The Darling Family

First of all, yes, Darling is our real last name!

My name is Maureen. I met my now husband Mike way back in 1999! Sometimes I wonder where all those years went; they seem to have gone by super fast! But when I look at everything we’ve done and what we have, I can’t think of a better way to have spent them!

Being together so long, we kind of grew up together. There were tough times where I wanted to strangle him and I’m sure he would have done the same, but at the end of the day we were always best friends. Most couples would go on dates or go to the movies, but we were happier spending our time playing World of Warcraft and eating pizza pops together.

We were together for 8 years before we got married. I know, we kind of rushed into things! We had everything we needed from a cute little house to a nice car, good jobs AND the cutest doggy you will ever meet!

One day we were discussing children, out of the blue! We’d never really talked seriously about having babies because it seemed like we were always waiting for something to happen first, like “when we buy a house” or “when we are married” or “when the car is paid off” etc. We realized we had done everything we needed to do, and that maybe we were missing something.

A month and a half after deciding we were ready to be responsible for a life (I’m still not sure if we are!), while driving home from work one day I had incredible urges to eat pastries, sleep and scream my face off all at the same time, for no real reason. I decided to buy a pregnancy test and SURPRISE! Two pink lines! I stared at the two pink lines and tried to come up with a creative way to tell Mike I was now an incubator for a tiny life form, but all I could manage to do was throw the test at him with my mouth and eyes wide open. He shared my expression when he realized what two pink lines meant. We sat on our bed and stared at it for probably a good half hour.  Ready or not, here it comes!

Fast forward 10 weeks, after all the blood tests and the excitement of telling our parents (that we were having *A* baby), after hundreds of liters of gingerale, numerous bottles of antacids and wayyy too many naps.. we finally had our first ultrasound appointment! This was already the most exciting day of our lives life by far; it was a long wait to sit at work until my 12:00pm appointment! I was going to get to see our baby for the first time!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got there. The ultrasound tech took me into a little warm dark room and within a few short minutes was looking at my innards on a monitor. She didn’t speak to me, nor could I see what was on the monitor at this point. I started to get worried, really worried, that she wasn’ talking to me. She broke the silence with “What is your husband’s name, I’ll get him?” and my heart skipped. I was thinking of so many things, what if it was bad news and she wanted to tell us together? Was this how it was with everyone? So after what seemed like hours she returned with my husband and finally turned the screen to face us. I was holding my breath.

Emma in top apartment, Ethan on bottom,
waiting to kick his sister in the back!

“Here is your FIRST baby..” she says, and points to a white blurb on a black screen. Still holding my breath, and trying to breathe in even more, I’m not sure how I remained conscious. Mike finally asked, “first baby??” and the lady pointed to the screen. “Here’s your first baby, and here’s the second!” Twins?!?! Nope, still can't breathe. They looked like little starfish! Each in their own little apartment in my uterus. When she pressed on my belly again they moved their tiny arms and legs and I was still speechless. I couldn’t see and realized I was crying, but the happiest cry in the world. She printed us a little picture of the tiny apartments with their little starfish residents and we floated out the door grinning stupidly at the little envelope. What do we do now?!

It was the happiest day of our lives, and as we spread the news to close family and friends we got more and more excited! I was already anxious to meet the new addition to our family, and now it was twice as hard to have to wait months to meet them both!

I wanted to buy everything and plan a shower and decorate the babies’ new room! Except I was put on bed rest, and also I didn’t know what the babies were! Pink? Blue? Both?! I got to start my leave early from work so I could sit around the house all day with my feet up and eat veggies (unfortunately, I had gestational diabetes, so my preferred diet of cupcakes was definitely forbidden). This added to the anxiety, all day long I sat there while they played jungle gym with my internal organs, and I wanted to meet them so bad.

Finally the day came when we got to find out what we were having. At my 18 week ultrasound, we learned that we were having one girl and one boy. The most perfect pair!  Their names would be Ethan and Emma. Perfect names for our perfect pair.

