Happy 9 Months!

Today (well the 30th of each month) is their 9 month birthday! Here are some pics taken on the 30th of each month starting at 5 months. I wish I had started sooner but I wasn't thinking plus the first two would have been at the hospital. Notice how Kaylie is all smiles for Mommy's camera today!

9-1-1

I had a scary mom moment today. I called 9-1-1. Kaylie was sitting in the Bumbo chair and all of the sudden began choking on A LOT of mucous/milk coming out of her nose and mouth. She has done this before but not nearly what I was seeing. Her eyes were popping out of her head and she couldn't get a breath. I was scared. I picked her up and tried to get her to stop the whole while thinking do I pat her on the back? Do I put her on my lap? I didn't know. I grabbed the nasal aspirator and used that while I was on the phone with 9-1-1. Soon the police and EMTs arrived. Kaylie is fine. She was smiling by the time they got there. I felt stupid for calling.
I may have jumped the gun with calling 9-1-1 but I needed someone to guide me if she stopped breathing. I now know that in these situations I panic. Not something I'm proud of. So I am signing up for an infant CPR course right away!
I think by being in the Bumbo all hunched over, the spit up had nowhere else to go so it went out her mouth and nose. But I have never seen so much in my life! I thank God she is okay.

Try, Try, Again!

Well we attempted to get professional pics taken today. We have gone to studios before and everytime they freak out. I don't want to spend money on pictures where my kids are all red & blotchy from crying. Bob and I took them this morning and they were fine for the first second as they were getting into position, but then Ryan started crying and then that got Kaylie started. Ryan recovered and we got 3 shots of him but Kaylie never recovered. She was all blotchy and wouldn't even be put down. At this point I have no professional pics of my kids. It makes me sad. I felt bad we wasted the people's time. I'll have to try again another time. We are seriously looking into buying a backdrop & those flash umbrella things for our house! We have a nice camera already.

Oh Boy!

Ok so I admit that SOMETIMES this happens when you have boy/girl twins....

Look at Ryan's PURPLE bib!! What's worse is that I didn't notice until I went to wipe his face. I guess I didn't look as I pulled it out of the mesh bag that hangs on the highchair containing all of the bibs. A good tip for moms BTW! The bibs are right where you need them.

Yes, Kaylie has even been seen sporting a BOY bib. Oh well...I guess it could be worse.

Do I Need Two of Everything?

The answer to this question is no. Here are some bigger baby essentials and whether we needed one or two of them.


Carseats- yeah--not going to even go here---A MUST!


Cribs- For us it was essential to have two. God bless anyone who has their twins in the same crib for like a year. I don't know how they do it. Ryan & Kaylie just kept waking each other up in it so it didn't work for us.


Boppies: Two are essential. I NEVER would have survived feedings by myself without them. Great for propping the babies and giving them a place to hang out. My only complaint is that ours sagged in the middle early on. Washing it helped firm it up a bit, but not for long.

High Chairs: I've been using one up until this week. Prior, I would feed one and then the other right after. That worked for awhile. Now, I am going to start feeding them at the same time. We are having 3 meals a day now and all I feel like I do is feed babies so doing it at the same time may help me save my sanity a little. I have regular high chairs. They sell the space savers and I consider getting them all the time since we are short on space but I have these already.




Exersaucer/Jumperoo: We got away with only one of each of these. They rotate using them.



Bouncers: we needed two of these. Again, great for giving them a place to hang out and play.




Swings: Some people feel two swings are necessary. I think it depends on your kids. We had a regular size swing and a travel swing. There were times we needed to use the travel swing at the same time but for the most part one swing was fine.


