Mothers of Multiples

[mittyrd]

May a proud mama show off?? We got the boys in front of the fireplace for some pictures to put in holiday cards. This is the picture we chose.
http://images.snapfish.com/3454%3B9%3B923232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3257%3E3%3B%3A%3E35 7%3EWSNRCG%3D3233324%3A%3B783%3Cnu0mrj

Charmcity: At my reel moms, everyone brings their strollers in. Most park them in the front but if you get there early you can get a seat where the stroller fits and keep it with you. I used to Jake there every week when I was on Maternity leave but haven't been able to take the twins. In fact that was the last time I went to a movie!

[charmcitygirl]

mittyrd thanks for the info. cute pic of all your boys

[jrsygirl]

mitty: what a cute picture of all your boys together!!!

[klm2klh]

Just a quick doctor’s appointment update. This was my first appointment since my ultrasound (and finding out we were having twins). At my last appointment I was 17w and was measuring 18w, but this time I was 21w and measuring 25w. Finally, some indication that there are 2 babies in there! (Besides the ultrasound of course). I have also gained about 15 lbs total. We think that we were able to hear both heartbeats. I had a lot of questions, some of which the doctor wasn’t able to answer because they don’t deal with twins. They are referring me to another doctor, but I couldn’t get an appointment until December 20.

The ultrasound results from 2 weeks ago looked good. At the time the babies were measuring 18w1d and 18w3d (according to EDD I was 18w5d). Also, I had been a little concerned because the tech had mentioned that there was only 1 placenta, but it turns out that there are actually 2, but they are fused together. So we are having diamniotic dichorionic twins.

I will go back to my current doctor one more time (in 3 weeks) since my appointment with the new doctor isn’t for another 5 weeks.

[PilotsWife]

Phen - Thank you very much for your birth story! Do you recall if they tied you down at all?

[angelgirl8]

mittyrd...such a cute picture!

phen...so weird you should mention soda because i saw a commercial for dr. pepper (and i never ever drink soda) and almost sent dh out to get some!


had my glucose test today. YUCK!

[Phen]

Great holiday photo, mittyrd! I love how they're all wearing red and gray; nice coordination.

klm, my guys had a fused placenta, too. By another doctor, do you mean a perinatologist or maternal-fetal medicine specialist, or just a different OB who has experience with twins?

PilotsWife, hee, that sounds funny. Do you mean during the c-section itself? Yes, my left arm was immobilized during the surgery (as that was the arm the IV was placed into), but my right arm was free and my DH held my hand for a lot of the surgery. I don't know about being tied down anywhere else, though; that drape they place between your head and your torso really does its job and blocks the view. ;)

angel, come over to the dark side of Dr. Pepper! ;)

A friend of mine from college had her twins yesterday -- a boy and a girl. Both babies were about 5 and a half pounds. Hurray!

~ phen

[charmcitygirl]

pilotswife just chiming in to say that i was not tied down at all during my c/s. i think it depends on your hospital... ask your doc and maybe you can request to not be tied down in any way.

[Jenzen01]

quick question:

my best friend had surprise twins ... she had an ultrasound done at 18 weeks, and the tech and dr. only saw one baby. at delivery, guess what? two babies instead of one ...

anyway, i was talking to her last night, and she says that she feels a little cheated out of her pregnancy because if she had known she was having twins, she would have bought books, etc. about twin development. she still wants to read up about how the babies were in the womb, and how they developed during the pregnancy.

so, does anyone here know of any good twin mommy books? i was thinking about getting her something like that for christmas.

i'm also trying to get her over to this thread, so i should probably delete this after a while. :)

thanks,
jen

btw, she delivered vaginally, and had two healthy girls. she almost when past her due date. :eek:

[PilotsWife]

mittyrd - I feel so rude - I failed to tell you how beautiful your holiday photo is. My DH happened to lean over my shoulder when they were on my screen and he asked, "Who are those kids? They're really cute."

Phen & Charmcitygirl - Unfortunately, I think my hospital does tie down the mother, but from what the "Marvelous Multiples" instructor told us, it was very loosely.

Well, I got my Dyson vacuum issue all sorted out. DH came with me - actually, he didn't want me to go at all - he was convinced I'd start screaming and he didn't want me getting upset. It went a lot more smoothly than I expected, but I think they could tell I was more than a bit miffed at them. :rolleyes:

I have an appointment today at 3:30 with the perinatologist. I'm not quite sure what they'll be doing today - the nurse who set up the appointment just wrote down "AFP" - on Thursday I'll have a non-stress test and a bio-physical exam. I'm wondering if I may go into labor soon - last night I had a BH contraction that woke me up and literally took my breath away - it felt as though somone had taken a metal rod and shoved it up into my right lung (Baby B, who is larger and higher is on that side). I literally couldn't catch my breath and it lasted at least a minute. I immediately thought that if this is what labor is going to be like, just cut me now!! I had two more slightly less severe contrax like that about an hour apart, but none since. And now I'm feeling very nauseous and my face is all flush. Anyone else feel sick just before going into labor? I did more research and read that while some people get that "burst of energy" some people get more lethargic and can experience flu like symptoms - this doesn't seem to be talked about as much, so I was just wondering.

I experienced a wonderful internet benefit the other day (Bernie you may remember Marge mentioning this in class) - food shopping on line! AND - even better - they delivered it! OMG - I couldn't believe how happy this made me! Granted, I'll still want to go to the store myself for certain things, like particular cuts of meat or some speciality items, but boy - this could not be beat when you need your normal staples! (I certainly can't imagine trying to food shop with twins!!)

Okay, I think I'm starting to ramble and babble so I'll shut up now.....

[cbiggers]

Yikes!! Being gone for four days really does a number on my internet fun! Can't possibly catch up with everything, but I'll to remember a few things.

First things first:
Kenan - We MUST/HAVE/NEED to talk ASAP!!!!!!!! This is all news to me, sister! Call me to confirm for Thursday!!

Boppies - We have two and we still use them. The girls love them. I actually used ot use them a lot more when I was home alone with the girls and would put them in there to have their bottles (after they got too big to hold both at once). Now I use them for their morning sippie and they use them to play on during hte day. They can be a good nap indicator!:)

Mitty - Beautiful boys, as usual! Just such a beautiful family!!

Jenzen - I'm not sure of books for after the fact. Check the first page for referrals of books for twinmoms and maybe one of those could help!

Our weekend went o.k. except for one accident. The girls WOULD NOT sleep at all in the pnp's. Ugh! It was a nightmare. So, on Sunday I laid down to take a nap with Caroline on the bed. I got up after an hour and we were both checking on her every few minutes. WEll, she fell. Bad. She somehow fell and was wedged between the nightstand and the bed. OMG. I can't begin to describe the guilt and horror. Anyway, DH had her and I was holding her little face and when I took my hand away, I was covered, and I mean covered, in blood. Turns out she cut the little flap of skin that connects the top lip to the gumline. At any rate, we finally got the bleeding to stop and she seems fine, but it changed her smile. Now you can see a little flap of skin. So, I e-mailed her ped to ask what we do. We'll see what he says. But, the guilt was just awful. I had a bad feeling leaving her there, but we were checking on her and there were pillows around her. Lord help me!

So exciting to hear the news of all the impending babies headed this way! Can't wait to meet some new twinnies!!! Take care everyone!

[lovin'it]

X-posted from March Mommies...

I need to give an update! I haven't been here forever! My life is either very busy or I am extremely disorganized! :)

So, here I am...almost 24 weeks pregnant with my little twin girls. Have I told you guys we chose the names already? Ella and Nina. We won't know who is who until we actually see them. They are my little wiggleworms at the moment. I love it...it's weird to see how sometimes I have a pointy belly here or there!

I am huge. I am bigger than most-who am I kidding?- I am bigger than all of my friends that are about to deliver in a few weeks. Luckily, people tell me that it is all on my belly. I have gained about 35 lbs. of pure nutritious foods. I crave things like fruits, veggies, all dairy, and bread. I really have no problems with weight gain. I figure that my body was made to carry a baby...and if it never goes back to size 4, I will be okay with it. My mother had 3 kids and was still a size 2 at the time of her death. She never even walked by a gym in her life....but, she also had the same line of thinking.

I was thinking about comments people make. It's funny how they do not bother me at all. My aunt wrote me today and called me fatty...it seriously doesn't bother me...am I insensitive? Or when I tell people I have 3 months to go they open their eyes wide and can't believe it...I am so happy to be huge :)

I was also thinking the other night about worries. A few weeks ago, I was so worried about everything. You name it...finances, a husband in Law School, housing, the lack of help we will have once these kids are here...I cried many times because of it. It's crazy how you can get yourself worked up. So, I have decided to let time and the Lord resolve my "problems." There is nothing I can do to change certain things, but I know everything always works out. So, lately...I am just excited!

I don't even fear health problems they might have or disabilities. Honestly, I don't. They will be my children regardless of all those things...and if I was chosen to be their mother, it's because someone must trust me. I will be grateful if their biggest problem is colic or tiredness...but, if other stuff happens...I will do my best to make the best of it. Does this make sense?

DH started reading to the babies. It brings tears to my eyes how cute he can be...and I am not a very emotional type of girl. He told me that he has dreamed of becoming a dad for so long that this is more than a dream come true. He tells me that he can't wait to hold them, smell them, sing to them, change their diapers...he said he wants to do it all. He really is a fantastic type of guy...put that with being a dad...and I have won the golden ticket! Oh, he also speaks "whale" to them...just like on Nemo...he does it by putting his mouth to my stomach and making weird noise...we get reactions from the babies....sooo interesting!

DH is also busy out of his mind. He took the LSAT...did not perform as well and he hoped, but is going forward and applying everywhere. Texas continues to be our first choice in state...I love the hot, humid weather and he loves the conservative minds there. We are applying to 5 or 6 school within the state. Hopefully, he will get in at least one school. If worse comes to worse, and he doesn't get anywhere...we will stay in Utah for another year. He will graduate, get a job...and study hard again to re-take the test. I see it as a win-win situation...because I have build a support-system here. It would put us a year behind everything, but I am not in a hurry to having a fancy home...I am fine being simple.

My BIL, that lost his pregnant wife last Christmas in a car accident, has started dating again. He does stuff with many girls, but I know he has a favorite. Her name is Tara and she is adorable. She looks so much like his late-wife. His only "but" with her is that she is recently divorced and has a little baby. The kid is not a problem, but the ex-husband is...in his opinion. Apparently the guy is very much around and it bugs BIL. I pray that he just finds his someone. He is an incredible individual. I love him... I love to have him over and see how well he and DH get along. I wish all siblings loved each other that way. He is also in love with our babies. The first thing he does when he sees me...is touch my tummy and talk to the babies. So cute!

Gosh, I am corny today!

We bought our cribs and the bedding. Very, very girly. I was planning to do a cowgirl room at first, but I will wait and do that once we have a home and DH can build them log beds.

Bedding from Land of Nod

http://www.landofnod.com/landofnod/images/flannelcrib_large.jpg

Crib from JCPenney in White

http://a603.g.akamai.net/7/603/175/2005110312/cache3.jcpenney.com/images/large/0900631b80c438e9L.jpg


And a picture of me... I am the one in the denim jacket...bigger than my friend who is about to deliver!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/emmabarrus/Babyshower001.jpg

[angelgirl8]

lovin'it...yeah, i'm bigger than most and getting a lot of "you must be due tomorrow" comments. argh!

cbiggers...i'm so sorry about caroline's fall! you must have been so scared. i'm glad she's okay...i think it's pretty standard to have one of those falls. my sister and i both fell of the bed as babies!


had my glucose test on monday...not fun at all. hoping to pass!

otherwise, things are good. just trying to convince the babies to be head down and stay there! and stop kicking my lungs!

[charmcitygirl]

lovin'it

first of all, i love the names you chose. i really wanted to call zoe "ellie," but dh didn't love it.

i was the same way: not a whole lot bothered me during my pregnancy... people's comments, no worries about the babies health, etc. oh, and the "you must be due soon" comments just really made me laugh. ya know what bothers me more now? when people say "wow, you have one of each. you should stop now" i don't know why but, man, does that get annoying.

hee! my dh also talked "whale" to the babies.

----

yay for me! seems as if both babies are STTN now. zoe's been doing it for about 1.5 weeks and jake slept for 8 hours. 2 nights. in a row.

[MrsPuls]

Just doing a quick post. I was admitted Monday for preterm Labor at 29W3days. I've been on Magnesium since and have gotten my shots for the babies lung development. It seems like everything has pretty much stopped except for the occasional contrax, and I am already 3cm dialiated. We're still waiting to talk with the doctor about the next steps, so I've been hanging out just trying to stay sane. We've met with NICU doctors and I'll be meeting with a lactation consultant this afternoon to talk about pumping for the babies. Funny how things can take such a turn in such a short period of time.:rolleyes:

But spirits are high and I'm trying to stay positive. Babies are a little over 3lbs now, so they have that going for them.

[angelgirl8]

mrspuls...i'm so sorry you're in the hospital but so glad they've slowed things down. update us when you can and get some good rest, okay? let us know if there's anything we can do.


well, i failedthe 1-hour glucose test. has anyone taken the 3-hour test and have any suggestions for surviving it? i was so sick from the 1-hour that i can't imagine this one.

[Phen]

Wow, Jenzen01, that is a surprise! LOL. There is a ridiculous shortage of decent books about twin development out there. Most are trying to do a bunch of things at once: be a pregnancy book, a high-risk pregnancy/delivery book, breastfeeding twins, and a humor book all at once. My favorite book about post-delivery life with twins is Elizabeth Lyons' "Ready or Not...Here We Come! The REAL Experts' Cannot-Live-Without Guide to the First Year with Twins (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0974699004/qid=1132161976/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8605005-7376100?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). It is pretty heavy on the humorous side, but it had a ton of invaluable tips on having infant/toddler twins that I never found anywhere else.

Pilot'sWife, how did your appointment yesterday afternoon go? You asked "Anyone else feel sick just before going into labor?" and, well, other than some digestion issues, no, I felt pretty okay, although I was Done with a capital D with being pregnant!

OMG Casey, how scary! I hope Caroline's smile returns to normal soon.

It sounds like you are just doing beautifully, Lovin'It. You wrote such a happy post. Those are lovely names for your girls. Heee...my DH didn't talk Whale to my belly, but he did do a Darth Vader-like thing "THOMAS, I AM YOUR FA-THER!" that would set both boys off to kickin' like mad. Cracked me up!

angel, I have learned one thing from all my medical stuff this year: if the phone rings the day or two after a test, and it's the doctor, it's usually not great news. So I am rooting for you to NEVER hear about your test results and have to ask for them the next time you go to the OB's (because that will mean you passed with flying colors)! eta D'oh!! I'm sorry, hon. But, hey, you proved my theory right!

You must be getting lots of sleep, charmcity! Isn't it divine?

I'm hopeful that you'll come back to post that the doctors think they can keep those babies inside for a bit longer, MrsPuls. Darn preterm labor! You've done a beautiful job getting the babies so nice and big at 29w.


I think Alexander is pretty much done with occupational therapy (he had some gross motor skills delays), but we are going to be starting both boys with a speech therapist sometime in the next month. They both have the same # of words (4 or so) in their vocabulary, and both boys know the same signs, but they just don't seem interested in expanding things. I keep saying to the therapists that I think they are too consumed talking TwinTalk to eachother to learn English words. I know from my aunt (my father's twin) that she only spoke TwinTalk for a few years when they were little, and my father would "translate" her TwinTalk into English for the grownups. It's not that she couldn't speak English, just that she chose to only speak in TwinTalk! So when I hear Thomas jabbering away in what sounds like sentences in another language, I can only figure that he's talking TwinTalk to Alexander.

It's so cool. But, at the same time, I do want them to be able to communicate with people other than their TWIN!

~ Phen

[charmcitygirl]

omg, phen! i am scared shitless about the twintalk.... i was kinda hoping it was an identical twin thing, but i guess not. ugh! more ways to team up againt the adults.

[mittyrd]

MrsPuls: I'm hoping those babies stay put a little longer for you. That's great that you could get all the shots for their lungs though! It makes a huge difference (I only got one shot and it helped immensely).

Charmcity: I am so jealous!! I think Matt would probably sleep longer but Sam wakes up and then Matt wakes up when we take Sam out of the crib. I guess I could separate them but then I'm afraid neither would sleep. Last night they went 5.5 hours so we were happy with that.

Phen: My younger brother is 11 months apart from me and we spoke in our own language too according to my parents.

Pilotswife: I did not feel sick before going into labor. I was strapped down for both c/s and they were at different hospitals.

CBiggers: When Jake had his first bath at home, DH took him out of the sink and smashed his head into the door frame :eek: :eek: We both cried and watched him all night. Didn't seem to bother him at all either.

Today is my last day at home :( I can't believe the boys have been home for 12 weeks already. Time flew. I was trying on my old work clothes and nothing fits right. Everything moved in various directions :rolleyes: Think I'll have to go out and get myself some control tops tonight. How depressing!

thanks for all the comments about my boys! I am very proud of them!

[klm2klh]

By another doctor, do you mean a perinatologist or maternal-fetal medicine specialist, or just a different OB who has experience with twins?

Phen - I have been going to a low risk clinic where the group is made up of family doctors who deliver babies. They each have their own family practices, but work 1 day a week at the clinic. Now that I am having twins they have referred me to an obstetrician who works out of a clinic at the hospital I will deliver at.

MrsPuls - Sorry to hear about your preterm labour issues. It's good to hear that you are staying positive. Wishing you all the best.

I had my first visit to the hospital yesterday. I had been having some mild cramping that started the previous evening and never really went away. I went to work and by lunch it still wasn’t any better. It wasn’t any worse either so I kind of flipped flopped back and forth as to whether I should go to the hospital (the doctor’s at my clinic told me if I had any concerns I should go). So I finally decided that I would go.

I went to emergency and they sent me up to labour & delivery. They gave me a bed and listened to the babies’ heartbeats, asked some questions and took a urine sample. I waited for a while and the doctor that was there from my clinic came by. She asked some more questions and gave me some options of what they could do. They decided that they would do some further analysis on my urine and send me for an ultrasound to check my cervix. I had to wait for a while, but eventually went down to radiology. They started by looking at and measuring the babies and everything looked good (they each weight almost 1 lb now) and then checked my cervix. At first she was concerned that the placenta was too close, but after switching to a different method everything looked good there too.

I went back upstairs and waited for the doctor. The results from my urine came back and everything was fine there too (they thought I might have a bladder infection). So basically they couldn’t find anything that was wrong, but were able to rule out pre-term labour or a bladder infection, which was reassuring. I still felt kind of crummy for the rest of the evening and during the night, but I do feel better today. I guess I can chalk it up to mysterious pregnancy pains, but I am still glad that I went.

[khouse]

Just a quick reply to angelgirl8: I had to take the 3 hour glucose test. Brought a book that I was really into, so as to pass the time quicker. I didn't walk around but instead just stayed in their waiting room b/c I was light headed from not eating. And made sure I had a big snack with me for immediately afterward. No matter what you do, you are going to feel pretty crummy once the test is done. Keep a positive attitude and know that it is for the well being of you and your baby. By the way ... I passed this one and am confident you will too! Keep us posted!

