The boys are here!!!

We are so thrilled to welcome our 2 little boys into the world!!! They came earlier then we would have hoped, but we're so thrilled to have them here. They made it to 29 weeks gestation and will be in the NICU at least until November. Pictures and birth story to come.....

Justin Michael Stark
Born at 5:59am on 9/10/10
Weighing 3lbs 4oz
16.5" long

Landon James Stark
Born at 6:01am on 9/10/10
Weighing 3lbs 0oz
16.1" long

My first time to hold Landon:

Landon holding my index finger:

Justin during his CPAP change:

Justin showing off his big beautiful eyes:

What a week so far

This week has been pretty crazy. Chris and company were able to do start demoing the house and got the bathroom almost totally demolished. I finally got off all those antibiotics and started feeling better. Tropical Storm Hermine hit on Tuesday and dumped 15" of rain on us in a matter of hours. The house and garage flooded. The living room had 3" of standing water in it. Luckily we have an awesome ward and about 20 people showed up with towels, sand bags, etc and helped with the clean up. Now that the wood floors are ruined, I guess we get to add new floor to the list of things to get done. Chris won't tell me the real extent of the damage, but I'm pretty sure some furniture got ruined. On the bright side, because so many people came over to help with the clean up, then saw extent of the remodel and many of them volunteered their time to help Chris get things gone before me and the babies come home.

That couldn't come at a better time because yesterday we had a scare and I spent all day in L&D waiting to find out if we would be delivering the babies. I had some change in fluid and the Dr. was concerned that it may be mecunium or an infection. The infection screen came back negative and they really don't know what it is. After consulting with the Perinatologist today, the Dr. decided that we would take the 'wait and see' route. As long as the babies don't show signs of distress and I don't spike a fever, they keep cooking. I also found out today that patients that have ruptured membranes will deliver at 34 weeks. So only 5 weeks to go!!! I'm excited for this weekend because the Perinatologist is supposed to come around again this weekend for a growth ultrasound; can't wait to see how big the boys are.

Week 28 and the 3rd Trimester

I actually made it to week 28 and the 3rd Trimester!!! 5 weeks ago we never thought this would be possibly when we first got here at 23 weeks! I've survived being dilated to 4cm, my water breaking at 27 weeks and numerous bouts of dehydration and IVs, weeks of being sick, lots of contractions and pushed to the edge of my sanity. I'm very blessed to be sitting here still pregnant and growing my boys. Each time I think I can't go on another minute something happens that pushes me to endure. Sometimes it's not my choice, but I'm always so grateful when I get to the other side and can look back and say I made it through another trial. Thanks to all the people who are praying for us, a wonderful family that supports me, a husband I adore and a Heavenly Father that continues to bless us. Without all this, I wouldn't still be here.
I'm also very blessed that the boys always seem to be totally unaffected by everything. Their heart rates are always nice and strong and they love to move around constantly. (I think I'm going to miss their moving the most!) These boys are fighters and hopefully they will just as strong once they're born.
The cribs and valance came in this week. The valance is even cuter then I thought it would be! I can’t wait to get the whole set and see it all put together in the nursery. Chris is going to work on expanding the closet this week so when my mom gets back next week she can paint the room and get the cribs assembled. I can’t wait to see what it’s going to look like. It does make me sad that I don’t get to participate in all the stuff you do when you’re pregnant. Especially since this is probably the only time we’ll be doing this. At least I have people who are willing to do it for me.

Here's what I do all day:

My guardian angels:


28 weeks:

Day 34

Today was just as bad as yesterday, no sleep last night thanks to the nurse coming in every hour to either check my vitals or give more meds, Erythromycin is the devil, still leaking amniotic fluid, severe stomach pains continue, feel like a drug addict with all the meds I'm taking (8 different meds everyday and many are multiple times a day), and all this just to prevent a infection that I don't even have. Did I mention how much I love this leaking fluid thing.

Chris has been a lifesaver, taking care of me and waiting on me hand and foot for the last 24 hours. He's amazing and I couldn't ask for a better husband!!! I think I hit my lowest point this morning and just about checked myself out of this place. Thanks to Chris' pep talks and incredible amount of support, I'm still here and still pregnant.