Pack & Plays: we started out with one but realized the weight limit of the bassinet part was being exceeded. Plus, they were waking each other up so we got two for our main level of the house. We spend our days on the main level. Now the kids take naps upstairs, so we really only use one. For naps, Kaylie takes hers in the pack & play in the spare bedroom and Ryan is in his crib. They don't fall asleep at the same minute and sleep the same length of time. In general their naps are at the same time. I have two kids who like to fall asleep in different ways: Kaylie screeches herself to sleep sometimes and that would really agitate Ry when he was tired so they are seperated for naps. The Pack & Plays can be used for travel too.




Changing table: Again this depends on your house too. If you have one level, one changing table is sufficient. Like I said, we spend our days on the main level of the house so for me having a changing table down there was beneficial. Now the one in the nursery hardly gets used except for after baths. Truthfully if I had to do it again, I would NOT have had a changing table in the nursery. A pad on the floor would be sufficent. Live & learn.



Bumbo: although this item has been recalled, we only got one of them and it has worked out just fine. We rotate.

Peanut & Pumpkin

Ryan and Kaylie got the nicknames Peanut and Pumpkin during the NICU stay. One time a nurse asked how our Pumpkins were doing (referring to our babies) and the nurse taking care of them (Lauren, my favorite NICU nurse) that day said, “No they have a Pumpkin AND A Peanut.” She was right. The Peanut obviously refers to Kaylie.

August

You’d think twins would be doing the same things. By this I mean wearing the same size diapers, wearing the same size clothes, and eating the same formula. No on all accounts for me. I’m sure I am the exception and most twins actually do do these things. Because of the size difference (due to IUGR) they have been different all along. (The pic above was taken in August. I know Kaylie's pants are hiked a little too high! LOL). There were a few matching outfits that I was given and would have loved for them to wear at the same time but that never happened. I know it’s trivial but it just requires me to make sure I have everything for everybody--clothes, diapers, & formula. As a mom you have to be prepared but as a M.O.M. I just have to make sure I am doubly prepared. Ah, the life of a Double Duty Mom! (Had to get that in there!)

Here's a picture showing the size difference today. They both are growing. Kaylie is just on her own growth curve. Our hope is that she is caught up by age two.

February

Should I Be Worried?

Remember this toy? I know you all have seen it at one point. I had it as a kid, but it came with a dark and light purple ring too. The company must be saving money, but they have added some balls to the red ring. Ok, whatever.

This is the toy of choice lately. They LOVE to take the rings off. We have mastered that, and won't stop until all rings are off either. Putting them back on--not so much. We'll get there. They just can't resist pulling them off. This can go on for a good 10 minutes--a long span of time in an infant's world.

Ryan seems to love to use the rings as pillows. On a few occasions I have witnessed him put his head down, become very still and sometimes close his eyes. I of course felt the need to snap a pic. Once was cute, but then to see it again gets you wondering. Should I be worried about this? Is this normal behavior?

Hope you find it as funny as I do. I think I'll hold off on calling the doctor just yet. :)

As I Love You Through the Glass

This was a poem I found somewhere online when the twins were in the NICU. Maybe it will be a source of comfort for someone you know or yourself going through the NICU experience. It kind of sums it up just in the title alone.

AS I LOVE YOU THROUGH THE GLASS

As I love you through the glass

a tiny hand sweeps across the blanket

reaching out to me.

You lie there in the stillness

of your slumber clinging to life;

I reach inside to touch you

and you stir slightly;

I feel a tiny breath like a feather

caress my fingers

as I love you through the glass.

One eye opens

easily staring into mine;

Can you see me?

Can you feel my presence

as I love you through the glass?

I ache to hold you;

I await the moment

when you peacefully rest in my loving arms.

A silent tear rolls down my face;

I slowly turn to walk away

only to glance back one more time

as I love you through the glass.

