Gibson at One Month Old

The past month went by super fast and yet it feels like Gibson was born ages ago. I'm happy to say that we have survived a full month parenting two little guys. I've definitely had tough days alone with both of them, but most of the time things go well, or at least they go ok. Either way, we're all alive and well!

Once we were home from the hospital, Gibson and I took up residence in our bedroom and pretty much stayed in there the first few days. Liam came down with a runny nose the day we came home, so we kept them separated. We ended up having to keep them apart for most of the first two weeks because Liam's runny nose lasted that long. Unfortunately, I think this set us up for some jealousy from Liam.

I would say that Liam has had a tough time with all of this. He definitely loves Gibson, which means he wants to mess with him all the time. Well, he can be too rough and he's just unpredictable in general, so we have to stop him from bothering Gibson much in order to keep Gibson safe. Those arms and legs of his are just too tempting to pull on, apparently. But overall, I think the thing Liam is having the hardest time with is that I just can't give him all the attention he wants. I give him what I can, but Gibson literally wants to be on me 24/7. Liam learned fast to misbehave when I am stuck feeding Gibson. He has started screaming when he's upset like when we tell him no. He has refused to go to bed for hours at night resulting in everyone showing their bad side. So Liam has definitely been our biggest challenge this month.

Gibson, however, has been a pretty easy baby. He is content...as long as he is being held. This is challenging for sure at times. I strap him on me with a wrap for most of the day. He nurses a lot. I have to hold him at night while we sleep. Yes, a month in and he's still sleeping on top of me at night. I haven't laid flat on my back for more than a few minutes this past month. My back is killing me. Occasionally, I can lay him down in his crib or the bouncy seat for just a little bit. However, I can't leave him unattended in the bouncy seat to even go to the bathroom because of Liam. Hopefully things will change soon and Gibson will start sleeping in his crib at night. It's literally less than a foot away from my side of the bed, but me being close by seems to wake him up until I hold him. Gibson also doesn't like to be swaddled as most babies do. I'm hoping when it gets warmer that he will warm up to his crib.

Back to his first week home. The day after we left the hospital, Gibson had his first check up with our pediatrician. I even had it together enough to take him by myself to the appointment. His weight was down to 6 pounds, 14 ounces from 7 pounds, 11 ounces at birth. So that's a pretty big difference. The doctor suggested giving him a tiny amount of formula before breastfeeding to wake him up, and that seemed to work well. Gibson also had a bit of jaundice, but not as bad as Liam. The doctor was overall pleased with Gibson despite these things. He assured me that I wasn't starving him even though my milk had not yet come in. We had to go back two days later for a weight check and to check his jaundice (just by observation instead of heel pricks!). That day, his weight was 6 pounds, 13 ounces, so he had lost weight even though my milk had come in by then. The jaundice was about the same or a little better. The doctor was once again fine with all of this and told me to keep doing what I was doing regarding nursing and formula. I remember that weekend Gibson nursed a ton and then we went back yet again on that Monday when he was 8 days old. I thought he had surely gained weight, but nope, he was still 6 pounds, 13 ounces. So he hadn't lost any weight either. He had also not pooped since he was 3 days old. The doctor had confirmed he wasn't constipated, though, and he had not been acting like he was trying to do that but couldn't. Once again the doctor was not concerned and said he was well-hydrated. He said I could give more formula if I wanted to, so I decided to give him a little more. That second week, it seemed like I just wasn't making enough for him as he would still be hungry after nursing. I wasn't attached to the ideal of getting to exclusively breastfeed, so I was fine with giving him more formula. And then when he was 10 days old, he started pooping again after taking a week off. I could tell he was starting to gain weight as well and his jaundice was gone. At a month old, I still have to give formula after most feedings, but Gibson is getting way more breast milk than Liam ever did, so to me we are successful and I am not stressed out about it like I was with Liam. It's a much better situation.

At his two-week appointment, Gibson was up to 8 pounds, 2 ounces (70th percentile) and 21 inches long officially (99th percentile). So all the feeding was doing him good. To date, Gibson has still not spit up even one time. He's also really good at burping after meals. He really does love to eat and is chunking up really fast.