[PilotsWife]

he also speaks "whale" to them...just like on Nemo

lovin'it - This is just too funny!! DH and I love this movie!

MrsPuls - I'm sorry about your pre-term labor - sending you healthy baby and baby stay put vibes!!

Angelgirl8 - I failed the 1 hour glucose test too. I also brought a book and sat in the waiting room to pass the three hours. The drink is still awful, but I knew I had to keep it down, otherwise they'd just give me another one to drink - and I certainly did not want that to happen!!


Yesterday was the first bio-physical exam - they check amniotic fluid, movement, heart beat and blood flow thru the umbilical cord. After the technician took a ton of readings on the blood flow, she went to retrieve the doctor. Doctor was very nice and said everything looked good - apparently there was some concern because the tech was getting irregular readings, but the doctor said it was only because the baby was practicing his breathing so "rigorously" that it was affecting the readings, so she took an average and everything was normal. I go back on Friday for the first non-stress test.

My cousin just called to say she had a *feeling* that I was in labor. :eek: I know this sounds odd to some, but I truly believe in this stuff (I had a couple of experiences where I knew something was going to happen and then very shortly later, it did) - so even though I believe in this sort of thing, I truly hope she's wrong because DH just left for a trip! He won't be home until around 11 PM tomorrow!

[cari2]

cbiggers - sorry about Caroline's fall! That happened to us when Caitlin was 6 weeks old. Somehow (don't ask how) she rolled off our bed. We felt terrible and because she was so small the ped. told us to go to the ER. Poor thing had to have a cat scan but was fine. It was so scary. Hope she is doing great today!

mitty - I am so impressed that your work clothes fit at all! Mine are so far from fitting it is not even funny.

MrsPuls- Great job on the weights. Hoping the babies will stay inside a little bit longer for you...

Phen - I've never heard of twintalk. That is interesting...

Quiet here right now...the girls are napping (in their swings as that is the only way they will nap). I have been so tired lately, it is hard to get motivated to go out. Did you experienced twinmamas find it took a while before you started going out and doing things with the babies? I feel guilty for not taking them many places or doing much,and find myself envious of people who have one baby. Don't get me wrong I am really happy and love my girls, but it just seems so easy to have "only" one...

[cbiggers]

Angelgirl - I honestly liked the three hour better than the one hour. The one hour made me so sick but the three hour was fine. Don't ask me why, but I didn't get sick at all. I did have a nutritious snack ready to go for when I was done.

Cari - I had pretty bad PPD and it was flu season, so we ended up being home A LOT! Their ped didn't even want them out of the house (meaning around other people, ie malls, stores, etc.) for at least six weeks. I took them out on little walks during the day just to try to get some sunshine for me and regain a little bit of sanity. Once the PPD was under control, though, I felt good enough to go out quite a bit. YOu'll get there! Even to this day, we try to get out at least once a day, whether that be for a walk, run errands, get momma a fountain Diet Coke, whatever! It is a TON of work, don't get me wrong. Two trips to the car, two of this, two of that, but I think if you force yourself to do it the first few times, it'll get much, much easier for you! Hang in there!

MrsPuls - Sending out some "stay put" vibes to your little ones. Hope you are doing o.k.

Thanks to everyone on the well wishes for Caroline. Her ped said he sees it all the time and he'll just check her when we go in for their 1-year WBV. Kenan (khouse) was over today and couldn't even tell, so it's probably only something the momma is seeing.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Our last weekend before Thanksgiving! Yikes! I"m cooking my first ever T-Day dinner. Wish me luck. It could be interesting!

[relly]

I'd like to join the group.

I'm at 17w1d and my twins are due April 26, 2006.

Due to a history of m/cs and a failed IVF I've been afraid, but am now ready to join and I am so happy and excited to be a part of this group.

Married: 11/8/3
TTC: 11/8/3
M/Cs: March 2004, May 2004, November 2004
BFP: 8/18/5, IVF #2
EDD: April 26, 2006

[cbiggers]

Welcome Relly!!!!! It sounds like you are well on your way to being a twinmomma! Hopefully you'll find out soon what you are having. Hope your pg is going well and hope we can help if you need anything!

[jrsygirl]

Welcome Relly!!

We're pretty much due at the same time! How are you feeling??

I'm still mildly nauseous but at least I have a little energy back. I'm still worried like 90% of the time that something will go wrong but I am trying really hard to stay positive.

I *think* I might have felt the babies move for the first time this morning but since its my first pregnancy to get this far I'm not sure :o

[PilotsWife]

Welcome relly !!!

[Phen]

Welcome relly! Is that your 40w EDD or your twin EDD?

cari asked:
Did you experienced twinmamas find it took a while before you started going out and doing things with the babies?
We had family staying with us and helping for the first 5 weeks or so. After that, it was me. I got braver as time went on about going out "alone" with the boys. If you keep your expectations low, it's not hard, I think. For instance, don't think you can start off running three errands at three different stores (like foolish me did today -- and now we're all beat!). Our first solo excursions were generally things like meeting friends for walks out at the park, or driving to Daddy's office to pick him up and take him to lunch. Or the blessed drive-thru series of errands (bank, pharmacy, dry-cleaning)! Oh those rock. The timing of our trips was actually the hardest thing...I would spend their naps making sure I was all packed to go so that we could leave right after they woke up...otherwise, we wouldn't get halfway through an errand without them falling apart. But newly-rested babies really make errand-running easier, I think.

jrsygirl, I felt my guys move around 15 weeks, but it didn't start getting to be a regular "oh that was definitely babies and not gas" kind of thing until about 16 and a half weeks. :)

Take care y'all!

~ phen

[khouse]

Welcome Relly & Congratulations!!!

Angelgirl: Keep us posted on your 3 hour glucose test. I have lost track as to when you have that scheduled?!

Casey (cbiggers) is right, I did not see any difference in Caroline's smile when the girls and I were over! And she seemed as content as she could be watching Baby Einstein! :D

Cari: In the beginning I was in a similar situation as Phen. My Mom was able to help out for the first four weeks and then everyone went back to work and about their normal lives. Leaving me with these two teeny, tiny babies to take care of. I forced myself to get out and do something, even if it was a walk around the block. The more you do it, the easier it gets. And the pre-preparation (another Phen suggestion) is GREAT! Pack your diaper bag, while the kiddos sleep. And then once they wake up, give them each a clean diaper and be on your way! :)

Everything is going well with myself and the girls! Although in the last 24 hours I have become an emotional basket case regarding the girls' 1st birthday! It isn't the party or the planning. It is the fact that my two little ones will be a year old! Has anyone had this same experience with their first born? I think the bulk of my emotions come from the fact that we haven't decided if we are having more children. If we don't, I think about all the "firsts" that the girls have had and I won't get to experience those again (ie: crawling). I am babbling ... :o

Have a great weekend ladies!~

[cari2]

Thanks for the advice re: getting out of the house. I'm sure you are all right - as soon as I get out there once it will become easier each time. Love the tips re: packing while they're sleeping, etc. Any other tips (time saving or sanity saving :) would be great! I am going to try going to the mall tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

I'm also going to try and post some pics later...

Welcome Relly!

[cbiggers]

ONe little pic of the girls' one-year portraits from yesterday. Overall, I was much happier with KiddieKandids than I was with PicturePeople. More backdrops, more props, etc. They turned out pretty good and we only spent $100!!! Not bad, IMO!
http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/scratch/U53B6TBVWFBUCGD5-HG5SJ.jpg

Took the girls to a football party at DH's co-worker's house this a.m. Can you say more trouble than it's worth???? It's just so hard to take them somewhere that so isn't babyproofed. I know I didn't watch but two plays (no big loss since it was the Raiders!;) ) and poor DH didn't get much watching in either. It's a darn lot of work! I'm exhausted!

Kenan - Did we talk about this?? I've felt the same way! My babies. My little babies. Now they are nearly walking, etc. and I'm jsut wondering where the year went! It went by much too fast. We know for sure we aren't having anymore and I'm fine with that, but I still look back on this year and just can't believe I'll never see those "firsts" again!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and a happy Thanksgiving week! I know we all have soooo much to be thankful for!:D

[relly]

Thanks so much for the welcome.

I have yet to feel the twins move, but am eagerly waiting for that day. We have an u/s appt. this Wed. with the technician and am hoping we'll find out their genders then. I had an appt. this past Tuesday with my midwife and I asked her if she could tell yet and she thought that one may be a boy but the other was not in a good position to tell.

My due date of April 26th is based on 40w, hoping my actual will also fall sometime in April, my niece would like it to be on her birthday, April 12th. If I could go that long I'd be thrilled or perhaps I should say 38 weeks sounds really good for right now.

Cbiggers - your 2 little baby girls are so adorable! What a precious picture and I love their outfits.

[angelgirl8]

welcome relly!!

cari...i can't see your pictures! :(

casey...adorable pictures! and i love your avatar!!

jrsygirl...i missed this, but you asked about movement? i felt some tiny bubbling around 15 1/2 weeks. and then more consistent significant movement around 18 weeks. i could feel them from the outside around 20/21 weeks!

____

i passed my 3-hour GTT! thanks everyone for the advice and support when i was panicking about it!

everything here is good: i'm very uncomfortable and cannot sleep at all, but otherwise i'm hanging in there!

[Journey]

WOW, I have missed a lot! Please forgive me for not doing SO's, but I need to go back and read the last dozen pages!

Really quick, Catie is now walking. She is taking about 8 or 9 steps to get from one thing to another. I don't think Natie is too far behind. Catie is weighing 19.5 lbs and Natie is 23lbs. (Thier big brother is two and a half already and is 33lbs!) We tried to get Christmas pictures today. The twins kept crawling away so we had to put them in a chimney!

Anyway, I better get reading!

https://www.searsphotos.com/ImageServer/dep_show_line_item.aspx?I=CC843EAF-8CE4-4661-89F6-40B23BC1987F&C=Nat

[PilotsWife]

Hi everyone! Happy Turkey Day!! :D

Had 2 appointments today - one with the perinatologist & one with the OB. Both babies look good - good movement, both practicing their breathing and good blood flow in the cord. They are supposed to take measurements on their size at the end of this week (per their file, but I have an appointment on Wednesday, so they might do it then). OB has now put me officially on full bed rest :o She says I have what looks like the start of pre-eclapsia. (higher then normal blood pressure, protein in the urine, my whole left leg is about 5 times its normal size and feels like it will explode if it was stuck with a pin!) She's ordered more blood work and a blood pressure check on Friday. She wants to squeeze out 1 week and then take the babies. It is up to me if I try vaginal delivery or c-section. Is there anyone out there who chose c-section? If yes, why?? Please help - I need info. I'm not a person who would be absolutely crushed if I couldn't deliver vaginally and I'm starting to get VERY nervous about the pain of labor!! :eek: :eek:

[cari2]

Angelgirl - Yeah for passing!! Hope the test wasn't too nasty. Don't know what is up with the pics! I can see them on my computer...Maybe I'll try re-posting...

Pilot's wife - so glad everything looks good with the babies. You've done great and it sounds as if the babies will be here any day now. At the beginning of my pregnancy my doctor leaned toward c-section and I said ok so I guess in a sense I choose c-section. In general I felt c-section was more predictable: no worry about the second baby turning breech after the first is delivered, no chance of both a vaginal and c-section, etc (that would be the worst to me.).

So I went to the mall today. The girls did really good and it was fun! I think they were sort of in shock by all the action. However, the next time I go I may make a sign that reads:
....Yes (they are twins)
....Caitlin and Brooke
....15 weeks
....Thank you (congratulations, you look great for having twins)
....Sure, take a peek. I know you just can't help yourself.

LOL.

[angelgirl8]

journey...love the picture! and yay (or boo!) for the walking!

pilots wife...you're doing great. hang in there! keep those legs up!

[cbiggers]

Cari- I had to laugh at your "sign". In one of the twin books I had read, they actually (no joke) recommended doing that. Too funny! Get used to the attention because it only gets more and more, especially when they are out of the carriers and into the regular stroller seats. I am told that it sort of declines once they get older. But, hey, who knows! Just get used to it!

Pilotswife - YOu are in there!!!!!! I'd say from here on out, you are good to go! Great job!!!! As for the c-section, yes, I chose it from way early on. My dr. was pro c-section anyway, and that was fine by me. I was all for drugs and the quickest way out of a long nine months! Honestly, my recovery wasn't that bad. I don't even think I took a Vicodin after getting home, just Ibuprofen. My only problem was a pretty severe reaction to the anesthesia, but I'm allergic and they didn't believe me, so go figure! Other than that, the section was o.k.

Journey - What a great pic!!! I LOVE it! Boy, your two are walking really early! C&I will be one in a little over a week and both are jsut now really starting to walk. Isabel especially. She's gaining confidence quick and I think she'll be full time walking soon. Yikes!

Happy Thanksgiving week!

[Bernie]

pilotswife - So glad to hear the babes are both looking good - I can't believe you're almost there!!

angelgirl8 - I know I've already congratulated you - but congrats again on passing the test!!

journey - that picture is adorable!

relly - a belated welcome!

Hope everyone has a great holiday!

[sea74]

Just coming by to say I saw a commercial today for a really cute toy, it's called the Twin dollhouse. Thought it might be a nice gift if you're all still Christmas shopping. I think the twins in the set were a girl and boy but not 100% sure.

And ... you all have the cutiest babies!

[QPDoll]

Cari-I thought I would hate the attention, but its generally nice comments and since Im home alone most of the time, its nice to talk to another adult! LOL A lot of the times at the mall though, I pretend not to hear the "Oh! Twins!" remarks and keep on walking.

Pilotswife c-section - It was offered to me. I wanted one because I was so afraid of the pain of labor! LOL But I went with a vag delivery because of the recovery time (I didn't have a lot of help after they were born). My baby B was breach, and they turned him manually while A was being born. Absolutly no problems, I didn't feel a thing and didn't even notice they did it. I really thought L&D would hurt...and with an epi I really didn't feel anything. Labor was actually easy, and I was joking with the doctors through delivery. I thought I had to wait till I couldn't stand the pain anymore to get an epi, but I was wrong. I really didn't have any bad pain. Im really happy with my decision for a vag delivery because recovery was so much easier than a c/s - and since I didn't have help - that was very important.

[mittyrd]

Hi Everyone! I'm back at work so I'm getting used to being busier than ever. So far so good although I do miss the babies!!

Pilot's wife: I had 2 c/s and while the second was much easier than the first, it wasnt' too bad. Just remember to keep up with the pain meds while you are in the hospital and don't get behind on that - it takes longer to catch up. Also, get lots of rest while you are in the hospital (you won't be getting it at home...)

Relly: Welcome!

Journey: Love the picture!

Cari: Love your sign! Haven't experienced that yet since I can't take the babies out but maybe when the spring comes and they can meet the world....

[relly]

angelgirl8 - congrats on passing the 3 hour GTT

journey - such a cute pic

pilotswife - hope you're resting comfortably

cari2 - the sign idea is too funny

Well, we found out this morning that we're having a BOY and a GIRL !

We are so happy. There was a bit of a scare, when we met the u/s technician she told me I'd next see her in a month then eventually every other week. When she had finished, she asked if I had an appt. with the Dr. now, I responded no but do I need to see him, she said no but she'd like to see me in a week or two. So I asked which, one week or two, she said one. While I was making my appt. the receptionist said I should move my regular Tuesday appt. to Thursday, after next week's u/s. I said no because now I am freaking out and I want to speak to the midwife about this u/s. The u/s tech. heard me say I was freaking out and she said there's no need to. So I am worried a bit but continue to tell myself to remember what she said, there's no need to freak out. The twins were moving quite a bit, and I am excactly 18 weeks, could it be that they were just too squirmy and it's a bit too soon to get a really good look at them?

I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving! I've finished making my pie so now I'm off to bed.

[jrsygirl]

relly First of all congrats on your boyand your girl!!

How cool that we will have two sets at the same time!!

Try not to freak about the US. I'm sure if she saw something worriesome she would have called someone in then and there. When I had mine at 17 weeks they said that it was still a bit early to see some things they wanted to and they wanted me to come back in two weeks so they could finish.

[natgirl]

Hi mamas,

I have been absolutely awful about posting here. I've never been good at keeping up with threads. Please forgive me and my ADHD!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are doing well. Babies and mama are growing at an alarming rate. I suppose that is to be expected though! My DD, Sophie, doesn’t quite know what to make of my belly. I keep telling her that there are “babies inside”, and she laughs and points to her belly. I think she thinks she is growing babies too.

I think I may have found a baby nurse to help with overnights in the very beginning. It is so much more expensive than I had imagined, so it will be very short term. I’ll take whatever I can get though! I know those first couple of weeks will be very hard.

I've also been slowing down lately. I just can't seem to keep up with the daily stuff like I used to. I'm exhausted all the time and I just feel huge and uncomfortable. I know it will only get worse, and that scares me!

Anyway....congratulations to all the new twin mama members! It seems we have a LOT of boy/girl twins coming up! Very exciting! Everyone asks me if I know what the gender of my baby is and I love saying "One of each!" :D

I love all the recent pictures on this thread. The babies are all so gorgeous!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Natalie

[Jad]

Good news! We got a good look at the twins last Wednesday and they are most definitely *not* sharing an amniotic sac. We are incredibly relieved.

Of course, the OB told me that I'm now considered to be of advanced maternal age (will still be 34 when I deliver, but I guess the risks are higher with twins.) So we have to figure out whether or not to do the CVS. I've got an appointment scheduled for the NTT, but I know the blood work on that gets kind of wonky and unreliable with twins. So we're thinking that we'll use the physical measurement as a guide to whether or not to go ahead with the CVS. But is that "off" for twins as well? What did folks here do?

[jrsygirl]

I had a US this morning this morning that showed two minor markers for Downs in one of the babies. Otherwise the baby looked perfect. I'm hesitatnt to do an amnio because there is an elevated risk to the other.

I did not have an AFP done because the Dr's felt t was useless because it would comback as false positive because of the multiples.
Just looking to see what your experiences were and what you did..
Thanks!

[Bernie]

Jad - Great news about the sacs! I had the NTT done - and my blood work turned out fine. They told me that it could be off because there were two babes, but then it wasn't.

Jrsygirl - How many weeks are you now? At my first OB appointment, my doctor told me not to do the AFP because having twins would give me a false positive. Then, at my 19 week appointment, a different doctor told me that in her experience, the results were okay for all of her twinmammas. So I had the test at 19 weeks, and everything was fine.
Did your OB recommend an amnio? Sending positive vibes your way - I hope everything turns out okay!

[jrsygirl]

Bernie I'm 18w 3d. The reason the afp wasn't recommnded - and still isn't- was because I have a uterine anomoly in addition to having the twins.

The Dr didn't really lean either way because of my specific body issues - they don't really know how an amnio would affect the other baby because my case is kind of unique.


I've been doing a lot of research and it seems that the soft marker for the heart is actually under scrutiny as to whether it should even be considered a marker.

My concern is am I going to spend the next 4 mos wondering and worrying , or should I do the amnio knowing the risks but at least then I will Know. Its so hard. This prenancy has already had so many problems and issues...