(c) 1998 Elena Murphy All Rights Reserved

Kaylie

Aliases: K-Girl, Princess Poopy, Little Girly-Whirls, Baby Doll, Baby Girl, Little Girl, Feisty, Kaylie Kaylie Bo-Baylie,

Kay Kay, & Peanut

Kaylie loves life. She is a very smiley baby, and usually in a good mood. She can be very serious too. She frightens easily at loud sounds and definitely lets you know that she isn’t happy with something. Despite being frightened at loud sounds, I think she may be the loudest baby I have ever heard. She cries loudly. She screeches loudly. I think Ryan is a bit intimidated by her. It’s always been a struggle to get her to eat. Of course the girl who needs to gain weight won’t eat right?? She has come a long way with that and now drinks the entire bottle. I think she's going to be a bit on the nosy side, but aren't all girls? She always wants to see what's going on. I also think she is going to be bossing her "big" brother around. We'll see.

She was given the name Feisty by a few NICU nurses and believe me, they are right. When she doesn’t want to have something done to her (face washed, or nose sucked out especially), she can put up a fight. And let me tell you—she is a strong little girl. I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Ryan

Aliases: Ry-Guy, Big Guy (by me), Little Guy (by Bob), Ryan Ryan Bo-by-ran, Little Man, Sensitive Guy, Ry-zer,

Pumpkin, Ry-Ry

Ryan has been a laid back baby since birth. He is a great sleeper and eater. He has a cute smile and giggles a lot. He's going to be quite a character. He enjoys a little gentle rough play. Ryan can also be a bit on the whiny side too. Usually if he is tired though. That’s actually my cue for putting him down for naps. A soon as I hear that or see an eye rub, up we go. If you wait too long, he fights sleep. He hates tummy time. (I know, I know. The picture doesn't show that. Kids always make liars out of their parents.) He can be quite sensitive. When Kaylie gets into her screeching mode, he cries. At the doctor, when they get shots and Kaylie goes first, he cries before it’s even his turn. Overall, he is a very happy baby. I wouldn't trade him for the world.

SNOW DAY!

Well I'm considering this the kid's FIRST snow. We've had dustings to an inch--but this is REAL snow. We are expected to get 5 inches before turning to sleet here.

Our neighbor was kind enough to shoot a family pic.

Finally a Family

So what is life like with two newborns to take care of? In a word exhausting. You just try to sleep when they sleep and get through it--with help. Thankfully they were good sleepers. Pretty much woke every 3 hours, ate and then fell back to sleep. Heck, they weren't even supposed to have been born when we brought them home. That in itself is surreal. We were just glad to have them home and finally get on with our new life as a family.

A pic of them both finally home together!

THE NURSERY
What does a twin nursery look like? Crowded!! I'm embarrassed to say (although it was no fault of my own--being in the hospital beforehand) but we didn't have the nursery ready for them so they shared a crib in our room for 2 weeks. In that time, we had purchased another crib and got the nursery ready. Bob put up crown moulding and a chair rail. He's a handy guy. It looks great though. I don't think they even noticed we didn't have it ready. Here are some pics of the nursery. Yeah I grappled with whether I should do half blue and half pink, but instead I went with vibrant primary colors. The biggest problem was positioning the cribs in such a small room!


views from the door




wall opposite the cribs


Grandma painted the wall letters to match the border & quilt. They look great don't they?



Speaking of Grandma, I am so thankful that I had my mom to help out. In fact I had my mom help out for two days a week for 6 months! Not everyone gets this, but it was a sanity saver. I got some needed sleep and I was able to 'escape' as we would joke. Now that she has stopped, we are coming up with other ways to arrange our schedules so I can get some "me time." So a tip for any future M.O.M.--get help and take any that is offered.

