Today is Keagan & Kyle's 16th Birthday!! I'm writing about the day these 2, boys arrived in to the world, just as I did with Kameron, two days ago. Keagan & Kyle were are my pride & joy, not that my other children aren't, but I was so full of pride & joy to become their Mother. I was very young, and still in school, and teen pregnancy is just bad. To know that I let so many people down, it hurt. Nobody was happy for me and I knew why. But I was excited, and scared, I was very scared!! I knew I wanted them, well at that point I just thought there was one, but I wanted my baby. I found out I was having twins 3 days before I turned 18. Shock of my life!!!! After that things started to look up, and people started to get more excited, and they excepted our decision. By the time Keagan & Kyle arrived in to this world they were very much loved, & wanted. Never a day have I ever regretted my decision to have them, because they are, two of the best things that have ever happened in my life. Here is Keagan & Kyle's birth story, who arrived 5 weeks early! Their due date was April 19, 1999.
It was Tuesday, March 16th, 1999. I was already in the hospital as I had arrived the evening before. It was a rough week for me, as I was in & out of the hospital. I was just in the hospital 48 hours prior to that. I woke up and it was about 4:30am and I was having some really bad contractions. My Mom woke up and went and got a nurse. She then checks me, and tells me that she is going to go wake Frank up. He was sleeping in another room, nurses were nice & gave him a bed. They then paged the Doctor, and he showed up shortly after. I really don't remember what went on in that time frame, but I think they were making sure the O.R. was open, and everyone to suit up, and for me to labor a bit longer. As it got closer, they had Frank, and my Mom go suit up, and they took me down to the O.R. I just remember as I was being taken down to the O.R. I was SO, SO scared!! I had asked if I could have drugs, but I don't think anyone heard me. I can't recall the pain, I just recall how scared I was. I think fear had taken over pains place. I remember being in the O.R and there were so many people in there. My OB, my nurses, the anesthesiologist, the Pediatrician, and nurses for each of the boys, Frank, my Mom, and a bunch of medical students. I remember having to sign a few consent forms while my legs where up in stirrups. Medical Students needed my permission to be in there, I said what the hell, as there were already a ton of people in the room. Boy, did I make those students day, to witness a birth, and twins at that! They were excited!!
I had pushed for 56 minutes, (so that gave me a time frame on when I was taken down to the O.R.) and then "Baby A," Keagan Andrew was born at 8:30 am, weighing 5pds 11.4oz, and was 18" long. I got a quick peek at him, and then he was whisked off to be checked out. I remember feeling much better after he was out, and then the Doctor telling me that he was going to do an ultra sound to see if "Baby B" was still head down. If he wasn't head down then it was C-section for me. I remember being SO tired after that, and saying, "Can we just do this tomorrow?" I did not scream out with their birth, it was unmedicated, and was pretty quiet. Was a really relaxed setting given the situation. Like I said before, I think I was more scared than in pain, and I just wanted it over with. I like to brag about their birth because, it was the only time I was so calm in a very painful situation. It really amazes me how incredible I did giving birth to them!! The ultra sound showed Kyle still head down, so thank goodness for that. As contractions started to pick back up I got the go ahead to start pushing again. I pushed for 18 minutes, and at 8:48am, Kyle James was born weighing 5pds 12.5oz, and was 18" long. They would have weighed the same, but I guess Keagan peed right after he was born. I got a quick peek of Kyle and then he was taken off to be checked out. Frank & my Mom then followed. I don't remember what time I had arrived back to my room, but all I wanted to do was hold, and see my babies!! It felt like hours had gone by, and I was given breakfast but I didn't want to eat it. All that was on my mind was my baby boys. I had not even held them yet, or had gotten a good look at them. The nurses were nice and snapped a Polaroid picture of them as they were getting looked over.
Then finally they were brought to my room and I got to hold them. I looked over their precious little faces to see any differences in them. I noticed right away they didn't look a like. Keagan was lighter haired, and Kyle had dark hair. Their faces were different, Keagan had more of an oval face, and Kyle had a rounder face. We thought Keagan looked like me, as he looked a lot like my newborn picture, and we thought Kyle looked like Frank as he looked a lot like Frank as a newborn. Kyle also had long toes like his Dad, and Keagan's were shorter & a little fatter like mine. They were healthy baby boys and needed no assistance after birth which was a concern since they were 5 weeks early. Keagan's Apgar score was an 8/8, and Kyle's was an 8/9, so very good scores. We had the names Keagan Andrew & Kyle James picked out, although I debated the names Cameron & Riley James for boy names. If they were girls I had the name Kelsey Elizabeth & Melissa Nicole picked out. And if they were a boy & a girl, the name would have been Keagan Andrew & Kelsey Elizabeth. I was sold on Keagan & Kelsey, either way.
