Week one

Things have been so crazy that life is just a blur right now!

Who was feed last, how long did they eat, what kind of diaper did they have, has Ezra eaten yet, wait....when was the last time I ate, WHAT DAY IS IT ANYWAYS? You might think this is a funny exaggeration, but it's not. It's our life right now.

When Ezra was born Ryan had six weeks off. It was just the three of us hanging out in our underwear/diaper all day. Ryan and I took THOUSANDS of pictures, really we did and we would take naps when he napped. What a life! This time around things are VERY different. Not bad, just different. Someday when Levi and Lucy ask me what they were like when they were babies I want to be able to tell them. Honestly, someday I want to know what was going on during this time too. I am trying to take pictures. It helps me remember what is going on.

So here are the pictures of week one and a little bit of what I remember.

August 6, 2010

Taking a nap with Daddy just a few hours after birth.

Great-Grandad Lesnick
He brought Mommy, Grandma, Levi and Lucy each a dozen roses, our favorite pizza (Verazanos), and a bunch of fruit.

My Mom teaches in her child birth classes that when you have a new baby get the older siblings a gift from the baby to help with jealousy issues. Good idea, right? I mean how do you not like someone who gives you a present? Levi & Lucy got Ezra dinosaurs and sunglasses.

Meeting Aunt Ashley & Aunt Brennan

Ivy Loves her new cousins! She is doing a good job at not touching them until they get bigger. She can say Lucy but has a hard time with Levi. It sounds like leva.

August 7, 2010

Ezra loves to help with the babies!

Ezra calls Lucy, Sushi and Levi, Beby. He is so sweet with them!

Meeting Grandma Diana & Grandpa Dennis

They got Levi & Lucy really soft blankets and they gave Ezra some cars.

Me and my babies

August 9, 2010

We went to the lactation consultant.

August 10, 2010

A/C went out!!!!

I thought that I was just warm but I went to pick up Lucy and she was burning up. I thought maybe she was ill. I looked at the thermostat and the needle (yes needle, it's old) was past 80 as far as it could go. So we packed up and went to My friend Kacey's house to get out of the heat. Thank you Kacey!

Ryan was able to get the A/C repaired with the help of his Uncle Matt. It's frustration throwing money away on an A/C unit that's half dead anyway!

August 11, 2010

Went to the lactation consultant again.

Meeting Grandma Gail

She brought Ezra a book and some trucks.

August 12, 2010

"39 Weeks"

We went to the Chiropractor. Levi & Lucy got their first adjustments.

So no one tells you that after you have a baby you still look like you are pregnant for awhile. Mine might last a little longer/forever (not forever......positive affirmations. I WILL GET RID OF THIS BELLY!!!) because I had twins. It is getting smaller everyday:)

Well this isn't glamorous, this real life. What Hollywood tries to hide. Yes...this is me at

"39 weeks" Six days after I gave birth.

I hope this picture can help someone......

Dear Someone,

No you are not the only one who still looks like they are pregnant after having a baby!

Love,

Brittany

P.S.

You are BEAUTIFUL!!!

Priceless!

Big Brother loves to push the babies in their swing.

Lucy & Levi

August 13, 2010

Levi & Lucy had their PKU tests done.

Levi's weight 5 lbs 10 oz Lucy's weight 5 lbs 9 oz

Band aid buddies

Well that's a bit of what happened in week one. There were other visitors, lots of feedings lots of diapers and LOTS of crying.....not just from Levi and Lucy. Oh, and there was NO sleep!

Stay tuned for more adventures of newborn twins.

Cut off

Life isn't always perfect.......

If you read the post below you will here about our perfect birth. It really was perfect.

Well you can't know joy if you don't have sorrow, Right?

Things have been CRAZY since the birth!!!!!

Don't worry we are all OK.

We did too much too fast! We had several appointments for Mommy and the babies, A/C problems, we also had some visitors and more. It all added up to be TOO much. Now the babies have thrush and are not gaining weight as fast as we would like to see, they are both under six pounds. Mommy is feeling worse now then did right after she had the babies. We need to regroup, heal and gain weight.....the babies need to gain weight, not the rest of us!

For all these reasons and more we are cutting ourselves off......

NO VISITORS.

MOMMY WILL NOT BE ON FACEBOOK, TAKING PHONE CALLS, TEXTING OR EMAILS.

Feel free to send your love in any of those ways but know that Brittany will not be responding.

Thank you for understanding this is what we NEED to do!

We will let you know when we are ready to rejoin the outside world.

If you need to get a hold of us please contact Daddy or Grandma.

Thank you for your help!