Complication

I suffered from a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in my lung) 3 weeks after the delivery. I was hospitalized (in a different hospital close to an hour away from my babies) for 5 days. They would be the longest days of my life. I wouldn’t see my babies for the entire time & had NO internet access (Can you even imagine? LOL). I guess the only perk was that I had a private room and didn't have to room with an old person. That's pretty much all you find on the Telemetry unit of a hospital. Ok, so I exaggerate. Really I think it's because I had just had the babies and was pumping at the time.
Bob took pics every day and some video. My poor guy was driving the state-going to work, driving 30 minutes to see the babies, driving another 45 minutes to the hospital I was at, and then driving an hour+ home. Basically making a triangle each day. Insane. Again—my hero.
The blood clot is gone but as a result I take Coumadin every day to thin my blood to prevent future clots. I needed to stop pumping. It was not safe for the babies. There were many days in the beginning when I forgot to take my medicine. I had twin infants which means I was sleep deprived. I have since put a reminder in my Outlook because I am sure to check my email before bed each night. It has worked like a charm!

Life in the NICU

In a word the NICU was frightening for me. You see your babies hooked up to all kinds of monitors, given medications and there are babies all around--all at different stages and there for different needs. You even see some babies not make it and you think. Could that happen to us? You just continue to pray harder everyday and put it out of your mind.

Everyday was a roller coaster. You had to take an elevator up to the NICU and each time I prayed that they had had a “good day.” Fortunately, they mostly had good days but there were some bad ones. Answering a phone call when you see the hospital number come up on the caller ID is enough to throw you over the edge. Each time we got one of these, it was bad. You just didn’t want to answer in fear of what it could be about.

Some bad calls we got were when Kaylie needed a blood transfusion because her platelet levels were dropping and she was being put in the isolation room. We got a call telling us about the IV burn Ryan received in the NICU. By far, that was the worst call we ever got. My confidence in the NICU was shaken after this incident. Will I ever forgive them? There is a scar on the back of his hand. We go back to the plastic surgeon in March but at this moment it is not looking like he will need surgery. We also got a call saying that Ryan needed a transfusion as well. He was fighting off a nasty infection.

The good days entailed holding them, seeing them gain weight (grams) each day, being moved off the vent to CPAP, and then finally breathing on their own. Believe it or not pooping on their own was big as was increased feedings. I took part in changing diapers, and once they moved to the step down nursery I gave baths and we began bottle feeding.

It took a week before I was able to hold my babies. A WEEK. It was such an amazing feeling to finally be able to do that. You grow up having the dream of giving birth and they put the baby on your chest and everyone is happy. I didn’t have that moment. It happened a different way for me for some reason I'll never know. This was our FIRST family photo taken 20 days after delivery.

After 30 long days in the NICU, they were both moved to the SCN (Special Care Nursery—a step down unit) and on day 42 Ryan came home! Kaylie came home a week later on Day 49! They needed no monitors. Kaylie weighed under 5 pounds when she came home!! Talk about scary. Ryan was 7 pounds when we took him home.

We were glad to get off that ride.

Seeing My Babies

Fair warning…..this might be a downer of an entry. Just know we have a happy outcome on our hands.

These are some of the first pics we have of Ryan and Kaylie. When I look at them I still can hardly believe they are my babies. I have to fully admit that I was drugged up when I saw my babies for the first time. I barely remember it to be honest. I got to see them at about 9 P.M. on the day of their birth. They were born at 5 in the morning. The NICU was a foreign world to me and DH filled me in on “the rules” on our way up. I was weepy before we even got in the door.

I remember having to stay seated in the wheelchair and peer up at them. I saw Ryan first in an open air bed. I was overwhelmed by all the machines, lights, beeps, and wires. I pressed myself to see past all that. He was beautiful. He had 5 fingers and toes on each hand-yay! I remember the skin on Ryan’s legs and back had rolls to it. Kinda like a Shar Pei dog only more precious. Rolls where the fat that would have been accumulating in the last few months would have settled. I touched his thigh—it seemed to be the only place without an electrode/sensor. I could see all the places on his heel where he was pricked. There was even dried blood on the blanket that he laid on. I cried. I wondered if he was in pain.
He wasn’t breathing on his own but they assured us that they were rapidly decreasing the support and that he would be on CPAP in no time. They had tried that already but it was not effective so on the vent he went.

These are some of Kaylie under the blue lights and then without.

