Friday, April 10, 2009

Big E (formerly Burrito) and Peanut........

I’ve been following a fellow blogger, Bad MuthaBlogger (love her!), and she writes so beautifully about her little “Bunny”. It got me thinking…… I want to share the joyous story about my boys with you.

To begin with, twins were never a thought of possibility in my mind as I delicately encouraged my husband to start the act of baby-making. We were in a good place in our relationship, although his mother had passed away three years prior and the thought of her not being able to meet any grandchildren was still a difficult one. We endured long talks about getting started and finally said “yes!” in January of 2005. By March, we were pregnant! Wow! Didn’t see that one coming!

Six weeks into the pregnancy, the STBE was finally getting over his initial dazed and confused state. The doctor asked that we go in so that she could determine exactly how far along I was. There I was, lying on the table, (the STBE is still in shock over the “internal ultrasound”, haha), and the ultrasound tech gave us a look that I will never forget. Immediately, I was thinking all kinds of crazy things “What?! Does it have two heads? What is it?!” Laughingly she replied “Well, sort of, I see two babies.”

Ok. Of all the crazy thoughts that flew through my mind in less than two seconds, twins was NOT one of them. My only reaction was pure, uncontrollable laughter. It was as if someone pressed on my stomach and pushed out this cackle that I’ve never heard before. Yep! That was my reaction to the news I was having twins.

So fast forward through seven and a half months, many scares, and complete denial on the part of the STBE, and we were at birthday! We had joked for months that we would need to paint one toenail to be able to tell them apart. Although we knew they were fraternal, there was something about the word “twins” that makes you automatically think they are going to look just alike. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Baby A came first. He was bigger at 5 lbs 9 oz, with a round face. Two minutes later, Baby B appeared. He was much smaller at 4 lbs 9 oz, with a narrow face and the true “old man” look. No painted toenails needed.

They both had to go to the NICU because of their prematurity and size. Because he weighed more and was eating well, we got to have Baby A in our room after one day. When they brought him to us, he was wrapped up so tightly in the blanket that he was automatically dubbed “Burrito”. Horrible nick-name for a newborn, I know, but it was just so fitting. Baby B, on the other hand, was still so small and not breathing or eating as well, that they kept him in the NICU for 5 days. We would visit him all day and sit and wonder in amazement at that tiny little being. He looked so frail, yet we knew he was strong. He instantly became known as Peanut.

Peanut stuck, but Burrito was re-named Big E, because after a while Burrito just seemed mean. So there you have it, Peanut and Big E, as I like to call them. You’ll definitely hear more about them as the three of us enter into this new world together.

Happy Living All!

2 comments:

badmuthablogger said...

Hey Raina, thanks for the compliment and putting me in your blogroll! I'm going to stick you in mine too! I love my little Bunny to bits. His nickname came out of the blue one day when I was looking at him, kind of like the way you named your little cutie pies. It started off as bun-buns, and later I extended it to bunny. He'll probably hate me for it one day. Thanks for sharing, and keep up the great blogging!

Jennifer Harrison said...

Hey there! And, you know....as a mom of twins I can completely respect and relate to all of this - well, not single mom, so I give you a TON of respect for that. Twins is hard, but of course, we wouldn't change it at all! GOOD luck in the new chapter in your life!! :)