Time for a Giveaway!

Welcome to the first oily blogHOP!

We are so excited to have you here.

Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for little bottles of lemon as you read through the blog posts. At the end tally them up and you can enter a fun giveaway to win the Gentle Babies book by Debra Raybern, a total must have for Mom's with little ones.

If you have gone the whole way around the blog and found your way back here, go to http://www.theoilycrunchymama.com/blog/2014/8/28/lets-talk-allergies to enter the number of lemon bottles you counted on the whole blogHOP.

Entries will be accepted until 9AM (PST) on 8/29 winner will be selected at random on Sept 1st!

For today & tomorrow only, if you order your PREMIUM STARTER KIT from me, you will be entered to win this cute little USB diffuser! (This giveaway is my personal giveaway. That means that are 2 separate promos going on.)

For instructions on signing up & purchasing your PREMIUM STARTER KIT, check out THIS BLOG POST & follow the instructions to get started. Once your order has processed, you will be entered in this fun little giveaway!

To continue on the blogHOP, visit my friend over at (http://kateheadley.weebly.com/essential-oils/back-to-school-essentials/) and keep your eyes peeled for the little bottles of lemon!

Twinkies | 3 months

Our cousin asked us when we were announcing that I was pregnant with twins if we were "trying to have twins." As much as I love you, Adam, that might be the dumbest question I've heard. To date.

If I knew what it would be like, the pregnancy, the bed rest, the kangaroo pouch, I would have graciously declined. Then, I met these two baldy boys, and I fell in love. They are the coolest little dudes I've ever met. The sweatiness, leaky boobs, and black circles are totally worth it.

The novelty of twins is so funny to me. They are just my boys. Twins don't really mean a whole lot to me, but strangers sure think they are a freak of nature. Cute freaks of nature, but freaks nonetheless. "Oh, are they twins?" Nope, stole one. "Are they identical?" Nope. "Are you sure? They look exactly alike?" I'm sure. "Gosh, I could have sworn they were identical." I am about to karate chop your neck.

Their personalities are really starting to develop, and thankfully, so are their hair follicles. Jax is a pretty contented little boy. He fusses when he's hungry or wet, but beyond that, he's pretty chill. Jett is my worried, little, old man. The poor boy already has wrinkles on his forehead. But when he locks eyes with you & smiles his big gummy smile, omg. I felt immediate mom guilt when they were born over my tears that I wasn't having another girl. However, I have come to realize that you have mom guilt for every single thing you do with your children, so whatever. Just pile it on the other things I suck at. I digress.

The boys. They're growing, they're changing & they are already 3+ months at this point. And yes, Maddie loves them, but she's not terribly thrilled with the split attention & their crying. The idea that she might not be the center of the universe is lost on her.

The Instagram Curse

This morning has been one of those mornings. You don't see the photos of these mornings on Instagram with an ethereal filter. These mornings are fueled by Starbucks. These mornings are sticky, smelly, grumpy, whiney, loud, & exhausting. After finally getting the boys to sleep after, literally, hours of nursing back & forth, I walked into our room, where my husband was just emerging from his sleep (as I type this, it is currently 11:46am), I announced that I was "quitting motherhood."

What you can't hear is Jett crying, the sound machine blaring, Pocahontas singing, & Maddie yelling, "Hey, Mama?" from her bedroom every 30 seconds.

For the past 3 hours, I have made breakfast, nursed, changed diapers, nursed, watched The Croods, nursed, watched Pocahontas (after successfully talking her out of Frozen), nursed, dressed Maddie in a princess dress, nursed, dressed her in a new shirt, finally peed, rocked Jett on the nursing pillow while simultaneously bouncing Jax in the bouncer on the floor with my foot. Did I mention that I nursed the boys? I'm actually nursing Jett while I type this. #multitasker

Just as Jett finally fell asleep (although, I have no idea how he can sleep when his sister is stomping through the house like Godzilla & yelling, "Hey, Mama!" every 15 seconds), Jax woke up. I rocked him back to sleep on the couch, and finally laid half down/half up & found a blog to read on my phone while Pocahontas crooned about painting colors of the wind (what the hell does that even mean!?).