[charmcitygirl]

jad good news... congrats!

jrsygirl sorry to hear about your u/s... i don't know what to say. just hoping that everything turns out okay. i'm sure it will.

finding out the sexes wow! so many b/g twins here. they're the best ;)

question for those of you who co-sleep your twins how do you position them: side by side, head to head, feet to feet? jake and zoe are going to have to move out of our room and into their crib(s) soon since they are both sleeping! through! the! night! solidly for 2 weeks.

[saathei]

jrsygirl I'm so sorry... I have no advice, but I hope it turns out OK!


question for those of you who co-sleep your twins how do you position them: side by side, head to head, feet to feet? jake and zoe are going to have to move out of our room and into their crib(s) soon since they are both sleeping! through! the! night! solidly for 2 weeks.
We did side by side when they were little and could sleep with their heads to the sides, rather than the ends. Then we did feet to feet, and now they are in seperate cribs.

[kat]

Hi, everyone! What adorable pics you've posted since I was last here! Makes me so excited for next Christmas.....

Jad, for FRATERNAL twins with unfused placentas, CVS isn't any less effective than it is for singletons (they remove a bit of the placental tissue from each baby). I have absolutely no idea what they do when the twins are identical and/or sharing a placenta. But I know that at NW, they do it until the 12-week mark. Aren't you getting close to that point? You may have to wait and do an amnio.

By the way, because I did CVS we skipped the NTT. We *did* do the AFP test (mainly because it didn't involve anything more than a needle prick, and not in my uterus :)), because CVS doesn't test for neurological defects like spina bifida. Doc told us it wouldn't be as accurate with twins, but combined with the Level II ultrasound we feel reassured.

I can't believe they're designating you as AMA at 34!!! I'd scream "NO FAIR!" :D

Hope everyone is well and had a great Thanksgiving. Both babies (but especially Boy) are kicking up a storm....I don't feel as much from Girl, probably because she's hiding behind the placenta, which is on the "belly-side" wall of my uterus (and is huge).

The last u/s (mid-November) showed that Boy's amniotic fluid levels were back within the "normal range," although they're still on the high side of that range. STILL, we are cautiously optimistic that the polyhydramnios scare is over. Doctor, DH and I are going to wait for the next u/s to make that "call," however (and it's scheduled for mid-December).

I have an appointment on Thursday and then start going weekly until the end! Feeling a LOT LOT LOT of pressure/weight on my perineum when I walk and on the ligaments just under my belly. I can only imagine how much worse it's gonna get, considering they're only 2 lbs. each right now! :D

Question: when picking names for your twins, did you consider whether one name had a "nickname" and the other didn't? Right now we're considering a name for him that has a nickname and a name for her that doesn't. I dunno whether that'll upset one of them later in life or not. Honestly, I doubt it'll change our decision (they'll get over it, and it never bothered me that some of my siblings have names that can't be shortened and some of us do), but I wonder whether others who've gone through Twin Name Hell have considered this issue and, if so, what your thoughts were.

I am also bummed because if we give her the first-middle combo I like, they'll have the same initials....which is something I don't want to do for my own sake (marking clothes, etc.). Ugh. This picking names thing is NOT FUN AT ALL (and I sooooo thought it would be!).

[jrsygirl]

Thanks for all your support ladies. I know some of you have been through much worse ..I think it just helps to hear that others know the stress and worries of a high risk pg with twins.


Anyway- I spoke with our genetic counselor this morning that we had a relationship with. She answered a lot of my questions and calmed a lot of my fears which centered around "What if we have the amnio done only to find out everything was fine and in the process something happens to not only
the little girl but our son too?" Of course there are no guarantees but she said that was highly unlikely and in all their years of dealing with multiples she
has never seen it happen.

i think we're going to think it over some more but I think we're leaning towards doing it but at this point its just about peace of mind. We've only
known for 24 hours and I'm a wreck. I can't imagine dealing with the "what if" for another 3-4 mos. Especially since my PG is already high risk and I'm
supposed to be relaxing!

So if we do it they will do it either this Thursday or next Tuesday - the sooner the better in my mind. I'll keep you all updatted but in the meantime if you could send positive vibes my way I'd really appreciate it!

[charmcitygirl]

kat jake is just jake and zoe is actually arizona. i didn't even think about one having a nickname. i don't think it matters. as far as i'm concerned the more you can give each their own identity, the better. much easier with b/g twins, methinks. anyways, that said, i don't think that having the same initials is a big deal either.

funny story several weeks ago, i was going to the doc for my depo shot and i was rolling up to the office where lots of unsavory women hang. usually they are waiting for cabs. anyways, this one toothless crazy woman is standing there as i get to the front door and she starts asking questions about the babies. they are in pink and blue jackets. she asks their names and i tell her "arizona, but we call her zoe, and jake." her response: "oh! you have a boy and a jake!" my response: "yup" and just kept rolling. how funny is that?!

[lovin'it]

Hello Friends...

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We started working on our nursery. We are doing a little garden theme using lots of butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. I wanna do something sweet and simple at the same time. We were going to do more in the room, but with the possibility of moving somewhere else in the country just 4 months after the babies are born, we decided to tune it down. I am actually making a quilt...my first one...and bring some color to my white walls. Quilting is a much bigger art than I thought....we will see how it turns out.

Today I went and had my Gestational Diabetes Test done. Nothing horrible like people had described to me. They gave me a choice between Orange and Fruit Punch liquid thing...and I downed the fruit punch one. Delicious...! I sat there...had my blood collected and went on my way with a smile!

Then, I made a stop and got some new maternity undies. Sadly....I have grown out of my maternity undies...that is right...grown out of maternity undies...how twisted is that?

From there, DH and I went to the hospital for my appointment with Dr. Ganier, our Perinatologist. As always, the tech did most of the ultrasound and then, the Dr. came in and re-did everything the tech did. The tech said our baby A (one closest to cervix) was breech...just like our baby B. Great...that means C-section...baby A must be head down for a vaginal delivery. She went on to measure everything and the babies are both on time...even their little legs, that were shorter before, have seem to caught up. They are an ounce short of 2 lbs. each. She saw no hair ( hooray, I want bald babies), but was able to see eye lashes :)

Dr. Ganier came in after the tech with a huge smile on her face. She said she could not be happier about the development of these children. She is so proud of us for everything. As she said...they are cooking just right. When she went to check on baby A...she was not breech anymore. The little stinker managed to flip around and was then, head first! Which means...there is still room in there for them to grow a bit more....and the possibility for a vaginal delivery.

DH provided the entertainment during the whole thing. Dr. Ganier was laughing hard at times and even said she loves when we come cause we crack her up...no, not me...he cracks her up!

She told us that these will most likely be February babies...they are growing well enough that she can't see them have much room, much longer. She is happy that Dr. Judd is willing to deliver vaginally even if baby B is breech. Not many Dr. are willing to go inside and grab the baby like he is. Both babies are weighing the same....great news for us. Twins usually steal from each other, but these girls...they are sharing :)

I asked her about preterm labor...and she said that if they are born in the next 2 weeks, they will most likely make it, but the complications are/can be severe - cerebral palsy, blindness, lung disorders...and many more. So, she said for us to pray for at least 32 weeks... I can see myself making that mark no problem!

I am in A--W--E! Can you tell....? I have had so many nightmares lately and scary thoughts...so, it was wonderful to hear these news. I have lots of energy and I feel great most of the time. I wonder if I ever carry just one baby, which the Dr. told us is more likely not to happen, I will look at it and think..."Gosh this is cake!" ... Yes, our Dr. thinks I will either have twins again or a higher order! Thanks to my family's genes! I am not complaining! :)

Oh...and one more thing....I now have to sleep seating down on our couch! The sacrifices I make for these kids!

Hugs to all!

[QPDoll]

the soft marker for the heart is actually under scrutiny as to whether it should even be considered a marker.

Our babies had the same soft marker, and it was just monitored at each monthly ultrasound. It seems like just because we are having so many US, it is more typical to find these things, if we didn't have the USs, we would be oblivious to them. The way our geneticist explained it to us, was that all babies develop at their own rate, including the heart. For us, the soft markers were discovered at 16 weeks. The heart issue was resolved by our 23 week ultrasound, and we also had a kidney issue which resolved by 31 weeks gestation.

We opted not to have further testing beyond the ultrasounds, since it was closely monitored that way, and US offered no risks like the amnio or CVS (and was more accurate than the CVS since they could watch each baby seperately).

Lovein-it
Congrats on a great checkup! Get comfy on your couch, it will be your favorite place from here on out.

[QPDoll]

Just wanted to share our visit with Santa!
Nates on the left, and Petes on the right. They were excellent for Santa (the rest of the trip to the mall wasn't *fun* in the least bit though! Will recommend to NOT go to the mall the day after Thanksgiving, with 4 month old twins.) They sure know who to be good for though! LOL The fat, jolly man who brings presents! LOL

http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/000ehsa7/s640x480

[lovin'it]

Lovin'it: Congrats on a great checkup! Get comfy on your couch, it will be your favorite place from here on out.

Thanks Tina! I have loved the couch so far!

[jrsygirl]

Tina Your boys are absolutely adorable!! I love that pic with Santa :)

[angelgirl8]

just wanted to stop in and say hi to everyone!

i had an OB appt on monday and the doctor said i was slightly dilated, but that my cervix was still long.

unfortunately, both babies are breech right now so she set a tentative c-section date. i'm totally unthrilled with that. any thoughts on how to get these babies (or at least baby A!) to turn?

now i'm back to being worried about pre-term labor!

also, is this normal? i've been having tons of pain on the underside of my giant belly and pain at the front and back of my hips and pain in my thighs. is this just everything stretching?

has anyone heard from MrsPuls? she was in the hospital, last we heard!

[PilotsWife]

Just a quick note to announce that Aidan Morgan and Ryan David were born at 10:02 and 10:03 PM on Friday, November 25th by c-section. Aidan weighed 4 pounds and 9 ounces and Ryan weighed 5 pounds and 9 ounces. We just got home yesterday - will write more and post pictures very soon! Right now, I need a nap.....:p

[charmcitygirl]

pilotswife congrats on your babies! hope everyone is resting and recovering comfortably.

[Bernie]

Congratulations PilotsWife (and Pilot too)!! I just got back from an appointment with the maternal fetal specialist, and something about being in the Kraft Center made me wonder what was going on with you and your little guys. I am so happy to hear that they are both finally here, and I can't wait to see pictures!

[Jad]

Congratulations pilotswife! And welcome Aidan and Ryan!!!

[angelgirl8]

congratulations on your boys pilotswife! what beautiful names! and they seem like they're good sized boys, too. feel good!!

[Phen]

Congratulations on your boys, PilotsWife! I'm guessing they came home with you? I'm eager to see photos, but I think we all would understand if we don't see them 'til 2006. ;)

Great news on your kiddos, Jad! I'm so thrilled for you. BTW, we declined the AFP because of the high rate of false positives for twins, and no one suggested an amnio for me (I was 32 at the time of my pregnancy).

WRT that pain, angel, I don't remember hip pain specifically but I do remember the underside of my belly being seriously ouchy. Yeah, I think it's because your belly is nearly the size of a full-term belly already, but it couldn't hurt to mention it to the OB. I wish I could help on turning the babies tips, but I really want you to know that I was also apprehensive about a c-section recovery being hard, and I promise you, it was not anywhere near as bad as I'd feared!

QP, that photo with Santa is precious. :)

I'm pleased your OB praised you on your babies, Lovin'It; so many OBs out there forget to do that, especially with a multiples pregnancy. I spent a bit of my third trimester sleeping in a recliner...it worked for part of the night, but once I got up for a bathroom run, I was never able to get comfy again in the recliner. D'oh! I'd heard before that once a woman has multiples, she is at an increased "risk" of having multiples again in subsequent pregnancies. I think that "risk" alone keeps my DH awake at night, worrying! ;)

Many positive vibes for tomorrow's (hopefully) amnio, Jrsygirl! Hoping for good answers and results.

kat asked:
when picking names for your twins, did you consider whether one name had a "nickname" and the other didn't?
sorta, but not really. But now that you mention it, I realize that I am reluctant to call Alexander by his nickname ("Alec") because we can't agree on a nickname for Thomas, and it does sound a little funny to me to be saying "Alec and Thomas." Oh I dunno. That's crazytalk!

charmcity, by cosleep twins do you mean they sleep with you in your bed or they sleep together in one crib/bed? Our boys shared a crib from the get-go (for the first 8 weeks, anyhow), and we put them side by side. At least one of the boys was in a sleep positioner, though as they got older, we had to put them both into sleep positioners because CERTAIN ONES NAMED THOMAS tended to flail his arms around and whack his brother in the head otherwise.

natgirl, isn't it insane how expensive baby nurses are? We had one (who wasn't even that great or skilled or anything) for about two weeks. She cost a freakin' fortune, but, on the other hand, I got a full nights' sleep every time she was there...that's like gold!

Congratulations on your son and daughter, relly!

Great to hear from you, mittyrd, and journey, and Casey and Bernie and everyone else, too.


My boys are little wildmen. I have been tearing my hair out for weeks trying to get them both to sit still at the same time long enough to take ONE stupid photo for our Christmas cards. It just doesn't happen! They gang up on me, too. Sometimes when I am changing one's diaper (on the floor in the playroom -- we don't have time for the changing table anymore, we are such busy guys), the other one will come over and try to sit in my lap or climb on me or something...anything to make the diaper change more challenging. And, of course, when it's time for THAT one to get changed, he runs just out of reach, giggling. Oh, and then there's their new favorite game: tell me (via signing) that they want to eat, so I say "lunchtime," and walk into the kitchen, whereupon they laugh and run behind the couch to hide from me.

Wish me luck, tomorrow is a big day: haircuts for both boys AND checkups at the pediatrician's...involving SHOTS!! Anyone else think I should premedicate ME, in addition to the boys? ;)

~ Phen

[Phen]

OH, and I was thinking...this thread is nearing 60 pages long; would y'all be okay with starting a new thread in the new year? You know, Twinmamas 2006 edition?

~ Phen

[vancouvergirl]

OH, and I was thinking...this thread is nearing 60 pages long; would y'all be okay with starting a new thread in the new year? You know, Twinmamas 2006 edition?

~ Phen

good idea, phen.

congratulations to pilotswife! what fabulous names!!

[relly]

Pilotswife - congratulations and welcome to Aidan and Ryan ! !

QPdoll - what a fabulous picture, your boys are so cute. That's a good looking Santa, too.

Phen - good luck tomorrow, hope there's not too many tears. New year, new thread, sounds good.

[lovin'it]

I'm pleased your OB praised you on your babies, Lovin'It; so many OBs out there forget to do that, especially with a multiples pregnancy. I spent a bit of my third trimester sleeping in a recliner...it worked for part of the night, but once I got up for a bathroom run, I was never able to get comfy again in the recliner. D'oh! I'd heard before that once a woman has multiples, she is at an increased "risk" of having multiples again in subsequent pregnancies. I think that "risk" alone keeps my DH awake at night, worrying! ;)

Phen! My family has been the focus of a huge study because of its fertility. My maternal great-great-grandma had 8, yes...8 sets of twins. My maternal great grandma had a set of triplets and 4 sets of twins. My maternal grandma had a set of triplets (my mom was one of them). My cousins that have kids...all have triplets. I am the first of the generation to have ONLY twins. My grandma said it will be weird when someone has a singleton in this generation. And...to top it off...my dad is a TWIN! So, both of my parents are multiples...

I told my Dr. that and he looked at DH and asked him if he had interviewed me before marrying me.

In all truth, I prayed very hard for these twins. I wanted to have them, regardless of all the work it would come with it. I told my husband that and he wanted to shoot me...nah, he is so excited...it's funny!

Both my Perinatal and OB have praised me. The OB was the one who thought I was a lunatic when I told him I had read Dr. Luke's book and wanted to gain 40-60 lbs. He went on and on about my weight. I have gained almost 40 now...40 healthy lbs. and he is so happy about it.

I always tell my DH that "Mommy knows best." I firmly believe my body was made to bear children...and if I am a size 8 after I have kids and not a 4 like before....I am happy. I just want healthy kids!:D

[Phen]

WOW. You *were* meant to have twins! That is amazing. 8 sets of twins? holy geez! I always told my DH that I was going to have twins (my dad was a fraternal twin) and he liked that idea -- so really we weren't too shocked when we saw those two heartbeats at the ultrasound. :)

And Good For YOU for going for the weight gain despite the OB. Mine made a face when I first talked about Dr. Luke, but I ignored him and in the end, he also congratulated me on growing big healthy babies (I gained over 65 lbs. in the end).

You know, I'm actually a smaller size now--after a twinpregnancy--than I was before it. I'm not about to hang around the house in a bikini, but still, I'm feelin' good about myself. ;)

~ Phen

[angelgirl8]

phen...thanks! i think a new thread is a great idea in 2006. wow, that's close!

good luck with the appointments today...i think you'll need a nap after that!

[klm2klh]

Pilotswife - congratulations on your boys - I love their names!

[charmcitygirl]

phen good luck with the haircuts & appts today. yikes... sounds like a crazy day for you. maybe you should medicate yourself after with a nice stiff drink. but only one... you got kiddos to take care of ;) jake and zoe are currently in a co-sleeper, not our bed. they stay put in there, but the other night i put them in the crib for the first time and they were all over the place. not to mention that they were awake at 3am! last night they were back to the co-sleeper but it's getting awfully tight in there.

yes please to a new 2006 thread.

lovin' it oh geez. now you're scaring me. that's a lot of multiples! i am terrified that the next one will turn out to be two!

[MrsPuls]

Big Congrats to Pilotswife. So happy to hear everyone is doing well.

lovin' it - that's a lot of multiples. How interesting

I'm doing good myself. I was released on the 21st to bedrest at home, so my DH has limited my on-line time. Babies are staying put at least for now. I'm on procardium to stop contractions, but they've been becoming more frequent over the last 2 days. No more intense, just frequent. I'm still only 3cm dialiated, but babies are still breech. I'm really hoping to keep these two in for another 2 weeks, but have this feeling that it's not going to happen that way. My doctor says that if I come back in to the hospital that they will just deliver. I'm 32 weeks tomorrow.:D Just happy I've gone this far. I have an ultrasound with the specialist tomorrow to check size, so if I'm still contracting at the rate I am, I'll just see if my regular OB will see me quick.

[cbiggers]

Goodness! When this thread moves, it moves!

Pilotswife Huge congrats to you and your family! Can't wait to see pics! I'm so happy that the boys arrived happy and healthy.

Phen Haircuts?? That is great! I don't think Isabel will ever need a haircut!;) Hope the shots and ped appointment went well. I'm anxious to hear how much the boys weigh, because I have a sneaking suspicion that Isabel may outweigh them! A new 2006 thread sounds good to me! I know sometimes a huge thread can be intimidating to newcomers.

Kat[B] - We didn't give nicknames a thought, except that there wouldn't be nicknames. People that are close to us know that and like to call Isabel, Izzy just to bug me.:rolleyes: But, they are Isabel and Caroline and I like it that way. However, if we were to give one a nickname and not the other I don't think I would care much. Actually, I have a nickname for Caroline (I call her peapod) but not one for Isabel. Hopefully she won't grow up thinking i love her less!:p

[B]MrsPuls Glad you are home! Take it easy and here's hoping you keep 'em cooking a couple more weeks. But, it seems that even though they'd be early, it's not super super early. Hang in there!!!!