Several of our friends have had Ezra over for play dates. Thank you ladies. THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD!!!! We have had meals and snacks dropped off. This is SO unbelievably helpful. It has been so crazy and we are all sleep deprived. When we don't have to worry about food it's less stressful! THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you all for your continued thought and prayers. We love you all.

The Petersens

Ryan, Brittany, Ezra, Levi & Lucy

The perfect birth!

Let's start from the beginning.....

It all started with a man ans a woman who loved each other, ok maybe not that far back.

For those of you who don't know we had the twins at home. This is a choice we made after much thought and prayer. We had Ezra at home and we really enjoyed being in our own space and the whole process. This time we wanted to try a different Midwife so we started the interview process. We found a Midwife we really liked. But, I had one problem with her - She wouldn't deliver twins. Now at the time we didn't know we were having twins, but as I said in a earlier post I thought I was having twins. So, we then went to interview Rebecca, who just so happened to be our bishop's wife. Ryan and I really felt comfortable with her and confident in her as a caregiver. After we found out we were having twins most people thought we would then choose a hospital. We still felt good about home so we moved forward with our choice. We found out in late June that Lucy had an issue with her umbilical cord called a Velamentous cord insertion. We were scared for our baby girl. We studied everything we could about the condition and prayed a lot. After everything we came to the conclusion that home would be the best place for us to have our babies and I'm so happy we did!

We had our caregiver and now for a plan. Yes, I planned my birth like you would plan a party. I wanted to make it to at least 38 weeks prior to going into labor, I wanted to be healthy, I wanted the babies to be healthy, I wanted an easy short labor (i.e. three hours), safe births, and I wanted it all to happen at night while Ezra was sleeping. I told my Midwife my plan and she asked that I have a five hour labor so she could have plenty of time to set up. I told her I would go for five. I wrote down all these positive affirmations. Each day, several times a day I would read them out loud. Little did I know just how amazingly it would work out.

August 5th 11:30PM, water breaks. I had just gotten into bed. I turned to Ryan and said "I think my water just broke." Sure enough it had. It was going to be a long night! I was filled with excitement. My mom and Ryan were trying to get a few last minute thing done around the house and I tried to rest a bit. I have spent months practicing relaxation techniques that I was able to now put into practice, which I did for about an hour. I got out of bed and sent my mom to the store for a few things. I walked around the kitchen while Ryan tidied up. Occasionally I would lean on him for support during my contractions. I told Ryan I wanted to go for a walk. We had to wait for my mom to get back because Ezra and Ivy were sleeping. So, when mom got home we set out for our walk. We didn't make it very far (two or three houses down) before Ryan said I think we should go back, I could feel that time was getting short and agreed. We had to stop several times because my contractions were so hard. When we got back Ryan filled my birth tub - It's kind of like a big kiddie pool. Water is very relaxing to me so I thought it would help me through labor. It did! The lights were turned low, candles were lit and we had on some relaxation music. If it wasn't for the intense labor pains it would have been romantic. Ryan was a wonderful coach!!! He helped me do my best to relax during my contractions. I kept asking him if it was time for the Midwife to come and he kept saying he would add up the time on the contractions. This was a nice way of saying it wasn't time for her to come yet. Ryan was going off what had happened with Ezra's labor. According to what happened last time I still had 10 hours to go. Ezra's labor was 15 hours, 5 of which were pushing! To be honest I also wasn't telling him things that would clue him in to the fact that labor might be going faster....I thought he knew. I started thinking I needed Rebecca to be here, but I couldn't speak. Then during a contraction I knew, I NEEDED REBECCA. Still unable to talk I finally mustard up, "C-c-c-c-call". After Ryan got off the phone I told him that the babies were coming now, and he helped me out of the tub. I felt like I needed to push. "I hope she gets here soon", I thought to myself. Thankfully Rebecca lives really close and she got to our house very fast. When Rebecca arrived she started setting up her things until I said, "The baby is coming out." She checked and sure enough Levi was ready to come out. Levi was born about six minutes after Rebecca arrived at 4:32 am. April, our back up Midwife, arrived right after Levi was born. Thankfully Lucy fell into place on her own and was born shortly after her brother at 4:39 am. It was a wonderful peaceful birth!!!

Just as I had imagined it to be.

Hurray for positive affirmations!

Both here and safe

I kept turning my head back and forth. Levi then Lucy, Lucy then Levi. Anyway I turned there was a beautiful baby.

I love to see Ryan with our children. He is the most wonderful father!

Our birth team


Originally we were going to have Margie as our backup midwife to Rebecca. Well, Margie went out of town. I told her it was fine because I wasn't going to have the babies yet. Sorry Margie they just couldn't wait. I am thankful for Margie for all the time she spent with us, all her advice and love! Thank you Margie!!!