Between then and the night I got admitted to the hospital there were some pretty painful days. It hurts carrying around 70 extra pounds, and trying to sleep with a bag of bowling balls on your pelvis. I was ready for them to come out! It turns out, they were too!

When I was just shy of 34 weeks, I had a migraine; a weird intense migraine that drained the life out of me and left me wanting to tear my hair out. I felt strange all day so I went to check my blood pressure. 151/111. “Very high” according to the chart. I was in the hospital that same night. Every 90 minutes someone would come to check my blood pressure, my temperature and my BLOOD. So, so many needles. On the 3^rd day, they decided it was time.

I’ve heard stories about how cesarean sections are painful and terrifying, so I expected the worst going in. I think I was the only person NOT frightened out of our whole group of family members! It was a strange calm. In the delivery room, high on morphine and asking the doctors if they had a mirror so I could see what I looked like on the inside (NO! they said..), my husband (a new, lighter shade of white than normal) and I waited for the sound of our new babies. One, and two. Just like that! 6:30pm, Ethan Joseph Darling was born, 4 pounds 12 ounces. 6:32pm, Emma Margaret Darling was born, 5 pounds 3 ounces. They cleaned them up, gave me a quick peek and wheeled them off to the NICU, my husband running after them. For the first time in months I was very alone, cut open and paralyzed from the chest down. Oh sure, NOW I get scared.

Me and the babies in the NICU,
the day we get to go home! Emma's
cords and IVs are all gone, and Ethan
only has one more to go!

The next few hours were hard, I had to wait until I regained feeling in my legs so I could go see them. I don’t really remember a lof of those few hours, as I was so drugged up. But all of a sudden I was being wheeled into a very white, clean, quiet area. The NICU was a little scary! Monitors and beeping and crying.. then I finally got to hold my babies. I held Miss Emma first.  It’s amazing how light 5 pounds can feel, and how delicate a tiny human looks hours after birth. After staring at both babies, hooked up to monitors and IVs and having to put them back into their little “pods” I was sure I was still high. This was the best feeling in the world. The NICU wasn’t always fun, leaving the babies in the hands of nurses I’ve known for a handful of hours was very hard on a new emotional mommy, on top of seeing my tiny babies with needles in their hands and feet. But, I’m very grateful for the wonderful care they had at the Royal Alex. If we didn’t have them early and didn’t have to have them in the NICU for 16 extra days, I would be lost! I learned so much about them and how to properly feed and bath and change them! It was a wonderful experience in the end.

Getting them home was both exciting and terrifying. They were going from a sterile, well monitored environment full of healthcare professionals to our HOUSE. Just a house. I didn’t sleep for weeks! I would stay up all night staring at them and making sure they were alright until Mike woke up, then I'd have a short nap. One day, I learned about Angel Care monitors and how they work. Very soon after, my mother in law bought two of them for us, I wonder if she knew she actually bought me sleep?

They quickly became very healthy, very large babies. They went from tiny preemies, helpless and small, to huge chubby babies, with huge personalities to match! They slept through the night since they were 2 months old, ate solids since 3 months and continue to grow like weeds!

We celebrated their first birthday on February 11^th, 2012. The fastest year of my life, but so full of happiness and love and excitement (and yes, a little stress! But the good outweighs the bad by FAR!) I can’t even begin to explain it to anyone who doesn’t have children. Everything is new for them and for us and watching their faces when they discover new toys, foods, or even how to stand or crawl on their own is just amazing!

They walk now. I was always terrified of the day when they decided to stand up and walk but having your children be able to walk towards you saying “MUM!” and holding their arms out.. there is nothing better in the world. I can’t wait for what comes next; I want to give them the perfect childhood! I also wouldn’t mind getting to play with the latest and coolest toys myself ;)

First Birthday Tshirts!