Elenbaas Twins

After 36 weeks of pregnancy and 2 months of strict bedrest, Erin was given the OK to start walking around again. Turns out it was a good thing she was on bedrest that whole time, because 24 hours after going off bedrest she went into labor.

Monday was kind of a strange day. Erin called me from her appointment and said "do you want to have some babies tonight?" She was measuring 5cm and the doctor said if she kept contracting to just check into the hospital. So she drove home and we spent the afternoon just hanging out at our house. We did some chores, watched a movie, and then went in to the hospital around 5:30.
Erin's work connections kicked in again. We walked into the hospital, skipped triage, and were admitted into a corner room.

From 6 to 8 not much happened. We hung out with the other nurses and walked around hoping for Erin's contractions to pick up. She progressed slightly, got an epidural, and then the doctor broke her water around 10:30. We put on a movie (The Holiday) but Erin progressed quickly and by 11:30 it was time to prep for labor so we moved into the OR (in case they needed to do a crash C-section).

The OR was almost comical. There were 2 doctors, a nurse practitioner, and SIX nurses to "assist" and we pumped the Christmas music. Once everything was set, Erin pushed a total of 3 contractions for baby A and he came right out. The doctor held the baby up and we were both surprised to see it was a boy! The baby cried and I cut the cord. About 3 minutes later the doctors told Erin to push for baby B. This time it only took 1 contraction. The doctor held up baby B and we were even more surprised...another BOY! Twin boys, WOW!

The nurses and doctors did their thing while Erin and I spent our first few moments with our two sons. We named them William Lloyd and Jack Douglas. William was 5 lbs 14 oz and 19.5" long. Jack was 6 lbs 3 oz and 19" long. They were born at 12:30 and 12:34 a.m.

Once again Erin is my absolute hero. She was rightfully nervous all day, but did such an amazing job. I am so proud to be her husband.


Jack had low blood sugar initially and both were struggling with deep breathing. After some consultation we decided to keep them with us and keep an eye on them. Within a few hours they were breathing well and all other tests were normal.
Our fabulous team of nurses made our experience great.

The Countdown

The real countdown has begun. At week 20 and 28 we were pretty sure the babies would come very early. Erin has now reached 34.5 weeks and is feeling relatively well. We have a scheduled induction on December 19. Getting close!

Erin at 31 Weeks

Erin at 34 Weeks

A couple nights ago we packed our hospital bags. We didn't want to break it to Evie that she wouldn't be staying with us at the hospital so we let her pack her own bag. She made 10-20 very urgent trips between our bedroom and her toys. Don't worry, she has all the essentials including "Guess Who", a Rubik's cube, a naked doll, silverware, and one pair of jammies.

Since Erin's real bed rest started 4 weeks ago she has only gone upstairs once per day (our room is on the main floor). She'll come up to put Evie to bed but not to peek at Evie before we go to bed. So I've been taking pictures of Evie every night for Erin to see. Saving those memories has been great. We tuck Evelyn into bed in the standard sleeping position, but she seems more comfortable moving around.

Personality

Evie's personality comes out more and more every day. We can't help but smile at the little person she is.

2 months ago we all went through a flu bug. Evie got at last and probably the worst. It was so sad to see such a poor baby. The only bonus was the great cuddling time.

One of our favorite moments of every day is seeing what sleeping position Evie is in when we go to bed. Lately they have been really good. Her head is often against the side. Once she had her stuffed dog balanced on her stomach and sometimes she's on her knees with her butt in the air.

Evie thought her cousin Samantha would sleep better with her pacifier.

Evie's high energy days often leave her exhausted. We know she's tired when she relaxes to watch some TV.

Evie isn't around other kids very often. This past weekend she spent an evening with another girl almost exactly her age. Evie is a bully! She was on her home turf so she was protecting her toys. Every time her friend tried to play with one of Evie's toys, Evie would march over to her and forcefully take it away. We are going to have to work on that.

Erin loves the sunshine and outdoors. As soon as the weather warmed up enough to venture outside, Erin and Evie have been spending as much time as possible in the yard. Evie really enjoys it and usually cries when we make her go back inside. She loves her beach chair and gets in and out of it repeatedly.

Exponential Growth

It took Erin and I 27+ years to become an aunt and an uncle for the first time. It took 9 days for the 2nd time. And it took less than 5 minutes for the 3rd time. Our twin nephews Andrew James and Jacob Michael Brink were born on Tuesday. Erin was again able to take part in the delivery.

The boys were small since they had to share one spot for 9 months, but we could still hold them. Uncle Derek is proud that he still holds the family birth weight record. Cindy thought the twins' combined weight would top Derek, but Derek's nearly 11 pounds is hard to beat.

Family Expansion

This weekend 2 new members were added to my "close" family. On Saturday my cousin Ellen got married Neal in Ann Arbor. Before we even left for the wedding (2.5 hour drive) it turned into a whirl wind day. As we were walking out the door Erin's sister called and said she was going into labor. With the unique situation of Erin being a labor and delivery nurse she had planned to assist in Gwen's delivery.

We decided to start driving across the state since Gwen was still in the relatively early stages of labor. We were able to see the wedding and even enjoy part of the reception.

Around dinner we finally decided that Gwen's labor was getting close enough to drive back to Grand Rapids. Fortunately everything worked out and Erin made it to the hospital in time to help with her sister's delivery. Samantha Jean was born as a healthy 8 lb, 14 oz baby. Erin really enjoyed being part of her first niece's delivery.

On Sunday Evie and I met Samantha. Sam is Evie's first cousin and Evie seemed to like her, although we didn't let Evie get too close. Those mischievous little hands are not meant for babies.

We've been training Evie to be the enforcer amongst the cousins. She wanted to get started right away, but we'll wait until Samantha has a fighting chance.