I saw Kaylie next. YIKES! Oh my God! Something along those lines were my FIRST thoughts at seeing my baby—terrible isn’t it? I wish I could have realized how beautiful she was at the moment when I first lay eyes on her, but she was the tiniest baby I had ever seen and I just got wrapped up in that thought. I would give anything to go back to that moment because she is beautiful. I tell her that every day. The poor girl is going to have a big head about it. I actually couldn’t even see her face because she was wearing her blue-blocker sunglasses under the blue lights. These were later removed and the light turned off. Her skin was reddened and you could make out the bones in her body. The tears started rolling. I just remember thinking how small Kaylie was and would she be okay. A baby this small didn’t have a chance right???
It would later prove that little Kaylie was stronger than her brother. She was a fighter from conception. Tears fell left and right—sort of like they are right now as I write. I did a finger and toe count and I touched her through the hole in the isolette. I think a nurse assured me she was holding her own. Like I said, the details are fuzzy. Kaylie was on CPAP from the start. No breathing issues. Her little lungs were working.
These poor babies had to endure more than their fair share in just the first few moments of life. I had to try to put on a happy face and stay strong. All I wanted to do was hold my babies and cry. I needed to know that they were going to be fine.

GUILT: The guilt that goes along with not being able to get to full-term with your babies is enough to eat you up. Could I have done something different? You just feel like a big failure. I guess I had to feel good about getting to 30 weeks, some people don’t get there. The Dr.’s didn’t think I would get as far as I did. But I still have the guilt today.

Meanwhile the first time you get out of bed after having a c-section is the most pain I have ever been in. Honestly, after that initial time it gets better but WHOA! It didn’t help that the nurse I had just pretty much yanked me up instead of letting me get up at my own pace. I was taped to the bed!! My catheter tube was taped to me for some reason and then the sticky residue from the tape had me stuck to the bed, so maybe that is why it hurt so badly. I had some resistance. All in all it probably took me a week and half to feel good enough to stop taking pain meds. They say not to do stairs, but to be honest they didn't bother me although I did stick to the rule of once down and once up a day. My mom came to take care of me the first week home.

The Stars Have It

I just saw this picture online of Dennis Quaid and his wife pushing their twins in none other than the same Peg Perego stroller we have!! If it's good enough for the stars, it's good enough for us. HA!

BTW- I just figured out if you click on the pics I put in, they open up into a larger screen! Did anyone else know this? Have I been under a rock?

Growing Up

A little break before I talk about the NICU time....

We've recently made the switch to the convertible carseat. No more infant carriers. We purchased two Britax Decathlon carseats. I suggest if you are a M.O.M. (that's Mom of Multiples) you get the Double Snap & Go for the beginning months! It's a dream. You just put the babies in and go. Plus if they're sleeping you don't worry about disturbing them. I will miss that stroller so much. I don't like the convertible carseats because of all the buckling and unbuckling that is involved.

When arriving at a destination you unbuckle one baby, buckle them up into the stroller. Then unbuckle next baby, and buckle in stroller. Repeat process when leaving your destination. All the while paranoid someone will take your baby while you are buckling the other in.

For fun I took a pic of Ryan in it now & compared it to the one we took when he arrived home. What a difference! I think it's safe to say he needed more room. I didn't have one of Kaylie on her homecoming but here she is in hers now. We have her homecoming on video. I hope I can get a still shot of it, but that is DH's department. DH is an abbreviation standing for Dear Husband if you were wondering.

Oh and now that we ditched the Snap and Go, we needed to test out the new stroller-Peg Perego Aria Twin. It's a lightweight side-by-side stroller. I love it so far in the handful of times we have used it. It was a gift received from my aunts at my shower. Here's a pic of that. As you can see, Kaylie doesn't stay on her side. I also have a Graco DuoGlider as well. That is a tandem stroller and a bit heavier. It will be useful for the malls because it is narrow. I haven't used that one yet. Right now I am dying for warmer weather so we can go for a stroll. Well it is kind of warm today, but a little too windy here for babies to be out.