Sorry if I missed anyone! Things are crazy around here and I only have a few minutes to catch up!

This weekend, my babies will be 1 (along with khouse's girls, Delaney and Devon. Birthday party weekend!) How in the world did they get to be 1?? Both girls are walking, though Isabel much more than Caroline. Isabel just doesn't want to crawl anymore. She is very patient with learning to walk and just gets back up and tries again when she falls on her bum. So far no major injuries! Keeping my fingers crossed. Caroline just cut two more teeth, bringing her total to 4. Late bloomers on the teeth it seems. Isabel still seems to just have two, though she will not allow you near her mouth to see or feel for more so who really knows! All the relatives are arriving today and tomorrow for the party on Saturday. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to it but I'm also ready for it to be over. It's been a bit stressful and some drama (with certain family members. Dang it, it's not about YOU!!!!!) so I'll be glad when it's done!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

[angelgirl8]

cbiggers and khouse...if i don't get to you sooner, happy first birthdays to your babies. wow!

charmcitygirl...i think our plan is to have the babies in the cosleeper in the beginning. is that working out for you? which one do you have?

mrspuls...good to hear from you! glad you're hanging in...you're doing a great job growing those babies. and 32 weeks is fabulous!

[charmcitygirl]

angelgirl we have the original arm's reach co-sleeper... it's working out really well! the do better in it than they do in their crib.

[vancouvergirl]

angelgirl we have the original arm's reach co-sleeper... it's working out really well! the do better in it than they do in their crib.

i felt the same way.

[kat]

Congratulations, PilotsWife!!!! Can't wait to see the babies!

Happy first birthday to cbiggers's and khouse's girls!! They're all so cute - hope you'll be posting birthday party pictures!

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on the "nicknames" question. We are still going around and around on names, and frankly I'm ready to just call them "baby A" and "baby B" and be done with it. :)

*********
Had my (weekly) OB appointment today. The good news is that both heartbeats were strong, and I'm "only" measuring 31.5 weeks (I'm actually 27 weeks tomorrow), which is a good sign that the polyhydramnios is indeed gone. Next u/s isn't until 12/13, which will hopefully confirm that.

The bad news is that my cervix has changed -- it's now 1.5 centimeters dilated. :( I swear, if it isn't one thing we have to worry about, it's another. And I can tell myself, "Don't worry - it's probably nothing" until I'm blue in the face, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. :)

So anyway, I am on official "couch potato" status all weekend (which irks me, because we have SO MUCH TO DO and the house is a disaster zone). I go back in on Monday for another cervix check (she didn't want to wait until my "regular" weekly appointment later in the week). Hopefully there will be no change.

Hope all is well with everyone; have a great weekend!

[jrsygirl]

Just wanted to come by and update everyone on my day..

Got up super early and opted to drive into the city in case I was feeling crappy after and wouldn't want to be on a train.. We got to Columbia right on time and as usual the staff was super amazing (ya'll I WISH they could deliver my babies!! but because of distance and the fact that he doesn't do delivery anymore I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with the fact that when I need them they are there!!).

We sat down with the Dr right away and he told us he looked at the scans from Monday and he's not worried. He did see what they saw but that it is a small chance that the stomach might be something. For peace of mind we all decided to do the amnio ( i am obsessive and would spend the next half of my pregnancy worried) .

Anyway- we signed all the forms, they did another ultrasound of both babies to be doubly sure..The ultrasound looked good, the heart focus was still noticeable but he was quick to point out that 5% of all healthy babies have a cardiac focus. The stomach one also didn't look as bad. He said the rule of thumb for them is that if the spots are brighter than bone you worry. Hers aren't..but they are close.

Anyway halfway through the scan as they are prepping for the amnio the dr's like " I changed my mind".

umm??hello?

he decided since the baby's placenta was anterior (meaning on her the layers went stomach, placenta, sac where as our boy is opposite: stomach, sac and his placenta is attached behind him) the dr would hit the placenta before the sac He decided he wanted to minimize the risk to the baby and do a CVS- which tests the placenta tissue instead. They also noticed that my amniotic fluid around her is murky and wasn't sure if I had an infection or not.

DH and I were like: OK, you're the expert..if thats what you think, thats what we'll do!

I still got a big ol' needle in my belly but at least I have the reassurance of knowing the risk to the baby was minimized because they never touched the sac. The other plus is that the results come back way faster. The amnio would have taken almost two weeks. This way I should know by Tuesday at the latest. They also drew blood from me to see if I do in fact have an infection or if the murkiness in the amniotic fluid was just from the two hematomas and bleeding I had on that side back around 13/ 14 weeks.

Over all it wasn't bad at all..I have a bit of discomfort and some soreness. I'm just glad its over and now nervously awaiting the call on Monday/ Tuesday. DH of course was amazing and held my hand and took care of me all dy at home.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us that she is healthy!!

[kat]

jrsygirl: glad the amnio-turned-CVS went well. Keeping fingers crossed!

***********
Cross-posted from March Mommas:

Last night I spent midnight - 4 AM at the hospital. Shortly after I posted above, I noticed that I was bleeding, which sent me into the worst panic I've had in a very long time. And DH is out of town on business. So I paged the doctor and she said to head to the hospital. They hooked me and the babies up to monitors, did an u/s (baby A was kicking baby B in the head) and checked my cervix.

I feel SO reassured. The cramps I've been feeling were only very mild contractions (more like "irritable uterus"). She tested the [TMI ALERT] discharge I'd been having [/TMI ALERT] and it is NOT amniotic fluid. Both babies are doing fine, and the bleeding had stopped by the time we got to the hospital. She said she saw a little "clot" on my cervix that was probably caused by the afternoon exam by my doctor (which led to the bleeding). I was still 1.5 cm dilated, so there was no change there, which is good.

The only part of the whole experience that really SUCKED was the speculum. Have any of you had an exam with a speculum while pregnant? I've had a gazillion such exams in my life and never have they hurt like that.....so either the resident needs to go back and re-learn how to use those things or they're just more uncomfortable in pregnancy. Yowza that thing hurt.

So anyway, I am proud of myself for not completely losing it last night (except for the two minutes on the phone to DH after I discovered the bleeding). I am also feeling MORE relieved than I did before yesterday, because I now have confirmation that all the "little, weird" things that seemed "wrong" are no big deal.

Now we just keep our fingers crossed that I stay this way and don't dilate any more for the next 8 weeks or so. I was joking with the nurse yesterday that I probably will be back for an induction at 39 weeks!

Have a good weekend everyone!

[Jad]

Drive-by to say...

kat - Yikes! I've been thinking about you alot the last two days, and for good reason it looks like! Glad you're feeling somewhat reassured today, but I need to give you a call. And, since your P is out of town, we can be your delivery service if you need anything. :D

Also, back on my favorite topic of food, I had a great twinmama dinner last night. As background, there's this place in Missouri an hour or so from where I grew up that serves what they call "Gooberburgers." It's basically a hamburger with all the trimmings *plus* peanut butter. Well, I haven't quite worked up to hamburgers yet (was a vegetarian but am slowly working some meat into my diet), but I am happy to report that GooberBocaBurgers are quite tasty. :p Offered one to DH but he thought I was out of my mind. Hee.

[Phen]

Wow, y'all have nothing but great news around here to report (well, the speculum doesn't sound too great!). :)

I am happy to report that we survived our Afternoon of Shots and Haircuts. Although lookit Alexander getting his haircut. You'd think we were torturing him!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/applebutter/saddestboyever.jpg

~ phen

[mittyrd]

Hi all! I've been trying reading along but been so busy lately to post. I missed 2 days and there were 3 more pages! Work is good but busy. Home is good and very busy.

First, CONGRATULATIONS, Pilot'swife!!

Also, congratulations to those who got good news and those keeping those babies inside to cook longer!

Jrsygirl: Fingers are crossed.

Happy Birthday to all the (4) 1 year olds!!

QP: Great picture!

Phen: He looks so sad but at least he is letting her cut his hair! I never heard Jake cry so heard for his first 3 haircuts (DH has since taken them over - and he's not good at it - b/c of the hysteria it causes Jake)

Not much new here to report. The babies are doing well in daycare. She loves them and doesn't seem to want to let them go at the end of the day. Unfortunately, her mother died over the weekend so DH and I took turns staying home with them and she said when she got them back on Thursday that thinking of them got her through :)

The boys were doing great sleeping (7 pm - 3 am) until a couple of nights ago and now they are back to getting up 2 times during the night (12:30 pm and 4 ish am). I'm not sure what is going on - one of the nurses here suggested maybe it was a growth spurt? Could be b/c Sam especially has been eating more than normal. I was hoping we were going in a good trend with the later sleeping so I am bummed that it stopped.

Jake has been much more loving with the boys - kissing them good bye and pushing them in their swings (too hard but at least he means well). Yesterday, Sam started crying in his swing and Jake frantically ran away to his packnplay looking for his binkie for him. AWWWW!! How sweet is that?? I can't stand how much I love all those boys!! :D

[angelgirl8]

kat...yikes! i'm so impressed you stayed calm. every since my doctor said i was slightly dilated i've been freaking out. are you still getting transvaginal u/s cervical checks? they stopped mine a few weeks ago and now it's all internal exams when i go to my OB.

as for the speculum...i had the fFN test done twice with a speculum (and one internal exam) and man did they hurt! badly. i think it's a pregnancy thing, although they were never pleasant before.

hang in there and rest!

mittyrd...i love hearing about all 3 of your boys!

jrsygirl...sounds like your appointment went well even with the changes. glad you get results sooner!

jad...not sure about your meal there. will have to think about it some more!

vancouvergirl and charmcitygirl...we're definitely getting the cosleeper now. thanks for the push! how long do you think they both fit in there? also, you put them with their feet facing the bed, right??


everything seems to be okay here. lots of pelvic pain the last few days and underbelly pain. ouch! sleep is getting more and more difficult. and i've been having mild menstrual-like cramps (infrequently). wish i had a crystal ball here. or at least an u/s machine!

growth scan on tuesday should tell us how the babies are doing in terms of weight and stuff. they don't do cervical checks anymore, but i think they might be able to see my cervix on the regular u/s if it's any more dilated that it was on monday?

[Journey]

My goodness, you can't miss a day in here!

PilotsWife - Congratulations on your healthy babies!! Cannot wait to see pictures.

cbiggers and khouse - Happy 1st birthday to all your sweet little girls. The time goes so fast, and I have enjoyed being part of your first years journey with them.

phen - That picture is too cute!!! I don't think my kids will ever need haircuts. Will is 2.5 and has only had about 3, Natie is still bald (he has fuzz, it is just so light that you cannot see it unless you have a magnifying glass...) and Catie needs to keep all she has!

mitty - I love hearing about your boys. Jake sounds like he is really enjoying his brothers.

We have been staying busy. Both babies are walking, though Catie more so. She is a little more persistent than Natie. He is pretty content to crawl mostly because it gets him there faster. Catie on the other hand is very much like her big brother in the fact that she likes attention, and she loves the attention she gets for walking. She will actually squal very loudly when she stands up until she gets your attention, and then she starts walking. (Natie Poo is shy like his mama and tends to stay out of the spotlight.) They still only have 2 teeth each, but nights have been sleepless lately, so I am hoping they both get some more soon. (The top of their mouths are really lumpy, so I am still thinking they are workling on multiple sets.) Still having a hard time believing my little twinnies are already 10 months...

(I got Catie b/g twin dolls for Christmas...I just couldn't help myself!!)

[charmcitygirl]

co-sleeper yep, feet towards the bed. although in actuality, i don't even have the sleeper attached to my bed... it is a bit lower than my mattresss and i was/am too lazy to get the extender feet. not sure how much jake & zoe weigh right now...my guess is around 12 pounds... and they are getting awfully tight in there. they are 3.5 weeks.

speculum = horrible horrible pain.

[Phen]

Just dropping off this link (http://www.bestdressedchild.com/adorboygitwt.html) to these shirts, now on clearance...
http://store1.yimg.com/I/bestdressedchild_1875_45263584

You know, since we have so many B/G twins here! :)

~ Phen

eta...ooh, here are those shirts for G/G twins (http://www.bestdressedchild.com/adorgigitwcl.html) and B/B twins (http://www.bestdressedchild.com/adorboyboytw.html), too.

[Jad]

Phen - Is it wrong that I giggle everytime I see that picture of Alexander? He's so incredibly cute in his dislike of the haircut.

mittyrd - I love reading about all your boys. That's really sweet that Jake is starting to take of his little brothers. I suppose that'll change again when they start taking his toys, but for now, awwwwwww. :D

angel - Maybe they can scan your toes tomorrow and see if they're really broken. ;) I know, I know. It's no joking matter. Really, truly, I'm sorry you're in pain! :)

journey - Twin dolls! What a great present.

charmcity - Have I mentioned that I love your kids' names? Was it easy or hard to come up with them? We haven't started trying in earnest, but I predict much difficulty.

kat - How're you doing? Just checking in.

Not much going on here. I made my first meal from Dr. Luke's book last night. I'm pleased to report that it was pretty tasty. Also, we have our screening on Wednesday. I'm fully prepared for it to come back with elevated risk due to the twin factor. I'm sure I'll feel differently if that does happen, but at this point, just about any risk factor is better than the 1 in 2 mortality rate that I lived with for three weeks. So hopefully I'll be fine. I'll keep you all posted.

[charmcitygirl]

jad thanks! i can't say it wasn't hard, but we had some guidelines. my hubby has this insane ability to come up with the most inane names ;) we wanted to have meaningful names... at least to us. so we named jake after a good friend of ours who passed away a few years ago. his name was john so i wanted to find a "J" name. jake's middle name is dh's name, though it was supposed to be something else and when we told his family, all hell broke loose. long story... won't get into it here. also, i wanted to have an "L" name--first, middle, didn't matter--for my grandmother who also passed away a few years ago. ellie was my first choice but dh didn't really like it. his maternal g.g.grandmother's name was arizona and since i liked zoe, we figured we could use that as a nickname for arizona. sidenote: not once has anybody made a joke referencing the movie raising arizona... can't believe it! anyhow. we were having a really hard time coming up with a middle name for her and didn't have one going into the hospital. in the recovery room, my aunt suggested logan so that's what it is.

probably more than you wanted to know...

[Journey]

phen - Those shirts are too cute! I think I might have to order a couple... :)

Jad - Good luck with your screening. Hope all goes well.

charmcitygirl - It is great that you have such a story behind your babies names.

[Journey]

I tried to order those cute little shirts, but they are out of XS 2-3 and SM 4-5. :(

[NJMom]

Hello everyone! Again it's been a long time, too long to catch up on everything. Just want to check in and say Happy 1st Birthday to the cbiggers and khouse girls!

Phen-I love the picture of Alexander!

Jacob and Brayden are doing great. I recently left my job so I am now a SAHM and loving it! I hated being back at work fulltime and getting such limited time with my boys. They are now almost 10 months old, I can't believe it. I will have to write more later because Jacob is waking frm his nap and I can't type very fast (I broke my right hand last Monday-it never fails).

Glad everone seems to be doing really well!

[relly]

Happy Belated 1st Birthday to Isabel & Caroline

Happy Belated 1st Birthday to Devon & Delaney

MrsPuls – hope your still at home on bedrest, taking it nice and easy, and that both babies are just so comfy cozy that they’ll be staying there for a few more weeks.

Kat – Sorry you had such a scare Thursday nite, hope you were able to rest comfortably all weekend.

Jrsygirl – my fingers have been crossed, any news yet?

Jad – gooberburgers sound pretty yucky to me but am glad you enjoyed yours. Good luck tomorrow.

Phen – that pic of Alexander is too precious.

Mittyrd – that story of Jake getting the binkie is so sweet.

Angelgirl8 – can’t wait to hear how big the babies are.

Journey – those twin dolls sound so cute.

I go in for another detailed u/s tomorrow. So far I’ve had 2 and all is just fine. I will also have the Dr. check my blood pressure, it’s always been a little bit high and so far it’s been consistent. I have a little machine at home so I test it daily and of course it’s always lower at home. I also will go to the lab tomorrow morning for the one hour GD test.

[cbiggers]

Phew!!!!!! We did it! We survived the first year of twin parenthood! I feel like we should receive a medal or something!:D The girls' birthday party was a huge success. We went with the ladybug theme and it was a great time. The girls did o.k. Caroline wouldn't take a morning nap, so by the time cake time rolled around she was none too happy. But, once she dug in she was o.k. Then she got to open gifts and all the tears were forgotten! They got too much stuff. Where is it all going to go?? Just wanted to drop off a couple of pics of my little babies!
Caroline liked the cake!
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B38723232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2327%3D54%3A%3D%3B39 %3DXROQDF%3E2324286999%3A69ot1lsi
So did Isabel
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B38723232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2327%3D54%3A%3D%3B39 %3DXROQDF%3E23242869%3A9%3B34ot1lsi
Where's the floor????
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B38723232%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3236%3E459%3E%3A48% 3EWSNRCG%3D323336%3B893727nu0mrj

Back later for shout outs! House is still a wreck and I need to get something done while the girls are sleeping! Have a wonderful day!

[khouse]

Hi Everyone! Thank you ALL so much for the sweet birthday wishes for my girls! We had a wonderful day Sunday and I wasn't as emotional as I thought I'd be. Actually, I think I have turned a corner and am looking forward to all the new "firsts" my girls will now experience!

It sounds like things are going well for everyone! I just wanted to post a few pictures from the party and I will also be back (like Cbiggers) to respond to all the other great things happening with you wonderful twinmamas! :D

Delaney LOVING all of the attention while she eats her first fistful!
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B5%3A323232%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3262%3E%3B%3A4%3E 4%3C7%3EWSNRCG%3D323337457%3B344nu0mrj

Devon squealing in delight at her first introduction to Sugar!
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B5%3A323232%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3262%3E%3B%3A4%3E 4%3C7%3EWSNRCG%3D323337457%3B345nu0mrj

These are MY GIRLS! :) There is even a bit of frosting on the window behind them!
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B5%3A323232%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3262%3E%3B%3A4%3E 4%3C7%3EWSNRCG%3D3233374585%3C39nu0mrj

Chat with you all soon!

[sunmoonstars75]

I am so loving the cake pictures, thanks for posting them cbiggers and khouse! Though it has me thinking - I will probably use white frosting for the girls' cakes. The colors look even messier than usual ;)

[vancouvergirl]

vancouvergirl and charmcitygirl...we're definitely getting the cosleeper now. thanks for the push! how long do you think they both fit in there? also, you put them with their feet facing the bed, right??

we started with their feet facing the bed, eventually moving one in between us in bed and keeping the other in the co-sleeper. there is no right answer for everyone and you will find what works for you. basically the co-sleeper is a wonderful luxury that has the potential to make your life with twins much easier. and clearly, when they start to crawl it is time to make a change.

keep us posted.

[mittyrd]

I will probably use white frosting for the girls' cakes

I had been warned about this too! Live and learn!!

Cbiggers and Khouse: Love the pictures!!

