Spencer & Madilyn

Our babies are here. :)

I love love LOVE saying that.

Spencer Cruce Gille

born at 9:28pm on March 26, 2013

6 lbs 3 oz, 19 and 1/4 in

Madilyn Anne Gille

born at 9:29pm on March 26, 2013

5 lbs 15 oz, 19 and 1/2 in

Just a quick update:

We are all doing very well - the babies are healthy and strong, I'm  recovering nicely from the c-section, and Martin is one happy daddy :)

Lots of people have asked why I suddenly had to deliver the babies.  Long story short, at my weekly ultrasound they found that Madilyn's amniotic fluid level was fairly low and the Dr's were concerned about my placenta detaching.  It wasn't urgent to deliver them, but we didn't want to delay very long because of the risks associated with a placenta detaching before giving birth.  So, they sent me on over to the 

hospital and 9 hrs later we had our two beautiful babies in our arms.

The babies got to come home with us yesterday and we are figuring out our new schedule with these sweet little bundles of joy.  Thank goodness for my wonderful mom here helping us.  We are busy busy but it is amazing because no matter how tired we get or how many times we need to feed them or change them or soothe them it isn't a hassle at all.  It is so incredibly wonderful to be their parents.  I LOVE being their mom. We are blessed beyond comprehension.

I am BEYOND thankful for my sweet little babies and how healthy they are.  I feel so deeply blessed to be their mommy and to be able to hold their precious little bodies in my arms.  They are just SO SO sweet.  Marty and I love them so much - SO much.

Here are some pics of our beautiful little babies

In the operation room.  Our first picture as a new family :)

They are so precious.  We keep them in the same crib and they snuggle together, it is so tender.

(Spencer on left, Madilyn on right)

Ready to go home.

Leaving the hospital!

We are loving life as a new family with our darling little babies.  Words cannot express the new-found love we have for each other and for our babies.  Life is simply incredible.

Happy Birthday to My Man Marty!!!

Yesterday was Pi Day which means.....it was Martin's birthday!!!

His birthday started off with a yummy breakfast in bed and, of course, his birthday crown.

I love this picture because he looks so happy and so tired at the same time

I asked him to try to open his eyes a little more and this is what he did for me :)

The birthday crown

After breakfast he got to open one present.  It was from the babies :)

The card has a pop out thing that has tiny baby hands on each end of the accordion folded paper and "This much!!!" written on the paper.  So the card says "We love you this much!!!"

And this is what the babies gave him...

Then it was off to work for Martin.  When he came home he got to open the rest of his presents.

He got some fun things like snow gloves, 5 "it's your turn to get the babies"coupons for when they need something in the middle of the night (I thought long and hard before actually going through with
this gift :) ), some great cards from family and friends, and.....an ipad!!!

Although the ipad wasn't a surprise (because he saw the credit card bill and almost called Apple to figure out why in the world they were charging him $ - so I had to tell him), it was still fun to see him explore the world of apps and get excited about all the things he could do on the ipad.

For dinner, we went to Old Chicago and then came home for dessert!

Martin always has pie instead of cake on his birthday and he typically wants pumpkin pie but this year he asked for this delicious apple crumble pie.  It is seriously so good.  Recipe found here.

And that sums up his birthday!  I love you Martin.  

I love how happy you are and being able to celebrate YOU!

I remember people at our wedding telling us that our love will just grow and grow for each other.  I thought, "Are you kidding?  I love this man BEYOND measure!  But hey, if our love can grow even more then I'm all for it!"  Well, all of those people were so right.  Martin, I love you more than I ever thought I would and I am so incredibly thankful that you took that leap of faith in choosing to marry me :)

Oh and funny side note - I almost went into labor while blowing up balloons to decorate our apartment. Well, not really, but it sure did feel like I was getting ready to push the babies out! I'm glad I didn't have to wake him up and say, "Happy Birthday! Um...my water broke!"

33 and 34 Weeks

And it's a BIG bump!

I'm being dramatic, but just take a look - the bump is big!

33 Weeks

34 Weeks

My New Talent

That's my dinner plate balancing on my belly :)  

It comes in handy when you can no longer see your lap!

Updates

- Both babies are doing so well.  

Every week I have a BPP (Biophysical profile) done where the 

doctors do an ultrasound to measure the babies development.  

They look for breathing movements to gauge their lung strength, their heart rates, 

muscle development (basically just if they are moving around), and amniotic fluid levels.  

Every week both babies have passed with flying colors!

- Both babies are still breech

- My contractions are happening about 5-6 times a day

- I'm starting to dilate more, but just on one side of the cervix, the other side is still basically closed.

- I'm definitely starting to feel more uncomfortable, but I feel very

lucky that I've made it this far with twins without having had much discomfort.  

My hands and feet are swelling and I definitely have the pregnancy waddle :)

- My bed rest has been modified a little bit and now I can be up more!  