The Delivery

Well DH had just left to go home around 10 P.M. (about a 30 minute drive from the hospital). I was having some pain and then as soon as I would have the pain I needed to RUN to the bathroom. It was day 3 of this routine. I went to bed with the pain but at around 2:30 in the morning I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed something. I ring the nurse and she comes. She calls the Dr. in and she comes in to check me. I was 2 cm dilated and 80 % effaced. I guess I had been in labor for a few days and no one knew it. The nurses said that I needed to go to labor & delivery for monitoring. Ok great. I can do this. I call DH and tell him that I would be there for monitoring—no big deal.

They wheel me over, and I was hooked up to the monitor for a bit while the nurses there asked me all kinds of questions. At this point, the resident was conferring with the head Dr. to see what was going to happen. Some people kept coming in and out of the room—hooking up a catheter, taking blood pressures, etc. Then I was asked to sign all kinds of consent forms for the c-section. What?!?!?! I’m having these babies right now???? The nurses shake their heads yes. I say, “I need to call my husband.” I called DH back and say, “You need to come NOW! We are having these babies.” Everything turned into a blur at this point. I remember wanting to get up to go to the bathroom but they wouldn’t let me. I was so cold. I was scared. I was shaking. I was alone. DH got there pretty quickly it seemed. As soon as he arrived, I was wheeled into the OR and given the spinal. I couldn’t feel ANYTHING! It was a weird feeling. (LOL). The team came in and got started right away. I really don’t know how long the whole thing lasted but it seemed quick to me. DH was in his scrub gear. I was surprised at how relaxed everyone was—they were even making jokes. I guess you need to put the patient at ease and they probably have done thousands of c-sections prior to mine. Why I thought I was special I'll never know.

Ryan was born at 5:12 A.M. weighing 3 lbs. 10 oz. 16 ½ inches. Kaylie was born at 5:14 A.M. weighing 1 lb. 14 oz. and 14 inches long-- classifying her as a micro-preemie. The only thing I wanted to hear was the sound of their cries. I heard their faint cries and that pretty much was it. Out of the corner of my eye I could see them being whisked away and MANY people working on suctioning and doing whatever it is that they do. I just laid there and prayed that they were going to make it as they stitched me up.

Recovery was okay. It took awhile for feeling to return to the lower half of my body. I really liked the warm blankets they put on you as I was shaking very badly. I did throw up once. All in all I made it through my first surgery. Little did I know the pain that would follow.

Another Scary Day--26 weeks

Another scary day. So it was confirmed once again that my daughter was still lagging behind in growth. She had grown from the last appointment, which was a good sign. It was also confirmed that the umbilical cord had implanted to the side of the placenta versus implanting in the center of the placenta like usual. Why didn’t they know this before so they could save us all the genetic B.S.? IDK. So a case of IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) was diagnosed. Blood flow to my daughter was restricted, so she basically fought for every needed nutrient. It was recommended that I go on hospital bedrest (that day!) and be closely monitored. I also received steroid shots (Yes, I admit to taking steroids. LOL) to help speed lung growth in the babies. I think this saved their lives to be quite honest.

Now when you hear the words “hospital stay,” you freak out! A million thoughts start rushing in. My main worry was work of all things. What would I do about work? I was a teacher so you just can’t call in sick. Teachers HAVE to be there—like the postal service—Nor rain, nor sleet, nor hail. Your mail gets there. It’s kind of like that with teaching. I needed lesson plans & detailed instructions etc. etc... My principal was great about it and told me not to worry about a thing. What a relief. I sent what I had and tried to put it out of my mind. That was a hard thing to do—give up the class you worked so hard to mold. I’ve been told they became a bad class after I left. I feel badly about that. I’m sure some valuable learning time was lost. So the prospect of going to the hospital long-term was a scary one for me. I knew it was best, but it didn’t come at the greatest time. Does it ever??? I would miss spring—my favorite season and I would have to spend my birthday in a hospital. I ended up spending one month in the hospital before going into labor. Sort of ironic but I was able to go outside ONE day while I was at the hospital. I started having pains THAT day which were accompanied with the runs (I know TMI). Three days later I would have my babies, not knowing those pains were really contractions. DH always says it was because I got to go outside. I got through that one month because of family, friends and DH’s DAILY visits. That guy of mine is a hero.