Another cute Jake/baby story: I must preface it by saying that whenever Jake cries or has a sniffle he runs and gets a tissue, blows (rubs) his nose and then throws the tissue away in the trash. (I have trained him well :D ) Matt was crying hysterically yesterday after his shot and I was trying to calm him down. Jake is watching him and takes off for his room like a bat out of he!! He comes back with a tissue and hands it to Matt saying "here baby".

[cbiggers]

On the subject of the colored frosting, hey, my girls only turn 1 once. I wanted them to have fun and really make a mess so I chose red on purpose! Kenan's (khouse) girls even outdid my girls with the frosting on the windows and walls and it was so much fun to watch and see all four of them turning red and having fun! It was well worth ruining two onesies and washing up the high chair covers!

NJMom - So glad to hear you are able to be home with your boys! It's a huge sacrifice for us, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love being with my girls!

[khouse]

Ah, come on ladies ... Live a little! Of course it's going to be messy, no matter what color the frosting! It's their FIRST birthday and their FIRST introduction to Sugar! Let them have their fun and Relax and have fun too! In the end, it all comes out in the wash! :D

[NJMom]

cbggers and khouse - I absolutely love the pictures. Your girls are all so beautiful! I agree with letting them make a big mess - it's their first birthday after all! I am looking forward to my boys making a mess out of their first birthday cakes too! (it seems like most meals are pretty messy anyway)

mitty-I love your Jake/baby story - that is so sweet!

[Jad]

khouse and cbiggers - Your respective girls are so cute, I can barely stand it! And the red icing makes for adorable photos. I do think that, Kenan, you were smart to match the icing to your paint color. ;)

I'm so disappointed that nobody likes my Gooberburger idea. So much protein, ladies! :p :D ;) Just got back from our 1st-tri screening. Neck measurements looked good, I guess, because they didn't mention CVS. Looks like Baby B is our cooperative baby and Baby A is our wiggler. They're both growing like mad! B is measuring 13w and A is measuring 12w4d. (I'm 12w 1d.) And I'm up 10 pounds! Not *quite* at Dr. Luke's target, but pretty darn close. Hopefully I'll be on target by 20 weeks if not sooner.

[angelgirl8]

hi twinmamas!

khouse and cbiggers...LOVE the birthday photos! i'm all for messes...they're only 1 once!

jad...great news about your scan. and the weight gain! don't drive yourself too crazy, though.

vancouver...thanks for the cosleeper info!

____

things are good here. driving ourselves crazy trying to deal with pediatricians, a possible bris, and NAMES!

still 1cm dilated and very sore and cranky but hanging in. we went for a growth scan yesterday and the babies are still comfortably breech. TURN babies!

baby A was 3 lb., 11 oz. and baby B was 3 lb., 7 oz. so that's great. very excited by their sizes!

question: we're looking into doing birth announcements now. what did you guys do?

ETA: since i love these little head pictures, here's one from the u/s yesterday.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc26b3127cce95a7379654b200000016108AZNXDhqzbtO

and me, at 30 weeks

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc22b3127cce9589d7f8f7df00000015108AZNXDhqzbtO

[cbiggers]

Here are the two announcements we ended up using. I actually sent out both because I couldn't decide. So, half got one and half got the other.
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B%3B7923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2327%3D54%3A%3D%3B 39%3DXROQDF%3E2323756788993ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/3456%3B%3B7923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2327%3D54%3A%3D%3B 39%3DXROQDF%3E2323756789959ot1lsi

eta: I addressed all the envelopes while I was on bedrest. My friend took the photos and did the announcements, so I knew exactly what size they would be and she gave me the envelopes early. I had them stamped and everything so that all I had to do was stuff envelopes when the time came.

eta: Excuse all the typos on those suckers. They were corrected before they went out!

[kat]

Cross-posted from March Mommas thread (with a few edits):

Well, folks, I'm gonna have to make this quick (and I haven't yet even tried catching up with this thread, because I'm on super-slow dial-up connection), but I'm currently in the hospital's antepartum unit and it's likely I'll be here "a while" (they won't give me any guesstimates except to say it'll be at least a week, assuming the babies aren't born before then).

I am obviously scared, and completely unprepared to give birth.....but at least I'm in the hospital so I don't have to worry about calling my doctor with every little ache and pain. :)

On Monday, I went in to see my OB (I was 1.5 cm dilated as of Thursday and ordered to take it easy over the weekend, which I did). First of all, I managed to fail the 1 hour glucose screen. Second, I'm mildly anemic (which I know is common with twin pregnancies, but it means I have to take iron while sitting all day....which of course isn't good for my digestive system). Third, and of course worst of all, I was 2 - 2.5 cm dilated (even though I hadn't felt any actual "contractions" over the weekend).

I was almost immediately admitted to the hospital (wishing like hell that I'd washed my hair in that morning's shower). They hooked me up to monitors and made me sit there from 1 PM - 2:30 AM with NO FOOD and very little fluids. I hadn't eaten since 9 AM that morning. Word to the wise: eat before you go to see your doctor!!! (and have a bag packed and ready to go just in case you're admitted -- my poor DH has had to track down a bunch of stuff from around the house and bring it to me little by little) :)

Anyway, I was having a few contractions, and a little blood, so not only did they start the steroid shots to mature the babies' lungs, but they also gave me Inducin (sp??) to stop the contractions and "calm my uterus." Both of those drugs continued until last night, and now I'm just being watched. No one has checked my cervix since about 2 AM Tuesday (and at that point I was about 3 cm dilated). Hopefully there has been no change since then!!

So anyway, that's where I am. Babies look good on u/s,(both are now head-down) and as of Tuesday were measuring 2 lb. 13 oz. and 3 lb., both of which are fairly big for gestational age, which is good. I'll try to update as best I can, but obviously with dial-up I have to use my room phone line, which I'd like to keep open as much as possible. Please keep your fingers crossed that these little sweeties don't make their appearance for another couple of weeks.....although it wouldn't be disastrous for them to show up soon (especially now that they've had the full course of steroid shots), but obviously we'd prefer that they stay put for a while.....even if it means I have to stay in this place for that whole time (and I'm hoping I don't, because it sucks for many reasons :D).

[Bernie]

Kat! I can't believe what you are going through! It sounds like the babies are a great weight and they are monitoring you very closely - so hopefully they have every chance they need to stay in there a little while longer. And I'm sure people in here can speak from experience, but I have a friend whose twins were born around 29 weeks, but were both well under the weights you described -- they are almost 1 year old now, and are completely happy and healthy and beautiful! I'm sending all of my prayers and thoughts and vibes your way - keep us posted when you can!

[mittyrd]

Kat: I'll be praying for you that those babies stay put. You are very lucky that you got all of your steroid shots for the babies' lungs. My twins were born at 27 weeks 4 days and 2.5 pounds each. Even they were in the hospital a long time, they did great and they are doing great now. They are 5 months and up to 12.5 pounds/ 13.25 pounds. If you need any support/have any questions, I'll be happy to be there for you. It's a long road but worth it!!

[angelgirl8]

kat...i hope those babies stay put and you get to go home and rest. i can't believe all the stuff you've had to go through! but those are definitely big babies...good job!

feel good, rest lots and keep us updated.

[charmcitygirl]

kat you're 28w, right? ugh! i can totally relate. i was also hospitalized at 28w and stayed for a week and put on bedrest. i was hospitalized again at around 32 or 33w for another 4 days. it really sucks and i know everybody says it's a blip in your life--and the life of your babies--but it really is. it seemed like i was in the hospital and on bedrest for the longest time but it was only about 2 months and when jake & zoe turned 2 months, it was like, wow. that's not that long. it seems like forever ago. sorry you have to go through this. it'll all be over soon... but not too soon, 'kay?

oh, and learn from my experience: shower, shave, and wash your hair before every appointment! ;)

[NJMom]

kat-hope your hospital stay will be short and those babies will stay put for a while longer. Keep us updated on how you are doing.

[vancouvergirl]

kat, thinking good thoughts for you!

[Jad]

Just got back from visiting kat in the hospital. I printed out all your comments and took them by for her reading enjoyment. The babies are still staying put for the time being, and their heartbeats are nice and strong. Sadly the bed, the food and the size of the shower all leave something to be desired. Sounds like she'll definitely be there for the weekend and then, with any luck, she might get to return to her own bed (and couch) sometime next week. Fingers crossed.

However, I have to comment that she looks remarkably good in green. I can't think of many people who look quite so nice in a hospital gown. :D

[charmcitygirl]

jad thanks for the update

[angelgirl8]

thanks jad! keep sending her our love!

and now, since kat has totally freaked me out, can anyone tell me what signs of pre-term labor i should be looking for at this point?

it's hard for me, because i have very strong, very consistent BH contractions all the time (since 16 weeks) and lots of aches and pains in my lower abdomen (and cervix from baby A kicking me!) it's hard to not call my OB every time something hurts, but then i worry that i'll miss an important sign and be too late. can you tell i'm freaking out?!

[klm2klh]

kat - Just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you and your babies and like eveyone else hoping you can keep them in there a while longer. Take care.

[Phen]

Thanks for posting (and visiting), Jad...It's great to hear that update on Kat. Hey KatBabies, stay put!!

angel, I completely understand your freaking out. I did the same thing several times during my pregnancy when fellow pregnant-twinmamas had scary episodes. But let me say that every time I felt the slightest bit odd or like something might could be on the way to being wrong, I'd go to the OB and we'd spend an afternoon checking things out, and when it ended up being nothing, I'd fall all over myself apologizing, and the OB was VERY STERN and said "do not apologize for this. I'm glad you came in, if only to make you feel better and calmer. I insist that you call me whenever something is concerning you, even in the slightest. It's best for you and the babies that way." So take my OB's advice, and don't be embarrassed about calling the doctor whenever there's a concern. However, don't let your freaking out get carried away -- we twinmamas are monitored often enough that problems usually get noticed and addressed before it's too late.

Speaking of, I just have to vent. On the past few eps of Grey's Anatomy, a woman had quintuplets at 32 weeks. Belly size aside (my twinbelly at 32 weeks was way bigger than her quintbelly!), I am all in a huff that NO ONE NOTICED that 4 out of the 5 quints had major physical problems. Um, no. Sorry, but I think someone would've noticed a baby's organs growing outside of its belly at one of the weekly ultrasounds! Yet it was a complete surprise to everyone right before the babies were born. Geesh. (oh, and I thought of you and your grandmother, LovinIt, 'cause the quintmama already had a set of triplets at home)

I meant to report that our Santa Visit last weekend went very very badly. Lots of tears and wailing (on the boys' parts). We are trying again tomorrow. Wish us luck.

~ Phen

[khouse]

Kat: Lots of prayers for you and your family that those babies stay put!!! :D

Jad: Thanks for keeping us all posted! And super sweet to visit!

Phen: We tried Santa this afternoon. TOO funny! Many tears as well and just had to share my photo! We, on the other hand, are not going to be seeing Santa again this year. Once was enough for the girls and my DH and I just about died laughing! :p

Delaney is the one crying and Devon is the one looking quite frightened!
Great Santa though, don't you think? :D And the topper is that their shirts say "I love Santa". ;)

http://images.snapfish.com/34572%3C9523232%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3262%3E%3B%3A4%3E4% 3C7%3EWSNRCG%3D3233379%3B98%3B65nu0mrj

Take Care Ladies!

[MrsPuls]

Kat, my prayers are with you. Almost the same thing happened to me when I was just 29 weeks, and now I've hit 33 weeks. Bedrest does suck, but just remember it's best for those babies. I've got a 2 yr old at home, which makes things a lot harder.


About me: I'm still averaging about 5 contrax an hour, sometimes more, but I still haven't dialated past 3cm as of Monday. The doctors are a bit concerened about the weight difference between the two, so they're checking size again on the 19th, and if it's still way off, they will deliver that day. I'm scared to death of a C-section, mainly the recovery time. My DH doesn't have any paid vacation, and with a 2 yr old at home who needs my attention, I don't see a lot of rest and relaxation going on, even with family helping. Things are really going to be tight money wise for the next two months for sure.

I'm loving all those beautiful pictures.:)

[PilotsWife]

I'm sorry to be MIA the last 2 weeks - DH and I have established a pretty good routine with the boys, but there is so much to do, this is the first time that I had a few minutes to catch up and not feel too tired to put a few sentences together!

First of all, to Kat - I hope you and the babies are well, that you are as comfortable as possible and that the babies stay where they are for a bit longer. :)

CBiggers & Khouse - I absolutely love the cake pictures! My mother has similar pictures of me from my first birthday too - I think first b-day cake is a milestone that must be committed to celluloid :p

Phen - that picture of your son's hair cut is *too* precious!

Bernie - The last 2 weeks before their birth, I was at the Kraft Center A LOT - visiting the Maternal Fetal Medicine suite. I'm surprised we didn't run into each other. I hope all is okay with you. I can tell you that every one at Valley Hospital was great. BTW, you may want to tell you DH that the buffet isn't anything to get excited about - not much better than your basic high school cafeteria food. (The food in Kurth Cottage, downstairs, is much better and you can call down there, have the bill charged to your room, and they will deliver it - just as if you were in a hotel!)

Aidan and Ryan are doing really well - they are really good babies and I think they are taking mercy on DH and I - they aren't fussy and only cry when they're hungry or wet - once we take care of that, they go back to sleep. DH is afraid it is the calm before the storm. We are both really tired. We really need someone to come in and help with the night feedings - if we had this, we'd get a lot more sleep and would feel pretty good. But alas, that's not going to happen, so we're both doing our best on 3 hour clips of sleep.

I finally down loaded some pictures to share, here they are...Aidan is on the left, Ryan on the right...

http://images.snapfish.com/3457376323232%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3239%3E%3A75%3E9%3A5% 3EWSNRCG%3D323337%3A975755nu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/3457376323232%7Ffp337%3Enu%3D3239%3E%3A75%3E9%3A5% 3EWSNRCG%3D323337%3A974365nu0mrj

[charmcitygirl]

pilotswife beautiful! they look awesome and i really like the names you chose. it's tough to feed every three hours, but it goes by fast. sounds like your babies are like mine... tell hubby that if aiden & ryan are anything like jake & zoe, then you're in for some good, quality sleep soon. they set their own schedules (with a few deviations here and there) and are two very happy babies. today, of course, we have taken cranky pills but genreally, j&z have been much easier to deal with than i thought. i was also waiting for the crankiness to set in but it never really did. now i just feel like this is how they are and i'm thankful!

get some rest, and congrats again.

[Bernie]

pilotswife - so glad to hear that all is going well! They are absolutely adorable!!! And thank you for the hospital tips!

[Journey]

NJMom - Congrats on being a SAHM!!! Enjoy your time with your precious babies!

cbiggers - Glad your party was such a success. I love the pictures! Soo much fun. :)

khouse - Glad your party went great as well. Cute pictures of your girls. I love the one with Santa, that is priceless!

mitty - What a sweet story about Jake!

angelgirl - You look great!!!!

kat - Thinking of you and hoping your babies stay put for a littel while longer.

jad - Thanks for the update on kat.

phen - Don't you just love adventures with Santa?? Good luck at your next attempt! I still have to take the kids...should be interesting :D

MrsPuls - Thinking of you and hoping all is well.

PilotsWife - Your boys are so beautiful...just melts my heart. Conratulations again. Try and get some rest.

As for us...Catie has started making the funniest faces. She is walking all over the place and loving it. She is very slow and steady, where Natie tries to take huge steps and looses his balance after 4-5 steps. They are both doing great, though. Like mentioned earlier, we are going to attempt Santa probably this weekend. Hopefully we don't have too many breakdowns!

[mittyrd]

Pilot'swife: THey are so beautiful!! Congratulations!

[kat]

Thank you SO VERY MUCH, everyone, for your kind thoughts, for sharing your experiences, and for posting pictures of the ADORABLE babies & toddlers!!!

I'm especially thankful to Jad, who ventured over here in BITTER cold weather (we're in Chicago) and brought me goodies (magazines, puzzle books, "boost" shakes in case I can't stand the awful food anymore). Those of you who've ever been in the hospital for any length of time know how great it is to get visitors (especially when you're not "sick"), and I cannot thank Jad enough!!!!

We've made it to the "24 hours after last steroid shot" milestone (a big one) and to 28 weeks (another big one), and as far as we know nothing has changed. Haven't had my cervix checked since early Tuesday morning (and I'm not going to ask them too, either -- I didn't like the spotting after all that cervical checking - just made me more nervous). So now we're just in a "holding pattern." My OB will consult (again) with an MFM early next week and try to decide what to do with me. I am hoping/assuming that if I haven't dilated any more since Monday evening, they'll let me go home (albeit on bedrest). If they don't, I may go home anyway. They're not really doing anything here that I couldn't do at home (haven't been attached to monitors since Monday), and the stress of being here isn't good for me or the babies.....but that's something I'll decide early next week. If I'm not progressing, I'm better off at home where my DH and mom can take care of me, cook me food that's actually EDIBLE (I thought "bad hospital food" was a tired cliche -- not here!) and sleep in a bed that doesn't make my back spasm. I have slept in beds in many hotels & hostels around the world, and have never encountered one that sent me into spasms the way this one does. :) Yesterday I indulged in a massage ($100 and worth every penny). If I'm here past Tuesday of next week, I'll definitely have another. Thankfully (for my budget), she's not here on weekends. :)

Yesterday was a REALLY low period, mentally/emotionally (three days of a headache + back spasms + no sleep will do that to me). Finally (with the help of some drugs) got 6.5 hours sleep last night so I feel better today. I'm going to hold off on taking more headache drugs until it gets really bad, though. Even though they've told me they're safe for the babies, I don't want to get into the habit of taking one a day. I used to take Vioxx, so I guess I'm just a little skeptical about taking any drugs long-term unless absolutely necessary.

Thanks again, everyone, and have a great weekend!

[cbiggers]

kat Rest up and try to relax. Bummer on the food and the bed! Sheesh! The least they could do is one or the other. Hopefully they'll let you go home soon. I know I was glad I was home on bedrest rather than in the hospital! Hang in there and keep on cooking!

PilotswifeOh my! They are just beautiful! Huge congrats to you!

We may be venturing to see Santa tonight, but not sure we'll try it! Seems like the 1-2 year olds aren't quite keen on the Big Guy! Both girls are a little fussy from their 1=year shots yesterday so we may just gaze at him and forego the actual picture. Although, the crying santa pic from khouse is great. Might make it worth it!;)

Question for moms of older twins - My girls seems to be in a stage of trying to figure out each others limits and boundaries. They constantly take things from one another almost, it seems, just to see if the other one will cry. Our ped consistently tells us to let them work it out and I'm mostly o.k. with that. But, will they figure this out soon??? The "throw yourself on the floor and cry" thing wears on me after a while!!!!! Just curious how you guys have handled similar situations!

[angelgirl8]

kat...so glad to hear you and the babies are hanging in there! hope you get to go home to good food and a good bed soon!

[charmcitygirl]

oh,kat! the lovely hospital beds. my back was so bad when i was in the hospital, that i think they let me go home because the were taking care of my back and not my belly! ask them if you can have an air mattress... might help a bit. and get some meds... i was given tylox and it helped some. i have to say, my back pain/spasms from the hospital bed was worse than my contractions. a lot worse. it gets better when you're in your own bed. it was also better for me in the hospital after i delivered. i told dh that if my back spasms after the delivery, i'm going to walk out the hospital on my own!

feel better!

