Adam and Isaac are Here!

Our biggest recent news is that Adam and Isaac are here! They were born on August 31st. Adam came at 3:45 PM and Isaac came fifteen minutes later at 4:00 PM. This picture of Michelle was taken in our kitchen at about 1:30 PM, roughly an hour after she started labor. She looks so calm.

As her belly grew it became a conversation piece when she went out in public. People stopped her just to ask her about her pregnancy. More often than not it was a pleasant experience, but every so often it was not. One time at the Buhr pool she walked into the pool area with Josie and Joshua and a man (in the pool) yelled, "Hello, Pregnant Lady! Is there a doctor in the house?" Michelle smiled and offered a wave to the gawking swimmers.

Her phrase of preference when someone asked her about her belly was, "Yes, I am expecting twins any day now." This seemed to put people at ease about her delivering in front of them as they spoke, yet, with the mention of twins came a whole new interest in her. She handled it all very well. When I was with her I stood in the back proud of my part in the whole thing.

So, back to the birth. In this picture you'll see that Michelle is in the pool now. We carefully selected a pool that would make us happy. It looked surprisingly similar to our last one. A few months earlier we tested out our old pool, but the test proved too much for the four-year old pool and it sprung a leak, so we got this one. This one passed our Josie-Joshua tests which consisted of them playing with it (inflated) in the basement for a few weeks.

Again, Michelle looks so calm. Do I detect a smile? She is probably talking to Josie or Joshua just out of the picture. They kept coming in to see how she was doing and asking her questions: "Are they here yet?" "Does it hurt?" We don't have pictures of it, but at one point Josie was brushing Michelle's hair to make her feel better. When she was done Joshua brushed Michelle's hair. They were both very helpful.

Josie and Joshua wore their bathing suites during Michelles' labor. They were both excited to get into the pool and help out. Early on Josie decided that she would "catch" Adam and Joshua would "catch" Isaac. Throughout the pregnancy Josie changed her mind several times, going back and forth until she settled on catching Isaac. Every once in awhile Joshua would ask her who he was catching. Josie would think for a minute and then tell him. In the end, neither of them caught a baby, but I don't think they minded once Adam and Isaac were actually here and they got to see them and touch them.

Shortly after this picture was taken Michelle gave birth to Adam. He was gorgeous! Michelle did such a good job. She'll tell you that she did not handle it as well as she would have liked and that it was harder than she remembered, but I think those slim self criticisms pale in comparison to what she did and how well she did it. She is incredible! During the hard parts we held hands, and squeezed. I checked to see how much progress Adam was making and before we knew it, his head was out. And then his shoulders. He slipped into the pool and we put him on Michelle's belly. We covered him with a blanket.

At about this time we remembered Josie and Joshua. I went into the red room where they had begun Charolette's Web and told them that Adam was here. They came running. Josie jumped into the pool. Joshua watched from the edge, commenting on the "stuff" on Adam's body. Josie suggested that we get another blanket for Adam, which we did.

Once Adam was born and out of the water, Josie took care of him right away. And she did such a good job. I told her that Adam needed to know that she loved him and that Isaac was coming soon, so she kept saying, "I love you, Adam. Isaac is almost here." She made sure to keep touching him too. While I was attending to Michelle I think I heard her sing to him.

Quick as a bunny, Josie ran into Adam and Isaac's bedroom and collected the stuffed animals that friends and family had given to them, and arranged them around his carseat. Here, she is fixing his hat, making sure that he can see. Joshua is waiting in the wings for his turn at taking care of a little brother.

And in no time, Isaac was here. What a handsome boy he was. Everything happened so fast we hardly had time to do anything but get ready for Isaac to come. He had a more difficult time. His face was a little purple, but he had muscle tone. We put cold water on his back and within 10-15 seconds he was taking breaths. We wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in his carseat. I asked Josie to help Joshua take care of Isaac. She explained to him the important principles of caring for a new baby:

1. Tell him that you love him,

2. Touch him,

3. Get some babies (stuffed animals) for him.

As I helped Michelle, I heard Josie remind Joshua to "tell him that you love him." Joshua told her that he already did that, and Josie told him to keep doing it. With a sigh (that he probably inherited from Grandma Debbie) Joshua kept saying, "I love you, Isaac." Joshua did a great job taking care of his brother.

We are so pleased that everything went well. Michelle was a superwoman! Here are some pictures of later that day. In the first one, Michelle is kissing on Isaac. In the second, Adam is in the light-colored blanket and Isaac is in the plaid blanket.

The next day we gathered on the big bed, where we stayed for a long time.