Way Too Much...

Jackson's Blue-Blueberry Birthday pancakes.

to post because so much time has gone by.

THE GIRLS:
The girls had their 4 month check ups a few weeks ago. Caitlyn is 12 lbs 1 oz and Madelyn is staying 1 pound ahead at 13 lbs 0 oz. Isn't it funny how they have stayed 1 lb apart since a month or so before they were born?!


They are getting strong too. Both of them roll from tummy to back and they both push up like pros. They have discovered their hands and it's fun to watch them stare at them and try to figure out how to move them or untangle them from each other. I've noticed Madelyn try to reach for or grasp for things. They also both suck their fists (mostly Madelyn, she would prefer it to a pacifier but hasn't abandoned the paci all together yet). They push with their feet and move in circles if they are upset or just annoyed that no one is paying attention to them.

Caitlyn recently got to 'test' a swing from Fisher Price. We had it for 2 weeks and they both enjoyed it. We also enjoyed that it worked (Jackson has broken the big one) and that it was so portable.

"Someone" got to the cake before the party started!

JACKSON:

Is 2!!!! He is so charming at times and others... well, he's in the terrible 2 period and you can tell. We had some friends over to celebrate his birthday. We had hotdogs and a fire (both are his favorites). It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed having people over to celebrate this fun day for him.


He talks like a pro! He had his 2 yr check up at the beginning of the week. Took his shot like a big boy and the Dr seemed very impressed by his speaking abilities. Apparently he should be saying 2 word phrases. Ya, he has 2 sentence conversations! LOL. Abygail was the same and we really enjoy that we can communicate with them both so well.


He's a total boy too! He loves bringing worms and rocks in the house and scaring or chasing Abygail with the worms. What a turkey!

ABYGAIL:
Has learned the advantages of deal making. I wanted to write a post titled "Let's Make A Deal" and talk about her deal making skills but as you can tell, I didn't. She was in the bath a while ago and it was time to get out, she didn't like the towel I had for her so she refused to use it. I told her that was the only towel we had for her and that she could use that towel or no towel. Well, she said, "Make a deal Mommy, make a deal!" to which I replied, "there is no deal, this is the only one we have for you". She insisted several more times for me to make a deal so I said, "OK here's the deal, you can either use this towel or no towel, which do you choose?" She chose the towel immediately. I guess as long as the 'options' are in a deal format she's ready to continue forward. Silly.

She loves dancing and singing (as does Jackson).

Here's the best part (and this is not an announcement, it's just an update), She has been in underpants for 2 days with no accidents. YEA, YEA, YEA!!!

JASON:
Has been working on the backyard and that is for another post. It's amazing how different it looks from when we moved in and even from last summer.

No Time To Blog

(pictures soon to come, when i get another free moment and I change the batteries on the camera, we are sadly devoid of pictures from aunt melissa's visit!)

Well, it's been 6 weeks! Yup, the girls are 6 weeks old, yesterday was their due date! I can't believe how much things have changed but also how much it seems like this has always been our family.

Our last round of visitors (really helpers) left on Thursday and they have been sorely missed. I still have to keep up with everything though, why? Because when you have 2 that you are bottle feeding 6 bottles doesn't last very long at all! Also, during the round of helpers our washer died, yup, died - never to be resurrected. We got an estimate on repair and it was $1,200.00. I told the nice man, thanks but no thanks! So that evening Jason and I went and purchased a new set of machines...we got the large capacity - because we are now considered a large family, and you can't just get a large capacity washer and then split it up into 3 loads for the dryer...so we got the dryer to go with it. It's my favorite toy now. It does my laundry in 1/3 of the time and 3xs the amount at once and it saves money on electricity and water and to top it all off, it sings to me. Yup, it sings a happy clothes washing song to me that makes me happy to go down and take care of the mountain of laundry! It's a great mood lifter, I highly recommend it to anyone who is in need of a mood boost ;)

So, I was checking out the girls yesterday and couldn't believe how big they've gotten. At their 3 week Dr visit (3 weeks ago) Caitlyn was 5 lbs 2 oz and Madelyn was 6lbs 2 oz. Sometimes we look at Cait now and think, "wait - who am I holding?" because she's got cheeks now. Madelyn we can still difinetively peg but Caitlyn gives us cause for pause sometimes. Madelyn is still a screamer but it's not so urgent or highpiched...or maybe I'm just used to it now. Madelyn is also a poop machine the last several days! They both take 2ozs or more at each feeding, closer to 3 ozs now but occasionally they chug 4 ozs (Madelyn more than Caitlyn). They wake up at 1am and 5am which is nice for catching some zzzzzs.