[Phen]

Way to make it to 33 weeks, MrsPuls! I know bedrest sucks out loud, but I think I can speak for us all when I say we are super proud of you. STAY PUT, BABIES! (think they heard me?) I'll hope for no c-section for you, or at least an easy recovery if you do end up having to have one.

Those are some handsome babies you've got there, PilotsWife. So your DH is getting up and doing overnight feedings with you? Can I just say I'm jealous?! I don't remember if you're BFing or not, so this might not work for y'all, but once our help all left and it was just me and DH, we would take different shifts at night with the boys--DH would stay up 'til after the 1 o'clock feeding while I slept and then I'd get up for the next feeding (3 or 4 a.m.) while he slept. We were just entirely too cranky for words if we both tried to get up for the overnight feedings, though. But I say it might not work because obviously if your kids are exclusively BFed, it'd be hard for your DH to feed them while you stayed asleep. ;) I should dig up the photo of how I tandem bottle-fed the boys when they were wee bitty things, using a Boppy -- it worked really well for us.

Dying to hear how your trip to Santa went, Journey. Did Catie run away? ;)

I'm so sorry about the headaches and back spasms, kat....not to mention sucky hospital food. But 28 weeks ROCKS!!

casey asked about sharing. Let me just say AHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAA!!! No, seriously, Alexander is actually slightly more open to sharing than Thomas is...if Alexander has two sippy cups of milk, for instance, he very often gives Thomas one of them. But it has to be his idea, I guess, because when he has two sippies and Thomas just takes one on his own, we have a tantrum. I wish I had better advice for you than just ride it out and encourage sharing (I do major "that's so nice, Alexander!" when he does something like that) whenever possible.


I just don't get it. I talk about Santa to the boys all the time, and they love him on videos and to play with the Santa figure from their Little People Christmas set, but get near the Real Thing and the tears commence. Well, Thomas turns out to be easily bribed (M&Ms) and so he didn't cry this time for the photo. Still, it's a keeper. LOL

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc31b3127cce958417e7771000000025108QZN2TNm4bQ

~ Phen

[klm2klh]

Kat – glad to hear that things are going well. I hope that you are able to go home and get some proper rest.

PilotsWife – your boys are just too cute! It is good to hear that that you are all doing well so far.

Phen – I love the Santa photos! Hope it wasn’t too traumatizing (for you or the kids), but the pictures really are adorable

[kat]

Phen, I think the look on Santa's face is priceless, too!!

[Journey]

kat - I hope you are able to get some rest. Your massage sounds like it was wonderful!

cbiggers - Did your girls do this when they were a little younger? I just ask because Natie and Catie are starting to do this, too. Catie is very dramatic so when Nathan takes something, she plasters herself on the floor and cries. When she takes something, Nathan just takes it back.

phen - I love the Santa picture! Why is it that Santa's always seem to have that "Here we go again..." look on their faces??? Our visit with Santa went better than expected! Nobody cried for the first 2 pictures, and then Catie decided she had had enough and wouldn't take a third. Will even climbed on his lap after we took the twins off. He told Santa he wanted "presents" for Christmas. Perhaps next year he will be a little more specific! :D

[PilotsWife]

Phen - I started BFing but Aidan wasn't latching on so I switched to pumping but then production dropped off significantly, so now we're doing straight formula. I would love to see pics of a tandem bottle feeding! I need all of the help and ideas I can get! And DH and I need to figure something out because we're becoming members of the walking dead! I like the idea of alternating night feedings, but we'll need techniques on tandem feedings before we can attempt this!

For birth stories - I went to the doctor's office on the Friday after Thanksgiving and he said that my blood work came back from that Wednesday - the levels (of what exactly, I don't know) along with my blood pressure made him send me to the hospital that afternoon for more blood work, non-stress testing and BP checks. He said depending on what things look like after a few hours, they may take the babies. Needless to say I was more than just a little shocked! So I called DH from the car and gave him the scoop. I went home, grabbed my hospital bag and DH, had something to eat and then headed to the hospital. They hooked me up, took blood and after about 2 hours, my BP was much lower. I was convinced they were going to send me home and this was all silly. No sooner had I said this to DH, the nurse walked in and said that my blood work was starting to come back. The Doc walked in about 5 minutes later and said my "levels" were up and higher than they were on Wednesday, so they were taking the babies. I immediately burst into tears so then we start talking about c-section vs. induction (I was only 2 centimeters dialated and 90% effaced). After various questions, we decided on c-section. The OR experience was quite surreal. When they presented Aidan to me, he peed right on my face! Welcome to motherhood!! ;) The other funny thing was that the anatesiologist (sp?) grew up near me and went to a rival high school, graduating 4 years after me (I now live about 100 miles from where I grew up).

Just finished decorating our Christmas tree - there are definitely not nearly as many ornaments as there usually are nor is the house decorated to the level I usually do it. I decided we're doing a natural green tree look - ha! It's almost 5 PM, I'm still in my PJs, I just finished a feeding and I have a doctor's appointment at 6!!:eek: I better get going!!

I hope everyone is doing well and feeling more comfortable!

[Phen]

Ahhh I can top my own Santa photo! We finally got back prints from our first visit to Santa of the season. I'm dying laughing over here.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/applebutter/screamers.jpg

~ Phen

[Phen]

PilotsWife, here ya go!

DH took this photo of me doing a tandem bottle feed of the boys (they were two or three months old, I think)...

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d727b3127cce99fcd18e58b400000026108QZN2TNm4bQ

I'd put Thomas in the boppy, Alexander in the crook of my arm, then hold Thomas' bottle with my right hand and Alexander's bottle with my right hand. :) Hope that helps!

~ Phen

[relly]

kat - sending "stay put little ones" vibes your way. I'm sorry the bed is so uncomfortable but that massage sounds like it was worth every penny. Hope you get to go home soon. I'll keep you all in my prayers.

cbiggers and khouse - adorable 1st birthday pics!
cbiggers - I can see why you sent out both, so cute.
khouse - sweet Santa pic of Delaney and Devon.

pilotswife - cute pics, your sons are so precious. I love how they're holding each others hands.

angelgirl - you look fantastic.

phen - love the Santa pic, also love their outfits. That 2nd pic is hysterical. Think I'll print out that tandem feeding pic for future reference.

I took and failed my 1 hour GD test last Wednesday, so I took the 3 hour today. Will get the results tomorrow at my next appt.

[sunmoonstars75]

Thought I would post a pic of what happened one day early on when I was left alone with the girls (this is before they really latched well, and I was almost exclusively pumping):


When DH fed them, he would set up Boppies on either side of him and put the girls in them, then each got an arm.

We went to see Santa today - Amelia smiled nicely, but Audra only smiled at the man in the red suit when she was being held by Mom at a safe distance. We still got the picture, of course ;)

[cbiggers]

Pilotswife - I did something similar to Phen on the tandem feeding. I have a chair-and-a-half (not quite a double chair) and I would sit in it crossways - my legs over one arm. I would put a pillow on my legs with one girl on that and then have one girl in my arms. I would just rotate them when it came time to burp. I got so good that I could burp one and still feed the other (meaning nooooo screaming while one waited to burp). I don't know that we have any pics, but I'll look.

Journey - I'd say it's been going on for about a month, maybe a little longer. It's funny because Caroline is the same as your Catie. But Isabel will either go find something else to play with or take it right back (causing Caroline to throw a fit).

Phen - Those Santa pics are priceless!!! I keep thinking I'm not going to do it because I just know poor Caroline will be hysterical. But then I think that I just shouldn't pass up a priceless Santa pic! Thomas and Alexander have the best looks on their faces. Gosh! Too funny!

Caroline has cut 4 teeth in last few days. All four upper teeth. Poor thing. Maybe that's partly why she is so sensitive to everything right now, too. Poor Isabel still just has her two. Oh well. I know for certain that someday that kid's hair will grow and she'll get teeth!;)

[NJMom]

Pilotswife-I love the pictures of your boys-they are so sweet!

khouse and phen-your santa pictures are great!

Angelgirl-you look terrific!

Journey-I can't believe Catie and Nate are walking! My boys aren't crawling yet. Jacob goes up on all fours and rocks back and forth constantly and Brayden likes to roll to get where he wants to go! I think they will both be crawling real soon, but walking, wow!

We haven't taken the boys to see santa yet, probably in the next few days. Hopefully all will go well.

[lovin'it]

I need your opinion on a matter. :cool:

Since I am the breadwinner, I will HAVE to return to work 4-6 weeks after the babies are born. My husband is in his last semester of his undergrad, so I will have to work for 3-4 months after the babies are born since I am the one that brings the paychecks and the insurance.

I have been thinking about buying a Medela In Style pump. I have heard they are phenomenal. I saw some on Ebay for around $150/used.

I called the hospital to see how much they charge to rent those...and not worth it. $70/mo.

What are your thoughts on it? Should I wait to buy it? Any suggestions on brands? Any suggestions at all :)

Please give me insights...

[lovin'it]

Sorry girls...You are my only hope :)

I was reading angelgirl's update on her LJ and she mentions that she is not very hungry. I compare myself a lot to her, because it looks like we are built a lot the same way and eat a lot of the same foods too.

Now, although I am 4 weeks behind (I am 27w5d)...I have not been hungrier in my life. I find myself praying at night to not feel hungry because it bothers me. I hate the hungry pains...and trying to find something to eat.

Is this normal? Am I supposed to be hungry like this? I HATE FEELING HUNGRY

Any thoughts?

Emma

[kat]

I'm still at 3 cm (YAY!) and therefore I'm being sprung tomorrow from this joint!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, I'll still be on bedrest at home, but that will be 3,000 times better than here. Have to take the 3-hour glucose test (I failed the 1-hour screen) and then I'm outta here.

Yay!

lovin'it: at our "breastfeeding multiples" class, they recommended both the Medela PIS and the Ameda Purely Yours.....and from reading many threads on the WC, both come highly recommended by other moms as well. The Medela one, however, isn't built to be shared by multiple users (it isn't a "closed system," which means that theoretically, at least, some of the "old" user's milk could get caught in the machine and spread disease. However, I've read that a lot of women don't care about this "risk" and buy used ones anyway. But just so you know. I was offered a free (used) PIS Advanced and turned it down for that reason, but I know others who have no qualms about getting a used one.

By contrast, the Purely Yours pump *is* a "closed system" and therefore can be used by multipler users. I just ordered one of these, because I got a great deal on one (and they're already a lot cheaper than the PIS) , but also I'm not returning to work full-time so I don't feel the need to invest the way you do.

[cbiggers]

lovin'it - I used the Medela for nine months and never had one problem with supply, etc. I loved it!!! Acutally, I used a hospital rental for two months and then, since I was comitted to pumping, we bought the Medela. As a matter of fact, if you would like to buy mine, I'll let you have it for less than you could on e-bay. Us twinmommas have to stick together! E-mail me at biggers2 at coxdotnet and we can talk about it! In regard to the contamination, yea, they do say that. But, honestly, after using it for so long, I just don't see how any milk could possibly get into any parts where that could happen. I'm sure it can happen, but I don't see how.

As for being hungry, I think each person is different, so don't worry too much! For me, I had a lot of trouble gaining weight and just didn't want to eat anything but fruit. If your body is telling you it's hungry, I'd listen. Maybe find some healthy, protein-rich snacks that will fill you up! I know when I had to try to eat, I would do english muffins with a ton of peanut butter.

kat - Woooooohoooooooooo!! That is wonderful news! I'm very happy that you get to go home! Bed rest is no fun, but it'll be much more tolerable at home!!!!!!!

[Phen]

Yay kat! So glad to hear you've been paroled! Hope you have TiVo and a laptop with wireless internet at home...those two things are a bedrest girl's best friends!

lovin'it, I rented a pump from the hospital LC; mine ran $40 a month. I only pumped for just over a month, though, so I was kinda glad I never bought a pump. As for food, oh, I definitely had the never-hungry feeling in my last trimester. But, as I've said before, I was so Determined with a capital D to gain weight for the boys that I forced myself to eat a lot, and not always the healthiest of foods. By the very end of the pregnancy, I HATED FOOD. No joke. People would look at how much I ate and say "aren't you worried that you'll get used to eating that much and then you won't be able to lose the weight after the babies arrive?" and I could only laugh...because that was nicer than screaming "HELL NO!" One thing I tried when I had little or no appetite was to eat higher-calorie foods because even if I couldn't eat a lot of it, at least I was still working towards my daily calorie goal with fewer bites.

~ Phen

[mittyrd]

Kat: Yea! And yea for those babies staying put longer!!

Lovin it: I used the Purely yours and was happy with it (as happy as can be while being milked like a cow 8 times a day :rolleyes: ) The hospital gave me one when I was discharged and my insurance covered it so check with your insurance before you spend any money!

Hunger: I was STARVING all the time. Since I missed the last 3 months of pregnancy I am not sure how my hunger would have progressed or if I would have felt too full to eat but up until the day I delivered (27 wk 4 d) I was hungry all the time.

Tandem feeding: I don't have a picture but what I do is: both boys go in their bouncy chairs and then I sit on the floor with my back to the couch and the chairs on each side of me, facing me. I just pop the bottles in. It took me awhile to figure out that this was the best position for us and my back and arms don't kill while feeding them.

The boys are doing great. I talked to their neonatologist about Christmas yesterday and he recommends that I don't bring them out to DH's family since there will be a ton of people in close quarters. So I guess I'll stay home with them and DH can take Jake to all of the festivities. It's what I wanted to do anyway but I needed validation from him :rolleyes: Even the doctor is surprised by how well they are doing. I can't wait until we can take them out in public. Only a few more months......

My MIL gave us a $100 each for each kid for presents. We are not allowed to put it in the bank for them. I have no idea what to get. With Jake's $, I am buying a kid's arts & crafts table but I still have another $160 to spend. They don't need clothes and we have plenty of toys. I'm at a loss. Any suggestions??

[Phen]

Mittyrd, are they out of their bucket infant seats yet? If not, you could put the $$ towards convertible carseats, or maybe their high chairs. I can highly recommend our high chairs, which were $99... (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009ETFMG/qid=1134577716/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8605005-7376100?v=glance&s=baby&n=507846)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009ETFMG.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Or....your boys might not be ready for this yet, but it's fabulous to have at the ready (if you have the space). We use it for walks *and* as a place to play blocks in...
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000859QK.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

~ Phen

[jrsygirl]

Sorry I haven't been by in a while ...We've been kind of keeping a low profile.

I do have some good news to share.. We got the final results back this morning and the baby is 100% normal. No problems!!
What a huge relief.

We had our bi-weekly appt with the high risk obgyn on Monday and all looked good. Both babies are right on schedule and look good. The little girl was yawning during the US. so cute!!

I'm apparently not gaining enough weight though, so they are a tad concerned about that. I am trying. It's not like I'm not eating. Anyway- I am now on a majority protein and milkshake diet in an effore to see a "significant weight gain" by my next appt.

I'm starting to get to the point where I'm uncomfortable. I have trouble putting on my socks and tying my shoes.. I can't believe I still have at least14-16 weeks to go...

[cbiggers]

jrsygirl - I was on strict "gain weight or else" orders. I was drinking two-three Ensure drinks (they are actually really yummy!!) a day, one being mixed with ice cream! That really helped me maintain and gain a little. I liked the chocolate and strawberry flavors best!! Also, Phen has a great high calorie breakfast shake recipe that I'm sure she will be glad to share! I can't remember it! Yea on the babies being good and healthy!!

mitty - That's a tough one. My dad is doing hte same for Christmas and I'm debating on what to buy. I have no spring/summer clothes for the girls, so I think I'm going to save it and buy stuff when those lines come out. Just a thought! That's sort of a bummer that you can't go to the holiday celebrations. We were in the same boat last year. The girls were only three weeks old and there was no way I was taking them around a bunch of people. We had a frozen pizza for Christmas dinner.:D

[angelgirl8]

jrsygirl...great news!

kat...yay for getting out!

[Jad]

Hi, ladies. Sorry for being MIA recently. A couple of big work deadlines have kept me lurking rather than posting. I don't have a ton to report. I've been having lots of headaches -- often as soon as I wake up, but I'm having a little trouble getting down a good routine that helps me get rid of them. And I don't think I put on any weight between weeks 12 and 13! Despite eating and eating and eating. No good, but I'll fix that! Instead of milk on my bread pudding this morning, I had ice cream. :D

Oh, and we got results back from our first trimester screening. Chance of Downs went from 1/240 to 1/4600. So we're happy about that. Next growth scan is on Monday. I'm a little nervous because they were a little more different in size at the NTT scan than they had been previously. So I'm hoping they stay close.

MrsPuls - Hope you're still going strong on the bedrest and at 34 weeks, now. Good luck on Monday. Hope the weight difference has diminished.

PilotsWife - Look at your beautiful boys! Oh, they are so very precious. You must love them to bits. :)

khouse and phen - Those pictures are great! The Santa in that last one looks almost as cranky as your boys, Phen. Hee! And speaking of Santa pictures, journey did you brave it?

jrsygirl - Congrats on the test results! I'm so happy for you that all is well.

cbiggers - Were you strictly on Ensure girl? I've done a few Boost "High Protein" ones and they aren't bad, but I haven't tried Ensure yet. Any preferences between brands?

sunmoonstars - Built-in bottle holders! Wow. ;)

mittyrd - Sorry you're on your own at Christmas, but I'm glad the boys are doing so well. And it's always nice to get confirmation on your instincts. So, yay, for that too.

[cbiggers]

Jad - Chalk it up to twinbrain, I ONLY drank Boost. :o Not sure what I was thinking when I posted. But, they were my fav as far as flavor, etc. I'd stay with those if they are working for you!!!!!

[MrsPuls]

Just a quick post. I was re-admitted on Sunday with labor, stoped it with Mag until Tuesday, and delivered 2 healthy babies Tuesday night by C-section at 33w 3days. Lucas was 4lbs 14oz and Aubrey was 4lbs 5oz. Both are in the NICU, but doing great. It was hard coming home without them today, but I know they are in the best spot possible right now. They are absolutely perfect in everyway.

[sunmoonstars75]

Congrats MrsPuls!! Glad to hear that all of you are well, and those sound like some great healthy weights, I am sure they will come home in no time. Love the names, Aubrey was one that we thought about :)

[lovin'it]

Quick post....

I am exhausted after Finals Week...I just wanna drop by and share my happy news...I hit 28 weeks yesterday and weighed myself to see where I am at. I am happy to report that I am right on track with Dr. Luke's recommendations...I have gained 38.5 lbs. I am so happy.

Especially because I am such a petite-little-girl. My Dr. thought I was insane at first, but he seems so happy that I am so healthy. I get to see him on Monday. Hopefully he will still be happy for me. I am all babies. My legs and arms are still measuring the same as before...even my butt is still the same size as before. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/emmabarrus/4fd9ef9e.jpg



MrsPuls - Congrats on the healthy babies! Take time to rest while they are still in the hospital!

