Welcome Little Ones!!!

Yep, the two newest Hansen munchkins are here!!!! Carter and Taylor joined our family on September 25th, born 2 months early at 31 weeks. For those of you who remember the history of our first set of twins, I'm sure this all sounds very familiar . With Gavin and Kaden I developed a fatal form of Preclampsia called HELP Syndrome which affects the liver enzymes and the only way to cure it is to deliver the babies, so we had to deliver them at 31 weeks which meant they spent over a month in the NICU. This time around I started having some pre-term labor which took me to my doctor's office. After some blood work, we found out that I was developing HELP Syndrome again and I was admitted to the hospital. Luckily, this time we caught the HELPS early and although my liver tests were severely elevated, many of the other symptoms that come with HELP hadn't developed. So, once again Mike and I found ourselves in a very familiar situation. This time we had a choice whether to let the labor continue, since I was on medication to stop the pre-term labor, or to try to stay pregnant for a little longer. After talking with various doctors, and watching my liver levels rise to dangerously high levels, we decided the best thing for all of us would be to stop the medication and let the labor continue. So, again at 31 weeks we had to deliver our little boys.
Once we stopped the medication on Thursday afternoon, my labor progressed pretty rapidly, and by early Friday morning Carter was ready to come. When Carter's water broke they rushed me into the operating room and I pretty much had to hold Carter in while we waited for the doctor to come. Carter came easily with only 3 pushes and was here at 2:41 am. Taylor was a very different story. Because of the magnesium they had me on to stop seizures with the HELP syndrome, unfortunately it also stopped my labor, and since Taylor was so high and his water hadn't broken yet, I also stopped contracting. So, they stopped the magnesium and started the pitosin (sp?) to hopefully restart my contractions. After 4 hours of waiting for my contractions to start and for Taylor's cord to move out of the way since it was blocking his head from coming first, we decided that the safest way to get Taylor here would be to deliver him by C-section. So, yes, lucky me, I got to experience both types of deliveries at once, and Taylor was delivered at 6:31 am. Our two little boys are now 2 weeks old, and doing great. They are still in the NICU and will be there for a few more weeks. At birth, Carter weighed 3 lbs. 7 oz. and Taylor weighed 3 lbs. 12 oz. Now they weigh 4 lbs. 2 oz. and 4 lbs. 11 oz. They are still too little to either nurse or bottle feed and are being fed breast milk through a tube in their nose, and are still learning the sucking reflex. Hopefully by next week we can start trying to nurse or do a little bottle feeding. They are out of their incubator and are in a crib, which is a good step, one they need to make before they can come home. We'll take any baby step we can get!As for me, I'm slowly but surely healing and getting my energy back. At least I recognize my ankles again, so the swelling must finally be going down. :) I will say this though, it definitely takes a lot longer to heal after a C-section and I have no idea why anyone would purposely chose this type of delivery! Luckily, I've had a lot of help from family and friends. I can't begin to thank everyone enough for being there for my family these last couple of weeks. We've had so many meals brought to the house, and offers to watch our kids. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who have really gone out of their way to help us. Mike's parents come down from Colorado Springs to help, and my mom is staying with us for a few months. She is our live in nanny right now, and I honestly don't know what we would do without her! Knowing that my kids are taken care of while I rest or go visit the babies at the hospital is such a blessing. I know what a sacrifice it is for her, and my dad who is left alone down in Texas, and we really can't even begin to express our appreciation and love.
Even with all the support we've had, the hardest part for me is having to come home without my sweet little boys. I visit the hospital every day and cherish any time I get to spend with them, but still feel a huge void in my heart from their absence when I get home. Our family definitely has 2 little holes yet to be filled, which hopefully won't take too much longer. As crazy as this whole ride has been, from the moment we found out we were having twins again to their marathon delivery, we can't imagine life without them, and are so grateful for our 2 healthy little angels. We can't wait for the day when they come home with us, when we can shower them with endless hugs and kisses, making up for lost time.