Happy Birthday Babies

Lauren and Nicholas!!

The twins are here! Aren't they the sweetest things ever? I'm a bit late getting this posted, but Nicholas James and Lauren Brooke Vissman came into the world on July 22. Lauren was 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 inches and Nicholas was 7 pounds, 5 ounces and 20 inches long. (that's almost 15 pounds of baby if anyone is counting). They came out with two of the most beautiful gurgle-ey screams as healthy as could be. I'm so happy to have been able to carry them full term (38 weeks, 4 days) and that they didn't have to spend any time in the NICU and got to go to their parents right away.

The pregnancy went better than I could have ever hoped for. I was healthy and didn't have any complications. I was hoping to attempt a vbac delivery, but at 38 weeks I wasn't showing any signs of labor. We decided that a cesarean was the best/safest option. So it was scheduled and we prepared to go to the hospital at 6 am on the 22nd for the surgery. Unfortunately when I called that morning to make sure they had room for us, they had to push us back to later in the day because they had a lot of births that morning. Like we weren't all nervous enough! But at least we got to go back to sleep for a bit.

When we got to the hospital every thing happened pretty fast. My sister and Dave were there, of course. And so was Andy, my mom and Grandpa Coy, as well as Dave's dad and step mom. When it was time to go into the OR, Andy got to be there with me the whole time. We tried to get my sister in as well, but they would only allow one other person. The babies came out really fast - Nicholas was born first and his sister Lauren came out one minute later. They cried right away and everyone working on me just kept saying how big they were and how healthy and great they looked. Andy got to go be with the babies and cut their cords and take pictures and video and somehow still rub my head. It felt like they were in the OR with us forever and I kept thinking "Take those babies out to meet their parents!" It seemed like it took forever for them to go to the nursery, but it was probably only 15 min. or so.

My sister and Dave got to be with the babies right away after they went to the nursery and andy stayed with me while they finished me up. Everything went really well. My sister got to bring the babies to me while I was in recovery and both babies latched on and breastfed a little bit.

Everyone at the hospital was sooo great - they were really accommodating to us and our situation. We got our own room and my sister stayed with me the whole time. The babies breastfed like little champs right away. They kept us up a lot the first night and we ended up sending them to the nursery the second and third night so we could get some sleep - it really helped.

The c-section was harder on me than I thought it was going to be. I was in a lot of pain, but finally got my medication under control and felt much better. I'm healing more and more every day and feeling really good now.

The babies are finally home in Boise and hopefully settling into their new home! I miss them already. They are so sweet and cute and I can't get enough of them. And they are really good at keeping their mom and dad up at night. (Good work babies). Curtis and I will be going to visit them soon and we are so excited!

Baby Nicholas!!

Waiting for our room to be ready

I love this picture
Proud mom and dad
All snuggled up
Curtis love his babies. He couldn't stop smiling and giggling when he met them for the first time.

Last belly pics before the babies arrive

So here are the last belly pictures of me before the twins were born. By my last doctor's appointment at 38 weeks I was measuring 60 weeks pregnant. My belly had a LOT of baby in there!!

Waiting to go into surgery!!
Night before the babies were born - we all went out for dinner. Needless to say, no one got a lot of sleep that night!

kite flying

the boy is three

Somehow, Curtis is three. I can't believe he' s this old already. Our little tiny baby is a big boy now. And he is not shy about it. He says: "I'm three! I'm big!"

We haven't been planning much for his birthday because everything has been up in the air with the twins birth. I haven't known how I would be feeling and how much I could do to prepare for a big party. Luckily the babies are still comfy in my belly and Curtis didn't have to share his birthday with anyone. My energy has been super low, but we managed to pull off a very last minute party with a few good friends. Thanks to everyone that helped out to make it a great birthday for Curtis. He had so much fun. The only thing he wanted for his party was cupcakes! The great friends and presents and food were just a bonus.

We love you Curtis James. You bring such sunshine into our lives every morning with your sweet face. Happy third birthday little boy!

Father's day at the beach

Happy Father's Day Andy! We love you so much and you are the best daddy in the world. Thanks for all that you do for us!!

Things the boy says

"Mommy is a princess, I'm a king and daddy is a dragon."

On his birthday: "I'm big! I'm three! My body is big!"

"Basil is my favorite. It feels me good."

Curtis: "Better hide from monsters".

Mom: "Where do we go to hide?"

Curtis: "Costco".

Curtis: "Bats can see in the dark"

Mom: "Can you see in the dark?"

Curtis: "Yep. With my beun-tiful eyes." Opening eyes really wide "See mommy?"

Mom: "Yes, those are beautiful eyes."

Gardening and Gestating

For my birthday andy and jimmy made me a planter box - isn't it great? I wanted a little space for us to plant a few tomatoes or herbs. Nothing too fancy - I have no energy to be a full time gardener, but I thought it would be pretty great to have something that Curtis could help out with and we could water and watch grow. Who knows maybe it will even inspire us to water our lawn more this summer and keep it from turning completely brown like last summer.

So the Tester family went and picked up some dirt for our new planter box. The soil here is hard clay and not very easy to dig in. We got some tomatoes, a cucumber and a basil plant (thanks for forgetting it at our house auntie!) and we finally got to dig in some dirt and put our veggies in the ground. It's pretty exciting - I hope at least something grows!



And speaking of growing, here are the twins at 32 weeks. I actually kind of think I don't look too big here. I feel huge. It's always fun when people ask me when the baby is due and when I tell them, they get a very worried look on their face. Although looking at the ticker at the top of this page, it won't be much longer now! Making it four more weeks would be great. Making it to six more weeks would be amazing. And dare I say it, making to to the full 40 weeks would be unbelievable. The doctor said she wouldn't be surprised if I went full term with these kiddos!! We'll see. As long as they are happy and healthy in there I am happy to keep them in my belly.

I am, however, getting really tired. I get worn out pretty easy and have contractions when I do anything physical. I have days (like today!) where I feel great and have a lot of energy and days where I feel like I'm walking up hill all day long. Needless to say I do a lot of laying on the couch. Poor Curtis has been stuck at home with his boring mom. But hopefully that will change when these babies are born! We are all excited to meet them.