I remember feeling like a zoo animal on exhibit because of all of the visitors I had. Our friends & school mates were excited to see our baby boys. I also trying to breastfeed them for the first time, and that proved to be very overwhelming. I can remember trying to nurse Keagan, and he was latched on wrong, and when I pulled him off, it looked as if I had two nipples. I said I was done breastfeeding at that time. (I joke to Keagan that he is the reason why I didn't breast feed them...lol) They did have a little trouble with latching & sucking, so we had to try nipple shields & syringe feedings. They took to the bottle better, and so we just went with that. We went home just 2 days after they were born, and they were so tiny they wore preemie outfits home. Keagan wore a white outfit with a white hat, and Kyle wore a blue outfit with a hat. They had designated colors, Keagan had blue, and Kyle had green, I just didn't want their stuff getting mixed up, so the colors worked out well. I remember our first day home. Frank dropped me off at home, and then went to work and I unpacked. I remember my Mom stopping by with a robe, a breast pump, and nursing bras. I did try to nurse when I got home, and had a lactation consultant stop over. I remember my boobs, and how BIG they were, my milk had come in and Hello, Dolly!! I couldn't see my feet they were that big! And they hurt so bad & were hard as a rock. Being a new Mom I was like WHOA!!!!!! Hahaha! I remember our first night home too, it didn't go so well. They boys' awoke to be fed, I woke Frank up, he gave me the boys, and then went to the kitchen to make bottles. The boys started to cry, and it was taking Frank quite some time to get the bottles made. The crying got louder, and I didn't want to get up with both boys in my arms, I was still cautious carrying them both at the same time. So I started screaming, "FRANK!!!" over and over again. It took a few good yells to get him to come back down to the bedroom. He finally gets there, and I ask what took so long? He said he fell asleep on the kitchen floor. LOL!!!! The crying didn't stop because we then had to wait for the bottles to cool down, as they were too hot!! I still laugh at Frank over that! They boys did have jaundice, but it wasn't to bad as they did phototherapy at home. They looked like little glow worms at night, the jaundice went away within a few days.
The boys were very good babies. I say that they are so calm, and pretty laid back kids due to their birth. Like I said in Kam's post, his birth was more angry, & loud compared to Keagan & Kyle's quiet, calm birth. I really think their personalities kinda reflect their birth. Just wait till you hear Chelsea & Kwintyn's. It will all make sense then. :) I'm glad that I had twins first because I don't think I could have handled it so well if they were a subsequent pregnancy. They were pretty easy until about the age of 18 months and then it became more of a struggle. 2 on the run getting in to EVERYTHING, and plotting things. Like using a brother as a step stool to get something that we are not suppose to have. One would get on all fours, and then the other would step on his back to get what they wanted. The stuff these 2 pulled, and the team work that went in to it. I'm glad we survived all these years, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Happy Birthday, Keagan & Kyle!! I can't believe that you are 16 years old today. I got all sentimental and cried today, and I'm sure this will happen every year now. It's just crazy to think that in just 2, short years I will have 2 adult son's. I am very proud of the young men that you two are becoming. All of you're teachers current & old have always remarked on how well behaved, kind, helpful, & smart you boys are, and have told Frank & I, how well of a job that we were doing raising them. It feels so good to hear that coming from Teachers, and it makes me feel proud because I was a Teen Mom, that a young Mom like me could do a good job raising children. Children of Teen Mom's have a higher rate of being convicts, or face teen pregnancy themselves, and there are other statistics that said other things as well. So damn right I am proud of my boys, they so far have beaten the odds of the Teen Mom stigma, and I am damn proud of the way that their Father & I have raised them. As I always said, my Pride & Joy.
(Not the best picture, stain on frame, not Kyle's face, and yes, I looked thrilled! LOL)
Happy 16th Birthday, Keagan & Kyle!!