Gibson hasn't gotten out of the house much in his first month except to go to the pediatrician. It's now been a couple of weeks since he's even been there and he doesn't have to go back until he is 2 months old. It's been cold a lot of the time we've been home (with a few spring-like days here and there), and it's flu season. So those reasons coupled with the fact that we don't really want to deal with going out with two kids yet has kept him at home. I've gone places either by myself or with Liam, but Gibson so far has stayed behind. We have taken several walks around the neighborhood, but Gibson has been in the wrap snoozing on me every time. He got to meet his grandmother, great-grandparents, great aunt and uncle, and friends who blessed us with meals. Gibson also experienced his first Valentine's Day in his first month.

The first few weeks with newborn Liam still stand as the hardest of my life. I am much more calm and less-stressed this time around. Gibson has given us a few smiles on purpose and is starting to focus on us more. He's been awake a lot more since the third week or so. It doesn't help that Liam makes a ton of noise or that Gibson will wake up usually if I put him down even for just a couple of minutes. The longest stretch he has slept has been 5 and a half hours, but that was just one time!

I have to consciously remind myself that Gibson is not just baby Liam all over again. He certainly looks similar, but so far their baby personalities are pretty different. Liam always enjoyed his space and slept in his bed from day one. Gibson demands to be held. Liam was way more fussy than Gibson is. Maybe Gibson will be our laid-back go with the flow child because Liam is certainly not!

We are very much in love with Gibson already. He is a sweet, snugly baby. I know that Liam will adjust one day to all these changes, and then life will be easier maybe. The days really do go by fast, though. I'm sure Gibson will be the precocious two year old before I know it.

First Week:

Second Week:

Third week:

Fourth Week:

Gibson at the Hospital

Gibson was born at 12:16 pm, so at lunch time. Our friend Sarah, who had been watching Liam, brought him to the hospital around 6:00 p.m. to meet his baby brother. Liam was excited to meet him and was pretty cute doing so. Of course, he kept trying to smother him with stuffed animals, but it was totally out of love and a two year old's lack of knowledge on how breathing works. What I loved was that I finally got to hold Liam again! I had not been allowed to pick him up in a long time, and he had backed off a good bit on showing affection to me since I couldn't really do anything with him. When Liam came to the hospital, we gave him a few gifts "from Gibson" including two new trains. We had told Liam that when Gibson was born, he would give him some trains, so maybe he was just excited to get the trains!

Since we do have Liam, Will had to go home with him and not spend the night with me at the hospital. I may have cried a little when they left, but I knew we didn't really have a choice. Gibson and I worked on breastfeeding that first night. He was sleepy for a long time that first day and was not interested in eating. I will say that Baylor has become much more proactive on breastfeeding since Liam was born. I told them how I had failed with Liam, and they wheeled a pump in basically right after I got to my room. So I started a routine of breastfeed, supplement with a  little formula, and then pump pretty quickly. I also need two hands to count the number of lactation consultants I saw in our two days there. They were great in getting us off to a good start, and things have gone much better this time around.

Around midnight the day Gibson was born, I realized that I had been awake for about 38 hours at that point. Since Will wasn't staying with me, I made the tough decision to send Gibson to the nursery for two hours between feedings so I could try and get some rest. He had already been to the nursery a couple of times because he was treated as a preemie since he technically was one by 12 hours. So they had extra tests and checks to do on him. We had also gone down there together for his first bath. Once again, since he was a preemie, they had to do the bath in the nursery so he could have it done under a heat lamp.  He was allowed to stay in my room, however, but I knew I would have a hard time sleeping with him in there alone with me. I think he stayed in the nursery for two two-hour stints that night so I was able to get a little sleep.

One thing they kept monitoring was his oxygen level since he made noise when he would breathe. But his levels always checked out great and he never had any signs of breathing difficulty. He just makes noise. He still does it occasionally while sleeping, and he always makes noises while eating. He's just a noisy kid.

On our second day there, Gibson had to take a car seat test, which is mandatory for preemies. He had to sit in his car seat for 90 minutes and maintain his oxygen level, heart rate, and temperature. I rested a little while he was down in the nursery doing that, but I went down for the last 30 minutes. He got excited when I talked to him and his heart rate went up, so then I laid low and let him keep snoozing in there the rest of the time. He passed easily, and while we were there he had his hearing test done, which he also passed easily. Preemie protocol calls for the baby to be swaddled in two blankets and wear two hats. The yellow hat is for preemies. It didn't fit him very well!