I find myself going to Kelle Hampton's blog when I need a more fairy tale view of motherhood. If you follow her on social media at all, you know that her life seems perfect. It's not, but it appears that way. She wrote a post back in April & referred to a similar post, "I'm Done Making My Kid's Childhood Magical." The idea being that childhood is already magical & there is no need to go crazy with Pinterest parties, Pinterest crafts, & the token Instagram photos to prove what wonderful mothers we are. I, like Kelle, found myself wanting to defend the elaborate parties, invitations, and "isn't-motherhood-perfect" Instagrams. I am one of the worst offenders when it comes to this, but I justify it by saying that I want to create a magical day for my kid. And I truly do. I want to go all-out with birthdays. I want my kids to know that the day they were born was a hugely special day. However, this article was such a great reminder in the midst of infant twins, sore nipples, a hyper almost-4-year-old, a Lanolin-stained nursing tank, & day 3 of a messy bun, that while I think I suck as a mom, these kids (well, the twins eventually) will have a magical childhood simply because they are kids. Pinterest didn't suddenly make childhood, birthdays & summers fun - they just are because being a kid is fun. (Swapping out a twin to nurse the other twin).

This is the year of letting myself off the hook. Every time I have an "I'm-failing-as-a-mom" moment, I am forcing myself to say "you are a great mom." I'm not a great mom because of the elaborate parties I put together. I'm not a great mom because of the photo books I make for the kids. I'm a great mom because I take care of them everyday. I wipe boogers, I wipe butts, I wipe foreheads. So, maybe I have moments where I could have done better. We all have those. But dammit, I'm a great mom. And you know what I'm going to do right now? Put deodorant on, finally, and eat some fattening Del Taco because eating a salad doesn't sound like fun right now. And that's ok. We'll eat our balanced meal another day.

What does your house look like this morning (err afternoon)? Can you top mine? Send me your pics. Let's have a contest to see who has the nastiest-looking house. If it's littered with kid things, you're doing it right. Magical childhoods are messy.

a.

The Twinkies' Birth Story: Part 2

Some parts of part 2 need to be filled in by my husband and my mother-in-law. I was a zombie for most of Friday, so even though I was given loads of information, it has been permanently lost in my brain abyss. As soon as I got loopy right before the C-section, information was no longer clicking in up there.

Jax was born at 12:36pm. He was a gray, bloody mess, but he was a doll. As soon as Dr. P lifted him over the curtain, I was crying. I have mentioned before that I am an ugly cry-er, so I'm sure that Maren's pictures will show you the hideous face I made. They whisked Jax to his warming bed and he instantly began to cry, which made me cry more. Josh stepped over to see him, came back to me, touched his forehead to mine and with tears in his eyes, he said, "he's so cute!"

Jett quickly followed as he was yanked from his spot in my rib cage at 12:38pm. Jett was all arms & legs as Dr. P quickly lifted him up for me to see him. Between tears, feeling barfy and the realization that I just gave birth to twins, it didn't dawn on me that I hadn't heard Jett cry yet. I had a limited view, but I knew that there was a barrage of nurses surrounding the boys, furiously working on a cry. He finally cried. Moments later, the boys were whisked out of the OR and were in the NICU in less than a minute. I happened to be lucky to have been in the dark at this point. I was crying, I was threatening to puke on Josh yet again, and I was busy listening to Dr. P quote lines from the movie "Pitch Black" while he removed placentas, and apparently, some organs, according to Josh.

The once-quiet NICU was now abuzz with nurses and doctors working on getting my boys stable, namely Jett. What wasn't mentioned in the OR was that Jett's cord was wrapped around his body a few times. We were unsure of whether or not he was without oxygen or if he was even getting blood flow back in from his cord. I appreciate that no one acted hysterical or alarmed while I lay on that operating table. I was already taking deep breaths to try to keep the vommies at bay, so hearing that would have flipped me out.