I still have to take it easy (which isn't a problem because even getting up

 from the couch is quite the struggle haha) but the Dr. gave 

me the OK to do things like go to the store or to a restaurant.  

I just have to listen to my body!  And believe me, I hear my body loud and clear 

when it's saying, "Time to lay down!" 

The thing that AMAZES me is that in 25 days or less our babies will be here!  That's just 3.5 weeks away.  CRAZY!!!  I'm soooooo excited!

Minnesota Baby Shower

We have been so blessed to be living in Minnesota and to have been able to meet so many incredible people.  We have made truly great friends.

Some of those friends were extremely kind and threw me a baby shower about a month ago and it's about time I get to posting about it!

Everything about the party was SO great!  Seeing so many people there to celebrate with me (and talking with several people who wished they could be there but couldn't make it) made me feel so loved.  The theme was DARLING - it was Dr. Seuss to go with the Thing 1 and Thing 2 idea of our twins.  The whole night was a blast.

A huge thank you to Becky, Michelle, and Cathy for planning the shower.

 Me and Michelle                        Me and Becky                      Me and Cathy

***Becky, I didn't get a picture with you!! I'm sorry :(  So this pic is from YOUR baby shower.  

We need to take more pictures together b/c I could only find like 3 with just us two.

The Adorable Decorations

 The banner says, "Welcome Gille Twins" and 

then there are Thing 1 and Thing 2 onesies underneath

 This was a gift and a decoration - a diaper cake!

 Balloons and pom poms with lots of yummy food including green eggs and ham :)

 Cute party favors that say,

 "Thank you for coming, we hope you had fun. 

 Please grab a cookie, before you must run."  

Thank you for making these Pam!

Delicious cupcakes that were a huge hit

Thank you again Pam!

The Games

We played a couple of way fun games.  

One was a challenge to see who could put a clothe diaper on a baby doll the fastest while wearing gloves.  

Another game was to see who could get the most safety pins out of a container of rice in one minute with your eyes closed.  (Try this!  It is unbelievably hard!)

Diapering the dolls

More diapering

 Our winners from the two games: Cheyenne and Kandace!

And the best part for last....the people!

We weren't able to get a picture of everyone, so I apologize if we missed you

Thank you, thank you to everyone who was a part of this!!!

My Friend Frosty

We don't know many of our neighbors, but the ones we do know are awesome.  One family in particular has been so kind and helpful.  The whole family is incredible - they're just good people.  The mom and dad make some mean meatloaf and any treats they bring over are lucky if they last a day at our house.  

Their 2 teenagers at home are awesome kids, I seriously hope our babies are half as 

kind and mature as them.

Basically, they are the type of people that I would feel completely comfortable calling if I were to go into labor and Marty weren't home and I needed someone to take me to the hospital - they're just that awesome.  

Well, about a month ago we had a pretty big snow storm and these neighbors 

and Marty took advantage of it to create a big surprise for me.  I knew Martin 

was playing outside in the snow with them but I had no clue what was up their sleeve.  

I looked out the window and saw this:

Look really closely through the lower bars of the window

and you'll catch a small glimpse of ......

This!!!

They made a snowman with 2 mini snowmen inside the belly for me and the twins!

And the best part is that it's right outside the window I look out all day as I lay on the 

couch doin' my thang called bed rest.

I love it!!!  Thank you Jonah, Skye and Marty!!!

31 and 32 Weeks

We made it past 32 weeks!

This makes me happy.

I've had lots of Dr.'s appointments and things are still looking good, which I am so grateful for.

Fun Facts From the Past 2 Weeks

-Both babies are breech now!  Both heads are up by my ribs and feet are down...which likely 

means a c-section is in my near future since every week there is less room for them to turn around.

-Speaking of a c-section...after talking with my Dr's, we have decided that they will deliver me at 38 weeks if I make it that far!  So, we scheduled a c-section for 38 weeks in case I do make it that far and they are still breech.  What does this mean???  That we know we will have our two babies in our arms on April 9th at the latest!!!  That's only 5.5 weeks away!  That's only 38 days away!!!  I'm so excited :)

-Baby Boy is weighing about 4 lbs 8 oz

Baby Girl is weighing about 4 lbs 15 oz

Dr's are VERY pleased with both their weights

This means I have almost 10 lbs of baby inside of me.  Crazy!

-I haven't dilated any more and my contractions are still only happening a couple times a day.  Some of the contractions are back labor pains, but I only get them 1-2 times a day so not 

enough to be a concern thank goodness.

And here are pictures of the ever growing belly!

Week 30

(I decided to include this to see the comparison from my last pregnancy update)

Week 31

Week 32

(It's funny, my belly almost looks smaller in this pic than the one from 31 weeks.  But believe me, it's still growing.  Maybe it looks different because the babies changed positions.)