A Few of Their Favorite Things

Ella (she thought she was hiding in the guest room during our fussy period, but we found her!)

Books! We've been reading Owen, Emmaline and the Bunny, I Love You Through and Through (thanks Grandma!), Hippos Go Berserk and Barnyard Dance (thanks cousins Fletcher, Shilo and Kyla!)




Musical Seahorses (they remind me of GloWorms), which have been a lifesaver getting them to calm down and go to sleep. They are also loving their sleep positioners, which have helped with the reflux.

Not pictured: Soothie pacifiers (we have about a dozen to quickly replace when one falls), Skip Hop Farm Blocks, play gym, sound machine (more help sleeping!), the painting behind the couch (apparently mesmerizing to a newborn) and....MOMMY (ha, had to do it, and no, pictures just aren't an option at the moment).

Last week Owen and Emmaline had their two month appointment, and Owen weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz and Emmaline weighed 8 lbs 4 oz. Still in newborn clothing though!

I'm starting to leave more on the weekends without babies, and this past Saturday I went to a Junior League brunch, which was so much fun (mimosas, yay!) and nice to catch up with everyone. I'm taking a Sabbatical this year from the League, which means I'm still a member but don't have a volunteer commitment. I'll pick it up again next year, but knew it would be tough this year!

Vince has been working on the guest bedroom this weekend, painting and adding crown molding and trim. It really does look great, he's pretty talented at the home improvement thing, though thankfully we didn't need a lot on this house! :) The room will be ready for our friends Sarah, Bryan and baby Luke this weekend!

Happy Eight Weeks Owen and Emmaline!

Chillin' in my bouncy

Sheesh, this is boring

BOOMER SOONER!

(not feeling so smiley after the game though, ugh)

So much for a cute game day photo shoot!


"Don't worry my boy, one day we will bust out of this dumb Pack and Play"

"Thanks Mom, for another thrilling, edge-of-your-seat hour of tummy time"

I cannot believe it, Owen and Emmaline are eight weeks old today, it just doesn't feel like it's been that long! They're eight week appointment with the pediatrician is next week, so it will be fun to see how much they weigh, especially since they had an early start.

Skip this paragraph if you don't care to read about gassy babies and it's remedy:

As some of you may have read in a few of my desperate sounding emails, the kiddos went through a week of constant screaming a few weeks ago, which was pretty challenging because, as I calmly explained to them through the wails, "Mommy only has two hands!!" If the wiener dog could have held a baby, she would have, instead of staring at me like "you know, it was more fun when it was just you and me!" It turns out Vince and I make very gassy babies, and so we started giving them a minuscule amount of Mylanta three times a day. That worked for a week, but they were still spitting up and sleeping in a bouncy or swing in their crib. So, as of last night they are taking a prescription for acid reflux, and they slept (yes, both of them, yippee!) from 12:30 am to 4:20 am straight. Sleep, sweet sleep!

Fed up with spending the weekends with only one of us gone at a time, Vince and I decided last Saturday to take the babies to lunch at a sit-down restaurant. We decided to skip bringing in the Suburban sized stroller and just each take a baby to carry. The babies did great, so we did a repeat on Sunday and Monday. I thought we were pushing our luck three days in a row, but they did okay. So far so good!

We've started seeing a few happy-not-gassy smiles, especially from Emmaline, which unfortunately don't last long enough to take a picture. I've taken a few pictures (see above, because I cannot figure out how to post pictures below my entries), but I have got to get the hang of taking good ones of BOTH babies, which is a challenge.

Newborn Photography

Our photos from our newborn photography session are ready to be viewed! Check them out here: http://www.poeticexposure.com/emmalineandowen. I am so happy with them, he got some great shots of the babies at four weeks old.

(Um, mommy still has some bloating effects and no sleep going for her, but was still happy to be in the pictures! :))

The twins are really starting to show their individual personalities, and keep us busy. They are usually not fussy together (except for meal time, then it's a chorus), so just when one baby is happy, the other wants to be held. Bouncy seats are a god send! We've just started tummy time in the past few weeks, and stop when they fall asleep or start accidentally kicking each other. Or, in Owen's case, he gets upset when he can't get a toy in his mouth while on his tummy!

At their one month check-up last week, they were still not quite 7 pounds, but I'm sure they are now. It seems like they get bigger every day!

Invasion of the Papparazzi

Emmaline and Owen's first three weeks, courtesy of my mom and sister's (both pictured :)) photography.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9AZOHLJu2ZsX4

I Heart Twins

I am so happy to report that everyone is home now! Emmaline was released from the NICU last Friday, and joined Owen at home. We gave him a little pep talk that morning that his days of being an only were over! Both babies have been to the pediatrician and are doing well. Owen is almost 6 pounds and Emmaline is a little over 5 pounds (I just can't keep their weights straight, my lack of sleep is doing wonders for my brain).

My mom was a HUGE help last week as we settled in with Owen, and my sister will be here today to help with both babies. Vince has gone back to work, and I survived yesterday alone, which involved putting both babies in their car seats for a trip to the doctor. I've decided this is going to take some major coordination and a little more planning than I thought!