***

I have been waiting for this information for a couple of days, and just asked our AMAZING NICU nurse last night about what happened when the boys came out. Jax was taken out & his nurse, Susan, got him under the warmer and on a C-pap immediately. He responded very well. Jett apparently wasn't done being in utero, so things took a while with him. Before Dr. P pulled Jett out, they found that he was facing the wrong way & had to be turned (OW!) and his cord was wrapped around his arms and legs, and he was gripping it, cutting off blood flow to his little body. He was immediately put under the warmer and put on the C-pap, but had to have a little help getting breathing consistently - he didn't need resuscitation, but he needed more stimulation to get motivated to breathe.

Both of the boys were taken to the NICU, shortly thereafter, where Jett was intubated and given surfactant. Surfactant is used to lubricant the lower lungs to help get them moving on their own. Jax was taken off the C-pap after an hour or so, and was given oxygen through a canula. Jett was taken off his C-pap a while later as well. For the first days, both of the boys had to have an OG tube (oral) for their feedings, but then graduated to the NG tubes (nasal). Jax has ripped his out a million times, and was able to take his feedings by bottle for a couple of days, but he tires out quickly and does half and half now. My little Jett is still relying mainly on his NG tube for his feedings, and is back on oxygen at the moment.

Jax & Jett are doing better everyday. The main thing now is learning to eat. Being preemies, one of the last things they develop in utero is the suck, swallow, breathe routine, and they weren't in long enough to learn it. They are now developing that skill. Jax is able to do over half of his feedings with his bottle before his little body tuckers out and he has to finish through his NG tube. Depending on how awake Jett is, sometimes we try a bottle, but more often than not, I let him sleep during his feedings and opt for the NG tube. His little body is working so hard that it's just better to let him sleep, rather than expend too much energy.

And have you ever seen cuter boys?! Omgeeeee! I just stare at them the whole time I am with them, and then stare at pictures when I'm not with them.

Pray for our litter. Maddie has been sick since Saturday, and I haven't been able to see her. Josh & his parents are taking care of her, but, as a result, the 4 of them are unable to come visit the boys. This was not the transition to twindom that I was hoping for. I was really hoping to make this far less painful than it seems to be.

Thanks for the love, prayers, texts, emails, comments, etc. We appreciate it all.

xoxo,
a.

The Twinkies' Birth Story: Part 1

Yesterday, I got up at 7:30am for a routine prenatal check-up. I was tempted to skip the appointment because I was getting super frustrated with being violated checked every few days, only to hear that there had been no change. I had been waking up the past 4 nights with terrible, bearing down contractions that were 2 minutes apart and lasted for about 30 minutes. Because I knew the routine, I waited them out, and eventually, they stopped.

The same thing happened in the wee hours of the morning on Friday. I was suddenly awakened by horrible contractions around 2am, they died down, and then I slept fitfully for the rest of the night. I woke up at 7:30 with contractions that were painful, but not terrible. I proceeded to get ready (hair was the priority), grabbed a banana & a protein bar, and headed out the door with my MIL.

Contractions were 4 minutes apart, but still not horrible, so I didn't say much. Every once in a while, one would get painful, I'd have to stop & breathe through it, and then I'd move on. Walking into Dr. P's office, I was cranky. I had already declared to Josh that when Dr. P announced no change in my cervix, I was going to karate chop his throat. Pregnancy makes me so dainty & feminine. 

Dr. P walks in and asks me if I had eaten breakfast...random, but yes, I had. He uses the doppler to find the heartbeats, I peel my "skivvies" off, as he likes to call them, take a deep breath & watch him focus. He smiles & says, "Head up to L&D. You're a 4 or a 5. Let's have some babies." As in true Andrea form, nothing motherly escapes from my mouth: "are you shi**ing me?" "I shi* you not," he replies. So, I dress, head up to L&D, and am eventually put on the monitor. The boys look great, but suddenly the contractions have picked up. They are quite painful & now 2 minutes apart.

