The Trip Home

Somehow, merely two days after they were born, the hospital deemed us qualified to be discharged for the trip home with these two newborns. What!#@^?  How is that possible? Jon joked with a couple nurses asking which one of them was coming home with us. But alas, we would soon be on our own. By the time we left the hospital, our dads had flown back to their respective homes but our moms were still with us. Looking back, there is NOOOO way we could have done the trip home on our own. Thanks moms!

Here's the trip that lay before us:
Close to 3 hr drive from hospital to hotel near Minneapolis airport in Minnesota
1 Night in hotel followed by airport shuttle from the hotel to Minneapolis airport
1 Non-stop flight from MSP to PHL
Park n'Jet Shuttle from Terminal B to parking lot
Drive home

So, we put these tiny babies in carseats and felt like we were going to crush them under all those straps and buckles! Jon went to get our rental car (for which he had also perfectly estimated the amount of days needed when we first got the car the prior Tuesday) and we were off with our moms behind us in a 2nd car.

Photo courtesy of Joe Martin (zoom in on Jon's face - that is a recurring theme)

Given the frequency of early feedings, we knew we would not make the whole drive without a pit stop. Sure enough the babies began to stir about 2 hours into the trip and so we had our first feeding and diaper change at a random Subway and gas station parking lot. It was not ideal because the back seats of cars are slanted and prove challenging for diaper changes. There may or may not be baby urine stains on that back seat. 

We made it to the hotel just fine and Henri and Evelena were all set up with a pack and play. Once they were situated Jon and his mom had to return the rental cars to the airport and then take the shuttle back to the hotel (after stopping at Target for more formula and Preemie diapers for Henri bc he was still under 6 lbs).

We were able to get adjoining rooms which was super convenient for the middle of the night feedings. After lunch at the hotel, in which Jon couldn't stop checking that the car seats were secure in the slings the waiter had provided, we boarded the shuttle. Fortunately, we were the only passengers.

If you've read all our blog entries, or simply if you know us, you know we've had A LOT of travel issues. So the flight portion of the program was the one that we were most nervous about. And when we say "we," we really mean Jon because he cannot hide nerves. We arrived to the airport without issue, rolled our 2 luggage carts up to check in counter and dumped 5 checked bags off to lighten our load. 

But then we had to approach the dreaded security line. It's inconvenient as an adult traveling by yourself and now we had two newborns in car seats plus all of our stuff. They are too young and precious to be exposed to the grumpiness of airpot security processes! This picture pretty much sums it up.

We were able to relax (at least Rachel was) once we got to the gate. Jon was a little frustrated that not one American Airlines employee asked to see a form the website said we needed to fly with newborns and which took forever to acquire. Grr!

Ironically, given our history, the actual flight was the best part of the whole trip. That is because we decided to fly first class. It was the only way we could all sit together on the flight we wanted and honestly, it was not that much more expensive than coach. BEST DECISION EVER. It's amazing how being handed a craft beer minutes after sitting down and having delicious food even by normal food standards can lift one's spirits. Henri and Lena even got wings! Who knew they even still did this? It's going to be difficult going back to coach.

Throughout the whole journey, Henri and Lena were superstars. They just slept. Fortunately, stress is not contagious at this stage. On the flight, we held them in our arms for the first hour and a half. Then, once they got fussy we executed a perfect "Grandma hand-off" for the feeding.

We arrived in Philly on schedule and the rest of the trip went smoothly. Really, the trip couldn't have gone more smoothly. At long last, after leaving the hospital around 1pm on Thursday, we pulled into our driveway around 930pm on Friday. We were home. At last.

The Hospital Stay

Evelena and Henri were born on Tuesday, October 3rd. We were discharged on Thursday, October 5th. Our time in the hospital was a blur of feeding them, changing their diapers, and just staring at them absolutely in awe of how perfect they were. We were so grateful that they were healthy. The reality that we were now parents was something for which we continually had to pinch ourselves.

(note the stork leggings in the above photo which have been with us throughout the journey!)

You'll notice that sleep was not really among our activities in the hospital. Here's a picture of the whiteboard in our hospital room to help us keep track of which baby did what...

Each diaper change is indicated in the left column by first name initial as well as abbreviation for the, um, variety of diaper contents. Each feeding is similarly listed in the right column. So yeah, not much sleep. But honestly, even when they were asleep it was so hard to calm ourselves to the extent that every little noise they made didn't startle us and send us to their cradle wondering if everything was ok. It was. Fortunately, we had a lot of help from our parents and the occasional professional diaper change by a nurse.

