The Burkett Bundle

One year ago:

We woke up for my first full day of bed rest, and Jason cooked breakfast for me before heading to the office to work a little while. At 10, I hooked myself up to the monitor, wore it for an hour and sent the strip to the monitoring company. Within five minutes, the nurse called. I had five contractions in an hour. My limit, per doctors orders, was four.

She told me to drink a lot of water, use the bathroom and try again. Once again, she called within five minutes. Again, I had five contractions, and my doctor wanted me to go straight to labor and delivery. Jason was arriving home at that time and we grabbed a few things. I told him I didn't think I'd be coming back that day, but I had no clue how long I would actually be there.

When we arrived at the hospital, they took me into a delivery room and hooked me up to three monitors, one to monitor contractions, and the others to monitor the babies' heartbeats. The babies seemed fine, but the contractions were coming quickly, although I still was not feeling anything.

I was hooked up to an IV of Magnesium Sulfate, a medicine used to slow uterine contractions during preterm labor. As the "Mag" was going in, she told me it would be a little warm. What she didn't tell me is that it would feel like someone had lit a fire in my vein and that I would feel horrible for the next three days.

They administered a Fetal Fibronectin (fFN) test. fFN is a protein produced during pregnancy that usually cannot be detected between 24 and 34 weeks of pregnancy. A positive test shows a chance of delivery within the next two weeks. After a couple of hours, we received good news that the test was negative, but based on the contractions, I don't think the doctors and nurses believed the results.

They brought me to a room in the high-risk obstetric ward, and we watched the Florida/South Carolina football game and prayed until my parents arrived. The Mag was starting to take effect, and I have only blurry memories of the rest of the evening.

Today:

Well, yesterday, actually we watched the Florida/South Carolina game and put up our Christmas village. This year, the outcome of the game meant a little more to me, but as SC was ruining any chance they had of winning, I just looked at my smiling babies and was reminded once again of what is really important in this world.

Karyssa and Kyran are truly happy babies. They cry when they are hurting or very hungry, and sometimes when they want attention. But they wake up cooing. They play very well with each other and independently. They laugh a lot. They smile even more (although you'd never know it since Karyssa won't smile for the camera).

Their world is so simple. They know that they will be fed, held, kissed, loved, well-rested, and that all of their needs will be taken care of for them. Money means nothing. Fancy clothes mean nothing. Computers, iphones and remote controls are all just different toys to them. They eat what is put in front of them, because it fills their bellies. Mommy and Daddy are their favorite people in the world.

I knew that I would learn a lot when I became a mom, but I didn't realize how much of what I would learn would be taught to me by my tiny little babies.

On a non-baby related note, the Burkett Bundle would like to wish Kyran and Karyssa's great-great-grandmother a very happy 94th birthday!! Silvia Davidson is my father's maternal grandmother and such an inspiration to our family. We are so excited about taking the babies to New York City to meet her in the spring! We love you, Grandma!!!