One Week!

Today my girls are one week old! Though they have only been with us for this short time,  it feels like they've always been a part of our family :)

Kurt and I have been learning so much in these past seven days. In just a week, we have both laughed and cried, struggled to get up when they scream in the middle of the night and struggled to put them down because we love them too much. Each day has its challenges and we are definitely learning as we go.

We are most grateful for all the help and support we have received. These girls are so well-cared for.

Here is a quick recap of their first week with us:

Aria and Cadence with their handsome Daddy

The proud and tired Mommy

Grandma and Cadence

Aunty Brittny and Aria

The first-time grandparents with their new granddaughters

Aunty Teleise

Aunty Sandy

First bath

First time in their crib

Enjoying their cute bouncers

First trip to the doctor

Sleeping again in their bassinets

Cadence and Mommy

Aria and Daddy

This week has gone by so quickly, but we have loved every second with them!

Happy One Week, Aria and Cadence! We love you!

The Twins Are Here!

Our girls are finally here!!!

Aria Kielekea Christensen

Born March 18, 2014 at 9:19am

5 lbs 6 oz / 18 in long

Cadence Puamelia Christensen

Born March 18, 2014 at 9:19am

(20 seconds after Aria)

5 lbs 2 oz / 18.5 in long

The girls were delivered by C-section at 36 weeks/1 day so we had to stay in the hospital a total of three days. Though they are small, they are incredibly healthy and doing well! I am also doing great and in little to no pain at all :) We are very blessed that the entire pregnancy and birth went so smoothly. We are SO grateful to finally have our two daughters here with us! Kurt and I are excited to be parents and are on a steep learning curve but slowly understanding all that is entailed in being the mommy and daddy of identical twin girls!

False Alarm.

This past weekend, we went to my grandpa's 80th Birthday Party at Kahuku Ranch in Ka'u. We had such a nice time! But throughout the day I was feeling contractions and since the ranch was almost 2 hours away from the hospital, Kurt and I decided to drive home instead of sleepover.

I felt contractions the entire drive over and they weren't letting up. Once we got home, we turned on a movie and started timing the contractions.

I was having them about 7 times per hour for a minute each time and we read that if they were regular and we were pregnant with twins we shouldn't hesitate to call the hospital. So we did, and they told us to come in.

Once we got there, they asked what the pain level was and at the time I thought it was about a 3 out of 10. They hooked me up to monitor the contractions and the babies and they saw that I was actually having them every 2 minutes. After checking my cervix, they discovered I wasn't dilating so their next step was to try to address the source of the contractions. They thought I might be dehydrated (even though I had 6-7 bottles of water that day) and hooked me up to an IV that was supposed to hydrate me. However, the contractions continued and they got stronger as the night went on. Next, they thought it might be a bladder infection so they had me give them a urine sample and ran it through the lab, but I didn't have one and, again, the contractions were getting stronger. By this time, I was moaning and groaning and the pain level was up to about a 7. They checked my cervix again, but I still wasn't dilated.

Kurt and I had been there since 10 and it was now close to 3 am. They finally decided that they'd give me a shot of terbutaline which is a drug that relaxes the uterus and slows down contractions. If, after an hour of receiving the drug, my contractions returned at the same strength and consistency, then it meant that I was in "real labor" and they would give me a c-section that night. However, after an hour, the contractions stopped almost altogether and I could hardly feel the ones I had.

So, by 7am, we were finally discharged and told to take it easy so that the contractions wouldn't start again. It was a really rough night for both Kurt and I but we are glad that we went in. We were scared that the babies would come early, but the nurses and on-call doctor really wanted to try everything so that didn't happen. They were also grateful that we came in when we did and told us to come back if the contractions returned and were very strong.

But tomorrow is finally the day! We have a C-section scheduled at 9am tomorrow morning and we are both so excited! The babies are far along enough now that they will likely need no NICU time and be able to come home just as soon as we're all released after about 3 days of recovery from the surgery. We can't wait to finally meet our daughters!!!

35 Weeks!

Today I reached the 35 week mark of this twin pregnancy. It is a HUGE milestone for me because it means that the babies will likely not need any NICU time when they are born. Since the only NICU is on Oahu, it also means that I will be able to have the babies at home in Hilo instead of needing to be medevaced to Oahu if the babies come early.

Also, it means that our babies are now about five pounds each. If they stay in until March 18th as planned, they should be close to six pounds each!! I can feel every ounce of their tiny bodies moving in me and their strong limbs as they kick and squirm. It is getting harder and harder for them to move in my tummy but they still manage to keep me up sometimes!

We are SO excited for our girls to arrive!! My family has been working like crazy to prepare for their arrival :)

The girls are so blessed to have been given so many awesome things from many different people so we have been washing, disinfecting, and putting things together for them. With almost a week left until they are born, we still have so much to do!

Kurt and I are so excited to meet our daughters in just 9 short days!

Baby Shower!

This past Saturday, my family surprised me with a baby shower! They had been planning it for months and did a fantastic job at keeping it a surprise. Kurt helped with that too.

The weekend started off with Kurt and I sleeping over at my grandpa's house in Ka'u. A few weeks ago, my grandpa called and invited us to go spend the weekend with them before the babies were born. Little did I know, this was a ploy to get me out of the house and out of Hilo so the shower could be perfectly executed.

Well, we spent a lovely weekend out in Ka'u and were treated like royalty. Aunty Diana cooked the best meals and we talked to them for hours on their patio as the sun went down. The plan was to go whale-watching on Saturday morning, but my big pregnant belly was protesting to the bumpy ride down to South Point, so we ended up visiting family.

After lunch, Kurt and I left for Hilo because he said he had to meet the bishop for an Ecclesiastical Endorsement and that I needed to be in on the interview as well. So we returned, got dressed in church clothes, and headed over to the chapel.

In the cultural hall, everyone was waiting for my arrival and yelled, "SURPRISE!!" when I came in. It was really nice, and I cried a lot. There were so many women that have helped raise me, befriended me, and loved me over the years and they were all there to celebrate my daughters.

We got tons of amazing gifts!! Everyone was so generous and spoiled these girls SO much already. We are so grateful for all of their love! I felt so loved and blessed at the baby shower, and I know that many, many people love these girls as well!

Maternity Photos.

I am very blessed that everything in my twin pregnancy has gone so smoothly. Lots could have gone wrong before now, but didn't. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father is watching over us and making sure that these babies come into the world as healthy and happy as can be. :)