Our second night alone at the hospital, I also sent him to the nursery once so I could sleep a couple of hours. In the early morning hours, he was checked out by the pediatrician who declared him perfect and able to go home that day. We had to stay the full 48 hours after birth because of his preemie status. Around lunch, my friend Kelli came all the way from Louisiana to visit, meet Gibson, and she ended up being super useful in getting us packed up and on our way home. She also brought the really cute baby blanket, burp cloths, and stuffed dinosaur she made for Gibson. Will and Liam showed up after lunch, and we took our time getting all of our stuff together. I rented a breast pump to take home with me. We finally got all loaded up around 3:00 p.m. and we headed home with our two boys. It was 70 degrees the day he was born, but in the 30s the day we went home.

The Birth Of Gibson and Collin

I have a big post about bed rest that's not quite finished, but now that seems like a lifetime ago. I will finish it and publish it at some point, though, since it ended up being a big part of the pregnancy.

In this post, I will write about the birth of both babies and tell exactly how it happened.

I had been on bed rest since 30 weeks, and by Saturday, January 25, I was 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant and very much over being on bed rest. I was trying to make it to 37 weeks, and I only had two more days until I got there. We wanted Gibson to stay in as long as he could so he could be as healthy as possible.

That Saturday, the weather was perfect and I really wanted to get out of the house. The three of us went to Tapioca House to get bubble tea (I got a fruit smoothie). While there, Liam kept talking about wanting to go to the park. So we swung back by the house so I could take a potty break, and we went to the park. Once there, I promptly parked myself on a bench and watched Will and Liam play. While there, I had a contraction that actually had a little bit of pain to it, not bad, but the first one that was a little uncomfortable. We went home after about an hour, and I parked myself back on the couch, which had been my home for nearly three weeks since I had gotten out of the hospital.

Throughout Saturday evening, I had contractions, but they were 2 hours, 1.5 hours, etc. apart. They weren't regular, or very painful, and they had so much time in between them, that I didn't think much of them. I figured my little outing had been a little too much (even though I basically just rode in the car to places and sat down) and a good night's sleep would help. After Liam was in bed, Will and I sat on the couch to watch Saturday Night Live. Pretty quickly, though, I got the feeling that I should start preparing. There was no way I could sit there and watch TV. So I got up and took a shower. The contractions were still irregular, but were roughly every 30 minutes or so. They were uncomfortable but still not very painful. Around midnight, we called our friend Sarah to let her know we might be bringing Liam over sometime in the middle of the night. At that point, we weren't really sure labor was really happening, but I thought it probably was. I made a playlist of music on Will's phone for the hospital. I went with the acoustic guitar versions of Beatles songs by Laurence Juber again, which is what I listened to while laboring and delivering with Liam. I continued to have sporadic contractions that still weren't quite convincing me that this was the real deal.

(This next part is a little graphic.)

Around 1:00 a.m., I had a light contraction, and I felt something falling out of me. I instantly knew it was Collin. I pulled him out, looked at him for just a second to confirm it was indeed him, and then I understandably starting freaking out a little bit. There was no blood at all, just a tiny lifeless baby. I told Will what happened, and then we quickly started getting ready to go to the hospital. I didn't know if my body had been contracting just to get Collin out, and would wait to try and get Gibson out, or if Gibson would be coming quickly now. We got everything together, and put Liam in the car still asleep. We took him to Sarah's house, and then we headed down to Baylor. I called the doctor on call (since it was the weekend, my doctor would once again not be delivering my child) and told him the situation. He agreed that we should go in to get checked out.

We got to Baylor around 2:00 a.m. My contractions were still about every 30 minutes apart. The nurse hooked me up to the monitor. Gibson's heart rate was great; I was occasionally having contractions. I think they were less than 30 minutes apart by then. Around 3:00, my cervix was checked and I was dilated to 6 cm and was effaced, so I was actually in labor and wouldn't be leaving until Gibson was born. I got my first round of antibiotics for the Group B strep, and then we were just waiting. My contractions did pick up speed again and were less than 10 minutes apart by then, but they were still irregular in strength and time between them.