Last belly shot! 

And can we just pause a moment to thank my hairdresser for making me look fabulous for surgery!?

Here's the weirdest part. For the 2+ hours that I was up in L&D being monitored, I was in a weird zen-like state. I texted the family & closest friends I needed to text. All very matter-of-fact. Not Andrea-esque in any way. I should have been more hummingbird-like, but I just wasn't. I was in shock. I was planning on karate chopping my doctor that morning, not having TWO babies. So, I chatted & texted & breathed through contractions. We had gone from "c-section in 8 hours" to "you won't make it that long - probably 4 hours" to "you're going in in 30 minutes." It moved fast. And that was fine with me. Then, I got up to pee. And it hit me. I laid back down in the bed while I was "prepped" for surgery "down there," closed my eyes and the room was so loud that it felt like I had turned on a white noise machine. It was hitting me right now. I no longer wanted to do this, I wanted my girlfriend, Maren, my photographer, to leave and I wanted to go back to bed. I wasn't ready.

They put a sexy hair net on my head, threw a warm blanket over my shoulders and we waddled walked to the OR. It was a bright room with lots of sunlight, but it was chilly. I hopped up on the operating table, and they began the process of inserting my spinal. I was floating just 2 minutes later. Suddenly, the room was abuzz. There were 5 nurses surrounding each incubator, my nurses, the anesthesiologist, and Dr. P. My husband & Maren came in shortly after.

He's the best! Dr. P paused for a picture before heading in to slice me & dice me like Dexter. And ladies, he's single & ready to mingle.

Josh kept his forehead to mine for most of the surgery, talking to me, telling me he loved me, and making jokes. He even held up the air sickness bag at maximum arms length when I started to heave from the medication. He jumped up to see the boys as they arrived, and to witness the murder scene that was unfolding in the OR. He was sure this was how I was going to die. I cried the second Dr. P lifted Jax out to show me my first little boy! He was the cutest little old man I'd ever seen. They jostled me around some more & out came Jett, the other cutest little old man I'd ever seen. Jax quickly cried his cry of indignation, but Jett took a bit to make some noise. They were both quickly rushed out of the OR & into the NICU. Their story to continue in Part 2...

Jax Thomas (4 pounds, 9 ounces; 18 inches)

Jett Lucas (5 pounds, 3 ounces; 18 3/4 inches)

The anesthesiologist announced that I would feel sick now because they were "putting my uterus back into my body." I don't know if him saying it or them actually doing it made me sick, but I was heaving again. They began to get placentas out and stitch me back up, and I was relieved to know I was almost done. The nurses cleaned up the murder scene, Dr. P leaned over & kissed my cheek, shook Josh's hand & we were rolled out the door to recovery. Josh headed off to see the boys, and I closed my eyes in recovery with Maren, & then, Kylie at my side.

The rest of the day was a blur. I was rolled into the NICU from recovery after an hour, but wasn't able to see much. I was able to touch Jax, but Jett was having some breathing issues, so it wasn't as easy for me to get through the sea of nurses to touch him. I spent the rest of the afternoon laying in bed, resting, finally eating, hearing tons of information that people swear they told me, but I have zero recollection of hearing.

Yes, the boys are doing well. Yes, I will update you about the first 24 hours with them. Yes, I am doing well. And yes, I am in pain, but I'd choose a C-section over natural any day. And before you blow up my phone asking about Jett, I will tell you everything tomorrow. He's doing GREAT, and every update we get is an improvement from the last one. I will probably be headed home Monday, but they will, more than likely, be here for about a month.

Thanks for reading, caring, praying, texting, and loving our litter. Look for Part 2 of the Twinkies' Birth Story tomorrow. Right now, I get to milk myself pump for the boys and then I'm going to go snuggle them some more.

xoxo,
A.