[Phen]

Congratulations MrsPuls!! I am so happy to hear the babies are healthy. Absolutely perfect sounds absolutely wonderful.

Oh lovin'it, first let me say WOOHOO on the weight gain, and then I have to say I'm jealous to hear that only your belly is a-growin'! My butt got so enormous that DH teased me that it was acting as a counterweight to my belly so that I didn't tip over when I stood up. ;)

~ Phen

[vancouvergirl]

wonderful news, mrspuls!! congratulations! update us when you can and post pictures soon. :-)

[NJMom]

Congrats MrsPuls! I'm so glad to hear your little ones are here and doing great! My boys were born at 33wks 1day at similar weights and were in the NICU for 9 days. I know it's really hard to go home without them but I am sure they will be home before you know it! I love the names too!

Lovin'it- great belly shot - you look terrific!

[Bernie]

Congratulations MrsPuls!

[cbiggers]

MrsPuls - It sounds like all is well! Congrats to you!! I LOVE the names. Can't wait to see pics of your little bundles and can't wait until you can bring them home with you!

[khouse]

Congratulations MrsPuls! You bring me back to a year ago when my girls arrived! Take care of yourself and get lots of sleep prior to bringing them home! Adorable names!!!

[Jad]

MrsPuls - Congratulations!!!! Hope you get to bring them home very soon!

[jrsygirl]

Congratulatios MrsPuls!Hope that you get to bring your beautiful babies home very soon!!

[charmcitygirl]

mrspuls congrats!

[kat]

Congratulations, MrsPuls!!!! Glad to hear they're doing well!!!

[klm2klh]

Just wanted to add my congratulations to MrsPuls!

[angelgirl8]

mrspuls...congratulations! they sound nice and big! and what beautiful names! i hope you get to take them home very soon.

how are you feeling?


well, we had our last childbirth class today. it was great, except i'm now even more freaked out about the c-section (the surgery, the recovery, the breastfeeding, the sleeping!)

[Phen]

angel, can we help you through your freaked-outness? I mean, most of the twinmamas here have had a csection for their twins; would it help to hear more details about those things that have you freaking, from people who've BTDT with two? Just say the word; I'm sure people will be happy to share experiences to help you through this. :)

~ Phen

[angelgirl8]

phen...YES! ACK! i think it's mostly the fear of the surgery and recovery. i think i heard way too many details today and i just don't love hospital stuff.

i had my gallbladder removed last year and the recovery from that was really hard for me and that was just a laparoscopic surgery. so i'm just so panicked about how i'm going to recover from major abdominal surgery and take care of/breastfeed two babies. with the last surgery, i was able to sleep whenever i wanted and i won't be able to with this one!

it's mostly a fear of freaking out during the section while i'm awake, a fear of getting sick from the epidural/spinal and a fear of the recovery. any stories anyone has would be wonderful.

[cbiggers]

angel- You asked for it!;) First of all, the c-section was seriously no big deal. I had a planned section, but ended up going into labor 10 days early. I knew a section was coming, so I was o.k. with that part. It's not like it was an emergency c-section. Honestly, things happened so darn fast that I really didn't have time to freak out about the details of the OR, etc. I'm not going to sugar coat, I was very sick from the anesthesia. I had the girls at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and really didn't feel like myself until Monday morning. But, at least I was in the hospital, had my DH and MIL there who could help with the girls and the nurses were great!!! Once I got over the nausea/vomiting, the c-section stuff was no big deal. HOnestly. I think I only took one pain pill after getting home. I just took Ibuprofen. I breastfed the first couple of weeks and the section had no effect on that one way or the other. Surgery is surgery, but other than being a little sore and at times just needing to lay down (after coming home), I'd say I was o.k. physically within a short amount of time!!

I don't want to freak you about about the anesthesia effects. I knew I would be sick and even told the dr., but they didn't listen. There is stuff they can give you before hand!! When I had my m/c and subsequent d&c, I had a great anesthesiologist and wasn't sick AT ALL!!! So, it's worth it to make a big deal about it and get the meds before hand!

You are going to be just fine!! I know for me, I always make things WAY bigger in my head than they need to be. You'll deliver those happy, healthy babies and be a great twinmomma!!! No worries!:D

[PilotsWife]

Congratulations MrsPuls!!! I'm so happy everyone is healthy and doing well - I'm sure your boys will be home with you in no time at all. I love the names you picked!! Please share pictures when you can.

Angel - I just had my c-section 3 weeks ago - and I was very much like cbiggers in that I was so sick from the spinal and the subsequent painkiller they were putting in my IV. The surgery itself went *really* fast and was not a big deal - much easier than anything that I had imagined. I did take painkillers orally both while in the hospital and at home - but the pain was not a constant ache - more like if you tried to get up from certain positions, I felt a pull that hurt. And now at week 3, I can report that I really don't feel even that too much now - I just take the occassional Advil. Hope this helps.

[Phen]

Just as Casey and PilotsWife said...the surgery was fast and really quite painless, despite the shaking I had from the anesthesia. I didn't *love* getting the epidural, and getting out of bed the first time after the surgery was a bit of a shock how much it hurt, but those were the two worst parts of the whole delivery for me. I don't think my BFing troubles were related to the csection, and I didn't have too much pain...at least it was very managable with painkillers. The csection was my first Major Surgery and, in retrospect, it was my easiest in terms of recovery. I don't think the csection made the first few weeks taking care of the boys harder (though it probably didn't make it easier), though. Those first few weeks are kind of a blur to me, though; I just remember sleeping and pumping and feeding babies and changing diapers and crying (me AND the babies), and that was with help. It's hard, but I really think you can do it!!

Last night on Dateline they interviewed a woman who had twins at age 57. I didn't think she was crazy 'til they said she was voluntarily a single mother (a friend donated the sperm). After that, I couldn't hear anything they said on the show 'cause I just kept thinking "they're outnumbering her! How does she do bathtime with only one adult?!"

;)

~ phen

[Jad]

Can I grump for a moment? I just got back from my OB. I was supposed to have a growth scan, but they canceled it because I'd had one "too recently." The tech said we'd reschedule for 16 weeks (two weeks from now) so we'd stick to an every four week schedule. So that's a good way to make a mama cranky. Make her think she's gonna see her babies and then tell her she can't. Next, I had to wait over an hour and a half to see the doctor. When I finally saw him, he totally rushed through everything because they were clearly behind.

But the worst part? He doesn't want me to get another growth scan until 20 weeks. That'll be eight weeks since the last one. Seems like way too long to go between scans with identicals. I just don't understand why the "high risk" doctor seems to actually see you *less* than other OBs. It makes no sense to me.

And I don't think I've gained any weight in the last two weeks. Despite continuing to eat at the same rate, possibly even upping my protein consumption as I've started adding in more meat as I'm able.

So, yeah, I'm feeling really cranky. [/end vent]

[sunmoonstars75]

my csection wasn't bad either. In fact, I had two friends who both delivered within a couple of weeks of me (singleton pregnancies) - one had a scheduled c-section like me, the other delivered vaginally. The one who didn't have the csection had the longest recovery time, or at least the hardest recovery. The only really bad pain I remember from those first few weeks was sleeping on the pullout couch in the hospital room so I could snuggle with my husband - the staples hurt REAL bad as I got out of that bed. And the only time I took the pain pills they gave me was when I had a really bad headache (leftover from my pre-eclampsia). Once I got home, I was okay. My BP and swelling bothered me more than my incision.

After that, I couldn't hear anything they said on the show 'cause I just kept thinking "they're outnumbering her! How does she do bathtime with only one adult?!"

I don't know about her, but I do baths after dinner, so I keep one in the high chair while the other gets bathed, and then the clean baby gets to go in her walker while the second gets bathed. If I didn't do that, they would only get baths on the weekends when both of us were home ;)

[Phen]

Ah, see, my guys climb out of their high chairs (despite the straps) so the only place I can safely leave one of them is the crib. Wheeeeeee!

~ phen

[sunmoonstars75]

More fun to look forward to? I thought climbing up a couple of steps and sliding down was heart attack enough. I should probably just start on the meds right now...

[kat]

Obviously can't offer up any c-section advice, angelgirl, but I hope these stories are helping you! I'm having a hard enough time right now giving up my "drug free delivery" hopes....after talking to my doctor today and realizing they are going to insist on continuous fetal monitoring while sitting in those AWFUL beds.....anyway, that's a post for another day.

jad: I'm sorry you had a bad day; I can't believe the MFM is that busy to be rushed! I also would be upset if they made me wait 8 weeks (we've had them every 4 weeks and ours aren't even identical). Why does he want to wait until 20 weeks?

*********
Had an OB appointment today and all is still the same (YAY!): 3 cm dilated, cervical length still pretty good. I passed the 3-hour GTT (I'd failed the 1-hour), so that made us happy, too.

But the best part was getting to leave the house!! Even in this bitter, bitter cold, that was *wonderful*. Next appointment is Friday, and I'm actually looking forward to it!!!

[NJMom]

Angel-I also had a c-section and it really was not too bad for me either. I tend to be very wimpy about things too. I found out they were doing it 2 hours beforehand so I didn't have much time to think about it otherwise I am sure I would have been really nervous too.

It was painful when getting up for the first time. The hardest part for me was not seeing my babies for 24 hours because they were in the NICU and I had a catheter. I was going back and forth to the hospital (45 minutes away) and spending hours there to be with them. Once I was with them, I didn't really think about my c-section, it was all about them. Try not to worry about it too much, it really was not too bad.

Also, bathtime, I bath one baby at a time while the other one waits in their crib. The hardest thing for me right now is getting everything packed and getting them to the van. They are both out of the bucket seats and they don't walk yet. Usually I put them in the stroller in the apartment to take them to the van and then the reverse when we get home, unless DH is around to help me carry one. Sometimes it is such an ordeal, it's not worth going out! This is also how I broke my right hand by rushing around to go to the mall!

[lovin'it]

Hello Friends...

Check out the progress of my nursery. There is sooo much to do still. But, we have the furniture all put together. Now it is all about finishing touches ;)

What do you think?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/emmabarrus/Nur_1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/emmabarrus/Nur_2.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/emmabarrus/Nur_3.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/emmabarrus/Nur_4.jpg

[vancouvergirl]

love it! i really like the white wood. it looks great!

[MrsPuls]

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone. They are really appreciated.

Aubrey and Lucas are a week old now, and doing great. Both of they had the IV's removed this morning and Lucas is off his nasal canula. They've both been taking some part of their feedings with a bottle, so we're making good progress. They will both be moved from the isolette to cribs with in the next day or so. Aubrey is back to her birth weight and Lucas has 2 oz to go. I'm really hopeful they'll be home by New Year's Eve.:D

Recovery from the C-section has been very good. I'm moving around without a whole lot of pain, mainly the pain is just there in the morning. It's been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I've been pumping like a mad man since they were born, but unfortunatly my supply hasn't arrived yet, so I may be in that small percentage that just simply can't breastfeed. I'm pretty upset about the whole thing, and will just need to realize that it's not my fault.

Merry Christmas to you all, and god bless.

[sunmoonstars75]

I had the girls on Tuesday, and my supply didn't come in until Saturday night. And we had a hard time with the whole thing the first few months - supply, latching, you name it - but we made it through and now it's ben over nine months already. They still get some formula every day, which is totally fine. I wish you all the luck with it, and just keep trying for a bit. Doesthe hospital have a lactation consultant that you can talk with?

[Phen]

Same as sara, I had the boys early Tuesday but no milk 'til late Saturday. I never really got over my latching issues, but I did pump for five(ish) weeks, so they got the EBM, at least. I'll do one better: can you talk to an LC with multiples experience?

Love that pretty nursery lovin' it! :)

~ Phen

[klm2klh]

MrsPuls – glad to hear that Aubrey and Lucas are doing well. I hope that you will be able to bring them home soon.

lovin’it – the room looks great!

I finally got to see my “high risk” OB yesterday and she seems great, my DH even commented on how much he liked her.

The appointment itself went well. Apparently my blood pressure was a little high, but still okay. I also found out that the results from my glucose screening were fine. Basically she just went over my chart and then we talked a little about twins and the extra risks that they pose both in terms of the babies and to me. Most of the stuff I had already read, but it was still nice to hear it again and also for my DH to hear it all too. She talked a little about our delivery options but she seemed very open to whatever we wanted to do.

We also talked about needing to start watching my blood pressure and the possible signs that it may be high. She also talked about my work schedule. Right now I plan to work until February 17, when I will be about 35 weeks (if everything continues to go well). My boss has already been really good about reducing my workload and he is fully aware that I could pretty much be gone anytime after Christmas. Unfortunately, we just had a couple of people quit in the last week so I am not sure what that will mean for my workload in the new year.

The doctor also checked my cervix (not a pleasant experience), but it was still long and closed. She was also going to do a quick ultrasound, but one of the other doctors was using the machine. I was a bit disappointed since we haven’t seen the boys since the beginning of November. I will see her again in two weeks and I will also have another ultrasound around the same time – they are going to try and squeeze me into the schedule so I have to wait for them to call me, but it should be around Jan.3.

Question – How long did you work before the babies were born? Is my plan of working until I am 35 weeks realistic?

[PilotsWife]

lovin'it - you're nursery looks great!

klm2klh - To give you a point of reference, Aidan and Ryan were born at 36 weeks - from 28 to 34 weeks, I was commuting a little more than an hour into NYC four days a week, at which point I then started working from home full time. Two days before the boys were born, I was told I was officially on bed rest due to concerns re: my blood pressure and pre-eclampsia. My boss was a lot like yours in that she figured I wouldn't be around any time after 28 weeks, so I think she felt greatful for anything I could get done after that :D

Kat - congrats on passing the 3 hour test!

Jad - I'm sorry you won't see your babies for a while - it may be bit early, but you should start to feel them move soon :) Because of the heartburn and swelling, etc. I certainly don't miss being pregnant, but I do miss that feeling of the boys moving around inside! (something to look forward to...)

[kat]

Drive-by to ask a quick question (all is the same & boring with me, on bedrest at home):

Did any of you try to donate your babies' cord blood to a public bank? I called Lifesource yesterday and they called back & told me that we are "ineligible" to donate because we're having twins. Their theory? Because twins are usually premature, they won't collect the cord blood (and there's not usually enough volume to collect), plus they could "mix them up and label them wrong." I don't know why this irritates me so much, but it does. Maybe it's the combination of third trimester ickiness + bedrest that's causing me to get irritated so easily. :)

I'm just wondering whether this is a "universal" thing, or just the (stupid) policies of our local cord blood collection office.

[lovin'it]

PilotsWife , Klm2klh, Phen, Vancouvergirl - Thanks for the compliments on my nursery! It's our pride and joy for now. There is still a lot to be done...

So...I will keep you guys updated on the progress!

Phen - Can I add you to my LJ buddy list? I am Ithadtobeme there!

Emma :D

[lovin'it]

Girls...

I had an appointment on Monday. I asked the nurse if I was anemic at all and in order to answer whether I was or not...she poked my finger. The Dr. said that my iron is low, compared to a non-pregnant person, but not anemic. He said...just go back to prenatal vitamins (I have been taking flinstones).

Other than that, we just talked about the delivery...I asked because someone in here, I can't remember who mentioned that they do it in the OR no matter if you are having a C-section on a vaginal delivery. He said the same thing. He said that based on how I was sitting up on the table, my baby A must be heads down...cool, huh?

He wants to see me every 2 weeks from now on. We are definately having these girls mid-Feb.

I can't wait. I sleep on the couch sitting up surrounded by many pillows...so, I am tired of not being able to sleep in my own bed. I am tired period. They are getting so heavy.

My DH is in cloud 9. He has always been the romantic/emotional one between the two of us. Every morning, he sits in the nursery and just stares at the cribs....he keeps saying he can't wait. I think this is partly because he is older than your average first-time Mormon dad (Mormons have kids EARLY)...and partly because we waited for a long time.

I go through periods of insecurity...I think it's hormonal. I have no family...and that scares me. My MIL is fantastic and she will be here for the first little while...but, she works and lives 4 hours away...so, I don't plan on seeing her much. Then, we still have 3 years of Law School ahead of us....which screams loans to me.

Let's just say I am grateful for being so busy and not having time to think about this stuff too much more than I already do. :D

My feet started to swell up. :rolleyes:

lovin'it - I used the Medela. If you would like to buy mine, I'll let you have it for less than you could on e-bay.

Thanks for the offer...that is so kind of you. My DH's Grandma bought us a brand new Ameda yesterday. I wonder how she knew ;)

Hugs to all...

[charmcitygirl]

lovin'it i was also told that regardless of how i delivered, that it would take place in an OR. also fwiw, my baby a was head down and they still did a c/s. i had assumed during my entire pg that i would have a c/s but towards the end i thought that maybe i would try vag. however, once i was in the hospital after my water broke, they decided to do a c/s. no emergency, no explaination. i even told them that i was up for trying a vag delivery. i didn't protest the c/s and i'm not sure what would have happened if i did. but i don't regret the c/s. at all.

[lovin'it]

[QUOTE=charmcitygirl]lovin'it fwiw, my baby a was head down and they still did a c/s. [QUOTE]

Thank you for this! To tell you the truth...I am okay with either one too. I am from Brazil...capital C/S country of the world. Whenever I tell Doctors that...they give me a smile and say...oh, "C/S country."

I just want some healthy babies...and no NICU...that, I care about...but...an incision....nah! I am okay with a surgery!

Thanks for the heads up...I really don't know what to expect!

[NJMom]

lovin'it-sounds like your doctors appointment went well. You must be getting excited-mid February will be here before you know it. My boys were born last Feb 15th. Maybe your girls will share a birthday with my boys! I know you are feeling tired now but hang in there, they will be here soon! I didn't get to comment but your nursery is beautiful! It really looks great!

We finally had our visit with Santa yesterday. The boys didn't smile but they seemed very curious. They didn't cry either so I think it went really well. We have a 4 foot santa that dances at home and now they are even more interested in him than before.

[QPDoll]

<coming out of lurkdome>

Im so behind on the thread, I appologize for not keeping up with everyone! My hands are busy, thats my best excuse!

I have a question for seasoned twin-mommies.

When both your twins are down for a nap, or are going down for a nap, what do you do with the one who cries (to get up, or who doesn't want to go down, or wakes up during the night)? Do you get that twin up and removed from the room as to not disturb the other sleeping twin? Or do they eventually learn to ignore the crying and sleep through it?

We have been removing the crier, but its getting old quickly! It usually means they are seperated during naps, and then moved together once they are sound asleep - or they end up sleeping with us half-way through the night (which seems to be the norm).

I SOOOO want to just let them CIO, but I have a feeling that would just mean two twins up crying all night long instead of just bringing the one crier to bed with us.

We are also back to a 3am feeding. Before, they would just wake up (wide awake) and we would bring them to bed. Last night, instead, we fed them in their room and put them back in their crib and let them CIO.

Im just trying to figure out how to help them be a little more independent and self soothing...and get them sleeping better.

ETA: they are 5 months old as of tomorrow!

[QPDoll]

Question – How long did you work before the babies were born? Is my plan of working until I am 35 weeks realistic?

It seems a little unrealistic to me, simiply because I went into PTL starting at 19 weeks. I was actually laid off my job just before we found out we were expecting, so it wasn't an issue. I went into PTL just from doing housework around home.