Perhaps the biggest storyline of our time in the hospital was Jenna. I will not share specific details because it is not our story to tell. As far as we knew, everything went well with the C section and after the surgery she went to recovery while we went with Henri and Evelena to give baths and feed them. Later that afternoon, Jenna was back in the room next to us along with her family but she was still very weak from everything that happened that morning. So she was not up to holding them quite yet.

Later on that same day, we noticed Jenna was no longer in the room and found out that she was taken back into surgery Tuesday evening. We were definitely worried bc obviously our hope is that everything would have gone totally smoothly. We rallied everyone we knew to pray for her. We were so concerned for her and for her family. We had grown so close over the last several months and so whatever struggle they were going through was also our struggle. Jon received word from Joe late Tuesday night that Jenna was stable. We had no idea how serious it actually was but we are SOOOOO grateful for the medical staff that got her through the night.

One of the things that was so meaningful to us during our hospital stay was the love and generosity we received from Jenna and Joe's families. Joe's sisters and mom, Jenna's sisters and mom, all came by our room to visit and check to see how the babies were doing. Even as Jenna was going through what she was going through they all wanted to hold the babies and extend their love to them. We were overwhelmed by their warmth toward us. One of Joe's sisters gave us 2 beautiful quilts she had made. We all shared many hugs and tears.

By Wednesday afternoon, Jenna was up for a visit and so we enjoyed sacred time with her and her family.

That 2nd night, we took the nurses up on their offer to bring our babies into the nursery so we could sleep. We knew we needed sleep for our trip back home which would begin the next day so sleep sounded pretty good. In addition to monitoring them and checking vitals, they also did a super-cute photo shoot which among other gems was this photo:

The nurses picked up Henri and Evelena around 11:30pm and we woke up around 6am, which felt like a winter hibernation. We both decided we missed them and so walked in a sleepy stupor down to the nursery to pick up our children. We had a pediatrician visit later that morning and everything looked good for discharge. Kind of crazy to think that somehow we were qualified to be leaving with these two newborns.

Around 11am or so on Thursday, we shared goodbyes with Jenna and Joe (sorry to the nurse who witnessed some serious ugly crying). We exchanged gifts, words of gratitude, and hugs that couldn't possibly say or express enough. This was not how things had played out in our heads going into it. We were hoping we'd all be leaving the same day. That made it additionally difficult beyond how hard it already would have been to say goodbye. We are forever connected to the Martins and are so thankful we were brought together for this journey.

Birth

We mentioned we hardly slept the night before Tuesday, October 3rd. I mean, seriously, how could we? We knew that these babies for whom we've waited so long would arrive TOMORROW! We were out the door of Jenna and Joe's house by 5:00am and made a stop at Kwik Trip (which is sort of like a Wawa) for some sustenance. Jenna & Joe made sure to pick up 2 copies of the day's newspapers for us to keep with the babies' keepsakes.  We arrived to the hospital with plenty of time before our scheduled arrival time of 6:00am.

Once we checked in we were given a room for the four of us to wait in as nurses began tending to Jenna. There were big ol' butterflies in our stomachs. Actually, they were some sort of winged creatures bigger than butterflies. Agh! It was really happening! The Dr. broke her water around 8am and then around 10am, we were invited to leave the room and go to the waiting room with our parents. During this time, the Dr. would be inducing labor and administering the epidural.

This time out of the room seemed like an eternity and then after about an hour we received a text from Joe that simply said, "come get your stuff." Like, come get our stuff bc the babies are coming?? Or come get our stuff because it's in the way of complicated Dr. things. It turned out to be the former.

After one final photo together in the delivery room (below), we all headed over to the operating room. It is standard procedure with twins to deliver in the OR, in case a C section is needed. We were hopeful it would not be since both babies were head down.

    We followed the nurses rolling Jenna's bed down to the OR and entered the OR with her.  The labor went very quickly and Jenna had asked Joe to take pictures of us while she labored so she could see our faces.  Words cannot describe seeing your child being born but here are some pictures of us witnessing the birth of our dear Evelena Julayne who had positioned herself to come out first.  Jenna, & the medical team, allowed us to position ourselves at her shoulder so we could be close.

After seeing Evelena being born, it was Henri's turn.  However, Henri, with his new found spacious living, decided to take full advantage and rotated horizontal in Jenna, despite a nurse trying to hold him in place by pressing on Jenna's belly.  We were promptly asked to wait outside the OR with Joe as Jenna now needed to have a c-section.  We could hear outside the doors as we waited with Jenna's husband, Joe, and would ask the nurses who came and went how things were going but eventually heard the beautiful cries of our little man, Henri Kreider.  We had no idea how long the C section would take but our babies were born 12 minutes apart. Our twins were in the world!