Speaking of Zs, Jackson has once again started sleeping all the way through the night! Ya! One down, three to go :)

Did I Forget / A Belated Thank You

I think I forgot to mention that the wonderful women of my ward threw me a baby shower on the 8th of January (Thursday). They had to trick me out of the house for it because I had made it clear that there was to be NO SHOWER!

So I got this call from Tyler saying that Rachel was really sick and he needed to take her to the hospital, could I come over and sit at their house while their kids slept. I was tempted to say no because the Dr had put me on bed rest but it was just a few houses down, they needed me and I wasn't going to be lifting anything or doing anything so I hurriedly put my shoes on and made my way slowly down the street. By hurriedly I mean...I didn't brush my hair, put make-up on, change my stained clothes or anything else you would do if you were going out (I did have a shower that day but I just threw my hair up in a pony tail and didn't even comb it afterward). When I got there Rachel answered the door looking totally fine and said, "come on in!"... yea, at that point I knew what had just happened.

The food was yummy, the company was wonderful and the gifts were super fabulous. Everyone made freezer meals to stock up our freezer in anticipation of the girls arrival and to help out while I was on bed rest - HOW THOUGHTFUL!

So to all you wonderful girls - I thank you, my family thanks you, our tummies thank you and our freezer thanks you!

4 Little Milestones

Abygail and Jackson playing on the Thomas toy that James gave to them (you can see Abygail's bangs and Jackson's crew cut)

Another shot of the hair cuts. Abygail and Jackson playing together. I think he's giving her belly kisses.

Abygail's crazy outfit she put together while I was at my 'baby shower'. It consists of a 0-3 month shirt, a 0-3 month skirt, 2T leggings, snow boots and Diana's sun glasses. I think she's been picking up fashion tips from Sam!

Abygail: The Friday before the girls were born (1/16) she got a hold of the scissors and cut her hair. Her bangs are now SUPER SHORT! That evening she received her second hair cut

Jackson: Got his first hair cut on 1/16 as well. He hated it and cried the whole time. We did get a nice little pony tail from his mullet in the back.

Caitlyn: Moved out of her isolete Monday. She's been doing great and starting to take more of her bottles and needing to be gavaged less.

Madelyn: Also doing great and taking more of her bottles and gavaging less.

Last night Jason and I went up to the hospital for the 9pm feeding (sorry book club - I found a better use of my time last night :) Madelyn breast feed really well and then took a full bottle, and then kept sucking on her pacifier! Caitlyn got her first bath (that we know of) before feeding time so by the time I tried breast feeding her she had expended all her energy on crying and wasn't interested - but she wasn't interested in the bottle either! She was gavaged but that's ok, she saved her energy for the next time.

Jason spent most of the day up there yesterday. He needed a quite place to study so instead of doing it at school he did it in the NICU. I'm glad that he was able to spend some time with the girls.

Today while visiting the girls at their 12pm feeding the nurse said that if they can sustain taking their full bottles for 24 hours they will start to get them ready for release. They started getting PT (physical therapy) and OT (occupational therapy) today to help work on their sucking/breathing and also 'play' time or body movements. They will get their hearing tests today too!!! It's exciting but overwhelming to think they could be home this weekend. I'm not going to get my hopes too far up though because I know it's just the beginning signs of coming home - nothing has been set in stone or decided yet.

Video

Caitlyn and Madelyn sleeping

.

An Update

The girls are still in the hospital and we are not sure exactly when they are coming home. We probably WON'T know until 2-3 days before they come home. They still have a lot to learn and accomplish before coming home. They are very tired most of the time and so 1 out of every 3 (or more) feedings are through a tube. They are also still learning how to coordinate sucking and breathing all at the same time. Their hearts are not much of a concern at this point - actually there is no big concern at all, just learning and growing and being able to do all the things a full term new born is able to do. Caitlyn is still in an isolet (enclosed, temperature controlled crib) to help her gain weight and not expend calories on regulating her body temp. There are 2 NICUs and they are in the NICU that is for non-critical newborns, so that is VERY good.

Here are some pictures to show you how beautiful and sweet they are.

