailey (a.k.a. baby A) and Kennedy Brynn (a.k.a. baby B). Kamryn was born at 11:27a.m. weighing 2lbs80z and is 15 3/4 inches long. Kennedy was born at 11:28a.m. weighing 2lbs7oz and is 15 3/4 inches long.

Here's how it all happened...
As you know we were having decels with each contraction for the last 48 hours and nothing seemed to be working to stop the contractions. I was closely monitored all night. Thankfully I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep (the most I have gotten consecutively in at least a month) because the babies stayed on the monitors and had no decels all night. By about 5:30 a.m. it looked like everything had settled down and that we were not going to deliver after all. At about 6:00a.m. the contractions started again and this time it was clear they weren't letting up. I could now feel them, they weren't painful but I did not have to look at the monitor to tell I was having them. The doctors who had been with me all night came in and said they were 99% sure we were going to deliver that day. I started texting family right away. At about 6:30a.m. baby A had a major decel. It was the worst we had seen by far. She was down for about 2.5 minutes. The whole time the staff and I are whispering "come back up baby, come back up". She came back up and they quickly called my specialist who said today would definitely be the day but she still wanted to us to try to wait until 11:00a.m. to get the full effect of the steroid shot. After seeing that decel Lamarr and I were sure that we were ready to deliver. My absolute favorite nurse Mandy was off that day but they called her to let her know I was delivering and she came in. I could not have asked for a smoother delivery. I was kept on the monitors up until the time I went to the operating room. The babies stayed on the monitors and they were looking great. Mandy was able to prep me for surgery in a calm manner and explain everything that was going to happen. The doctors all got to talk to me and make sure I was feeling comfortable. By 9:00 we were good to go but since the girls looked great we were able to wait until 10:49a.m., the magic 48hrs after the 1st steroid shot. At 10:55 I was moved in to the OR. My spinal went well, I was relaxed and ready to go. The NICU staff came up, Lamarr got scrubbed in, they did a final consult with everyone in the room and the c-section began. 4 minutes after the 1st incision was made Baby A was born. Another minute went by and Baby B was born. Lamarr was able to stand up, look over the sheet and see both girls being born. The girls were very quiet..no crying like we expected. They told us that they were ok but I could see Lamarr was very nervous. He held my hand but watched as theNICU team work on the girls. Both were breathing on their own and had Apgar scores of 7/8 (excellent for 29 weekers we were later told). Lamarr started to tear up as he watched them handle the girls. I was nervous but has so many meds going and an oxygen mask so I felt kinda numb. They intabated the girls and wheeled them off to the NICU. The nurses stopped by my head for a brief second and I got to get a peek at my girls. Kennedy had her eyes open and looked right at me. Heart melting! The next 45ish minutes was pent sewing me back up. A c-section is so surreal. I could feel them pulling and tugging and lots of pressure but there was absolutely no pain. The doctors and nurses talked to me throughout and let me know what they were doing next. The anesthesiologist was great. She sat on the other side of my head the whole time and cheered me on. Before I knew it I was heading off to recovery and feeling pretty good. I don't know what Mandy put in my IV but they should bottle that stuff and sell it at Walgreens lol!. The NICU put both the girls on ventilators and then brought up pictures of them for me to see. They look like Kai's Mini Me's lol!!!! They are pale, hairy and beautiful...just like Kai was when she was born. I swear I felt my heart triple in size the moment I saw them. I can't wait to get to the NICU to see them tonight. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We not begin the next chapter in the NICU. I am scared but hopeful. With God I know anything is possible!

Even more prayers needed!!!

Well the uneventful night that I was hoping for did not happen. I got about 30 minutes of sleep between the contractions and the nurse chasing the girls all night trying to keep them on the monitors. About 5:00a.m. the contractions started to get stronger. I still can't feel them but I can definitely see them on the screen. Every time I have a contraction both babies have a decel. So far the decels aren't to bad. They are dipping in to the 110's and 120's but their normal baselines are in the 140's and 150's. My nurse is stressed. I have been here so long I can tell. She hasn't left my side all morning (thank God). Also thank God my other favorite nurse is coming on to take me for the next 8 hours.

Things went pretty smooth all day. No more decels. Lamarr and Kai are coming to spend the night...woohoo!!!! We have dinner, snacks and movies set up. I am really nervous because I have a feeling the babies are coming much sooner than we would like. I won't say anything to Lamarr because I don't want to freak him out. Pray, pray, pray!

Tonight has been rough. The babies are taking dips here and there and everyone is on edge. I am still waiting for Lamarr to come. About 30 minutes ago we lost a signal on both babies. The doctor rushed in to do an ultrasound and it was clear that Baby B's heart rate was quite low (in the 60's). She called a code. Arghhhhh. I panicked. Luckily the baby's heart rate returned to normal and the code was called off. I swear I had a mini heart attack thinking that I was going to deliver. The 2nd shot hasn't fully kicked in, Lamarr is not here yet and I am scared to death of being knocked out.

