I'M alive....this note will be short and sweet

They girls had their first check up Yesterday thanks to the help of UNCLE Steve getting us there(Chris had to work) They are doing great. Trista is cleared up of Jaundice but has passed it on to Sadie. Count came back low and doctor is not concerned- evidently very common to pass this off when its twins.
I am recovering slowly. Actually my babies were healthier than i was after birth. I am slowing feeling better. I spiked a temp after surgery, then my blood count was really low and they thought I might have a bladder infection which could go to my kidneys so that was closely watched. I am feeling much better and feedings are going well(breast pumping and feeding) but that is worth another blog. I am looking over at them and just counting the minutes I have till they are ready to eat again. Today is the first day that I am juggling them by myself till help comes a noon. I must say I am doing okay.
Thank you all for your support and love, food, calls and emails. Chris has been keeping me updated and keeping the blog updated.
I am just so in love with them and never thought I could feel so much joy. Although my hormones are ragging (cried lots the first 24 hours-poor Chris) but now I cry just looking at them and cannot believe that their ours and we made them.
I also love watching Chris be a dad,- that makes me cry to.:)
What an awesome gift that GOD has given us!
Much love to all.
Amber Carlson- mother of twin girls Sadie and Trista

Home Bodies

FINALLY!! It seemed like the hospital was becoming our home. Amber had to get her blood count up a bit more before we could leave. And Trista has a little bit of jaundice, which she will go back Monday for a re-check. It is fairly common for newborns to have this, but we are taking precaution and asking to give them a bit more time before meeting them. They cant wait to meet everyone, but we just want to make sure they are in tip top shape first. The nurses treated us royally and we got VIP treatment and never had to leave our huge deluxe room since we are related to the infamus Gavin Carter who all of our nurses work with. We really lucked out not having to moove to one of the smaller rooms after the first night. Dr. Branson did a great job with Amber during the whole birthing process. We really had a great experience while we were there. We packed up house and headed for home. The girls did great with their fist car ride. We found that this will be a good way to get them to sleep. They did fairly good their first night home. We had some really good friends visiting that were lifesavers all weekend and actually stayed with Amber 1 night so I could experience what real sleep was once again. Thank you to the Landers, we owe you. Saide and Trista met Rocky for the first time, and he has been really good with them. Rocky is real timid when he is around them and perks his ears every time they make a noise. I think he is going to be looking out for them as they grow. We are still trying to find a groove for the night feeding, had a really good night Saturday, they girls were introduced to bottles after pumping, and that proved to save Mom some time feeding, and some much needed sleep. We are learning as we go and have already learned that 1 would be a breeze. Amber is healing slowly but steadily. She is literally a milk machine right now, she is amazing! We are so happy to be home, and excited about this new phase in our life.

Move over, Rocky...the girls are comin' home!

This is Stephen posting a little something for Amber n' Chris. They just want everyone to know that they'll be going home TODAY with two new bundles of joy! It's been a long and exciting week and everyone feels so blessed with the two new additions. Everything has gone so smoothly for Amber, her pregnancy, delivery, and early adaptation to motherhood. However, Trista (below) is a bit Jaundice, a common condition in healthy newborns which shows up around the 2nd or 3rd day of life, so they're going to keep a close eye on her. She's able to go home...but, they may have to bring her in to the doctor for a few days if she doesn't improve on her own. She's eating well, so that's a big plus.



A quick rundown of this condition for those [guys] who might not know, or [ladies] who have forgotten, can be found at this link:
Jaundice in Healthy Newborns

Because of this, Amber and Chris have requested that no one visit the new bundles at home just yet. They want to be sure that Sadie and Trista are both in tip-top condition for their public debut. We're curious as to how Rocky (Amber n' Chris' 1 Yr. old Boxer) will take to playing 3rd fiddle now that there are two newborns to spoil. I'm sure he'll do just fine as long as he has his rope to chew on.

Thank you for all the continued phone-calls, love, and support to our family during these past few months. With Dad's situation and the arrival of the twins, it's been an exciting roller-coaster-ride ending to an exhausting year. We're all looking forward to a wonderful 09 with the new babies. Talk again soon!

3 days new

Trista and Sadie are doing great! They sleep perfectly, and when they start to squirm a little bit, its time to eat, and after eating, they go right back to sleep. We feel pretty lucky so far, not to say our luck might run out on the quiet side of things, we are very happy. Sadie is starting to catch up with Trista in weight, so her cheeks are starting to fill out which is making her look more like Trista. I can still easily tell them apart, but it might get harder the more they fill out. We did find out that they are fraternal and not identical twins, of course this does not mean that they won't look the same. We are already finding that they both have different tastes, Trista has to be cold and mad to stay awake and feed, and Sadie likes to stay bundled up to feed. Speaking of feeding, they are eating great, breast feeding is going perfectly, they already starting getting actual milk yesterday after finishing the colostrum. Amber is doing good also. She got a little bit of a bladder infection after the c-section, and was anemic, so we have had to stay about a day more than we would have if it wasn't for trying to get her blood count and iron back up. She is up and walking around though, slowly, but she's up. Got her first shower yesterday, and food, so she is anxious to get home. We should be able to go home this evening, but possibly Friday. That's about it for now, will keep you updated.

They finally made it!

Amber and I arrived at Hendersonville Hospital at 6 AM Monday Dec. 15. Right away the doctor broke her water and the pitocin started doing its job. She was already dialated 1cm when we came in, and the contractions started. The nurse would slowly increase the pitocin and the contractions would slowly get worse. At noon we started to wonder how long this was really gonna take seeing as how she was only dialated to 2cm at this point. At 6PM, 12 hours into it, the doctor finally mentioned c-section for the first time. Amber was very adimate about not having to go that route if we didn't need to. 8PM she was dialted to 3 1/2cm and the doctor went ahead and ordered the epidural thinking that might speed things up. For some reason the contractions fell off after that. And finally at 17 hours into it with the advice of the doctor, Amber realized that she had done the best she could and we needed to get the babies out. So to the operating room we went and within 20 minutes Sadie Glenn Carlson entered the world at 10:52PM weighing in at 5lbs 12oz 18in, and then Trista Lee Carlson at 10:53PM weighing in at 6lbs 2oz 19in. It took about 28 minutes for the team of which brother in law Gavin Carter was a part of (was nice to have some family there) to button her all back up. The babies checked out with all of their fingers and toes in tact. Perfectly healthy and perfect in every way. Trista is an exact replica of Amber as a baby, and Sadie is almost a replica of myself, so needless to say we wont have to figure out a way to tell them apart. We had lots of family here to welcome the little ones into existence, and we were happy they could experience this with us. Hope you enjoy the pictures, and we will update as we can, Chris