Our twins were born early! Nov-Feb

Wow. Where to even start! It’s been a crazy past few months. In October we visited my parents in st George and for Halloween the kids were: a knight, a blue ninja, a mermaid and Skye from Paw Patrol. 

In November we celebrated Jared’s 38th bday and Kyler’s 11th. We went to Zions with my family for thanksgiving and it was a wonderful reunion! 

This twin pregnancy was difficult one. I had sciatic pain, pelvic pain and starting around 26 weeks I started having contractions every 10-15 min…and they never stopped for the rest of my pregnancy . I couldn’t sleep and was exhausted and in pain for two months straight. We had one scare around 29 weeks (started bleeding and having contractions 5-8 min apart) and ended up being monitored in the hospital and was given a prescription to take daily to try and prevent preterm labor. 

On December 9th our big twins turned 7 years old! ...and on their birthday my contractions kept getting more and more painful and my doctor told me to go to the hospital to get a steroid shot to help the babies lungs develop quickly in case they came early. While I was there, the nurses almost didn’t let me leave because I was having so many contractions. I wasn’t ready to have my babies yet, I was only 34 weeks and still needed to set up their nursery and most importantly…my big twins birthday party was that evening and they were so excited…I didn’t want to ruin their birthday! I received IV fluids and a medication to help stop preterm labor. My contractions slowed down enough they allowed me to be discharged. I barely made it through the big twins birthday party. I could feel the painful contractions pace picking up again. 

When we got home from the party and Jared had put the kids to bed, I was reading scriptures and had the thought that I needed to write down my kids schedule and instructions just in case the babies came soon so I would be prepared. So I did that. Then when I stood up from the couch…I felt a gush. I thought my water had broken (but it was actually blood-sorry for the tmi hah.) I waddled in the bedroom to get Jared (who was already asleep). I was panicking seeing all of the blood but felt assured that everything would be ok and I felt the babies moving so that brought me some comfort. I called several people and finally someone answered- my neighbor heather! She came over to stay with our sleeping kids until my brother, Ben, could get to our house from Lehi. We arrived at the hospital around midnight. We were the only ones in labor & delivery that night, so the whole floor was in our room helping and preparing me for an emergency C-section. I was dilated to a 2 earlier that morning and when we arrived later that night I was at a 6. My very own doctor happened to be on call that night and it was such a relief to see a familiar face and have someone I knew and trusted to bring my babies into the world. 

Just after 2am, our identical twins were born. Connor Drew Antczak was born first- weighing 4 lbs 10 oz and Mason Brooks Antczak was born 2 minutes later weighing 4 lbs 14 oz. If they had been born two hours earlier, they would have shared a birthday with Ryan and Lyla!

They were intubated for a few hours, and then on oxygen for a day or two. They spent 4 weeks in the nicu learning how to eat and maintain their body temps. It was an extremely difficult month splitting time between the nicu and home but I’m so grateful we had my parents here to help with the big kids and so grateful that Jared had 6 weeks of paternity leave. 

Christmas and new years was all a blur to me hah but I’ll post some pics! While the babies were in the nicu, Jared had a job interview in South Dakota. He ended up loving it and they offered him an amazing career opportunity. We will be moving there within the next few months. 

Lyla and Zoey had a dance recital in January and other than that we’ve mostly been staying home and enjoying our time with our sweet newborns.