Next entry: the delivery…..

Bittersweet--The BIG Ultrasound--21 weeks

Bittersweet--The Big Ultrasound—21 weeks
Well this was a bittersweet day. We found out that we were having a boy & a girl!! (Another one of Life’s only surprises. We were still surprised--just earlier). Can’t get better than that. We found out we were having a boy first in case you were wondering. The bitter part of the day came when we were told our daughter was growing smaller than our son. Her femur was smaller and could possibly be Down’s syndrome. We met with a genetic counselor who recommended an amnio to see what the cause could be. We declined that. To us it wasn’t worth the risk involved. Whatever it was we would deal. So a lot of tears fell on what should have been a happy day. I guess they need to tell you all the scenarios, but I have to say I was SCARED. The end result, after 6 hours at the hospital, was that we would continue to monitor growth every two weeks. I continued to go for checks and my daughter continued to grow-albeit small.

Up until this point I really had a great pregnancy. The only symptoms I had were REALLY sore boobs for just about the whole pregnancy, some spotting, and extreme fatigue. Fatigue like I have never felt before—well at least until the babies came home. LOL! I had no morning sickness which was great because they say it can be worse with multiples. I did have to eat pretzels/crackers throughout the day or I would feel just a tinge of queasiness. I developed some swelling in my feet at around 20 weeks. All in all, a good pregnancy.

"Looks Like It's Twins!"

They say there are only a few surprises in life. Well, we had one of them. So on December 6th we headed for my first ultrasound at IVF of NJ at 7 in the morning. I called them because we had done all the work-up and I didn’t want them to think we weren’t serious about having a baby. I told them what happened and they said to still come in. You don’t normally see your OB until 8 weeks-which was on the 20th. So there we were: me on the table, DH on a chair beside me and the Dr. up my hoo-ha. She said, “It looks like twins!” Eyes popping out of my head, I reply, “Are you serious?” She then points out both sacs, checks my ovaries and tells me I released more than one egg and that it looks like they are fraternal. Then I say, “Bob are you hearing this?” He says “Yeah” and I can see his head in his hands in disbelief. I then say, “We need a bigger house.” We just kept repeating the word we had just heard over and over: “Twins?!” and then shaking our heads as we stared at the sonogram. How do you get through a day of work knowing this tidbit of information? I found myself just bursting out in laughter every now and then. I have to say seeing the heartbeats was an amazing moment and the surprise of twins is unforgettable too! A very happy moment for the both of us.

I must say that from the time we found out until the time we told our parents at Christmastime, it was great knowing that we had this secret that nobody else knew (except the Dr.’s of course).

Pregnancy Journey

So December 1st was the day I got the BFP-Big Fat Positive remember? Best day ever! I took a test in the morning just because I was a day late and hell, I had bought so many tests at the dollar store I felt compelled to use one. DH is still in bed and I am up for work at 5:30. He has no idea that his life will be forever changed, nor do I. So I pee on the stick and actually see two lines appear quite quickly, but still being bleary-eyed from being up when it is still dark outside (or maybe a bit of shock too) I shake my head and tell myself to get in the shower and then have another look. I keep trying to peer out the fogged up glass door to see if there really are two lines there or am I imagining it? Sort of shaking at this point. I get out and sure enough, those two lines were still there. Walk out of the bathroom and tell DH, “I have a line.” He is like, “WHAT??????” having no idea what I’m talking about. So I show him the test and he of course immediately references George from Seinfeld and says, “My boys can swim!” (hands up over the head). Then of course that was followed by an embrace where you can just feel the stress melt away knowing we could actually get pregnant and didn't face any treatment ahead of us.