[relly]

MrsPuls - congrats on the birth of your little girl Aubrey and your little boy Lucas ! !
I hope they're able to go home soon.

Lovinit - you're nursery looks great.

Kat - sorry it's boring, but so happy you're at home and not in the H.

Met with the Dr. yesterday, and just like the midwife thought, he put me on a monitor for my GD. He did say one of my numbers was good and the other borderline, so that was good to hear. Also had a detailed u/s and the twins are growing on target and are doing well.

If I don't check in before hand, I'd like to wish each of you

Happy Holidays and/or A Very, Merry Christmas !

[vancouvergirl]

When both your twins are down for a nap, or are going down for a nap, what do you do with the one who cries (to get up, or who doesn't want to go down, or wakes up during the night)? Do you get that twin up and removed from the room as to not disturb the other sleeping twin? Or do they eventually learn to ignore the crying and sleep through it?


for us, we did not worry about waking the sleeping one. i don't know if we're lucky and he's a naturally sound sleeper or if it was a bit of conditioning that has helped him to that point. i tend to believe it was both. it seems to me that you could go crazy trying to separate them. remember it takes a week or more to establish a routine, so stick with your plan and bear it out for at least that long. good luck! they are still little and all 4 of you are still learning. :)

[vancouvergirl]

Question – How long did you work before the babies were born? Is my plan of working until I am 35 weeks realistic?

okay, i can't imagine working that long! i think i would have been reduced to tears each day. some people are very high energy and feel the need to work as long as possible, but i was napping too much everyday!:D

[QPDoll]

okay, i can't imagine working that long! i think i would have been reduced to tears each day. some people are very high energy and feel the need to work as long as possible, but i was napping too much everyday!:D

Totally! That far along too, I didn't have much brain left. LOL Baby brain had taken over. LMAO

[QPDoll]

it seems to me that you could go crazy trying to separate them. remember it takes a week or more to establish a routine, so stick with your plan and bear it out for at least that long. good luck! they are still little and all 4 of you are still learning. :)

Yes, certainly going crazy trying to seperate them :p . A week? Okay, thats perfect actually. My DH has this next week off, so thats why we had picked this time to really work with them.

Gotta go, I hear meltdown in the living room!

[angelgirl8]

i haven't read through the last couple of days yet, but i just wanted to stop in and say and happy holidays to all the wonderful twinmamas!

[cbiggers]

Question – How long did you work before the babies were born? Is my plan of working until I am 35 weeks realistic?
I started part-time at about 25 weeks or so (I think), maybe a little later. I went out totally at around 29 weeks due to PTL. Honestly, I couldn't WAIT to go out. I was huge and exhausted and it was a lot of work just to get ready in the mornings.

When both your twins are down for a nap, or are going down for a nap, what do you do with the one who cries (to get up, or who doesn't want to go down, or wakes up during the night)? Do you get that twin up and removed from the room as to not disturb the other sleeping twin? Or do they eventually learn to ignore the crying and sleep through it?
At first, we used to get Caroline out ASAP during the night, but we soon discovered that Isabel will sleep through just about anything. So, when Caroline goes through her not-sleeping phase, we usually let her CIO. Well, not really CIO, but we let her sort of work it out and she will go back to sleep within a few minutes. During naps lately, though, Caroline has been waking up early (but still tired) and I will go in and get her and let her snuggle with Mom and fall back asleep. Isabel is just really sleep sensitive and for some reason she will wake up from naps if Caroline is crying so I try to wisk Caroline out quickly. Probably not ideal because I tend to not get a ton done when that happens, but at least I have two happy babies!

Hope everyone has a very merry Christmas. We are in Montana, where the weather is surprisingly pleasant. Both C&I have come down with colds (darn airplanes), so last night was a rough one with Caroline. But, it's nice to be here with my mom and family. Actually, it's just nice to have more hands to help with the girls!!!! Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!!!!!!!

[vancouvergirl]

happy holidays to everyone! :)

[Bernie]

partially cross posted

Hi ladies-

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

I didn't quite have the relaxing long weekend I was looking forward to. I went in to the maternal fetal specialist for a routine growth scan Friday morning. Both babies looked great - they are each measuring just under 3 pounds. They did a quick 4D scan for us. They weren't really able to get a good shot of Baby A's face, but we got a shot of Baby B that is adorable. It looks like he is using his placenta as a pillow! They then did the vaginal u/s to measure my cervix. It measured long, but then they had me cough, and it shrank down to 2 cm. They then hooked me up to the monitors to see if I was contracting, and I was having a few, so they send me over to the hospital for monitoring. They kept me until Satuday afternoon, when the results of my FFN came back. Thankfully it was negative (which hopefully means no babies for at least the next two weeks) - but now I'm on bedrest, at least until my next appointment. I'm absolutely bored out of my mind - but so happy to be out of the hospital!

pilots wife -- you were right about the hospital food - absolutely revolting. Thankfully DH was able to make Whole Foods runs for me!

[jrsygirl]

I have a question for all you mom's...Does anyone make a bottle warmer that warms two bottles at once?
What do you all use to warm them?

[lovin'it]

I have a question for all you mom's...Does anyone make a bottle warmer that warms two bottles at once?
What do you all use to warm them?


Leaving a crockpot half full of water, plugged in and on low, is a great way to warm several bottles at a time and the water is already hot.

[kat]

Ah, Bernie.....so sorry to hear you've joined me on the bedrest marathon. But I am glad to hear that babies are doing well and that the FFN test (which my doctors never gave me) came back negative. And, of course, that you are OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!!!

Hope everyone had (or is having) a great holiday! All is well, but boring, here. The funny (NOT!) thing is, I have a TON of work to do (all of which can easily be done lying down) and I've yet to start it. I just cannot. get. motivated to do it, and the deadline is fast approaching for me to finish (both my employer's deadline and the "deadline" of the twins' arrival).

I guess I'll start on it tomorrow. Famous last words. :D

Question (hopefully not TMI): did anyone here leak amniotic fluid? Because I haven't had anything else to worry about lately, I've convinced myself that I'm leaking fluid. Mind you, I don't think anything has changed since I was in the hospital (where they TESTED the fluid and found it wasn't amniotic fluid but just regular discharge) .... but I've managed to convince myself that the quantity has increased over the past few weeks. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and I'll definitely bring it up then, but here's my question: if you leaked, was it a constant leak or could it come & go?

[NJMom]

Bernie-sorry to hear that you are on bedrest now but at least you are not in the hospital. I'm glad the babies are doing well and staying put! Hang in there!

Kat-I can totally understand putting off the work you need to do. I wasn't on official bedrest, just house arrest as my doctor put it, but I remember feeling so bored but you still don't have the motivation to do anything either! Hang in there, your babies will be here soon enough and you won't have time to be bored! I didn't leak any fluid but definately check with your doctor. At least it will make you feel better.

jrsygirl-we heat our bottles in a pot of hot water. It usually takes about 3-5 minutes depending on how cold the formula is.

I have good news to share. Last Thursday Jacob started crawling and it is just too cute! I think Brayden will be crawling soon. Then life is going to get REALLY crazy! One cute thing I want to share about my boys is that Brayden tends to really get a kick out of Jacob and laughs at him a lot. Whenever Jacob realizes this, he likes to really play it up and make him laugh even more! Another one of the joys of having twins!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

[kat]

Brayden tends to really get a kick out of Jacob and laughs at him a lot. Whenever Jacob realizes this, he likes to really play it up and make him laugh even more! Another one of the joys of having twins!



It's stories like this that (a) bring a tear to a preggo's eye and (b) make this icky bedrest all the more bearable as I look forward to this kind of stuff with our twins. Thank you, NJMom!!!

[mittyrd]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a question for all you mom's...Does anyone make a bottle warmer that warms two bottles at once?
What do you all use to warm them?

I just put them in a bowl of hot tap water and it warms them up in 5 minutes or so.

The babies are doing well. Jake was sick all weekend with a respiratory virus (I think it was RSV given his symptoms). Sam has come down with a chunky cough but no other symptoms and Matt hasn't had any symptoms yet. I'm hoping that this will be it. Jake had never been so sick and I am praying that the boys RSV shots are going to protect them so they don't get like that. I don't think they could handle being that sick and I know that I couldn't handle it!

[angelgirl8]

ack! i've been away from the computer and now i'm behind by a few pages!

just wanted to thank everyone for the c-section stories...i'm definitely feeling a bit better about the prospect.

things are okay here...i'm very very very itchy these days and uncomfortable, but otherwise hanging in!

bernie...i'm so sorry you're on bedrest for now. hopefully things improve for you and you can move around!

[charmcitygirl]

quickie post

jake & zoe are both sick... waaahhh. jake woke up yesterday a little congested but seemed fine most of the day. he slept in his cosleeper, as usual, with a humidifier and zoe slept in her crib. it was the first time they slept apart. jake woke up at 1:30am and he ate a few ounces and slept next to me the rest of the night. i woke him again at 4am to clear out his nose... poor baby was so congested. heard zoe about that time rousing and coughing. left her alone and she went right back to sleep. this morning they were both really congested. they didn't go down for their nap until about 12:30 (usually it's around 10:30) and are still sleeping and don't sound too bad. not looking forward to tonight though. planning on letting them sleep in their respective cribs and maybe i'll drag a mattress in there to be close by. so far, no fevers and they are acting pretty normal though maybe a bit more needy.

[MrsPuls]

I'm a terrible member, I haven't been here in a while, and now all I have is time for a quick post.

Lucas and Aubrey will be coming home tomorrow on their 36week mark. We are so excited. Aubrey weighs 4lbs 14oz now and Lucas is a whopping 5lbs 8oz. I just can't wait to get them home tomorrow.

[kat]

mitty and charmcity: so sorry to hear about your sick babies!! Here's hoping they feel better soon (and in mitty's case, that the RSV shots work, too!)!
MrsPuls: yay for babies coming home!! Have you posted pics yet (hint hint)?? :D

*********
Cross-posted from March Mommas thread:

Had another OB appointment today. I am dilated a teeny bit more, so now my doctor describes it as "3+" cm instead of 3 cm....but that wasn't enough to get her to admit me so I'm back at home (yay!). She also tested the watery discharge I'd been having and said that although she could "see what I mean" about being afraid of leaking fluid, that it was probably just late pregnancy/already dilated stuff and not fluid (all tests came back negative).

I gained another 2 lbs. this week (up 46 for the pregnancy thus far), and I'm now measuring 38 weeks (up from 35 weeks last week). I am also immensely more uncomfortable and sleeping even worse at night, but the nice thing about bedrest (if there is a nice thing.... :D) is that I can nap later in the day, which helps. I won't start my laundry list of Third Trimester Complaints, but there are plenty. Just ask my DH. :D

(The one thing that's really pretty bad is the pain I feel in the pelvis/pubic bone -- extremely tender and walking is difficult. I've joked that if I was still working at this point, I'd need a wheelchair. Thankfully DH bought me a stool for the shower, which helps).

[Phen]

Hey y'all, just checking in!

klm2klh asked:
How long did you work before the babies were born? Is my plan of working until I am 35 weeks realistic?
I forget the exact date, but I think I stopped working right around 28 weeks. I'd gone to half-time work around 20-22 weeks, I think. It was a relief to stop at 28 weeks, really. My back couldn't take it any longer. I wouldn't say it's not realistic to plan to work until 35 weeks, but it would be smart, I think, to prepare for the strong possibility that you won't make it that long at work.

QPDoll asked:
When both your twins are down for a nap, or are going down for a nap, what do you do with the one who cries (to get up, or who doesn't want to go down, or wakes up during the night)? Do you get that twin up and removed from the room as to not disturb the other sleeping twin? Or do they eventually learn to ignore the crying and sleep through it?
It's a tough call, I know. Alexander is VERY bad about not wanting to nap when Thomas is enjoying a good long nap. Some days I do rescue Alexander and leave Thomas sleeping (if he [Alexander] is starting to holler), but other times I just leave the both of them in there in the hopes that Alexander might at least get a little rest if he stays in his crib (it occasionally does happen that he'll fall back to sleep).

jrsygirl asked:
Does anyone make a bottle warmer that warms two bottles at once?
What do you all use to warm them?
We were bad. We used the microwave to warm the bottles and shook them to make sure there weren't hot spots. This was with formula only, of course. We'd make gallon pitchers full of formula every other day and then fill the bottles as necessary from there.

Hurray on Jacob's crawling! I am sure Brayden will not be far behind once he sees what a great thing his brother has hit upon. :)

Oh mittyrd, I hope Jake doesn't end up having RSV! <<fingerscrossed>>

I'm glad you're feeling better about the thought of a csection, angel.

charmcity, oh dear, it sounds like y'all are getting to know the Dreaded Nosesucker quite well at your house. If they are having bad congestion problems even with the humidifier, you might try putting the babies to sleep in their bucket seats (our ped suggested it and it worked beautifully for my guys).

Hurray on your Homebound Babies, MrsPuls! (and SHUSH you are not a bad threadmember! We're glad to see you whenever you can get here, but we all know things are a bit, er, hectic right now for you)

What a relief that it wasn't amniotic fluid, eh, Kat? I guess you are at the point now where you have to cradle your belly in your arms when shifting position in bed for fear the belly might actually fall off! ;) I think I had about three zillion pillows by that point for under my belly, back, knees, head...

Well, we made it! We flew with the boys and lived to tell the tale. We arrived in North Carolina minus one shoe and the airline had managed to lose the boys' suitcase, but whatever, we all survived. Tom had a big idea to get Snuglis for us to wear the boys in to try to keep them reined in while on the plane; it worked out pretty good! We only got dirty looks from a couple of people.

Other good news: we learned that two 17-month-olds are indeed small enough to qualify as carryon baggage.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc07b3127cce96676a7dad1700000005108QZN2TNm4bQ

If I can't get back here before the New Year, I just wanted to remind y'all that we'll start our NEW THREAD on Sunday!

~ Phen

[Bernie]

Thank you all for your good wishes!
I went back to the OB on Wednesday - she told me that I had a "dynamic" cervix - meaning that it responds to pressure. But - based on the negative FFN, she eased up on my restrictions a bit. She still told me to stop working, but I'm allowed out of the house for brief, low-stress outings. Thankfully the holiday season is over and I don't need to hit the mall!

Phen - your boys look so cute in that picture! Glad the trip went okay!

MrsPuls - congratulations on the babies coming home!

Happy new year everyone!!

[mittyrd]

Jake had RSV and is back to normal despite a lingering cough. THe boys are status quo - Yay for $1000 RSV shots!! (for $1000 per shot, they better work good!)

Charmcity: I have been running the shower so it gets hot and steamy in the bathroom and then put the boys in there to help clear out the congestion. I'm doing it 2x/day or more if they seem more congested. It seems to work good for them.

MrsPuls: Congratulations on the babies coming home!

Kat, Bernie: I'm glad you are keeping those babies in!

Angel: I didn't realize how close you were getting. I never responded about the c/s question but it really wasn't that bad. I'll admit the 2nd one was incredibly easier than the first and I never even felt like I had major surgery at all. For the first, I never kept up with the pain meds which was my downfall. Just make sure you don't let time lapse when you are due for pain meds and keep on top of it. Also, getting out of bed made it much easier the second time. The first time I didn't want to get out of bed and nursing didn't make me which was probably a mistake.

Phen: Cute picture! I'm always impressed with those of you who travel with your kids. DH and I are avoiding that for as long as possible!

Sorry to those that I missed. I hope everyone and their kids are doing great!
I just got my 2nd AF after a year of being AF-less. Ugh. I liked not having it better!

[angelgirl8]

i was all planned to come in and check on everyone but i'm just totally worn out now! glad to see that all is fairly well in twinland. sorry for all the sick babies!

cross-posted from another thread:

i had my 34 week growth scan this morning. baby A is doing fine and has gained about a pound and a half since about 4 weeks ago. however, baby B is not doing well. B has only gained about 9 oz. in the amount of time and is now measuring about a pound behind A (and in the 6th percentile).


so, they did a biophysical profile (BPP) in which they look at breathing, fetal movements, fluid levels, etc. they also looked at blood flow in the umbilical cords. everything checked out with these things.

after nearly passing out from being on my back so long (baby B's measurements took forever), the doctor came in to speak to us. she said that the difference between the babies (19%) is just below the point at which they start to consider delivering the babies right away (20%).

since we're still just below/at that point, we will instead take a few other steps first:

start non-stress tests (NSTs) twice a week. my first one will be on tuesday
already scheduled OB appt on wednesday
another BPP plus blood flow check on friday
repeat process the following week plus another growth scan

if, at any point after any of the tests, either baby looks to be in distress they'll deliver the babies.

anyway, it was a stressful appointment. there's nothing i can do right now and i'm not on any movement restriction or anything but i'm very worried about my babies. and i know the measurements can be a bit off in either direction so they could be even smaller.

[khouse]

Just a quick response ...

Angelgirl: Your current situation is EXACTLY what happened to me at 34 weeks! Baby B ... measurements not looking good. Biophysical and growth scans bi-weekly, etc. I was monitored closely for two weeks and then they delivered me at 36 weeks to the day for reasons pertaining to Baby B's measurements! I can tell you that my Baby Girl B (Devon) now weighs MORE than Delaney (Baby A). Not by much, but nonetheless the little ones are the fighters!!!

Keep your chin UP because you have done WONDERFUL and your babies are going to do just GREAT!!!

MrsPuls: Can't wait to see photos of your little ones at HOME!

Kat & Bernie: Great JOB Ladies!!! Keep those babies in there!

Cbiggers: Hope you and your girls are feeling better!!!

Phen: Adorable photo from the airport!

Happy New Year to you ALL! :)

[kat]

Oh, angelgirl -- I'm so sorry to hear about your Baby B. Hopefully khouse's experience will repeat itself (and hopefully hearing about it helps you feel better......cuz we can all say "don't worry" until we're blue in the face, but we all know that's not gonna happen :) ).

Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it all turns out just fine. Hang in there, 'kay?

[angelgirl8]

thanks khouse and kat...trying not to panic too much!

i just want everything to be okay with both babies. and i had just come to terms with the c-section!


happy new year, all!

[cbiggers]

angelgirl - Hang in there. khouse and I delivered the same day and I saw her babes the following day and both were (and are!!!) perfect! You would never have known any of the stress that was going on. Just keep on cookin' and know that you are doing a great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, guys, but other s/o's will have to wait. To say that it's been a rough 9 days or so is an understatement. We went ot Montana for the holidays and along the way, both girls got sick. So, the entire time we were there, they were both pretty sick. We thought they were getting better just in time to come home, but they fooled us! Caroline is on antibiotics for a double ear infection and Isabel is just plain ol' sick sick sick.:( I ended up at Urgent Care for myself and am on antibiotics and an inhaler. Ummmm, are we going to live through both babies being sick and both of us being sick?? Not quite sure. I'll get back to you. But, I am so thankful that we have to healthy (usually), happy babies that are a blessing, so once I'm through with the pity party, I'll be back to normal! Have a wonderful New Year's everyone!

[Twinmamas]

Good Morning! Happy New Year! Happy New Thread (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1625224#post1625224)!