 Eventually the nurses rolled both babies out and we followed them to the nursery to feed them and give them their first baths.  Joe came with us while he waited for Jenna to awake from the anesthesia and return to her hospital room.  

Meet Evelena Julayne Frost born at 11:55am weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces & 19.5 inches in length.

Evelyn means "long awaited" and Lena is Rachel's maternal great-grandmother's name.  Julayne is Jon's mother's name.

and

Henri Kreider Frost, born at 12:07pm, weighing 5 pounds 11 ounces & 19.5 inches in length.

Henri means "ruler of the home" since in utero, anytime we had an ultrasound he would be moving around a ton, sticking his hinder in Lena's face, or kicking her.  Kreider is Rachel's paternal grandfather's middle name, also his mother's maiden name.

We spent the rest of the day in the hospital room with our babies as the hospital allowed us to stay in a room with them, down the hall from Jenna. It was wonderful, holy time with our parents simply being in awe of Evelena and Henri. They are beautiful. They are perfect. They are everything.

The Waiting Game

On Tuesday, September 26th, we boarded a one way ticket to Minneapolis knowing that we would be returning home as a family of 4! We made our best guess when making car, hotel, and airport parking reservations as to the return date for each reservation. If only it were that easy and predictable!

After sharing a brief dinner with Jenna and her family, we headed about an hour and a half north from Edgar, WI to Eagle River. As luck would have it, a few weeks prior we found out that Jon's aunt has a lake house there and she had graciously offered for us to stay there while we waited. What an amazing gift from her and a beautiful place to stay to pass the time while we awaited the arrival of the babies. It was just the two of us until Thursday when our parents began to arrive. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, delicious food, and a ton of games of solitaire! Day by day we kept our phones close just in case Jenna went into labor and we messaged with her daily.

                                           Here are some photos from our time of waiting: 

During the days of waiting, we scheduled a few different day trips to Wausau to be with Jenna. On Thursday the 28th, we went with Jenna to the final OB appointment and were told that it appeared the babies would stay in there until they were forced to come out! After the appointment we had dinner with Jenna, Joe, and Rachel's dad. We were so excited for our parents to finally meet this amazing family. 

On Saturday the 30th, all of our parents were now with us and we met Jenna, Joe, and their children at a sub shop to pick up sandwiches. We then went to a lookout over the city of Wausau for lunch, followed by a trip to an orchard. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for Wisconsin in late September and it was a very special time for our families to get to know Jenna a bit more.

As of Monday, October 2nd, the babies still had not decided to make their appearance so we headed down to Wausau.  After a delicious dinner at Jon's favorite spot in Wausau - Red Eye Brewing Company (their Wisconsin burger will change your life!) - our parents checked in to a local hotel.  Jenna & Joe graciously opened their home for us to stay there Monday night so we could all head to the hospital together Tuesday morning.  Jenna needed to report at 6:00am. Yeah - we hardly slept at all...

The Penultimate Visit

Well, we are getting right down to the final countdown. Monday, 9/25 will be 37 weeks and Jenna will deliver by 10/3 one way or another. With Jenna's permission, here's a time lapse of the bump pictures so far.

This really has been an amazing journey. As much as is possible, Jenna has made us feel close to every significant moment. We've had hundreds of texts whenever the babies move, have hiccups, videos of them moving, etc. We've either Facetimed or called in to every appointment along the way. The closer we get, the longer each day seems to be. The first 7 months absolutely flew by. Ever since the summer was winding down in mid-August, each week has seemed to last FOREVER! 

Rachel and I recently returned from a short trip out to Wisconsin for a court appearance. The purpose of this was to award us legal parental rights. We were expecting it to be pretty straightforward but appearing in court is daunting nevertheless. Believe it or not, neither Rachel nor I have a whole lot of courtroom experience. 

Fortunately, everything went very smoothly - the judge was way chummier than I was expecting, even asking "You're not an Eagles fan are you??" ...to which I pleaded the 5th. After all, if it's legally being the children's father or being an Eagles fan, I'll take the children every time. After 45 minutes or so in the courtroom, we were given an interim court order awarding us parentage that will be updated at a later date with the babies' names and birth dates. 

We were thinking that maybe, just maybe, the babies would decide to join us for the flight home. But, alas, they did not. But we were able to go to an OB appointment with Jenna and everything continues to look good. We got to see some serious movement Thursday night after ice cream! As of a couple weeks ago, both babies were 5 lbs. 2 oz. We heard both heartbeats again and cannot wait to hold them!