Just Relax

I’ll be going back in the next few posts to catch anyone who might be reading this, up to speed.

So how did we end up with twins? The short answer is luck I guess. It was not an easy road to say the least. It took us 15 cycles of actively trying (just winging it, ovulation sticks, tracking temperatures, fertility monitors, vitamins, exercising, switching to boxers---you name it!) to have a baby starting in September 2005. If anyone has been there, it is the worst feeling in the world as each calendar month flies by and you continue to get BFNs (Big Fat Negatives—as in the result of the pregnancy test stick each month.) Everyone around you seems to get pregnant the first cycle. You start to wonder what is wrong with you, you think maybe it’s DH, you question why God would do this, etc. etc…You can only imagine the stress this puts on someone, especially when there really isn’t anyone that you know that truly understands what it is like to go through it. (Well, there was one person I knew and we did talk, but mostly you feel alone.). The worst thing you can say to someone going through it is, “Just relax—it will happen.” Really, I heard this so many times and wanted to just smack each person. At the year mark, we went for all the infertility testing and were found to have “unexplained infertility”—yeah, whatever that means. I guess it means they couldn’t find any reason why DH & I couldn’t have a baby. All looked good on both accounts—ok great—“So why is this happening?” you ask yourself. We were told the next cycle we would start a drug to help ovulation called Clomid. So I anxiously awaited for the next cycle to start, but it never did. I had gotten the long-awaited and elusive BFP (Big Fat Positive)!!! In my heart of hearts, I think I “relaxed” that last month knowing we had a plan. But SHHHH! Don’t let anyone know. :-) I still will not EVER say those two words to anyone I know because you just don't know if there can actually be something wrong.

What's New?

Well Kaylie has discovered her toes. Ryan discovered them a few weeks ago. He can even get them in his mouth! Man to be that flexible again. Kaylie has tried, but not yet. Now Mommy can't keep anyone's socks on anymore!
Ryan can sit on his own and has been since mid January. Unfortunately he HATES tummy-time and really doesn't have much upper arm strength. So as soon as he tries to reach to the side or too far forward, he does a faceplant. Sometimes he finds this hysterical and other times not so much! LOL. We really are working on the tummy time but it's slow going. He has only rolled over twice in his life. At the 9 month check-up I will be asking the Dr. about this to see if we may need some Early Intervention evaluations. Kaylie rolls a lot but has yet to do a double roll. During her tummy time, she is doing 360's. So I'm thinking scooting might not be far behind. She also recently cut 2 teeth and did it without being cranky. I was surprised to find the first tooth on the 4th and then one right next to it this week. Very exciting stuff. Okay gotta go feed babies...

Introductions

My name is Liz and I am the mother of boy/girl twins. Ryan Marc and Kaylie Irene are my beautiful babies. They are 8.5 months old and what an incredible 8.5 months it has been! (More on that later.) I hope to post a few tips and tricks to raising twins and just a record of every day life with my babies for those with twins or expecting twins. Here's a recent pic of them at 8 months old. Are they cuties or what?

Valentine's Day with Twins

So we managed to have a nice dinner of grilled filet mignon (yes it is about 30 degrees here, but you can't have steak any other way!) that DH brought home from Sal's. We had candles, china and roses too. Yes we even did this with the kids still up. Not exactly romantic, but with twins, romance is hard to come by. We had Ryan jumping in the jumperoo and Kaylie playing in the highchair while we ate. Now that is multi-tasking! We both don't like to eat late at night so starting to cook after they go to bed (7:30) is just not an option. It was a nice dinner nonetheless! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

I also wanted to add that I'm new at this and not sure how often I will post or if I will be able to keep up with this blog.