We finished the last doses of IV antibiotics this afternoon and now I have 5 days of oral meds. At least I'm not hooked up to any IV lines anymore, just the port is in. Not having the IV meds has made me feel a little better and the side effects aren't nearly as severe. I can't wait to hopefully get some sleep tonight and hopefully have a better tomorrow. These boys better appreciate what I'm going through for them!

Day 33

Still leaking water, being pumped full of 3 differnt types of anti-biotics, 5 more medicines to combat the side effects of those anti-biotics, puking, severe stomach pains, pretty much the best 2 days of my life. Thank goodness for family, husbands and bathroom privledges again!

Just when you think things are going good

Friday we hit the 27 week mark, yeah! Can't believe we've been here for 4 weeks already. No one really thought when we came in at 23 weeks, 3cm dilated and fully effaced that we would make it this far. Every day is a blessing and we just hope that we can hit the next 2 big milestones; 28 weeks and 30 weeks.

Sunday the Perinatologist finally made it in to get an updated growth measurement on the babies. Things turned out even better then I thought they would!

Baby A - head down, huge head (measuring at 32 weeks!) and weighing in at a whopping 3lbs 3oz! Last month he was in the 88th percentile and this time he's in the 90's.

Baby B - breech, normal sized head and weighing in at 2lbs 13oz. He is also in the 90th percentile!

What a blessing to have such good growing boys. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that if something were to happen, they would at least be at decent weight.
I had a great weekend with Chris and he was able to come up Saturday afternoon and he stayed until Monday morning. I hadn't seen him much last week, so it was a real mood and spirit booster to have him here. I was finally starting to feel better and was able to eat real food again on Sunday. Things were looking really good and I was thinking that I could make it 9 more weeks.

Monday started off pretty normal, Chris getting ready for work and I was planning my big day to hang out in bed and do nothing. Chris left mid-morning and I got up to wash my face and brush my teeth. Around 12:30 I was laying in bed updating this and suddenly had the uncomfortable sensation that I just peed my pants. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and more kept coming. My heart dropped because I knew what this was. I called the nurse and she came in and confirmed that it was amniotic fluid. She called L&D and they came and did an very uncomfortable test and exam. They sent us back to L&D and hooked me up to the monitors to make sure the babies were ok. I did manage to call Mom and Chris and they came right away. Chris was lucky enough to get pulled over and got a ticket on the way here.

The dr. came in and did an ultrasound to find out who was losing the fluid and confirm the babies positions. The fluid levels looks good, so she decided to start an IV again and start a course of antibiotics and see if labor started up. Luckily there have been very few contractions. We were able to come back to our room to hopefully get a good nights sleep. Unfortunately all those antibiotics are wrecking havoc on my stomach, so now we're trying to get that under control. To make things worse, I'm on strict bed rest until tomorrow morning; no bathroom privileges.

We'll find out more tomorrow, but it looks like baby A's big head is helping to plug the leak and keeping things from progressing for now. The hope is that we can stay this way for a few more weeks to get to the 32 week mark. If things remain the same, no contractions, etc then I will be able to have my bathroom privileges restored, continue the IV antibiotics for a few more days and things go back to the way they were. Apparently there are several people here that are leaking fluid. So I get to hang out in bed and feel like I'm constantly peeing for the next few weeks. But at least it's better then having the babies now.

Baby Furniture

Exciting day, bought 2 new cribs online and we got them on clearance!! Thanks Mom! Now we have a place for the boys to sleep and a stroller (sort of, since we don't have car seats) to push them around in. We also have a few packages of diapers, so I think we're set. ;)

My mom surprised me with a microwave yesterday so now I can start eating something besides hospital food! Yeah for Moms!! Now I have a mini fridge and a mini microwave. Life is good. All I need is for my stomach to feel better so I can really take advantage of these 2 luxury items.

The boys are moving around like crazy now. I love to feel them moving, it's such a great reassurance that they're alive and well. The perinatologist should be coming around this week to do another ultrasound. I'm very excited to see how big they've gotten and how much they weigh now. Hopefully it's close to 2 1/2 lbs each. I also got weighed again today and so far I've gained 18 lbs. Looking forward to eating normally soon; I need some home cooked food to help fatten the boys up.

My nephew Bryce started Kindergarten on Monday. He's the first one to go to school and I can't believe how big he's getting. My how time flys.

He's so cute with his cheesy smile!