Dr. Odell (the chief of staff) just came in and sat down with us to discuss how things are looking. Things don't look good. I know that because almost every dr. on staff has come in to the room tonight. We are having decels right and left but it is one baby or the other and not both. They both are not tolerating the contractions well. It is likely that we will deliver tomorrow unless things make a dramatic change. I am 29 weeks today. This is not an ideal time to deliver but it is better than 24 weeks I guess. I explained to Dr.Odell that I am deathly afraid of a code. She has assured me that she will try to avoid a code C at all costs but there is still a good chance that that's the way it will go. Our goal is to make it to 11:00a.m. tomorrow when the 2nd round of steroids will fully kick in and unless there is some miraculous change we will deliver. Lamarr says he is ready. I don't feel the same way. We just put the family on alert. I want so badly to make it to 30 weeks. For some reason that is the number I have stuck in my head....the time when I think the babies will be safe. Oh well, it is not up to me. It's time to "Let Go and Let God" and stop trying to control everything. This is going to be a LONG night. Please pray for us. Kai is doing well. We have not told her anything that is going on. I don't want to say anything until I am in recovery and we know the status of the girls. I want to be the one to tell her.

Prayers needed!

Well today I started contracting again. We aren't sure why this is happening but I no this is not good. Once again the contractions do not hurt (in fact I can't even feel them) and they are causing any changes in my cervix but still we need them to stop so they do not effect the girls. I can't go on another medicene to stop the contractions because I had a bad reaction to the last ones. My blood pressure dropped extremely low and I felt like my heart was going to come right through my chest (LITERALLY). The doctors were able to get it back up quickly but since my reaction was so severe they are not willing to try the next med because it speeds up your heartrate and the next med up because it has even greater side effects. For now all I can do is stay hydrated and pray they stop.

My specialist has decided to move up the 2nd round of steroid shots from 32 weeks to today. She says this is precautionary but she admits that she is nervous and 32 weeks no longer looks like a realistic goal. Ultimately we would like to get to 30 weeks now though she is pretty sure it will happen before then. I am getting scared. I want to meet my girls...just not yet.

I am so glad that one of my favorite two nurses is on tonight. Please pray for an uneventful night!

Growth Scan

I had a really hard night tonight. Monitoring has been terrible and I am in so much pain from the raw stomach. The nurses made these shirts and hats for me to cheer me up. They are so sweet. Kai left these two dolls here for me the last time she was here. She wanted them to keep me company while we wait on her sisters. I LOVE THAT KID!

Today we had our 28 week growth scan. Baby A has finally caught up to Baby B and both are weighing in at 2 1/2 lbs. Now I will never know for sure who was A and who was B lol!!!! They look great and are showing signs of maturity such as doing their practice breathing and showing variability on their monitoring strips. We are so happy to finally be 28 weeks along. Our ultimate goal is 32 weeks which means I will meet my girls sometime in the next month. I can't wait. I am so nervous!

How is Kai? How is Lamarr

Kai and Daddy at Build-A-Bear

Everyone keeps asking how Kai is doing. Well, the first three weeks went pretty smooth. Lamarr is doing an awesome job as Mr. Mom as well as juggling 2 jobs and visiting me at the hospital. He has been taking Kai to do fun things like in the picture above Kai, Lamarr, Auntie Cenne, Auntie DD and Tana went to Build-A-Bear. He has also taken her to some more of her favorites (Target, Toys R Us, the Disney Store, etc.). He has tried his best to keep her on her schedule too. The lengthy time in the hospital is starting to get to her now. When she is here she is fine but when she is home she is giving daddy a hard time. We have noticed that there is a little more acting out (a.k.a. tantrums) and she has picked up the nervous habit of biting on the collar of her t-shirt or her sleeves. This is so hard. I feel like I am trying to balance the mental health of one child vs. the physical health of the two others. The only thing that is keeping me sane is knowing that Kai is a very resiliant girl and she will bounce back from this with no problems. A year from now she will barely remember this experience. She has bonded with Lamarr even more than ever before and she knows she can count on mommy or daddy equally to meet her needs. We also have such a great support system. All of the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. have jumped in to help. We are SO BLESSED to have this support. Thank you all.

Lamarr is hanging in there...my HERO! I know he is exhausted but he'll never admit. Even when I find him falling asleep sitting straight up in the uncomfortable chairs when he comes to visit lol!!!! On top of everything else he is also running all the errands I can't run while in here. All the while not complaining (at least not to me lol!). He is also pretty worried...another thing he will NEVER admit. I love hime so much and I know this journey has brought us even closer. I can't wait for things to somewhat get back to normal so I can help out and he can get a break. I know we have a long way to go until that happens.

Slumber Par-tay!