Madelyn (holding on tight - to Dad's hand)

Caitlyn - Sleeping Beauty :)

Kicking and Screaming

Baby A: Born at 5:38pm; 4 lbs 7 oz
Baby B: Born at 5:39pm; 5 lbs 5 oz

To be brief, Amber went in early this morning for a routine checkup while I stayed home with the kids. About the time I was expecting a phone call saying she was coming home, Amber called to say that the doctors had noticed some irregularities in Baby A's heart rhythm so they were sending her to labor and delivery for further observation. About 3pm we finally decided it was time for me to call in a baby sitter for Abygail and Jackson and go to the hospital. Around 4:45 our doctor came in and said that he wasn't sure what was happening with Baby A's heart rhythm (in fact nobody in the hospital had seen anything like it before), but because the irregularities were persistent they thought it best to deliver right away (by Caesarean section). Less than an hour later the twins were born.

Both babies came out kicking and screaming (which is very good considering they are 6 week early) with 1 and 5 minute Apgar scores of 8 and 9. They are in the special care nursery right now, but are doing very well; the only special care they are getting is sitting under a warmer and having their vitals monitored; they even both ate on their own out of a bottle a little over an hour after being born. The Neonatologist is still noticing a slight "flutter" in Baby A's heart rate but is going to do an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram tomorrow. At this point he doesn't seem to think it is anything to worry about, and is something which will probably heal itself as she grows.

Amber did so very well through the whole thing. I am so impressed and proud of her for being so strong and so selfless though all of this. (I wish I could say the same of myself.) She is doing very well and will be coming home on Friday. We will have to wait and see how the girls do before we know when they will be coming home.

We think we have decided on names but are keeping the decision to ourselves for now, so forgive me for continuing to use the impersonal 'Baby A' and 'Baby B'.

Mom, not long before the delivery:

Baby Girl A:

Baby Girl B:

Both Girls:

33 Week Update

Baby A is 4 lbs 1 oz
Baby B is 5 lbs 8 oz
So far no extreme concern on the weight difference from the Docs. We'll see how much longer this last :)

Recent Happenings

As of Friday my Dr has put me on 'bed rest'. Well, she didn't say 'bed rest' but she did say, "sitting, laying and short periods of standing. No dishes, no laundry, no grocery shopping and no picking up kids" I'm not sure if you can interpret that differently than 'bed rest'.

The story: Friday afternoon during our regular scheduled sonogram there were some concerning things about Amelia Bedelia that had them doing extra scans and tests. She is measuring 3 lbs 6 oz where as Beatrix is 4 lbs 7 oz. It turns out that everything is ok but they want to bump up my full sonograms to every 2 weeks instead of every 3.

After the sono I had my stress test, during which I have three monitors on my belly: one heart monitor for Amelia Bedelia, one for Beatrix and a contraction monitor. They found that I was having regular contracts (which I could not feel) so they sent me to Labor and Delivery for more monitoring and to see if I was dialated. There was no surprise when they found that I was at a 1. They hooked me up to the monitors and stuck me with an IV. After several hours the contractions finally stopped (after a muscle relaxer was administered) and sent us home.

There were lots of people that came to our aid in our child care needs and we are grateful for them all. We are also grateful that our children did so well during the shuffling around.

Thankfully Jason is still out of school for 2 more weeks so he is able to stay home and help out with everything. 2 more weeks - that's all that is left until they will let me go into labor. So we will sit (or lay, or stand for short periods) and wait...for 2 weeks.

28 Week Update

The girls are weighing in as follows:

Amelia Bedelia: 2 lbs 7 oz - and still breech
Beatrix Potter: 2 lbs 14oz
Mommy: 158 lbs (total of 28lb gain and still at least 2 months to go)

They are both doing well and measuring appropriately. Their heart beats are 140 and 141.

My next appointment (at the hospital/sonogram) is in 2 weeks and then I'm on a weekly schedule there as well. Every week will be a quick sono and then a stress test and every 3rd week will be a full measurement sonogram.

I may not seem big to anyone else but I seem big to me. The biggest thing is that it's all baby/babies so their slightest movements are felt and my slightest movements are VERY uncomfortable because there is no cushion. So, for those of you that get really big when you are pregnant - be glad you've got some padding!!! It's not so great with out it.

The Belly

Good News and Bad News

Which first...always hard to decide.

Good News - we have a new family member. Her name is Gertrude and she is a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan... Yippee - we can all ride in one car when the twins are born :)

Bad News - Amber has been grounded. Not completely but I've been grounded to the Buffalo area (at least it's not the house - yet). So, no trip to Alabama for me. Jason and the kiddie-kins will still be going and I will enjoy a relaxing spa vacation (ya, right).