I met Katie a few days before I had the babies. She is very kind and soft spoken. Thank you for being a part of our special day! Good luck with your Midwifery journey!!!

My mom knows April through all the childbirth things she is involved with but I had never met her before. After I gave birth to Lucy I said, "Hi April, It's nice to meet you." Thank you for being there for us April!

Rebecca, where do I start? We are so happy we chose her!!! She has really been there for us. We've gone through a lot together. Through the whole process she has been wonderful! Late night phone calls (while she was on vacation), home visits, you name it. After the birth she said I did a good job with my five hour labor but next time call her sooner. OK, I guess giving you six minutes to prepare is pushing it a bit. ;) We definitely recommend Rebecca to everyone looking for a wonderful natural home birth. Thank you Rebecca for EVERYTHING!!!


Getting all checked out.
Thankfully we have two healthy babies!!!

Mommy, Daddy and our sweet babies

Grandma

My Mom has dealt with a lot in the past couple months! She has been staying with us to take care of Ezra and me as I have been in bed a lot. Anyone who has ever been around a pregnant women knows that is A LOT of work! I have not always been pleasant to be around (shock) and she has put up with me. She has also been a wealth of knowledge. She knows SO much about childbirth and what she might not know about she find out from one of her friends who does. We have had V.I.P. treatment from the "baby community" all because I'm Dorothy's daughter. It's been great to have so much help from so many people.

Thank you Mom for ALL your help and support!!!

What happened while I was sleeping?

Just as I hoped/planned the babies came while Ezra was sleeping.

Here he is just waking up.

Ezra meeting his new brother and sister

Ezra LOVES them!

So EXCITED!!!!

Mommy & Levi

The Boys

Mommy, Lucy & Levi

They're Here!!!

38 WEEKS!!!!

I cannot tell you how excited I am to be 38 weeks!

It has been a big milestone for me all along. Why? Well I've always thought of it as the "safe zone". Now I know that babies born before 38 weeks can be just fine and not all of them even need to go to the NICU. But always in my head 38 weeks was the number to beat. Everything should be developed by now and you hear of people who have their babies a week or two early (naturally) all the time. Another reason I wanted to make it to at least 38 weeks is just to prove that a twin mom can! When I told people I was having twins many said "Oh, so you'll probably have them early" along with many other comments. Now I know people weren't trying to be negative or rude but it was REALLY hard to hear ALL the time. I had to work hard not to not take on the negative things I was being told and to not freak out! By the way my Mom carried her twins to 41 1/2 weeks!!! Carrying twins full term is possible! You don't hear of it much these days because of many different reasons.....poor diet, doctors taking them early and many other reasons. I am just SO excited that I've made it this far that I could shout it from the rooftops! I feel so very blessed and I am thankful for the miracles that have brought me here today!!!!

38 week....... now what?

We wait.

I am in no hurry to get these babies out!

Yes, it would be nice to not be in pain ALL the time!!!! I am EXTREMELY uncomfortable, I get grumpy fast, It's hard to eat, I can hardly sleep (get used to that....Right?), sitting hurts, walking hurts......everything HURTS!

But it's ok. I know my babies are getting healthier everyday and that is what gets me through each day! Our Heavenly Father knows when the best time for them to come is and I have faith that he will send them at that time. So keep on growing little babies!!!

My Dear Sweet Babies,

I am so excited for you to come to our family! I have wanted to have twins from the time I was a young girl. Not just any twins, girl/boy twins. I prayed for you. I told our Heavenly Father that I wanted to have twins if he thought it would be a good thing for me and if he thought I could handle it. Well, I guess he knows I can handle it so he's sending you to me. I will not be a perfect mother. I WILL make mistakes. I will have times that I feel overwhelmed and think....Can I really handle this? I want you to know no matter what that you ARE wanted! I love you both SO much already and I know that love will continue to grow.

I can't believe that I will soon be holding you in my arms! I am so excited!!! I will miss this special time of carrying you in my tummy! I love to feel and watch you moving around!!! Keep growing healthy and strong! I will see you both soon!!!

I LOVE YOU,

Mommy

My Sweet Ezra Boy,

A BIG change is about to happen in our family! You will soon have a brother and a sister. To tell you the truth it's going to be pretty crazy around here for awhile. I want you to know that just because there will be two new babies doesn't mean that I will love you any less. I love you so much any NOTHING will ever change that!!! I am so blessed to be able to be a full time Mom! We have had a lot of just you and me time in the past 19 months, I will always cherish those moments! Thank you for helping me learn how to be a Mom! Your brother and sister are so lucky to have you for a big brother!!! Ezra, you bring so much joy to my life!

I YOU,

(I love you)

Mommy

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers!

Please keep praying for us!!!!