Since I wasn't in much pain at all, Will and I had a lot of time to spend together with Collin. He still looked like a baby, just like I had hoped. He had arms, hands, legs, feet, a rib cage...everything. There weren't really any facial features left except you could tell where his eyes were. He had been perfectly formed.  No one had ever told me it would be possible for me to deliver him first. I had been told he would get pushed aside while Gibson was born and come out after him. I had not mentally prepared to deliver Collin first, and especially not at home. But that's what happened, and at the hospital, I realized that God had worked it out perfectly. He gave us two very separate, distinct births for our twins. With Collin coming first and me not being in too much pain, we were able to spend time with him and say goodbye to him by ourselves. We were able to talk to the chaplain about our plans for him, and we were able to have him sent to the morgue when we wanted instead of him being rushed away from us after Gibson's delivery. I think everyone there treated Collin with a lot of respect, and respected us and the unique situation we were going through. And we were able to do all of this before Gibson was born. It worked out perfectly, actually. After we said goodbye to Collin, we were able to focus solely on Gibson.

During labor, Will actually napped since I could pretty much handle my contractions on my own. I spent what ended up being at least seven hours going between the rocking chair, yoga ball, bed, and bathroom. Sometimes I would have several contractions only a couple minutes apart, but then I wouldn't have another one for six or eight minutes. I knew that labor wasn't progressing much for whatever reason. The contractions were definitely painful by then, but nothing I couldn't easily handle. At 11:30 a.m. (yes, nearly 8 hours since the last check), the doctor checked my cervix again and said I was only at 7 cm. Good grief, I had only advanced 1 cm in all those hours. I was looking at an extremely long labor, and I had already been awake for more than 24 hours. I was tired. So I agreed to have my water broken. Before it happened, the nurse said that breaking the water would RARELY cause labor to progress super fast. It would speed things up, but not super quickly she assured me.

So at 11:45 a.m., the doctor broke my water, and he and the nurse both left the room. I went to the bathroom, and when I came out I felt intense pain. It was all I could do to make it to the counter and lean on it. I knew that I was one of the RARE ones who progressed super fast after their water was broken. Poor Will tried to help me, but I was in transition where there is no comforting or relief to be had. I could barely talk, but I told Will, "Get nurse!" He had to call three times before one (but not my nurse) finally came in the room. To her, all I could say was, "Baby soon!" Then the nurse and doctor came in and quickly got everything ready. I remembered a lot of people being in the room right before I delivered Liam, but that was probably because the delivering doctor was not yet there that time. This time, the doctor was here. While standing up by (well, leaning over) the counter, I got the familiar urge to push. I somehow walked myself over to the bed and got on it. I pushed once, and the doctor said he could see the head. It definitely hurt...a lot. I was pushing hard, but the doctor would tell me to stop pushing for a moment to ease him out. He was really calm. I was holding it together pretty well, I thought. I was definitely making noise, but you would have to ask Will if I was screaming. I don't think I was, but I don't remember. I was focused on getting Gibson out and experiencing instant pain relief. I pushed just a few times, and Gibson was born at 12:16 p.m., so it had only been 30 minutes from my water being broken to birth. Not bad. It was the most painful 30 minutes of my life, but hey, I survived it! I achieved a non-medicated birth for the second time.

The first thing Gibson did once he was out was pee on the doctor. He cried. They put him on my chest. He seemed much bigger than I thought he would be. Will once again declined to cut the cord, so once again I did it. He looked healthy and perfect! He was then taken to be weighed, measured, and checked out by the nurse. Gibson weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was measured at 21 inches long. We think the length was definitely wrong. Three days later at his pediatrician appointment, he was 19 inches long. We are averaging it out and calling him 20 inches. If he had gone until 40 weeks, I have no idea how huge this child would have been!

After that, he was brought back to me for snuggles, but he fell asleep before breastfeeding. He spent most of the day asleep, but did eventually breastfeed.

So that's the birth story of Collin and Gibson, our twins. Gibson's birth certificate reflects that he is the second born of twins.