24.5 Week Update

We finally had another FULL/REAL sonogram last Wednesday. We took the kids to see it and they did really well the whole time - on the other hand the sonographer was a pill about it telling us that it would be more than an hour and the room was small and the kids can't run around in there...blah blah blah. FOR REAL?! Wow, because I was just going to let them go crazy! I thought maybe she would not only do the sonogram but babysit my kids too. Well, duh Lady, we brought them on purpose and for a reason. We were not planning on them doing much more than watch the sonogram with us...some people!!! Well, enough about that part.

The kids actually made it through the whole thing and did not run around and were relatively quite for their age and the circumstances, we were very proud of their behavior. Abygail enjoyed looking at the 'girls' and Jackson didn't really care one way or another. As a side note, Abygail went to all the sonograms for Jackson and I think it helped her to feel a part of the pregnancy and understand (as much as she could) that there really was a baby in mommy's belly.

Well, here is some info on the girls - A (who we've dubbed Amelia Bedelia - my favorite book character) is on my right side, still breech weighed in at 1 lb 10 oz. B (who we've dubbed Beatrix Potter - a wonderful children's book author) is on my left side, head down and weighed in at 1 lb 9 oz. We've got some pictures from the sonogram and as soon as I can I'll post them.

They're....

Well, we had our ultrasound this morning. Everything is looking fine. Baby A is smashed into my pelvis which makes it quite uncomfortable most of the time. Baby B is stretched out and enjoying pushing it's sibling into a small space. She thinks she's queen of the castle...that's right they are girls. Actually, baby A wouldn't let us have a look, but all signs still show identical and it's been 4 sonographers now so if baby B is a girl (and she was NOT shy about showing us) than baby A must be too.

O boy, the hair, the clothes, the hormones...I'm not sure we, no I, am ready for this!

A New Doctor

Drum roll.........

We officially have a new doctor - and we really like her. We do not like that it's in a clinic with lots of sick little kiddies but, beggars can't be choosers. We also don't like that we have to go to a different location for sonograms, but it'll be ok.

We did find out that at 24 weeks we will have a sonogram EVERY WEEK. We didn't realize how high risk carrying twins can be. We don't have the highest risk since they are in different sacs but out of 3 possible risks for identical twins we are in the #2 category.

Our BIG ultrasound/sonogram is scheduled early in the morning next Tuesday - I sure hope we can wake up on time!!! Maybe by the time Laura (my sister in California) is awake we'll have some news posted.

Heart Broken

I found this gorgeous piece of art here. I think it's beautiful and all the other work this artist does is fabulous too. I love the colors, the flow and the textures that I'm sure are there because of how she creates her art. Actually she creates it in a different way than I've ever heard/read about before. The title of this piece is Mariposa, which in Spanish means butterfly. Isn't that true, a pregnant woman is like a butterfly, changing and growing? Also the life she carries within...cocooned waiting for 'it's' turn to spread their wings. This piece really touched my heart when I saw it. Actually, it makes me cry when I look at it, that's how much it speaks to me at this moment in my life.

OK, enough of the sappy stuff and the soul bearing.

So ... we will not be finding out the gender of our twins this Monday as expected. I'm heart broken over it. Turns out that with good things, bad things happen too. This semester Jason's adviser took him off of the TA (teacher's assistant) payroll and put him on the GA (graduate assistant or research assistant) payroll. While this is GREAT move for him, in that he now can focus on his research and get done a little faster...it came with a down side. Our insurance changed...and my beloved, wonderful, amazing doctor does not accept the new insurance and is not willing to change that.

So, once again, I'm forced to switch doctors in the middle of a pregnancy - at least this time it's not at 7 months and on a horrible note! Seriously though, I've been heart broken and depressed about this since finding out. To top it off, now we don't have the sonogram on Monday to look forward to either. Our (previous) doctor is sending us a list of doctors she would recommend - hopefully we'll get that today - after which we'll be able to make new appointments and find out what the schedule will be for 'finding out'.

Send some good karma my way!

This is another one of my favorite artists on Esty.

Little Monsters

Last week we went in for another sonogram of the Lil' Monsters. Hope you enjoy!

Twin A - you can see that their bodies are fully developed by 12 weeks...now they are just growing and developing on the inside.


Twin B


Both A and B - the line in the middle is the membrane that shows they are in two separate sacks


Both A and B - top of heads and one hand each.

Although I referred to them as Lil' Monsters, I still think they are cute! 4 more weeks and we'll know ... boys or girls??!!