We had a lovely visit with Jenna, Joe, and their kids, all of whom are so excited for us as well. After speaking with the Dr on Friday, we've decided to come back out to WI a couple of days early to reduce the chances of missing the birth as much as possible. The reality is that Jenna could go into labor at any time and if we find out while still in PA that she's gone into labor we will not make it in time. 

So it will be an eventful week for sure! Thank you for all the love, all the prayers, and keep em' both coming!

Jon and Rachel 

Baby Room

Well, admittedly we are waaaaay behind on an update. Monday, August 14th will begin the 31st week, which means that we are within the final 10 week countdown (actually, we have been since the 28th week). The latest the babies will be born is October 2nd. So this is the final stretch. Agghhhh!

After the 20 week visit that occurred at the end of May, our next visit will be for the birth. So, we've been doing all we can to get ready. At the end of May, Rachel's mom came up to visit and they painted what will be the baby room. It was wonderful mother-daughter time with lots of laughter, frustration at pesky screws in the wall, and tears. It had all the feels.

We also put together 2 cribs without the proverbial cursing, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Maybe direction writers have improved their craft. We inherited 2 cradles, a rocking chair, and a dresser. Rachel picked out some adorable curtains. So here's the basic idea...

The dresser has been in the Frost family for several decades. Jon and his siblings used it growing up. Though now it has a much spunkier look after the sanding, painting, and yellow knobs. The crib on the left housed all 3 of our Manhattan nephews so hopefully their good sleeping habits have seeped into the soul of that wood. The rocking chair belonged to Rachel's grandparents on her dad's side. The cradle on the left housed Jon and all of his siblings at one point in time. The one on the right was given by Rachel's sister-in-law's family. A lot of history and a lot of love in this room!

Towards the end of July, Rachel had a baby shower down in Maryland and we were blown away by the generosity and creativity of the gifts. We can't wait to put this sign up in the baby room, which also bears the name of this blog..

We're really happy with how the room has turned out. Now we are stockpiling diapers, clothes, and formula among other things. These two are gonna be here soon everybody!!!

20 Week Visit

On Sunday, May 28th, pretty much right after church, we flew out to Wisconsin for our 20 week OB appointment.  We flew into the teeny little regional Wasau airport and Jenna picked us up to bring us to our hotel.  Our plans for our visit were to do a pregnancy photoshoot with Jenna, meet with the OB, get wonderfully long ultrasounds, get a hospital tour, and meet with the hospital social worker to talk about the birth.

 Monday morning we woke up to rain so we went to the back-up photo location of a nearby covered bridge.  Jenna picked us up and we met her sister-in-law there to do the photos.  We had found some photo ideas online and Jenna had let us see some of the ones she had done with the last couple that she carried for.  Posing for photos is always awkward but we ended up loving how they turned out! And no - Jon did not plan his shirt to match Jenna's skirt. But sometimes his natural fashion instincts just take over.

After the photos we went out to lunch with Jenna and her kids (her husband was away on a trip). If it were nice out, we were going to go on a short hike. But since it was raining, we returned to her home and just had free time to spend with Jenna and her kids.  We spent time playing with the kids and continuing to get to know Jenna.  We also shared how excited we were for the hospital appointments the next day!

First thing up on Tuesday was the ultrasounds. IT WAS AMAZING!! We settled into the room and proceeded to have about a 45 minute long ultrasound for each baby. It was almost 2 months since the previous ultrasound and it was so incredible to see the difference in their development. One of the things that really caught our attention visually was their spines - such intricate detail. I (Jon) don't think I closed my mouth the entire time because I was simply in awe.

The twins were very active - they kicked Jenna several times bc apparently it must not be pleasant to be poked and prodded for an hour and a half. We got some amazing photos too!

After the ultrasounds, the three of us (well, five of us) went to lunch. Those of you who know Jon know how much joy food brings him. We went to this microbrewery in Wausau called Red Eye Brewing Co. It may have been the best burger he's ever had. But we digress.

After lunch we went back to the hospital and met with the social worker, who gave us a tour as well as went over some things related to the birth plan. Starting to get real people! Then we met with the doctor very briefly, and he was pleased with how things are progressing.

We finished the trip back at Jenna's house for some more playing with her kids and connecting with her. We left on Wednesday to come back home and the crazy thought that kept going through our minds is that the next time we come back will be for the birth. Also, we're so glad we flew into the Wausau airport bc their TSA people are the nicest people in the world. We feel good about flying back out of that airport bc we'll have enough stress without having to worry about surly airport employees.