The Bangerter's: A Daddy and his 6 Girls

Page and Anna wanted to read their sisters stories. Sydney was able to fall asleep, but Sarah had a harder time on Page's lap trying not to get hit as Page turned the pages. 

My mom came back to visit and to help. It has been six weeks since she last left and it has been fun to sit and think about the progress that we have made in the last six weeks. Six weeks ago, I was discouraged and did not know if I would be able to nurse Sydney and Sarah.  It was not working at all and it seemed like a daunting task to even try. Through prayers and the help of some knowledgeable friends I am now tandem feeding them and have stopped fortifying my milk. It is a wonderful feeling and I am grateful for Heavenly Father’s help in the process.

Thinking about the last six weeks has made me think about what changes and progress will be made in six more weeks. We will just have to wait and see!

Sydney and Sarah ready to come home from the hospital.

Wow, what a month it has been! January 3, Sydney and Sarah came home. That day we anxiously awaited the phone call from the doctor giving us the o.k. to bring them home. He called around lunch time and then we headed to the hospital around 3 p.m. to start all the paperwork. Going to the hospital had become routine and in a weird sort of way felt like home. We did not realize how exhausted we were from going back and forth from the hospital until we did not have to do it anymore.

 

Sarah says, " Yeah for being one month old!"

The night before her birthday Anna kept running up and giving everyone hugs and exclaimed, “This is your last hug from me when I am three!” Her smile was priceless!

We actually had to have Anna’s party the night before her birthday because we thought Adam would be taking a Landscape Architecture Licensing exam on the 10^th.   He ended up not taking the test that day so we had two days of celebration for Anna. I let the girls pick what they would like to eat on their birthdays and so Anna said she wanted doughnuts and hot cereal for breakfast. She had a fun date going out early in the morning with daddy to get the doughnuts. Later in the day we went down to Grandma Bangerter’s house to watch Sleeping Beauty to complete her Aurora themed birthday.

Sydney and Sarah’s Arrival

My Mom arrived from NYC December 8^th.  With my other pregnancies I have dilated pretty far without many contractions, so on Anna’s birthday I was a little nervous when I felt some action down in that area and knew something was going on. I felt like it would either kick into labor or calm down. I honestly was praying that they would not come on Anna’s birthday. I just kept thinking, “I cannot have three of my five girls born on the same day!” I kept envisioning having to make three different cakes all on the same day and it was a bit much.  I knew that I had a doctors appointment on December 11^th, and I was anxious to find out if my inclinations were correct that I was dilating.

Boy, was I correct! We walked into my 35 week appointment on the morning of the 11^th and found out that I was dilated five cm! Dr. Lawrence checked me and said, “ Hmmm.” She then checked again and said, “ O.k., would you like to know the bad news, good news or just the news.” We wanted to know it all.  She told us that I was dilated to a five and that Sydney was still breech. She could feel a hand or foot as she checked so Sydney’s bottom was not all the way down in position. This makes the situation a little dangerous because if my water broke while I was at home, the cord could come first and cut off oxygen to one or both of the babies. She told us that we needed to go home, get our bags, and head to the hospital. She said that I would be there until we had the babies whether that was that day or in a couple of days.

That is exactly what we did. After monitoring me and seeing that the contractions that I was having were not dilating me any further, it was decided to give me a steroid shot for Sydney and Sarah’s lungs.  The plan was tentatively to wait 24 hours give me another shot then wait another twelve hours and then have a C-section if they did not come sooner.

They did come sooner. In the middle of the night, I rolled over and felt a gush of fluid. My water had broken. I was prepped for the C-section and at 4: 35 a.m. Sydney Louise was born at 4lbs. 13 oz and 4: 36 a.m. Sarah Geraldine was born at 4 lbs 2 oz! They did not need any oxygen help which was a huge blessing. Besides being small and needing to learn how to eat and grow they were perfectly healthy.

Sydney and Sarah spent three weeks in the NICU which was more exhausting on all of us than what I expected. It taught me to be patient because the situation was really out of my hands. I could not do much to speed up their discharge from the hospital.

On Christmas Day we found out that they would be moved to request feeding which was a big step to coming home. New Years Day we found out that they were on the very last step. They came home January 3^rd.

My shadow on December 10, 2014

Sarah and Sydney

One of our favorite nurses, Sherry.

Christmas-

My mom and Dad were able to spend Christmas with us this year and it was wonderful. Christmas Eve morning we had our traditional Crepe breakfast. That night Dallin, Whitlie, and Brynlee joined us for our traditional French Dip dinner. After getting in our p.j.’s we talked about the story of the first Christmas and then we all bore our testimonies of Jesus Christ. It was a special and neat thing to do on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day was filled with joy and happiness as we all gave presents to each other. It was a magical day. 

Alina, Anna and mommy playing in the snow.