Nicolette and Kai came up today for a slumber party. YAY!!!! This is the best weekend I have had since I checked in. I had so many visitors today and then having the girls spend the night just topped it all off. We watched movies and ate dinner. I got to read Kai a bedtime story for the first time in weeks. It was so nice having my sister there to talk to about how I am feeling through all this. Since I am the big sister I am always trying to shield her from things. I am over protective and can forget that she is a fully grown woman who is incredibly mature and caring. It was so nice to be able to lean on her and be the vulnerable one. She and Kai got to stay all day Sunday. I was so upset when Lamarr came to pick them up and take my sister to the train station. I tried to hold it in but totally broke down as they were walking out the door. I wanted to badly to run out the door with them. Kai looks at me and says, "It's OK mom, you'll be OK". Thank God for little ones. They make it all worth it! I will continue to lay here as long as needed to get the girls here safely but I have to admit it is getting hard!!!

PICC Line is in!

After 6...yes... SIX tries I finally have a PICC line. The PICC nurse at the old hospital actually tried to get this line in 5 times last week. After the 3rd try I was begging her to stop yet she still tried two more veins. I was already so nervous and hesitant about having this line put in and then she messes up five times. I absolutely refused to let anyone try again. By day 17 I was on my 7th IV line and I just couldn't take the pain of that anymore. Not to mention that they are quickly running out of veins to use. Apparently I am a "hard stick". I finally decided to let the PICC nurses here at Roseville give it a try. The nurses were WONDERFUL. Once distracted me with conversation while the other got the line in in less than 3 minutes. I didn't feel a thing. I am still nervous about having this line in my body but I know it is necessary. I would hate to take several extra minutes to get the girls out in an emergency situation because I did not have vein access ready to go. Please pray that this line stays safe and healthy inside my body and provides access when needed. p.s. Kai thinks the line is pretty cool...she says to me "Mom I like your IV" lol! Kids!

Update on Baby A

Well the rest of the night was pretty uneventful. There were no more decels last night and today I am moving back up to the antepardum floor and will be bumped up to 3x a day monitoring. I am glad to be back up here. 24/7 monitoring is so hard. I walked the floor a couple of times, got a tour of the hospital and went for a 26 week growth scan. Things look really great on the scan. The girls are growing well and weigh about 2lbs each. The technician says things are getting REALLY TIGHT in the womb and the girls are running out of space. Hopefully this means they will settle down and be easier to monitor.

Oh no, I am back down in L&D. Baby A started having some decels again during my 2nd monitoring session today. Though things have settled down and Baby A is no longer deceling I will stay in L&D on 24/7 monitoring until I deliver. I am nervous and scared. This is not what I was expecting. I am also contracting quite regularly so I have been out on medication to stop them. The contractions are not causing me to dilate or anything but they want to stop them before that starts. I don't know how I will survive 24/7 monitoring without going stir crazy in here! Pray for me and the girls!!!! Deborah was able to come visit me today during the afternoon which made me feel much better. Deborah has such a calming spirit and when she says "It will be ok" I can't help but believe her. I hope and pray that I can have the same sort of calming effect on my children! Visitors are priceless in here!!!! Lamarr and Kai came this evening to check on me. Kai likes the new facility!

Moving Day

Before (Kaiser-Morse)

After (Kaiser-Roseville)

What an exciting day. I never would have imagined there would ever be a day that I was looking forward to an ambulance ride but today was that day. It was my first time out of the hospital in 15 days. Probably doesn’t sound like a long time but trust me it is! The morning started bright and early with a 4:00a.m. monitoring session. The doctors wanted to make sure that the girls were fine before I was moved. Then I got to be a local celebrity. I did two news interviews and a radio interview. The media attention was crazy with the opening of this new labor facility. The paramedics that transported me were HILLARIOUS! They kept me laughing all the way out to Roseville. When we got to the new facility there was a woman in labor with twins waiting for the place to open. Because it was only 6:57am we had to wait (by law they could not open until 7:00a.m.). I was the first person admitted to this new facility and the other woman was the first to deliver there. We made history! The room and facility are very nice. As you can see from the before and after pictures it is quite the upgrade. I hate that this new facility is so far but I am happy that I will be able to have unlimited visitors and that Kai and Lamarr (and whomever else wants to) will be able to spend the night.

Well everything was going great until about 9:30pm. When we finally got the babies on for the evening monitoring sessions we quickly saw that baby A was having decals. I was rushed down to Labor & Delivery because the doctors wanted me closer to the operating room just in case. After about 45 minutes baby A stabilized but I will stay in L&D overnight for 24/7 monitoring. Please pray this pattern does not continue and that Baby A finds a place in my tummy where she is happy and has no chord compression.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! My oh my how things change in a year. Instead of spending New Year’s with the Taylor’s as we usually do…Kai, Lamarr and I rang in the new year at Kaiser. Lamarr brought over pizza and sparkling cider (and of course chicken nuggets for Kai). We actually toasted the new year at 8:30p.m. since I don’t make it up til midnight these days. Shhh, no one tell Kai.

I have so many hopes and dreams for 2009. Most importantly I want health for Lamarr, Kai, the momos, myself and all of our friends and families. I have great hope for 2009!