Because of their prematurity, the babies are still on a three hour feeding schedule of high calorie formula, with the occasional bottle of what I manage to pump (sorry if this is too much information, but I've been asked! :)) We're on this schedule until further notice from their doctor. Last night BOTH babies decided to fuss at the same time for about an hour and a half following their 3 am feeding. Ugh. Pick one baby up, rock, put down, pick the other baby up, repeat. Emmaline is definitely the most vocal, she grunts and is always the first to get upset. Owen is the most laid back little baby, and can usually sleep right through her noise.

I promise I will post more pictures when I have time, and will try to update our blog once a week. I think I may need to reread this entry a few times before I post to make sure it makes sense, especially after last night's 3 am twin party!

Nesting Schmesting

Well, so much for the whole nesting theory, it looks like my body has decided I get to skip that! I know, I know, I should be grateful for healthy babies and I am, but I so badly want to get everything ready for them on my own!

Last Thursday, I was so excited because I was going to see my doctor in her office for the first time since I'd been admitted to the hospital, and I just KNEW she was going to release me from bed rest. No such luck. My blood pressure was unusually high, so everything was kicked into high gear yet again. I had surprise blood tests, was rushed to The Specialist (sigh) and Home Health was ordered to visit me at home for the next day. Luckily, the babies continued to do great, and all of my other tests checked out negative. No swelling (my hands and feet look like they did pre-pregnancy, so there is something to this bed rest theory), no protein issues, nothing. Just a high reading. I count myself very lucky in that respect!

I went in today for a follow-up appointment, and although my blood pressure checks out beautifully at home, it went way up again, probably the second my foot crossed the threshold to the office! When the nurse took it today and told me what it was, I kind of freaked out a little on her, I feel like I should send her a card or something, it was not a nice reaction! My doctor is very positive though, she has told me over and over again that this is NOT my fault, that the only prevention I could have taken is to "not be pregnant with twins." SIGH again. Basically, the amount of baby that is pulling on the center of my body has caused it to kick into overdrive, and it's hard on my system. Those of you who have seen me in the past couple of months know my current state of beached whale appearance!

So, my doctor thinks they could be here "any day now," and I have another appointment on Thursday so she can check everything out again. Good thing they had already checked my blood pressure when she made that little announcement! I think they should have checked Vince's blood pressure, that would have been interesting. We were a little stunned to hear that!

The nursery is almost done, we spent yesterday with me in the nursery recliner and Vince working his rear off to get things ready. We still need this weekend though, so cross your fingers for us that we get it! If the kiddos make their appearance sooner, we will let you know!!

Welcome to Our Blog!/Hello House!

If bed rest has done anything postitive for me (besides keeping my babies healthy, duh), it's that I've been able to get things done that I've been putting off or just haven't had the time to do. Of course, all of them include sitting and not moving, such as putting together our blog. I've never blogged before, but knew a few years ago that when we had a kiddo (or now, kiddos), I would put together a blog so you wouldn't be bombarded with emails and updates in your inbox. So, I put it together my last night in the hospital, Monday night, and have worked on it little by little this week. It needs some serious work on the picture side, but I figure we'll have plenty of that when the babies arrive!

Anyway, I had my final check-up with The Specialist on Tuesday morning so he could do one final look before letting me go home. I barely slept the night before, I was terrified somethig had changed and I wouldn't be able to go home! Thankfully, everything checked out, and I was released! I was home by 10:30 that morning, and Vince got me set up on the couch. From the hospital bed to the couch at home, I'm surprised I didn't pass out from all of the excitement!

I've been doing my best to only get up when absolutely necessary, since my bed rest conditions are the same, I can get up for the bathroom and shower (I feel like I've been inducted into a Bed Rest at Home Society, since so many of my friends have done this). I do get up to switch from the living room to the bedroom twice a day, or to get a drink or a quick snack. We keep the door to the nursery and guest bedroom shut so I don't have an anxiety attack looking in! A LOT of things need to be put away, and since I'm the mommy, I'm determined to do them myself! My mom did a ton of drawer organizing and putting away of little things, and Vince has the rest of the equipment, bedding, odds and ends organized in stacks. And, the closets are another story. If I had known I'd be out of commission for six weeks, I would have jumped in a lot sooner! Of course, looking back, I'm so grateful my crummy cervix was caught early, I don't even want to think about what would have happened if my doctor hadn't caught it and sent me to...The Specialist.

I have an appointment with my doctor (bye bye Specialist) next Thursday, so she can check me out. Hopefully everything is fine and she can release me from confinement at 35 weeks, which would be the following Tuesday. Thirty-eight weeks is considered full term for twins (not 40, which is the case of a singeton), which is why my C-section is scheduled for August 4, but it could be earlier!

Vince has a three day weekend for the Fourth, so that will be nice to have him here. I can watch him and live vicariously! We might work on the nursery, which means me in the recliner telling him where to put things. I'll send pictures when I'm ready to show it off!

Have a Happy Fourth! Vince is going to cook out for the two of us and maybe we'll catch a firework or two from the backyard!